“Our luck has changed. It’ll work for us.”

“Sylvie, you just finished your period but pulling out does not work. Even a day after your period, let’s not take chances.”

I saw his mouth moving but I wasn’t sure he was speaking and this was because I was focused on all I was feeling.

God, God, even lazy stroking, not having his cock but having his face that close to me, his finger inside me was doing a number on me.

I needed him. So much, I couldn’t focus on this shit.

I needed to move us on, immediately.

In order to do that, I announced, “Okay, so it doesn’t work and you get me pregnant. It isn’t like we both don’t want kids. It happens, I won’t be sorry.”

His finger stilled.

No!

“Creed,” I whispered and it came out sounding like what it was. A plea.

I started to lift up but his voice, a rough, low, vibrating growl I’d never heard before stopped me.

“You wanna get pregnant now?”

His words, the tone they were uttered in, performed a miracle. It took me out of what was happening to my body and into the conversation and I realized what I said.

When I did, I realized I meant every word.

“Absolutely.”

Creed stared into my eyes.

I stared back.

Then his finger disappeared and I whimpered. The feeling of loss was cut short when he yanked my panties back up, shifted, rolled me and then lifted me in his arms. When we were up, he started moving, carrying me like a groom carries his bride over a threshold, his strides long and swift, his destination clearly the bedroom.

I slid my arms around his shoulders and asked, “Creed, where are you going?”

“I’m taking you to your bed. We make a baby, Sylvie, we do it making love. Not fucking on the kitchen floor.”

Of its own accord, my hand slid up his neck into his hair, cupping the back of his head spasmodically as goosebumps rose on my skin.

When we made a baby, we did it making love.

Making love.

Making a baby.

What I wanted. What he wanted. What we’d planned.

Sixteen years late.

But, thank God, not too late.

I felt my lip start to tremble and I bit it so the feeling welling up inside me didn’t overwhelm me. I didn’t want to cry. I wanted Creed to plant our baby in me while he made love to me.

How a Nerf fight ended up like this, I didn’t know.

Just that, as with everything, as always, while experiencing something wonderful, only Creed could make it more wonderful.

He set me in the bed and immediately covered me with his body.

Creed’s hands started moving on me, mine on him and his head was descending so he could kiss me when Gun pranced in, stopped and stood by the bed.

“Meow.”

Creed’s lips were brushing mine when I whispered, “She wants breakfast.”

“She can have breakfast after we try to make a baby,” he replied, not whispering.

I grinned.

I was down with that.

Creed did not grin.

He slanted his head and kissed me.

Then he made love to me.

* * *

“What?” Charlene hissed.

We were sitting on her couch in her living room. Creed was outside mowing her lawn.

After Creed made love to me, we took a long shower where Creed paid more attention to me, giving me a slow, sweet orgasm and taking his time doing it. We then got dressed and went over to Charlene’s to help her with breakfast and, after, Creed went out to mow her lawn.

So he could concentrate and not run over anything precious with the lawnmower, like, say, children, the kids were inside with us, doing something in their rooms which was likely destructive (except Theo, he was taking a nap). Charlene was ignoring this because I was laying it out, starting with imparting on her the fact that Creed and I had decided not to delay in trying to start a family.

It was Saturday. I’d been home nearly a week after making my decision to move to Phoenix and I hadn’t yet told her I was moving to another state. I hated to admit it but this was because I was chicken.

It seemed clear Drake Nair was out of town and we found no rumblings that he was still scheming against Knight. We also had no indication whatsoever that Nick had anything to do with Nair’s plot or even held any ill-will against his brother.

Therefore, Knight released Creed.

This meant Creed needed to go home, see to his own business. We discussed it and although he could give me a week, he had to get home and work. I had to stay in Denver, put my house on the market, finish the jobs I was still working on and shut down my business.

This was going to suck, being away from him for the first time since I got him back.

Creed thought it sucked, too and he was somewhat vocal about that.

Regardless that we both thought it sucked, there was no way around it. We’d have to be separated, for weeks, maybe even a couple of months with quick visits the only thing breaking our separation.

See? Sucked.

I also had to tell Charlene I was abandoning her.

It was arguable but this might suck more. I’d get back to Creed. I was losing Charlene, Adam, Leslie and Theo and they were losing me.

I felt shit about this because I promised I’d be there for her. I also felt shit about this because she was doing my admin part-time, she needed the money and that would die away.

Creed, being Creed, solved this problem. He farmed his admin out to an agency. He had no emotional ties to them and it was also part-time. He said it didn’t matter who did it or where they did it which meant he could yank it from the agency and give it to Charlene.

But that didn’t solve the problem of her losing her lawn guy, her morning helpers or the moral support coming from next door.

In my heart, I knew she’d survive. She was that kind of person. It might take a while to get used to it but she would eventually find her way to the bright side of life. I also knew that she’d be happy for me, finding Creed, living my life with him, starting a family.

So it wasn’t about Charlene, as such.

It was about me.

I’d miss her.

