"Then as soon as you give me the go-ahead, I will make sure that we have as much media available as possible," Leslie promised. "Also, you should be getting your shipment of lingerie and mannequins this afternoon around four-thirty. Ash, there's a lot. If you need more, let me know. I tried to go with a wide range of sizes, but I doubled up on the larger end. And while you're there, ask the ladies if they need anything larger than a 4X, because that's currently the top end of what we're producing, but I have a feeling we're missing a market there."
"I promise I will ask," Ash told her. "Now get back to work, young lady. Can't have you slacking off or anything." He laughed to make it clear that he was joking.
"Violet," Leslie said before getting off the line, "if you have any more questions about this lingerie party, get my number from Ash and give me a call. I can even come up with a script if that will help."
"I certainly won't say no," I assured her. "I think I can wing it, but if you want to write me a script, I will love you forever."
"Then I'll email that to Ash this afternoon. Now, you two try to do something fun today. Design more lingerie, Ash."
Ash told her goodbye and then disconnected the call. Then he leaned back in his chair and let out a pleased sigh. "Is it wrong that I love the idea of making our relationship public?" He asked.
I just shook my head. "No, because it sounds like a dream come true to me. Ash, this is what we always wanted. Me, you, Cy - and even Luke. We wanted a family, and Faith makes that happen. We always wanted to take over Southwind, and now we are."
"I had hoped to do it a lot later," he admitted. "I wanted Gran to be around for a few more milestones in my life. Things like getting engaged, getting married, having a kid of our own. She was supposed to have been a part of that."
I just nodded. "Yeah, but she is a part of that. I also think that she would be telling us to be proud of making this crazy, insane relationship work." Then I leaned forward and tapped his leg with the back of my knuckles. "And when did I ever say I was okay with getting pregnant?"
Ash turned and shifted so that his legs were on the floor on either side of my feet, then he leaned forward to look right at me. "When did I ever say that I expected you to get pregnant?" he asked. "I said have a kid of our own. That could be adoption, surrogacy, or so many other options. Now, if you ever decide that you want to give birth, I am completely on board with that."
"I've decided I'm gonna have my IUD removed when I turn thirty," I told him. "I have no idea how the three of you are going to figure out paternity, but I'm not choosing. I am also going to figure out how to deal with my eating disorder, have pictures of me pregnant and with stretch marks in every available market, and still run Southwind."
Ash stared at me for a little too long. "Really?" He asked. "You decided you actually want to be a mom?"
I nodded. "I like being a mom. It might be a stepmom to Faith, but I actually like it. I'm good at it, Ash. My biggest concern is that I'm not gonna be able to eat enough, but I think all of you will help me with that. And no, I don't want to do DNA tests to figure out who the daddy is. I want it to be our baby, and I want this to be our family - because that's what it feels like."
"Our family," he said as he rocked forward, making his way down to the floor beside me. "Our home. Our Southwind. Violet, I will fight for all of those things. God, I love you so much right now."
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ihadn't expected her to say that. Of all the things for Violet to admit to me, the fact that she wanted to have a child?Mychild? I couldn't even explain how that made me feel, but I knew I wanted to be a lot closer to her. Reaching over, I grabbed the edge of the door to my office and swung it shut, not caring that it slammed a little too hard.
"Do I have to marry you before that happens?" I asked, not really caring about the answer, but still curious about what she'd say.
Violet leaned her head back and laughed. "No. None of you do. Believe it or not, I'm not worried about doing things in the right order."
"But you want to get married," I reminded her. "You said that at Meredith's wedding."
She grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled me closer to her. "I want to make my relationship public. I want to scream it to the world that I have caught these three amazing men, and that they love me back just as much as I love them." Then she leaned towards me. "But this? It's not legal for us all to get married, Ash. That means making it public is the closest I can get."
"Or we could get married and keep those guys as side pieces," I joked. "Does sorta mess up the whole stepmother thing, though."
"Mm," she murmured playfully. "Yeah, that's gonna make it tough. I mean, I guess I'll have to keep going on like I am now. Besides, if we're not legally married and being a polyamorous mess, then that's one less problem for Luke."
"So, you're ok with this?" I asked.
That woman lifted her chin in the way that begged me to kiss her. "I love this crazy thing we're doing," she assured me. "Legal and binding, not legal, or anything else - I don't care. I love you. You love me. We both love those other two guys and they feel the same. What more can I really want, Ash?"
"A beautiful dress, a teenage flower girl, and an entire rainbow to witness us declaring our promises to each other," I suggested. "Because you want to get married, and I want to make that happen for you."
Then I leaned in and claimed her mouth. Violet didn't melt before me this time. Instead, she kissed back, her tongue dueling with mine as she pushed me back, and I was more than willing to let her. I rolled, reaching out to shove my chair out of the way, and she followed.
Her mouth didn't leave mine until she was lying over me, chest to chest. Then she leaned back just enough to see my eyes. "We're supposed to be planning a lingerie party, you know."
Oh, that sounded like a great idea, so I pushed her shirt up, wanting to see which piece she was wearing today. She helped me, ducking out of her shirt, and then the little hellion tossed her leg over my lap. Sitting back, she reached down to unbutton her pants, but my eyes were on the royal-purple bra with black lace trim. Yeah, I liked that one a lot more right now.
"For some reason," I said, "I seem to be more focused on the idea of getting you pregnant. I think we might need a practice round."
"Ok." So she tugged at the waist of my shirt, forcing me to sit up so I could get it off.
