The first week with Evan, was as expected. He would cry we would feed him, change him or just hold him. It wasn't a big deal. Elliot and I thought it was because he just came home that he cried a lot but the following weeks we found out that he's wasn't one of those easy babies. No definitely not one of those. His cry wasn't a soft cry either. He was either sleeping, eating or crying bloody murder. The first week, although the labor still had me sore, was somewhat easy. That's when he least cried. Elliot always got up when I did and as much as I appreciate him always helping it wasn't very smart on our part because that just meant we were exhausted together. And when I wasn't sleeping I was working out.
Isabelle spent two weeks sleeping at other houses. She didn't want to leave Carrick or Grace for a week. They were more than happy to take her. When that week was done Amy's family invited her to Amy's grandparents house in Portland for five days. Then she abandoned us for another four days when Mia and Luke took her to go visit Luke's parents. I almost said no but she was all packed and ready to go when I woke up from my nap. Truth be old Elliot and I were exhausted. But she will be back later tonight and she'll spend her last week of summer with us before having to go back to school. I'm just excited to see my girl.
Since Elliot and I have recently, two days ago, discovered the wonderful invention of breast pumping, we didn't even think of that until then, we actually take turns now. I was able to wake up late while Elliot fed the baby. So now that he's asleep and I'm finally rested, I make my way down stairs. Damn. My house is a mess. I spent most of the morning doing laundry and cleaning. I heard Evan wake up and after feeding him he fell asleep again. Once my house was in order agin, I went up stairs to take a shower. I put some make up on and went downstairs. I checked the calendar and realized that today was Elliot's birthday.
"Elliot. Baby I'll be back soon. I have to buy some groceries." I whispered to him. He mumbled something and pet my head. Just incase he forgot I left him a note.
Andy met me at the mall an hour later.
"Hey. You look better." She says sitting down at a coffee shop. "How's Evan?" She says moving his blanket so she can see him.
"He's fine. Cries non stop but he's cute as a button. It's Elliot's birthday today." I tell her.
"Yea? What are you doing? No birthday sex for him." She asks. I chuckle. I'm sure he would love to have sex and I would too. It would be a nice way to unwind. Only four more weeks.
"I don't know. His family is coming later. But honestly I didn't remember until I called you. I've been tired." She takes Evan from his carrier.
"I can tell. You don't look as tired as you did a few days ago but still. Get him that watch he wanted. He was hinting at it for weeks." Elliot was giving me not so subtle hints that he wanted a Rolex watch lately. I've ignored him so he thought I didn't care but I really wanted him to be surprised.
"I know. I already did. I came to get him some new clothes and some running shoes. Not that he'll use them soon with a fussy baby. We've been holed up in our room lately. But we made a routine so it should be better for a while. And I need new bras."
"I noticed." She says winking at me. After a few more minutes we went out to buy some new clothes. Even though I was no where near my pre-baby body I still wanted to look good for Elliot on his birthday so I bought new skinny jeans and shirt that looked good even though I still had too much flab on my stomach. But I did get some new wedges I could wear. "Have you guys talked about actually getting married?" She asked me on our way to a store.
"Not really. We haven't talked about anything lately besides how tired we are. But at least we haven't fought. He asked if we wanted a nanny to help me when we have to go to work."
"What did you say?" She asked picking out a shirt.
"I said no. Obviously. I'm not comfortable having someone else raise my baby. So I'm going to ask him what he thinks about me taking sometime off work. I didn't know how much work an infant would need. Then there's the house and Isabelle and Elliot. I don't think I can do it all. I know people do but if we have the means to live on one parent I kind of want to take advantage of it. What do you think?"
"You were meant to be a house wife. If that's what you want you should. And Elliot will be happy to have you at home. It will be good for you. It's not like he'll say no. What do you have to talk about?" She says looking at me.
"I don't want him to think I'm taking advantage of him. That I'm some... Gold digger." I avoid looking at her.
"You're not. He knows you're not. You have money of your own. Stop thinking about the past. Worry about now and how the hell you're going to make up to your fiancé for no birthday sex."
"Oral dear best friend. We still have that." I say walking away.
"Whats he like? Because I mean he's a big guy. Not in a bad way, like he's pretty cut. I saw him with his shirt off when we went to swim at your house a few weeks ago and let me just say wow. And that was only half his body. Plus you're so small. How big is he?" I laugh out loud.
