Chapter One Hundred Four

To:     The Girls

From: Q

Re:     Baby talk

First off let me just say, I am NOT pregnant.  *sigh*  Not anymore anyway.  I’ll explain…

I just thought I should let you all know what has been going on lately.  When Richie and I were in Europe, Portugal to be a little more exact, I apparently got pregnant.  No, we weren’t as careful as we should have been and no, I didn’t know I was pregnant.  Not until a few weeks ago, anyway, when I had a miscarriage in the bathroom.  I’m fine now, but for the first little bit, I wasn’t so sure I would be.  After Ben…But I have a good man and he helped me (we helped each other) get through those first few horrible days when I didn’t think I could handle the loss of another child. 

Long story short?  Richie and I are now trying to decide if we want to really try and have a baby.  He thinks he wants to, but me?  I’m not so sure.  I’m 42, nearly 43 years old.  Do I really want to put my body through that now?  Am I ready for bottles and diapers again?  Is he?

Not to mention the fact that Jon has been calling him, wanting to get together and start writing again.

If we do this, if it happens, I’m not doing it alone.  Not that I couldn’t, but if he’s going to be there for the fun part of making the baby, he’s gonna have to be there for the not so fun part of dirty diapers, midnight feedings and colic.  Right?

*sigh*

I guess I-we-have a lot to think/talk about before we’re anywhere near ready to make a decision on this.

Anyway, that’s what’s been happening out here.  Hope you and your families are all well.

And, seriously, COME VISIT ME!

LOL

Love you all,

Q

~

Babies.  She couldn’t seem to escape them lately.  Stephanie set her grocery sacks on the counter and pulled a water bottle from the refrigerator.  They had handed over the keys to the latest habitat house to the new family today.  Mom, Dad, a sweet toddler girl with sunny blonde hair that rivaled Shirley Temple’s for bouncy curls and big blue eyes that took in every little thing.  Her chubby-cheeked baby brother rested in the crook of his momma’s arm and had slept through the entire dedication. 

She took a long pull from the bottle in her hand.   Every mom in town must have been in the grocery store today when she stopped to pick up a few things for dinner.  Every cart she had seen had a child sitting in it or had a baby strapped into the seat. 

Setting the near empty bottle down, she unpacked her groceries and lined things up on the counter.  She had to stop thinking so much about babies.  And they needed to stop showing up everywhere she went.  She wasn’t going to be pressured into a decision.  And if she was this undecided, maybe the answer should be no.

She frowned and stowed the plastic bags under the sink.  Not a good attitude.  She just needed to set all this baby stuff aside and let it simmer in the back of her mind for a while.  They needed to get back into their normal, everyday routine and see how things went.  And, after getting a clean bill of health from the doctor the other day, that routine included some bedroom time with her man. 

She smirked and headed upstairs.  After a quick shower and change of clothes she went in search of her man.  She found him and Jon out at the table by the pool.  She stood in the doorway, watching the two of them at work.  Richie’s dark head was bent over his guitar and Jon scribbled something on the pad of paper before ripping the sheet off and crumpling it into a ball to add to the growing pile on the table.  After so many years of being a fan, it was fascinating to watch them work, to see their next possible hit being born. 

She also knew the minute Richie sensed her presence.  His fingers slowed on the strings and he raised his head, his eyes met hers and a smile curved his full lips.  He set the guitar aside and motioned her to come out and join them.

“I didn’t want to disturb you” she said as she came to stand next to Richie’s chair.  “I just wanted to let you know I was back.”

His arm crept around her waist and his hand caressed her hip.  “Not disturbing anything, Sweetheart.  We’re just noodling around.”  He fingered the shirt she was wearing “raiding my side of the closet again, I see.”

She couldn’t help but smile, the black button down was a favorite of hers and she made no excuses for it.  “You know I love this shirt.”

Richie tugged her over to sit on his lap.  Glancing down at her he caught a glimpse of lace and silk where the shirt gaped when she moved.  “Well you certainly fill it out better than I do.”

