"I can't believe it's been seven days already!" Jane exclaimed over the dinner we'd made together.
I raised my glass of wine. "To one week of marriage."
She smiled, lightly touching her glass to mine. "To one week of the privileges that come with it."
We were back in our own kitchen after five days in England, doing a tour of all Jane's favorite romance writers and their lives. We looked at their houses, visited their graves and the song of their stories. At night we went to bed early and stayed up late, making up for lost time.
I'd discovered an all new appreciation for my gorgeous wife on our honeymoon. Her mouth was filthy in bed, she always knew exactly what to say. Being a writer apparently also meant that she was creative with positions and not afraid to try something new. And she always told me exactly what she wanted, moaned in a voice that would tempt an angel.
Our plane had landed a few hours ago, and we would be picking Mateo up in the morning. For tonight, it was still just us. I put down my wine glass, wrapped an arm around her waist. "I have a surprise for you." I murmured in her ear.
"And what's that?" She asked, unbuttoning the top few buttons of my shirt with a smirk.
"Come see." I invited, guiding her to the back deck. I opened the door and a motion sensor turned on some small footlights leading to our new pool. An elevated stone hot tub spilled into it like a waterfall. Though the entire back yard was encircled with a nine foot tall privacy fence, there was another four foot tall fence surrounding just the pool.
"It's amazing!" Jane gasped.
"And child safe." I whispered in her ear, watching her shiver. "Feel like a swim?"
A grin spread across her face as she unzipped the side of her dress. "Only if we can go skinny dipping again."
"I hoped you'd say that." I said, holding her waist in my hands. I peeled her dress off her shoulders, down her arms, until it was a puddle by her feet.
She made quick work of the buttons on my shirt, nimbly unbuttoning them. I admired her gorgeous body and luscious curves, all presented to me in lacy black lingerie. As she got to work on my belly she turned her face up, her lips an offering to mine. I kissed her deeply, running my hands through her hair. Then she pulled away.
"How about a little role play?" She asked, pulling off her shoes and getting into the water.
"Find by me." I answered, kicking off my shoes and pants.
She stood at the other end of the pool and unclipped her bra, throwing it near her dress. I entered the water then removed my boxer briefs, tossing it in the pile and swimming closer to her. Then she pulled off her panties, smiling at me.
She threw them onto a chair, never breaking eye contact. For a moment we just stared at one another, then we were in one another's arms, our lips crushed together.
She ran her hands through my hair, I skimmed mine over her back, grabbing her curvaceous bottom. I pulled her closer to me, her nipples hardened against my chest, my erection brushing her folds.
"Let's do it. I mean it, I want to." She said, a twinkle in her eye.
"Are you sure?" I asked, my hand caressing her sex.
"Yeah." She moaned, returning her lips to mine.
I plunged a finger inside her, felt her shiver in my arms. She was so hot, so wet. I dragged my mouth from here's to start kissing and biting her neck. I lifted her a little higher, giving me access to her beautiful breasts. I raked one gently with my teeth, laved it with my tongue.
"Rafael!" She moaned, grinding herself against me. I walked us over to the side of the pool.
"Hold on tightly to the ledge." I rasped. My erection was staining between us, and I was more than ready to take her. She nodded, legs still wrapped tightly around my waist.
I slid my hands down to her hips, grabbing them firmly. I aligned my erection with her entrance, and slammed into her.
"Rafael!" She shouted, pulling me closer with her legs.
"Ssh." I reminded her, pulling out and thrusting in deeply again. She nodded, her head rolling back as I plunged in and out of her welcoming body. She was so tight, so impossibly erotic moaning my name over and over.
I dropped my head back to her breasts, suckling as I pushed into her. I brought one of my hands to her clit, lightly putting some pressure on it. Almost immediately I felt her start to tighten around my cock, felt the tremors as her orgasm began.
I thrust in again, harder, faster, and her hands buried themselves in my hair. I pressed down slightly harder on her sensitive nub. Suddenly she was there, moaning wildly, bucking against my erection, riding me like she'd been born to do it.
Her enthusiasm and clenching internal muscles were too much. I thrust one more time, as hard as I could, gritting my teeth as my climax washed over me like a massive wave.
I came hard, staying as quiet as I could. Then we were still, floating pleasantly in the water.
"We should have done this years ago." Jane murmured, satisfied. I just nodded, completely spent.
-Five Years Later-
"Mateo, you're going to love kindergarten! Learning to read and write-"
"Making new friends and playing on the playground!" Rafael interjected, winking at me.
We'd been married for five and a half years, and he still dazzled me sometimes. Like now, as we rode the big kid Kindergarten bus for First Day. He was a glorified big kid himself, playing with Mateo and his future classmates.
My happiness was tempered by nagging nausea. I took another sip from my water bottle hoping to alleviate it, but it didn't help.
"We're here!" The bus driver called. "Everyone off the bus, and your parents will guide you to your class! Have a great First Day, new kindergartners!"
I stood up, and spots danced in front of my eyes. I couldn't help but think as I fainted-
This feels familiar.