"He's good. In every form possible. It hurt at first. It felt like losing your virginity because he was big and it had been a long time but once I got used to it... My friend you are missing out." I say laughing. I really missed our girl days like this. I move the stroller between clothing racks and see Evan is still asleep. Maybe it's the motion. I should walk with him around the street more often.
"No thanks. I have my husband. I was just asking you know." I nod my head. "How's Isabelle dealing with the new baby?"
"She's... Well she's been away for a few weeks so we haven't seen her. I think I saw her like three times in the past two weeks. She's coming home today though. I'm glad, I miss her. When's she's here she likes to be around Evan so I guess that's a good sign. Can we got to a men's store to get Elliot some stuff?"
"Sure." We pick out some plain shirts and new jeans for him. I see a few men at the store. One started hitting on me until he saw I had a baby. I was glad though he was standing way too close. When we walked out of the store I looked at another man. He looked so familiar. Something about his green eyes and dark hair. I should know who he is. I saw him in another store that day. Maybe that's where I knew him from. Andy didn't know him either so I brushed it off.
An hour later I was on my way home. I was surprised that Elliot hadn't called yet. I was even more surprised that he wasn't still sleeping. But then again it was four in the afternoon. After nursing Evan again, I set him down and took the baby monitor with me to find Elliot. I know he's here because Luke's car is here. I found them all in the pool. Isabelle and Mia were sitting on lawn chairs while Luke and Elliot did some laps. "Mommy! I missed you." Isabelle said hugging my legs. I grunted when I picked her up but at least I could do it again. Barely.
"I missed you too baby. Are you gonna be with me now? You left me for so long." I said pouting.
"Yes I'll stay with you now. But you got to play with Evan." I sat down with her on my lap.
"I know, did you have fun?"
"Yes I did. I got to see uncle Luke's mommy and daddy. And I saw Amy for a long time we had like three sleepovers. And I saw her at the wedding too because you told her mommy to go but you didn't get married and she said Evan is so cute."
"Wow you did a lot of stuff. I bet you didn't even miss me or daddy."
"I did too miss you." She said hugging me tighter.
"Did you say happy birthday to daddy yet?" She shouted happy birthday to him and he smiled. He swam over to the edge of the pool closest to me. I walked over and kneeled where there was no water.
"Hey. You look well rested." I commented noticing that his eyes no longer had bags and he wasn't moving at a slow pace like he was a few days ago.
"I should be, I slept for 10 hours."
"Good you deserved it." I say combing his wet hair with my fingers.
"How was he today?" He said looking at Evan in his stroller.
"Good. Quiet, asleep. We should take him out more often." I say.
"We will. I'm going crazy in here too. I wish you would have woken me."
"I tried but you didn't get up. Anyways I had some grocery shopping to do."
"Did you buy food because there isn't any here."
"I did." I said chuckling at how sad he sounds. "Happy birthday." I say softly.
"Thanks baby. Don't I get a kiss?" He says winking at me.
"Yes. But you have to get out. And wear a towel. I'll met you in the kitchen." I say before I walk away. I hear him swim to the stairs where all the towels are. Once in the kitchen I hand him a beer and watch as he drinks it and eyes me lustfully. Four more weeks. He sets the bottle down looking into my eyes. I lick my lips and he steps forward until his chest is barely touching mine. "Happy birthday Elliot." I tell him. He places his hands so he's gripping the counter on either side of me. He leans down to press a kiss on my lips lightly once, twice.
"Thank you." He says before pulling back. That's it? I came inside thinking, hoping we would end up having a make out session and that's all I get?
He places his hands at the nape of my neck and leans in again. His lips are soft against mine. I've missed him. I've spent so much time with him lately but it feels as if we aren't together. Like we are in a zombie-like state. Besides bonding over little moments with Evan, we haven't interacted well. Truth be told I missed this. After what feels like the most excruciatingly slow kiss he pulls back. "I'm really wet." I tell him.
"You can't say that to me. Not for another four weeks." He says not letting me go.
"Your swim trunks got me wet." He looks down to see my jeans that are soaked in the front. We chuckle. "I love you Elliot." I say before reaching up to kiss him again. He doesn't let me go. Since I'm already wet, he just wraps his arms around me. Just as I'm getting comfortable we hear Evan on the monitor waking up. "Enjoy your birthday baby. I got it."