Jon looked up and set his pencil down on the pad of paper and smiled at the two of them.  It was nice to see them with smiles on their faces.  He’d been here for a few days and this was the first light-hearted moment he had witnessed between the two of them.  Sadness still lingered around Stephanie’s eyes and his friend wasn’t quite his usual jovial self, but they were getting there.  Slow and steady would go a long way toward them winning this race.  “How was the dedication?”  She had mentioned the habitat ceremony shortly after he had arrived.

Stephanie aimed her smile at Jon and shifted to move off Richie’s lap.  He held her fast, she wasn’t going anywhere.  “It was good.  It’s always a little bittersweet to hand the keys over to a deserving family.  But they were genuinely grateful for all the work that was put in to it.”   She thought again about the little girl and her baby brother and squirmed on Richie’s lap.
 

He tightened his grip, “what’s wrong?”

She sighed, “they had kids.  A girl maybe 3 years old and a baby boy that couldn’t have been more than six months.”  She wrapped her arm around Richie’s neck and rested her forehead against his temple.  “Everywhere I went today there were babies and toddlers.  It was a little disconcerting.”  She pressed her lips to Richie’s cheek in a quick peck.  “If you let me up I can go fix dinner.”  And she needed a minute to gather herself and clear her head.

Richie turned his head and his lips found hers in a reassuring kiss before letting her up.  “We could order in or go out somewhere if you’d rather.”

She stood and shook her head, “I stopped and picked some stuff up.  I hope you both like salmon.”

At their affirmative nods she turned to head back inside, “thirty minutes, give or take.”

Richie watched her leave before turning his attention back to his friend.  “What?”  He wasn’t sure what the look on his friend’s face was all about.

“Is she really okay?”

Richie picked up his guitar again, “yeah.  Or least she’s better than she was.  We’ve been talking about maybe trying to have a baby.  Actually working at it, you know.  Not just ‘oops, I’m pregnant’ but planning it out and everything.”

Jon’s eyebrows rose in surprise.  “You do realize you’re over 50 now, right?  You’ll be like 70-whatever come high school graduation.”

Richie flipped him off.  “Fuck you.  It don’t matter.  She hasn’t decided what she wants yet and I’m not pushing the matter.  If it happens, fine.  If it doesn’t fine, but that’ll be up to her.”  He strummed his guitar.  “You got anything worth anything over there?”

Jon picked up his pencil again, “not really.” He smirked, “maybe we should start on a baby-making song for the two of you?”

Richie chuckled and picked up one of the crumpled balls of paper that littered the table and threw it at his partner.  “Asshole.”

~

Richie pushed open their bedroom door, fully expecting to find Stephanie asleep.  She had disappeared when he and Jon had started talking business again.  He didn’t blame her. This part of the album making process wasn’t as exciting as it sounded. 

He pulled his shirt over his head as he crossed the room and nearly walked right into her as she was coming out of the bathroom.  Dropping his shirt he gripped her arms to steady her.  “Sorry Sweetheart.”

She found her legs and managed not to collapse into him.  “You shouldn’t walk and undress,” her fingers drifted over his chest.  “It isn’t safe for anyone.”  Her eyes lingered on his broad, tanned chest.  She loved his chest.

He chuckled and lifted her off her feet.  “I figured you’d be sleeping, not lurking around the bathroom.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.  “When nature calls you don’t ignore the ring.”

He laughed again and walked toward the bed, his hands caressing her bottom.  He stopped at the side of the bed.  His hands slid over the silky panties she wore under his shirt.  “Whatchya wearing under my shirt little girl?”

Her arms left his neck and her fingers hovered over one of the few buttons that was done up.  “You don’t wanna guess?”

His hands slid higher on her butt, his fingers encountering the keyhole and bow at the top of her ass.  His eyes darkened and he voice went husky.  “Tell me.”

She undid the buttons, “think Valentine’s Day.”  She shrugged out of the shirt, letting it fall to the floor.

