“You have to teach girls to be assertive. You know, throw their weight around and take up space in this world,” Maverick said with conviction.
“So you are reading that book that’s in your car that you claimed was Sophie’s. But since your wife doesn’t read seeing books and listens to Audible, I think you might be lying, bro.”
Emma was nine months old. She didn’t have much say about décor, but she would gnaw on just about anything you put near her mouth.
“Some stories for Rebel Girls or something like that,” Malik said.
“Oh yeah, that’s his,” I said.
“Mav, Soph, Ms. Emma, I gotta run, but have fun with your baby jungle and I’ll see you guys on Sunday for family dinner.”
“She didn’t like the pink, honestly Sophie, I could tell she wasn’t into it. If she wants stuff like that later on, then we’ll change it up. She likes lime green and yellow like her mom.”
I chuckled at his backtracking and attempts to play it cool.
“Babe, I’ve got to make my shift. Okay if Rafa drives me over or should I call a car?” I asked.
“I’ll take her, I’ve got to hit the road anyway.”
I loved being a mom who could leave my daughter at home with her dad for a twelve hour shift and not worry for a second that she wasn’t receiving adequate care. Maverick may have been a big biker on the outside, but on the inside, that man was made to be a father. He diapered like a pro, warmed bottles and burped like a pro. He read stories and rocked her until he fell asleep too. He bought her every stupid thing under the sun, and had already laid plans for an entire adventure land in the back yard. He didn’t just adore Emma, he lived for her, and in doing so, it returned to him the joy and freedom that had been stolen from him as a boy.
He hopped up to kiss me goodbye and laid a passionate one on my lips.
“Wake me up when you get home,” he whispered into my ear.
Emma continued his bloodline like he’d always feared, but she also healed him like a miracle fallen from heaven.
Epilogue Two
5 Years later
MAVERICK
My wife was the second in command of the critical care nurses at Mason General Hospital, and that was with impaired vision in only one eye. She’d gotten there by determination and grit. She was the most strong-willed person I’d ever met, but she also knew when to ask for help, which was a hard lesson, and one I was still learning.
She set her alarm to get up for a five am shift, but my internal alarm always went off first and I’d end up lying awake in bed and watching her breathe. Sometimes I’d go check on Emma asleep in her toddler bed, or go start the coffee so it would be ready when Sophie got up.
I treasured those mornings alone that seemed to transpire in slow motion. I could reflect and appreciate, feel grateful for how far I’d come and look forward to the life we still had ahead of us.
When the soft light of dawn began to fill the room, I pulled Sophie to me and she snuggled into my chest, her legs coming immediately around my waist. I was as hard as a rock. She was wearing silk shorts and a tank top that hung loose, her nipples were pebbled beneath the thin cloth.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I said to her as I caressed her hair back from her temple.
“Is Emma asleep?” she asked me groggily.
“Knocked out,” I said. Sophie had been caressing my chest and now she honed in on my nipple circling it with her nail until it pebbled like hers. To this day, when Soph touched me, I could feel electricity in her touch. It awakened every nerve ending in my body and got me impossibly hard. She still turned me on with even the slightest caress, and our love life burned even brighter now than it had when we’d first met.
I slid my hand in those silky shorts and cupped her pussy hard, then slid my middle finger inside her. She was wet and swollen like she’d been waiting all night for me. I kissed her hard and she moaned into my mouth as the thrusts of her hips met my finger. I put my thumb on her clit and her movements caused friction.
My kisses traveled all over her décolleté and when I reached the swell of her small breast, I sucked her hard nipple and lashed it with my tongue. I could hear her breath begin to come in gasps and I knew it meant she was close. With my free hand, I massaged her ass as I tortured her nipple.
“Fuck me, baby,” she breathed. I felt cum already leaking from the tip of my huge erection.