"Are you sure?" I nod my head giving him another long kiss before leaving.
"Hi baby." I tell Evan walking into his room. "You have been quite a handful the last couple of days. Making me and daddy tired. But you are the cutest baby I've ever seen so I forgive you. Let's go say hi to daddy." I tell him after I have changed his diaper. I get him into a onesie and head down to the pool. I sit on the lawn chair watching Elliot try to coax Isabelle into getting into the water. She wasn't having it though.
"Come on Isabelle it's going to be fun."
"No I can't swim." She said.
"Isabelle he's gonna catch you. Just jump in." I told her. She was thinking about it. I set Evan on his stroller and went to where Isabelle was near the edge of the pool. "Give me your hands I'll lower you in the pool, daddy can catch you. He won't let go I promise." She sat with her feet in and put her hands up so I could grab them. Once she let me go she wrapped her arms around Elliot. When I was sure she was okay I went back to my baby. I watched as Elliot attempted to teach her how to swim. It wasn't really working though because she was unwilling to let him go. But at least she was in the water. We've tried to get her to get in all summer and she only went in the hot tub. I called for George to sit next to me. An hour later the water was cold so they had to get out. Mia, who was inside offered to take Isabelle and get her ready while I "fed" Evan. He was asleep I just wanted to have a moment with Elliot.
As he was getting out of the shower in a towel I went behind him to give him a hug. He lifted me on the counter of the bathroom and stood between my legs. I took his towel off before he had a chance to protest. It was his birthday after all.
"Lina we can't." He said grabbing my wrists when they were at his stomach. Fuck he looked good.
"No we can't. But you can." I said before I moved forward and pressed my chest against his. I pulled his head down so I could kiss him and he responded immediately parting his lips. I pushed my tongue into his mouth tasting him. He put his hands on my thighs but I moved them, I can't take him touching me with out needing release. I pulled on his bottom lip with my teeth while moving my hands to his pecks then his abs. As our lips moved my hands moved to his hardening member. I wrapped my hand around him. I started stroking him up and down. I felt his breathing become shallow and my hand moved slowly feeling every inch of him. He pulled his face away from mine and looked down at what my hand was doing. I watched his face as his lips parted and when his hands moved on my body I stopped him again. "You can't touch me. I don't want to be teased and we both know I can't." I said with a shaky breath.
I continued with my hands where I left off. The more shallow his breathing got the harder he got and when I knew he would come I stopped. That really didn't sit well with him. I got off the counter and kissed him before he got upset. I kissed his chin his neck and my lips made their way to his pecks. I swirled my tongue over his left then his right nipple. I pushed him lightly so his back was against the wall and ran my tongue over the skin on his chest. His face looked shocked when I was suddenly on my knees in front of him. "You don't..." He said pulling my head back. Before he could continue the thought I licked his tip. Just as salty as I remember. "Baby it's okay. I don't want you to feel forced-" he lost his train of though when I pull his hips forward and push him into my mouth.
I suck and pull out then move my tongue over his tip. I feel his hand fist into my hair. I cup his balls and move them so he starts groaning. I keep doing this until I feel his hand tighten on my hair. He's close. I remember what he used to do when he sucked on my nipples. I push him in as far as I can, suck then pull out. I blow air around his dick and his grip tightens even more. I hear him curse. Push in, suck, lick and blow. After a few seconds I open my eyes and look up at him. He's closing his eyes and breathing rapidly. "Just like that Lina." I hear him moan.
"Lina I'm coming baby." He says. I start pushing him in and sucking harder, faster. Deeper and watch as he throws his head back before releasing into my mouth. I swallow as I try to push him in more. As he's coming off his high I slow the movements on my mouth until I feel him soften inside me. I kiss him from his base to his tip and stand up. I stand facing him and we are both breathing hard.
I lick my lips. "Happy birthday." I say.
"Thanks."
"You should get dressed. Everyone is downstairs." He nods his head. As I'm walking out he grabs my hand turning me and pressing his lips against my hard.
"I love you." He says. I smile then get out of his reach. Once I close the bedroom door I take a deep breathe to try to calm my body. I miss sex.
"Lina dear are you okay?" Grace asks me as I find her in Evan's room.