Back in the day, when Creed disappeared and I found myself owned by Richard Scott, all my girlfriends abandoned me. I didn’t really blame them. Suddenly, without an explanation, I was what the town saw as the local pimp and drug dealer’s girlfriend. Although Jason Dixon had been telling people for ages he banged me, no one believed him and no one but no one, not even my girlfriends, knew about Creed.

Needless to say, being with Richard did not do wonders for my reputation.

People talked about me. People speculated. People said shit things behind my back, gave me ugly looks, sometimes even said things straight to my face. I’d learned to live with it and I’d learned to live without friends.

That didn’t mean having one again didn’t mean everything to me.

Fortunately, two days after Knight released Creed, Hawk Delgado called me. He had a job and not only was he interested in contracting with me, he also asked if Creed was still in town. Since Creed was and since Creed was good with hanging around longer and taking another job, Hawk hired both of us.

The job paid well and Hawk expected it to last a month so I had a reprieve. More time with Creed in Denver. More time to get my shit sorted. A couple more weekends with his kids before I moved in completely.

But I had to tell Charlene. She had to prepare.

And I had to prepare to lose her and the kids.

“Creed and I are trying for a baby,” I repeated what I’d said two seconds before.

Charlene blinked at me.

Then she turned her head to the window and stared blankly out of it.

I turned my head that way too and saw Creed’s tee drenched in sweat, the ends of his hair wet and curling around his neck. He had mirrored shades on and they looked really fucking good on him.

My mouth started watering.

“It’s been three weeks, honey.”

Charlene’s words came at me and I looked at her again.

“I know,” I replied.

She shook her head and reached out to curl her hand around my leg. “I get this. I get him. He’s a good guy. I get that. I get your history. I get it all, but, Sylvie, listen to me. A baby is a big deal.”

“I know that too, Charlene.”

“It changes your whole life. It changes the whole world.”

I put my hand on hers, leaned in and repeated, “I know, Charlene.”

Her hand turned and her fingers curled around mine. “I know you know but I also know you don’t. A baby changes your body. It changes your relationship. It changed the rhythm of your day. You have a child, you can’t drink as much as you do. You absolutely can’t smoke. He’s got two kids. They’ve met you once. They –”

I cut her off, “Creed loves them and they love him and they like me. They’ll be cool. He’ll take care of them. We both will.”

Her hand gave mine a squeeze. “You haven’t even settled into there being a you two again. Nine months, ten months, a year, most of that pregnant, you won’t be able to do that.”

She knew, I explained after we had our drama and got back together that Creed and me were, well, back together. Charlene was Charlene, she said little except she was happy for me.

But, right now, she didn’t get it so I explained, “There was never a time when we weren’t settled into the two of us being the two.”

Her head tipped to the side. “What?”

I leaned closer, lifting her hand and holding it to my chest. “This is Creed.”

“I know, but –”

I shook her hand before I pressed it to my chest. “Charlene, babe, this is Creed.”

She held my eyes as her lips parted.

She was getting me.

So I helped her get the rest of the way. “There’s no one but him. No one. I want our future, the one that was stolen from us. I want it for me and I need to give it to him. He was…” I hesitated, having shared a bit but not entirely and deciding not to, for Creed. “I can’t say. What I can say is that I explained it all came out and we worked it out. What you can guess is, we’re together so the reason he disappeared was understandable. So understandable, there’s not even anything to forgive.”

She sucked in breath.

Yeah, she was getting me.

I went on.

“It’s debatable who suffered worse,” I told her and she closed her eyes. She opened them when I continued, “And now that’s done. I want his baby growing inside me. I want a home. I want a family. I want to let Creed give that to me because Creed needs to give it to me. It’s what we’d planned. It’s what we’d dreamed. It’s what we went through hell for and it’s what we’re gonna have and we’re not going to wait. Not a month. Not a year. Now.”

“Your Dad did something to him,” she whispered her guess.

“My Dad did something to him,” I replied.

She licked her lips and turned her face back to the window but she held my hand tight. This time, I watched her face work instead of looking outside to watch my man work.

It took some time but finally she said quietly, “You should move to Phoenix. He should be close to his kids and your baby should be close to his or her brother and sister.”

See?

So totally told you that Charlene would want that for me.

“I am,” I said quietly back and her eyes came to me, they were stunned but they were also assessing. “It’s decided. Creed’s going to transfer his admin to you so you won’t feel that financial hit and –”

I stopped talking when her eyes filled with tears.

Then I started talking fast, holding her hand still to my chest, I leaned close and said gently, “I’ll come up. So will Creed. I mean, he can’t come up every two weeks to mow your yard but we’ll come up. Take the kids so you have time and –”

Charlene interrupted me.

“You’re happy.”

I blinked and asked, “What?”

“I didn’t see it or, I should say, I didn’t believe it.” She swallowed. “Now, I see it.”

“Charlene –”

She yanked her hand from mine but then grabbed me by the shoulders, pulled me close, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hard hug.

I felt her body jerk with her sob as her voice broke with it when she said, “Always, I saw it, that hurt in the back of your eyes. Like you were lost in a way you couldn’t get found.” She gave me a squeeze. “Now it’s gone. You’re found and I’m so happy you’re happy, Sylvie.”