Standing in the doorway, Richie
sipped his coffee and watched her sleep. It was unusual for him to be up
and about before she was, but it was Christmas after all and they had things to
do and somewhere to fly off to later. But he lingered for a moment longer
before crossing the room and settling on the edge of her side of the bed.
He hated to have to wake her. She had put in a lot of hours in the
last few weeks getting the last habitat house done in time to deliver it to the
homeowners for the holidays. And she had accompanied him to every charitable
function on his calendar over the last few weeks.
Then last night she had wanted
to go to Mass. St. Bernardine’s in Woodland Hills had had a midnight
service for Christmas Eve so, they went. She had been a little emotional
after the poignant service when she had taken a moment to light a candle and
say a prayer for Ben and Mark. It had been late when they got back and
even later when they had finally made it to bed. It was a rough time of
year for her and everything seemed to be happening all at once.
It was no wonder she was still
sleeping.
He set his coffee mug on the
night table. The week away would do her good. He adjusted the
blankets, his fingers lingering on her shoulder, tracing light circles on her
soft skin. It would do them both good. He tucked her hair back away
from her face, skimming his thumb across the crest of her cheek. He
watched her for another minute before giving her shoulder a gentle nudge.
“Sweetheart.”
When she didn’t move, he gave
her another gentle shake and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.
She moaned quietly and her eyes
slowly fluttered open. “Mmm.” Her eyes were still slightly
unfocused but she could make out her handsome morning wake up call. “My
own personal prince coming to wake me up with a kiss.” Drawing her arms
up from under the blankets she pushed her hair back from her face, smiled and
stretched. “Good morning.”
Richie took the hand closest to
him and kissed her fingertips. “Good morning yourself sleepyhead.”
He kissed her again. “And Merry Christmas.”
With her free hand she rubbed
her eyes. “Merry Christmas to-” she trailed off when she noticed his
shirt. “Nice shirt, Rich.” It was Christmas green and in bold red
letters it stated I’m Not Santa, But You Can Sit On My Lap.”
He snickered. “What, you
don’t like it?”
She couldn’t help the giggle
that escaped. “It’s totally you.” She pushed back the blankets,
intending to get out of bed.
“You should see Ma’s.” He
helped her stand. “Hers says Merry Elfin Christmas and it has a
big Santa head on it. It’s tradition around here. We wear
ridiculous Christmas t-shirts on Christmas Day, ma makes brunch and we open
gifts before heading out to the airport to fly off to our separate corners of
the earth.”
She wrapped her arms around
him, resting her cheek against his chest and giving him a quick squeeze.
“I guess it’s a good thing I have a shirt of my own to wear today.”
One well groomed eyebrow rose
in question and surprise. “You do? Where is it? I wanna see
it.”
She laughed and nudged him
toward the door. “You’ll see it when I come downstairs. I’m going
to take a quick shower. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“I could wash your back for
you” he grinned, waggled his eyebrows at her and made to take a step toward the
bathroom.
She laughed and shoved him
away, “go. I think I can manage to get myself clean this morning.”
Normally she would have taken him up on his very generous offer, but his
mother and Ava were downstairs waiting.
“Okay, okay” he put his hands
up in mock surrender. “I know when I’m not wanted.” He pressed a
kiss to her forehead. “Hurry up, Sweetheart, presents wait for no one.”
She was still quietly laughing
as she closed herself in the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and pulled
off her cami and panties. Just as she was about to sit down on the
commode she noticed the empty toilet paper roll. Really, Rich?
You couldn’t put out a new roll? With a resigned sigh, she
opened the cabinet under the vanity and grabbed a fresh roll. The box
next to the toilet paper had her pausing. When had she had her period
last? Straightening, she hurried back into the bedroom and opened the
calendar app on her phone. Doing a little figuring, she hurried back to
the bathroom. Opening the cabinet, she grabbed a different box. She
was determined not to get her hopes up, but she was late and this would make an
excellent surprise Christmas present for one very persistent guitar player.
Ripping open the package, she
quickly sat down on the toilet and peed on the stick.
Grabbing a couple squares of
charmin, she set the stick on the counter and quickly turned toward the shower.