"Yea I was just changing. Elliot should be down in a minute. Thank you by the way for taking care of the food today."
"Anytime dear. I know how tired you both must be. Elliot tells me Evan has been fussy." Understatement of the year.
"Yeah I was breast feeding him but now I can use the breast pump so I have Elliot to help me." Maybe that was too much info.
"Did he not help you before? I told him he is just as responsible for the baby as you so he should get a fair share of the work."
"Oh no Grace, he's been amazing but it's just that I would feed the baby and Elliot would stay up with me but now we have a set way to do it. It's fine really he's been a big help." Which is true.
"Well I just came up to tell you both that if you ever need anything, to talk, or just a night off from one or both kids Carrick and I would love to help. The house is very lonely with out Mia." Poor Grace.
"Well thank you. I'm sure in the future I'll take you up on that. And the same goes to you and Carrick. You can always just come over. Isabelle loves you both. So do I. I want my kids to be close to their family. We should head downstairs." She nods her head and I follow her lead. We find everyone in the patio sitting in our outdoor table. I guess that's where we are having dinner. The only person missing now is Elliot.
A short while later he takes the seat next to me and Isabelle. Evan is next to Grace who "doesn't see him enough". Elliot looked really happy during the evening. He drank a few beers and teased Mia endlessly. Of course Mia teased back about his age and how old he was.
"What was it like that you had your first child at age 30 Elliot?" He had a serious face on.
"Well Isabelle is almost six. So it's like I had her when I was 25. That's still before Christian." I never really cared about age like that but when he puts it that ways it's like I "had" Isabelle when I was 21. Makes me feel young.
"So I brought you some home videos of Elliot. I think that since this is the first time you guys spend a birthday together it makes sense to see what he did the last 31 years." Says Mia. I chuckle lightly and we all head inside. She really went all out with this. Starting with a video of him with his birth parents. He wouldn't admit it but he did get a bit emotional. He looked like his parents so much. The perfect combination. Then it went on to the first time he spent Christmas with Christian. They didn't look too happy because they had to share the attention. When he had no front teeth. Then it went on to when he first met Mia. He threw a complete fit saying he didn't want another sibling. Especially not a girl. There was videos of his guitar, judo and Spanish lessons as a kid. Boy Scouts.
Then it went on to his teen years. He had braces. There was a video of Christian walking in with the camera and Elliot was measuring his penis. I had to cover Isabelle's eyes for that. She didn't see though. "Seriously Elliot?" I asked him laughing.
"I has the biggest one in the sixth grade. I was making sure it was getting ready for seventh." He said. The next video was of him looking at his muscles in the mirror. There weren't any. His first middle school dance. His first date that Grace was recording from the car in tears. Him talking on the phone in the living room. And what was apparently his first kiss. It was with some dumb brunette with pigtails. They were at his twelfth birthday party playing spin the bottle. His eighth grade promotion. First day of high school. Winning state football title. And going to league finals in swim. His first speedo. Junior and senior prom. Another dumb bimbo. Then his graduation where he gave the valedictorian speech. I didn't know he was high school valedictorian. When it was over everyone clapped and Elliot just kissed my temple. "The best times of my life have all happened in the past year. Because you you three." He whispers. And I believe him because I couldn't agree more.
"Well as you know Elliot and I met our last year of high school and then we went to Washington state together. We were total pussies and even became roomies, so I have a few more to add to this." Scott his best friend said putting in a new DVD. Oh god. I can only imagine what's on it. It's starts with a video of them a a toga party. Then Scott and Elliot joining some fraternity. I didn't know he was in one. Then it shows them with girls, lots of girls. Most of them have big boobs, long legs, flat stomachs. Everything I'm not right now. I try to ignore that. There are videos of Elliot drunk passing out in the lawn. Threatening Mia's boyfriends. Fighting with Christian.
Then it goes to his graduations. Undergrad and graduate study. It shows articles with Scott narrating about how Grey construction began and how they use special green materials only. Him at coping together. It shows a few girls much like the other ones in the video but none seem to last.
