Man of the Mountain

I don’t know how love can grow in the space of one night, but it has. This, what is happening with Kutter and Hope and I… it’s love. Plain and simple.

“I love you too.”

Kutter fills me up with his strength in the way only he can do, and his cock makes me feel whole. We come hard, together, as one. We come with fingers laced and hearts bound and I swear I won’t let anything get in our way. I will fight for this, this love story I found in the middle of a storm.

We clean up as Hope stirs. In Kutter’s tee shirt, I lift her from the dresser drawer, Kutter makes a bottle, and the three of us climb into bed. We fall asleep, the rain beating down on the roof, sounding just like the beating of my now whole heart.

Kutter

In the morning, I wake to a sight I never once thought I’d see in my whole damn life. The girl I love holding the baby I adore, in my bed.

When the fuck did I become a family man?

All it took was one night.

But really, it wasn’t about the night.

It was about the girls. These two. They are mine now.

A phone rings in the other room, and I roll from bed, not wanting to leave this scene, but not wanting the call to wake them. By the time I find it in Katie’s bag, it’s gone to voicemail. Wanting them to sleep as long as possible, I start a pot of coffee and make a bottle. Looking out the window, I see the storm has passed.

Thank god. I slip on a pair of boots and take my cup of joe to the yard, surveying the damage of the fallen cedar. It’s gonna take my big ass saw to deal with this. I’ll call up James, Reed and Jasper to see if they can come help me clear this out.

When I get back inside, Katie is in the bathroom. I take the bottle to Hope, who is in the dresser drawer, and I’m wondering what I’m gonna need to do to get her in my care. I’m sure Katie knows all the paperwork we’ll need to fill out. Hope kicks her cute little feet up at me, and I realize she needs a diaper change.

I set to that in the living room, and I must admit that even a job like this doesn’t seem too bad when it is Hope I am looking after. Katie finds us in the living room, and god, she takes my breath away.

“You look so fucking good in the morning,” I tell her, lifting Hope onto my shoulder and reaching for the bottle on the coffee table. “I made coffee.”

“Smells good,” she says.

“Your phone was ringing too,” I tell her. “I set it on the table.”

“Okay, thanks,” she says. I hear her move into the kitchen and I consider how this will be our life now. A woman’s soft footsteps, a baby taking a bottle in my arm, a life complete.

“Oh crap,” Katie says. “Oh shit, Kutter.” She walks into the living room looking as if she’s just seen a ghost. “Listen to this.”

She presses play on the voicemail. “Katie, I’m guessing you got stuck in the storm — no one has heard from you all night. Call me as soon as you can. There’s an emergency. That baby you were meant to transport? Well, her mother is here. And she’s asking for her daughter. Call me as soon as you can.”

“Fuck.” I walk to Katie, who has tears in her eyes. “It’s okay. We can work this out. We can—”

She shakes her head, cutting me off. “No, we can’t, Kutter. There is a whole system… a whole bunch of rules. I was stupid to think otherwise. I got caught up in… in… you.” She waves her hand around the room. “In this make-believe fantasy. No one gets a happy ending, Kutter.”

“That isn’t true. We have to fight for what—”

“No.” She starts dialing her boss’s number. “We don’t get to decide what happens to Hope. We aren’t her family.”

She paces the living room as the call connects. “Lorraine? Yes, I got stuck here in Fox Hollow. A tree fell, the power went out, I couldn’t leave.” She explains the cougar fight, how I’ve been a lifesaver. Then she pauses, listening. Then looks to me. “How quickly can you clear the tree?”

“A few hours, if I get my buddies to help.”

“Good. Can you call and ask them? I need to get her to the office as soon as possible.” She turns back to the call. “Okay, I will text with an update when I’m on the road. Good news is the baby is healthy and happy — slept all night and is taking bottles. I’ll start working on the report while the tree is removed. I’ll send it over ASAP.”