She tries to give me a stern look, but it turns into a fond smile. “You’re such an idiot, Mills, you know that, right?”
I laugh. “Seriously, this room can be done in any colour you like. Any poster, any theme, just say the word. I paid a decorator to sort the rest of the house out, so I don’t have any input to offer or any dog in that fight.”
She pouts a little. “But Iwantyour input. I was thinking…” She gives me a winning smile. “Maybe you do a mural on one wall and I do a mural on the other? Cos that way, the mini-you can be surrounded by both your art and mine.” Her eyes soften, and she rubs her belly affectionately. She’s started doing that more lately, and I want to gather her to me and hold them both tight every single time I see it. My little family.
And god, I love the way her mind works. “That’s a great idea. Deal.” As initial ideas flick through my mind for my wall, I pull her in for a light, chaste peck on the lips. “Now, roomie, you pick a snack and a movie, even that creepy Art the Clown shit if that’s what you really want, and we’ll have a sweet as fuck night in. Sound like a plan?”
She thinks for a moment. “Can we order in? I really fancy fries and a McFlurry. It’s insane how good dipping hot, salty friesin vanilla soft serve tastes. For real.” Her eyes light up. “And I bet smearing McFlurry into a Big Mac with extra pickles wouldreallyhit the spot.”
I close my eyes. “I opened myself up to that, didn’t I?”
She flicks one of my nipples over my shirt. “I literally heard you say ‘we’re pregnant’ to a client the other day. Put your money where your mouth is and experience the pregnancy food mix, or shut up.” She smirks. “Well, shut up anyway, cos it’s weird when men say ‘we’re pregnant’. Cos unless you’re getting up to pee every two hours during the night, puking at the drop of a hat, and crying at nothing while growing a human inside your uterus,no the fuck you aren’t.”
“OK,” I sigh, “I’m game.”
And it turns out, she’s not wrong. I never would have believed it, but once the food arrives, I find myself dipping my chips in the McFlurry over and over without hesitation. The sweet, the creamy, and the salty savoury mixes perfectly, and I’ve got a new favourite McDonalds order for the rest of my life.
But I’ll never, ever do the disgusting thing she did with vanilla soft serve and a burger. Not even if it was that or starve.
I’d say the Jason poster put Sadie in the mood for some eighties horror, but my pumpkin’s a die hard horror junkie anyway, so I’m not surprised when she sets upA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriorsfor us to watch. Fine by me, I’d watch a documentary on the history of cardboard manufacturing techniques if it meant having Sadie here, on my sofa, with her feet in my lap as I massage them. She loves it when I go in hard with my thumbs under the ball of her foot. It makes her stretch luxuriantly as she makes the sexiest ‘Mmmmmm’ noises and gives me sleepy smiles.
The only thing that could make this evening better is if I could say those three little words,I love you, and know I’d hear them back.
But living with her… Maybe it’ll make it more likely that she’ll actually say it. Because I’m pretty sure she does, and she’ll have plenty of opportunities, too. But hearing it, having it confirmed in her usual scrupulous honesty, would be nice.
There’s time.
By the time Freddy is trying to swallow a teenage Patricia Arquette whole, Sadie’s nestled in closer to me. She picks up a strand of her hair and dangles it around my face, tickling my neck and jaw. Inwardly, I punch the air. I love it when my girl wants my attention. I feign being oblivious, like I’m watching the film, but when she leans forward and starts running lazy kisses along my beard line, I’m done for.
“Done with Freddy?” I murmur, starting to turn my face towards her. She’s wearing a new perfume, something light and fresh and sweet as apples.
She scrapes her teeth softly, so softly, down my earlobe, and my cock slams to attention.Quit pretending to ignore her, jackass.“I got us a housewarming gift,” she whispers, and her warm breath on my ear sends more tingles down my spine.
“Oh, yeah?”
Her eyes, tropical blue and so perfect, become lambent and sultry. “There’s a box in my rucksack. Go get it?”
I yank her towards me for a deep, slow kiss first, one that promises everything to her. All the things she’s thinking right now, all the things I’m longing to do to her tonight, and all the ways I want to make each night in my bed unforgettable for us both.
Bringing the cardboard box back from her hippie rucksack, my eyebrows hit my hairline when I pull it open. There are three wax candles nestled in shredded paper, one purple, one hot pink, and one electric blue.
“Really?” I purr, my cock straining against my fly at the thought of putting them to use. Spilling the different colours all over her pale skin, letting them mingle over her ink…
“Mmhmm,” she murmurs in response. “Got them from Etsy. Are you game?”
“Absofuckinglutely.” I pause. “As long as it’s safe, with the baby and all.”
She snorts. “Please. You’d be pouring the wax onme, not directly onthem.”
I chuckle. “Obviously. Just making sure.”
She grins, biting my shoulder none too gently. “At least you’re not one of those guys who thinks your cock is going to cause brain damage to our kid when we have sex, or like they can see it looming towards them.”
I shake my head. “Can’t believe jackasses like that even exist. I mean, Christ, where are their brains?”
“Where do you think?” she quips. “It’s an ego thing. They want toknowtheir dicks are big enough to cause damage, without actually doing any.”
“Can’t imagine what it’s like to be that insecure,” I quip wryly. I pick the purple candle up. “Huh. Stay with me for a moment, but imagine being the baby and being jostled about like that, the way you and I fuck.” I bounce up and down on the sofa with a grin. “We don’t exactly shag sedately, woman.”