It shows how he went to help overseas with the disaster relief. He backpacked through Europe. Went to Africa, Barbados, Mexico, China, and Australia. Donated toys and money and time and so much more to kids in third world countries. It has pictures of him building his house and dozens of other building. More expanding of his business. Some with Mia and Christian and so many with Grace and Carrick. And more perfectly sculpted girls. Then it goes to his 30th birthday last year with Ana and Christian. And a cropped out Kate. I had to chuckle at that. Then it shows his first picture with Isabelle. She's barely smiling as he holds out some ice cream for her. It has a video of her being afraid of a spider and running to him for help. He picks her up and saves her. Then there's one of me and him at his parents house. I remember taking that picture of us. One of him at thanksgivings with Isabelle. Then us at Christmas and the coping together picture we took. Our New Years kiss.
The last minute of the slide show is of me and him. Our engagement video. Us in an ultrasound appointment. His first Father's Day. The last video is of our little family at the hospital. Isabelle is watching Evan whom I'm carrying, and Elliot is kissing my head. "See the best part is you." He says. I rest my head on his shoulder. Then one last video of when he was born.
As I sit watching Elliot's family leave I notice that there is so much about him that I don't know. That I want to know. I miss so much of his life but he also missed mine. I stand to say good bye to everyone. I walk with Isabelle and carry Evan upstairs for bed. I lay Isabelle in her bed and tuck her in. Evan is due for a feeding.
I sit in our bedroom, undo the bra and he latches on quickly. He has his eyes open and they are just like Elliot's. A perfect clear blue. Elliot walks in and closes the bedroom door. I watch Evan nurse as his eyes start closing slowly. He stops sucking so I touch his cheek and he starts again. Elliot gets under the covers watching me. It used to make me nervous but he does it so often I'm used to it now. I hand the baby to Elliot so he can burp him while I get dressed.
When I get back to our room I pick Evan up from Elliot's chest take him to his room. After turning on the monitor I head back to Elliot and snuggle up to his side. He's asleep but still manages to wrap an arm around me.
Isabelle started school the following week and she was really excited. I was due back in work in a month hut I hadn't talk to Elliot about staying home for a year. After almost a year of having Isabelle in his custody Elliot finally was going to file the paper work to formally adopt her.
God a year? I feel like it's been longer than that.
A month after i gave birth I was planning Isabelle's birthday party when I got a call I wasn't expecting.
"Hello Carolina, this is Jessica. I wanted to know if you could come in to the office today so I can talk to you about something. It's about an old case you had."
"Yea I'll go in about two hours." She thanked me and hung up. I left Evan in the capable hands of Mia as I went to the office. I didn't think much of it because I knew that all my cases would have to be transferred to a new person so I figured they had some questions.
When I was outside the office I quickly saw that it wasn't a little question. Outside the building was police officers and detectives. I tried to walk in the building but I needed Clarence. Jessica came out to walk me inside.
"What's going on?" She gave me a look that said to not ask. When we turned a corner to what was my office I saw there was a body on the floor. It was covered with some fabric so I couldn't see who it was. Honestly I was glad to not see. I thought we were going to my office but we ended up in a different room. She closed the door and asked me to take a seat. She sat in front of me taking a few deep breathes.
"Someone broke in yesterday. We don't know who. They killed the guy working in the security office." Our office had cameras because this was a government building and we had private client information. "It wasn't just some in the moment thing because they had to find out how to get in the building and once in the security room they wiped out all the security footage for the past month. So we think that he's been here for the past month."
"What does this have to do with me, I haven't been here for longer than that." I said shifting in my seat.
"Once he was inside he made his was to a few offices. He took a few files for things here and there nothing of importance. It looks like he went in order of how the offices are arranged. Your office was half way through the second floor. After yours there is no trace of him going in or out to the other offices."
"Okay so he was looking for me? Or a client that I had?" I ask.
"I don't know. All I know. All they have told me is that he, we think it's a he, was looking through your things. Is there anything there? Anyone who was hostile towards you?" Plenty. I work for with abused, neglected kids all day. Most parents aren't fans of me.
"Not particularly no. Why do you think it's a man?" I ask out of curiosity.
"Because he strangled the security guy. There were also some signs of torture in the victim. Lina. You have to be careful. Whoever this guy is, I personally, from what I've been told by the police, I think he's after one of your clients. If he didn't find anything about them today. He definitely found out information about you. He'll find them or he'll look for you." She said holding my hands.
So I've had writers block on he what to write next and I thought now is a good time to bring in some danger into Lina and Elliot's life. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed.
