Forever the One (Always and Forever 3)
“No, don’t get ahead of yourself big boy.” Lana shakes her head and I smile, taking it for what it was. That was the first time he has complimented me since I got his daughter pregnant.
“I have a feeling you two will be like this for the rest of our lives, huh?” Lana signals to me and Jeff. We both nod and reply in unison.
“Yup.” No more truth is behind that, but at the end of the day, I know I have his daughter, the love of his life is now the love of mine.
“Now, let’s see this place!” Becky shouts.
“Agreed! Let’s!” Lana leads us in and I show them the home we will raise our growing family in. The start to our beautiful beginning.
Today was pandemonium, a day of epic change and a start to a beautiful beginning. Kingston surprised me with my dream home, one I was sure was long gone after the sneaky turd told me it had been
sold. All along he was the one who bought it for me. I am still lost in the clouds after this crazy day of unpacking and surprises. The men did all the heavy lifting, putting the beds and couches together, displaying the TVs and tables, and putting all the big appliances in their designated areas.
Shayla, my mama and I did smaller things like unpacking dishware and clothes and spent time decorating. When Kathy showed up with dinner we enjoyed more time together. With all of us working tirelessly and efficiently, all but a few boxes of odds and ends have been unpacked and put away.
I’ll admit I miss the apartment already. Kings said we still have some things there that we need to pack and bring, so we will be able to go back again before handing over the keys. That place was where it all began for us. A new life filled with better promised tomorrows and beginnings to great adventures. Shayla and I healed slowly in that apartment, we also both fell in love in that apartment. We shared secrets and wishes of what we could have if we just gave in. Kingston and I also grew in that apartment. We spent more time fighting there, true, but those tiring, mentally and emotionally draining fights, were worth the struggle because it made our love unbreakable.
Missing all that is inevitable, but starting this journey here in this home with Kingston and our precious blessing, is exactly where I want to be.
I run my hands over my belly feeling monkey kicking, he is wild tonight. I bet he feels my heart fluttering, making him grow excited too.
“Daddy is gonna be so good to you and me. We love him,” I whisper with my head down, my eyes closed—I feel him, I sense him there with me, his cologne and natural scent wafting into the bedroom.
I don’t turn as he speaks, the wooden floors making a gentle noise as he moves toward us. “Daddy loves you both.” My heart flips, the way only Kingston can cause it to flip.
Those strong, tan, tatted arms encase me, making me feel tiny and dainty. I lean my head back on his chest and rock with him. He has his hands on my belly warming my colder frame like fire.
“I know you do. I mean you bought us my dream home, then you invited my parents. I missed them.” He nestles my neck, his smell invading my senses further. He smells more potent as I get more pregnant. His natural scent becoming something I crave daily. Call it a pregnancy craving if you will.
“I wanted you to have this home, I wanted you to relax and be ready when Prince gets here.” He kisses the valley of my neck then moves all the way to pepper kisses on the peak of my shoulder, my eyes flutter shut. I’m overwhelmed with the want to lose myself tonight. Thank my best friend for spoiling me.
“I don’t get it. How did you fall in love with someone like me?” He gives me a small guttural laugh in my ear before biting it. I shiver in pleasure, the sensation amplifying with his whisper.
“Lots of sass makes me chase harder. I like a challenge. But really baby, falling in love with you was easy, making you mine was the hard part.” My eyes drop and though his words are beautiful, poetic at best, I still hate that I made him fight to keep me.
“Before you start blaming yourself, let me finish. Keeping you was worth the fight, worth every sleepless night, every glass of burning liquor, every damn punch to the gut, because it made me love you more, made loving you a necessity.”
I absorb these words, they ring true, flood me with memories from the night we first touched, the night he made love to me like never before. That was the night he owned me, even if he doesn’t know it.
“You remember that night?” I turn in his arms. Reaching on my tiptoes I look into his beautiful green eyes shining down on me.
“How could I forget the night that you owned me?”
Past
“Joel, I want to go to this party, I promise I won’t stay too late. You’re working anyway, it’s your last shift.” I stand outside my car, the night is dark and the only lights raining down on me are from the street light I am parked under and the far lights of Kingston and Trey’s work place. I look in, seeing Kingston talking to one of his tables.
“I don’t care. I want you home,” he barks in the phone and I cower down, dropping my head and kicking at nothing.
“Joel, please it’s my last night with all my friends before we move. I want to say bye to some people,” I beg again, knowing it’s only going to make things worse. I see a car drive by and I say a quick prayer that it’s not one of his friends. For some reason they weren’t following me tonight, but maybe that was wishful thinking.
“No. Go home and I’ll see you after my shift at the bar. I swear I’ll lose my shit if you aren’t home, Lana,” he threatens. I hear the faint sound of bar-goers and glasses clinking in the background.
“Okay,” I lie, knowing I can probably get away with it. “What bar are you working tonight?” I ask making small talk all while getting intel so I can know my time frame. Joel is a security guard for a couple local bars, sometimes ones as far out as Ogden.
“I’m in Salt Lake at the Old Tavern.” I close my eyes and silently celebrate, that’s far enough out and he usually doesn’t leave until two a.m. giving me enough time to go to the party.
“Okay, well, be safe. I will see you when you get home.”