Without a word he laid her back on the bed and loomed over her.  The creamy pink with deep burgundy lace was a particular favorite of his.  He trailed a finger down her chest, his touch butterfly light over the swell of her breasts.  “You know this is a particular favorite of mine.”

She nodded, “I do know that.”

His fingers slid lower, tracing the lacy edge of her panties.  “You sure about this?”  They hadn’t been intimate since before the miscarriage.  He hadn’t wanted to push her and she hadn’t seemed interested.  “Are you okay?”  His fingers continued their tortuously light caress across the line of her underwear.

She squirmed under his touch and her brows beetled in confusion.  “Oka-?”  Then she understood.  “Got the all clear from the doc.  We’re good to go.”

He dropped to his knees by the side of the bed, his fingers hooked into the side of her panties.  “As long as you’re sure…”

She nodded and he tugged her pretty underwear down her legs and spread her knees wide.  He licked his lips and nibbled his way up her inner thigh.  “I’ve missed you, darlin’.”

“I’ve missed you-oh-“ his tongue swept over her from the top of her slit to the bottom.  “Too” she managed when she could breathe again.

She writhed on the bed beneath him as he rediscovered every inch of her and drove her to near insanity with his mouth.  When he finally dragged himself off the floor she lay like a limp rag doll on the bed. 

“You still alive?”  He peeled his jeans off and crawled up on the bed next to her.

She moved her head in somewhat of a nod.  “I think, maybe.  Not sure.”  She found the energy to move and crawled over to straddle him.  “You’re way too good at that” she told him as she leaned down and stole a kiss from him.
 

Reaching behind her, practiced fingers unclasped her bra as he rolled them over again.  Letting go of her mouth, he rose to his knees and reached to the night table for a condom.

Moment of truth she thought as she watched him.  Did she make him wear it or not?  Her hand rose and circled his erection, he was so hard, so ready to give them both untold pleasure and, maybe create a new life.  Is this what she really wanted?  She stroked him lightly and looked up, finding his eyes steady on hers, the condom still tucked between his fingers. 

“It’s your call” he said hoarsely as she continued to stroke him.

Unconsciously she reached out and plucked the foil packet from his fingers and tossed it across the bed.  “Come here” she whispered as she tugged gently, directing him where she wanted him.

He didn’t question, he simply lowered himself over her and let her guide him.  They both shuddered when the broad, wet tip of his cock brushed over her and dipped into her.  

Finding her hand he tangled his fingers with hers as he slowly slid all the way inside of her.  “Fuck” he growled in her ear.  “So fucking good.”  He closed his eyes against the rush of pleasure.  She always felt so damn good around him.  He pumped his hips slowly, watching the tell-tale signs of her orgasm creep across her face and body.  When her breath hitched he pumped his hips faster, harder.  His lips slid down her face, to nip at her neck.  “Come on, darlin’” he murmured.  His release raced up his legs, gathering at the base of his spine.  He shifted his hips, the coarse hair at the base of his cock coming into contact with her clit.  She came apart with a hoarse sob and as she bore down on him he let go, pumping his hips erratically, spilling deep inside her.

Holding her close, he rolled to his side, still buried inside her.  Grappling with the blankets, he managed to get them both under the covers.  She shifted against him and he pressed his lips to her forehead.  “You’ve been awfully quiet, Sweetheart.  You okay?”

She nodded her head against his chest.  “Oh yeah.  Never better.”

He chuckled and ran his hand down her arm, pulling the blankets higher.  His fingers coming in contact with the still unopened condom.  Holding it up, he looked down at her.  “You sure about this?”  Last he knew they hadn’t come to a decision one way or the other on the great baby debate.

She opened her eyes to see what he was talking about and her eyes landed on the little foil packet in his hand.  “We said whatever happens, happens.  Right?”

He happily tossed the packet over the side of the bed. He’d get it later.  “That we did, baby, that we did.”

She settled back against him and closed her eyes.  With her track record in the baby-making department, she was sure she had nothing to worry about.