She knew the routine. Three minutes, and the window would either
say pregnant or not pregnant. It could take less, but she
was going to give it the full three minutes before peeking. She showered
quickly, dried off and slicked on lotion, all without checking. She
combed out her hair and couldn’t stand the suspense anymore. She peeked.
Pregnant.
Oh My God. Oh My God.
Oh My God. She couldn’t stop the grin or the happy little jig her
feet were intent on doing. Richie was going to be ecstatic. She
couldn’t wait to run right down and tell him. She took a step toward the
door and then she stopped and took a deep breath. She couldn’t tell him
yet. Not in front of his mother and Ava.
No, she needed to tell him when they were alone so they could have a
little time to let it sink in and celebrate before they spread the news around.
She wrapped the little stick in
the toilet paper and tucked it into her toiletry travel bag. She’d tell him
later, once they got to Hawaii and could escape and be alone for a few minutes.
She hurried and dried her hair
and pulled on her favorite Victoria’s Secret boyfriend pants and her Christmas
t-shirt. A smile kept tugging at the corners of her mouth. How was
she going to keep this secret, even for a few hours?
She practiced her yoga
breathing all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. It was going
to be a long day.
~
“What’s going on with you
today?” Richie asked her as they settled into their seats for their flight to
Hawaii. She had been just a little too giddy almost today. It
wasn’t like her to be so happy and smiley for the entire day. She had been
more than a little chatty too. It was almost like she was hyped up on speed
or something. But he knew she didn’t do
that kind of thing. Or she was trying to hide something from him.
He frowned at that thought. He didn’t like the idea of her keeping
things from him.
She was studying the two new
charms on her bracelet. Richie had given her a snowflake, “it’s the
closest to the real thing I can give you out here” he had told her. He
had also given her a silver bead with a butterfly dangling from it. It
was the Love takes Flight charm he said. “Because you make my heart
soar” he told her and her emotions had nearly gotten the better of her.
She almost hated herself for keeping her secret. Finding her
resolve to wait just a little bit longer, she fastened her seatbelt and turned
to face him. “Nothing, why? And why are you frowning?”
“You’ve been, I don’t know,
‘on’ all day.” He fastened his seatbelt as the plane started to move.
“You’re not normally so chatty and smiley.”
“Well, it is Christmas, what’s
not to be happy about?” she said and she leaned into him, pressing her breasts
against his arm, “I’m also a little horny.” Her eyes darted across the
aisle, Ava had her headphones in. Good. She wasn’t paying them any
attention. She let her fingers wander up the inside of his thigh, coming
to rest dangerously close to his rapidly waking cock. “You going to find
fault with that too?”
His hand quickly covered hers
and brought it to his lips. “Not a chance, but you know you have to wait,
right?” There would be no mile high club action on this flight.
She grinned, evilly. “I
know, but I can play a little, can’t I?” She nipped his earlobe to prove
her point.
He leaned in and captured her
lips. “Be nice, Sweetheart. Or I may not be later.”
She sighed and laid her head on
his shoulder, “fine.” She drew her hand from his and walked her fingers
down his chest. “I’ll be good.”
He grabbed her fingers again
before they could reach his belt. “Sweetheart” he said on a laugh, “you
are gonna be the death of me today.”
By the time they landed, he was
hard as a rock, her panties were drenched and Ava thought they were both out of
their minds. “God how old are you guys? Get a room already” she
grumbled as she brushed by them to get in the car. They were worse than
kids her age. She rolled her eyes when they got in the car and stuck her
headphones back in her ears. At least she didn’t have to listen to them
for much longer.
Ava disappeared as soon as
Richie had the door unlocked and the alarm deactivated. He took their
things up to their room, Stephanie followed close on his heels. As much
as she wanted to throw him on the bed and ride him until the cows came home,
she was bursting to tell him her news.
She paused in the doorway.
This was the third time he had brought her here and this room still took
her breath. It was done in every shade of blue from the palest watery hue
to the deepest of midnights. She was drawn, as always, past the wide bed
with its gauzy canopy to the balcony doors and the stunning view of their
private strip of sugary white sand and deep blue water.
Richie moved up behind her and
wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “I’m going to have you”
he growled low in her ear, “right here,” he was still hard and he pressed his
hips against her, “right now.”
