Sam
She slept nearly two hours later than her usual the next morning. And when she finally did wake, it was to a million delicious little twinges making themselves known all over her body. Her ass ached, inside and out, but she couldn’t stop grinning as she admired the lingering welts in the bathroom mirror before making her way out to the kitchen.
Where she found her son, scrolling on his phone and sipping a cup of coffee. Ethan glanced up, and it wasn’t until his cheeks went red that she wondered exactly how much noise she and Dylan had made the night before.
Praying her own cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt, she padded over to the coffee pot and poured her own cup, doctoring it with plenty of sugar and milk before taking that first life-giving sip.
“Morning,” she managed to croak out after a couple such sips. “Sleep okay?”
It was a completely benign question, one she’d asked him hundreds of mornings just like this one. But the pained look hesent her way nearly had her snorting coffee through her nose as the laughter burst out of her.
“Sorry, not sorry, son. You’re the one who showed up unannounced.”
“Trust me, I havemorethan learned my lesson on that front.”
Setting her coffee aside, she crossed to the table and laid her hands on his shoulders, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of his head. Her baby boy, the light of her life. There had been a time when absolutely nothing had mattered more to her than his happiness. And while she was still willing to do absolutely anything to make sure he was taken care of, for the first time since he’d made his way into the world, she realized she was perfectly fine putting her own wants, her own needs ahead of his own.
Huh.
Still, she did feel alittleguilty about how uncomfortable all of this was making him. “How about an omelet?”
The hope of a child coming home to their favorite childhood memories lit his eyes. “The fluffy kind? With lots of bacon?”
“Is there any other kind?”
Giving his shoulders another squeeze, she fell into the comfortable pattern of fixing her son breakfast.
And tried not to think too hard about where his best friend had disappeared to.
“He went to pick up donuts.”
Mission: Failed.“I don’t know what you mean.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “You keep glancing at the door every five seconds and you’ve nearly dropped two eggs into the bowl. I would have told you if you’d just asked.”
Heat rose to her cheeks. “Sorry, I just didn’t want it to be weird.”
“Weirdwent out the window when I found you half naked on the couch with his head between your legs.”
“Jesus Christ, Ethan.”
“I’m just saying,” he said with a shrug.
Silence fell, more strained than it had been, dragging on for several long seconds until he spoke again. “You look happy.”
“I am happy.”
“No, I mean…” Blowing out a breath, Ethan rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “You kinda have this, like,glow. I’ve never seen you like this. It looks good on you.”
“It feels good on me.”
“Good. That’s… good.”
“Such a way with words,” she teased as she poured the beaten eggs into a sizzling pan.
“I’m trying here, Mama.”
Oh, her sweet baby boy. “I know you are. And I appreciate that this is incredibly hard for you.”