The curtain swung back, revealing my urgent care doctor. "Well, we've found the cause of your fainting. Congratulations, you're pregnant!"
My hands reflexively went to clutch my stomach. A miracle.
"That can't be right." Rafael said, brows furrowed. "I'm sterile. Are you sure?"
"Very." The doctor replied. "False negatives are common. False positives are rare. When were you last tested?"
My head was swimming. A miracle. Another baby.
"Two years ago. If she's pregnant, it's not mine." Rafael looked furious, but I could see his hurt right under the surface.
The doctor kept a carefully schooled facial expression. "Well let's do a dating ultrasound, then at twelve weeks we can do a blood based paternity test, if you'd like."
He left to grab the ultrasound machine and tech, and my husband turned to me. "Do you have anything you need to confess?"
"What?" My eyes bugged open. "You think I cheated on you? What have I ever done to deserve that?"
"You're pregnant. I'm sterile." He said flatly. "I'm sure you can understand."
"Ouch. Wow. I understand where you're coming from, but I'm still hurt." I whispered.
"I am, too, Jane. This hurts me, too." Our eyes met, and slowly I reached for his hand. For a moment he stared at it, then he grabbed it and held on tightly.
The ultrasound tech came with her machine a moment later. "Let's see that baby!" She said perkily. The gel was squirted on my belly, and after a few adjustments, there my baby was.
"How does she look?" I asked.
"Beautiful! Too early to tell sex, but you're definitely between thirteen and fourteen weeks. I'm going to put you at thirteen weeks and four days. It's a little late for a nuchal translucency scan, but even that looks very normal."
The three of us watched the baby on the screen. He or she looked like they were dancing, kicking and raising the roof. How could Rafael possibly question this baby was his?
A nurse walked in with a couple of vials. "Jane Villenueva? I'm here for your Materniti21 and your paternity test."
The tech took pictures while the nurse took blood, then the tech handed me the pictures. "Congratulations!" She said on her way out.
"We're done here." Said the nurse. "The doctor will call you in one week with all the results."
The ride home was quiet. We waited for Mateo to get off the bus, made dinner, listened to his million new stories, then we put him to bed like usual.
That night Rafael didn't come to bed. The night after, he said he had to work late. Same the night after that. The next night I found him sleeping in the guest room. On night five I tried to confront him, but there was an 'emergency' at the hotel. Right. On night six I made a plan.
That morning I told him Mateo and I were going to have a sleep over with Rogelio and Ma. He nodded and went on his way. I bided my time, then surprised him that night. He was laying in our bed, staring at the ultrasound picture.
"Rafael, we need to talk."
"We don't. Not until tomorrow." He replied, eyes never leaving the photo.
"We really do." I said. "I gave you space, now we're trying something different. We need to talk about our problems, or we're going to make the same mistakes we did six years ago."
Rafael moved over so I could come lay by him. "Okay. Okay. I don't think you'd cheat. But I know I'm not able to have children. It's been eight or nine years now. So now I'm stuck. I can't accept this child is mine, because what if it isn't? People make mistakes. I could forgive one bad decision on your part. But I keep thinking about Michael. Not that I think you're sleeping with him, what if I become him? What if I resent this pregnancy? What if you leave me for this baby's father?"
"Oh, Raf." I murmured, wrapping his head in my arms, pulling him towards my chest. "Miracles happen. I make plenty of mistakes, but never sleeping with someone else. And I could never leave you for anyone else. I love you so much."
"I know." He whispered. "In my heart, I know. But my head won't listen. I love the twins, but I was never really attached to them while Petra was still pregnant. I can't imagine how much it would hurt to love this child as my own, and find out another child isn't mine."
"I didn't think of the twins. You're right. I see where you're coming from now. But Raf? This baby is yours. You're still my one and only."
He nodded slightly. "Stay with me tonight?"
I laughed softly. "Like I was going to give you another option."
I curled up next to him, and he rested his head on my chest again. "Jane?" He voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "Yes?"
"I love you."
I smiled. "I love you, too."
The next morning, the phone rang.
"Dr. Hillcroft, good to hear from you." I said as Rafael clutched my hand.
"Hello. Well, I won't make you wait. The paternity test confirms that Rafael is the father."
"Thank you, doctor. I knew it would. I'll see you in a few weeks!"
I hit the end button and looked over at my husband. Tears collected in the corners of his eyes. Then he lowered his head so it was against my tiny bump.
"It's a miracle." Rafael whispered against my belly. "I can't believe it. It's a miracle. Jane, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. It's a miracle. I couldn't believe I'd ever get this lucky. I'm so sorry. I love you."
Then he kissed me, over and over. Five years ago, his self defeating attitude would have stopped him from waiting for the facts, and my temper would have meant I could never have forgiven him. But it wasn't five years ago. We'd grown and matured, gotten stronger as a couple.
For better or worse, we were in it together.
A/n: Whew! That's it! Hope everyone liked it!
Next up from me is a very steamy character redemption romance about Milos and Petra. -K