She had barely nodded when his
hand moved to the latch on the door and he urged her out onto the balcony and
up to the railing. Setting her hands on the railing he reached for the
tie on her pants. “Don’t move.” Her pants slid low on her hips and
his fingers eased them down further, leaving them to pool at her knees.
He drew a light trail up her leg, his fingers inching inside her panties.
She wiggled her legs, trying to
widen her stance. Wanting to give him more room. Wishing he would
hurry up already. The light, stinging slap on her ass had her whipping
her head around. “Hey!”
His eyes had darkened to a rich
chocolate and the gleam was slightly evil. His grin matched the gleam
in his eyes. “Stop moving.”
She licked her lips, “but I
wanted-”
He moved his fingers over her
clit and up inside her. “Is that what you wanted?”
She groaned and pushed her hips
back, “that’s a little better.” Even now she managed to find a little bit
of sass for him. It earned her ass another smack.
“Only a little?” He
pulled his hand away, taking her panties with him.
When she felt him moving behind
her, she gripped the railing tighter, hoping he wasn’t going to make her wait
much longer.
He didn’t. He gripped her
hips and impaled her with one steady thrust. His head dropped back in
ecstasy at the feel of her rippling and tightening around him. “Fuck,
darlin’.”
She pushed back against him, “I
could say the same.” She gasped when he
pulled out and pushed back in. “God.”
He bent over her, pushing at
her hair, nipping at her ear. “No,
darlin’, it’s Richie” he chuckled quietly.
And with a flurry of frantic thrusts, he took them both over and into
blissful ecstasy.
Several long, breath catching
moments later, he straightened and pulled away from her. Righting his clothes he helped her and drew
her over to one of the chaises. Cuddled
together he tucked her hair back away from her face and lightly kissed her
jaw. “I didn’t hurt you did I,
Sweetheart?”
She shook her head, “no, I’m
just” she turned and pressed her lips to his.
“I’m not sure I can think straight yet.”
They lay tangled together,
listening to the surf, watching the stars.
His hand moved and settled low on her belly and she started, remembering. She popped up, nearly beaning him in the chin
with her head. “I almost forgot!”
“Forgot what?” He had no idea what she could be talking
about.
She moved quickly, nearly
falling off the chair in her haste to stand.
“I’ve got something for you.”
She started for the door and stopped, turning back to him, “don’t move.”
He just smiled and made himself
more comfortable on the chaise. “I’m not
going anywhere.”
She hurried inside and into the
bathroom. Rummaging in her bag she found
what she was looking for. Stopping to
rifle through his carry on, she found his glasses and headed back outside. She slipped the tissue-wrapped pee stick into
her pocket and crossed to him. She
cocked her head and looked at him for a moment.
His eyes were closed and he looked completely and utterly relaxed. She bit her lower lip, “hey.”
He opened his eyes. “Hey yourself sweetheart.” He noticed she had something in her
hand. “Whatcha got there?”
She looked down at her hand and
stretched out her hand to him, “I thought you might need these to see your gift.”
His brows furrowed, “you got me
something to read?”
“Sort of” she said as she
straddled him on the chaise. “Put them
on” she urged.
He did as she asked, “well.”
She reached into her pocket and
pulled out the tissue-wrapped stick. “Here”
she held it out to him.
Their fingers brushed when he
took the item from her. She watched his
face as he unwrapped it and studied it. There
was a sheen of wet in his eyes when he looked up at her and the smile lit up
his whole face. “Really, Sweetheart?”
She nodded. Her smiled matched his.
“When did you-?” How long as she known?
“This morning. But I didn’t want to tell you until we were
alone.”
Taking off his glasses he set
them and the stick aside. “Come here” he
reached for her and pulled her down next to him. “Best gift ever” he murmured in her ear as he
drew her against him.
She settled her arm over his
where it cradled her stomach. “Rich” she
whispered.
“Hmm, what?”
She angled her head up, “I’m going
to be careful this time. I promise to
take it easy and not work so hard.” She didn’t
want anything to go wrong this time.
“Shh” he soothed her. “Everything is going to be fine, Sweetheart.”
Laying there, she realized he
was right. Somehow she knew that even
though she would worry, everything really was going to be okay this time.
♪♪♪♪♪♪
