Ten years later
I HEARD HIM grumble, but I kept my eyes shut.
”Babe,” he muttered, and I held my body still. I wasn’t ready. I needed more time. “Babe.” He nudged me slightly, and my lips twitched as I forced to keep my eyes closed. “Nee… Babe, it’s your turn,” he rumbled with sleep laced in his sexy voice.
“Hmm,” I hummed, hoping to keep the charade up to steal five more precious minutes of sleep.
“It’s your turn.”
“Mhhmm…” I kept it up. And felt his hand cup my face. I wasn’t going to look at him, but I knew he had his eyes on me.
“You’re lucky you’re cute,” he mumbled, pressing his lips to mine.
“I’m lucky you think I’m cute,” I mumbled back, a smile on my face, my eyes still shut
“I know you are,” he responded, and I heard him slip out of our bedroom. It wasn’t until then I opened my eyes. I heard his voice come in through the baby monitor.
“Shhh… What’s the fuss about?” he sweetly asked our youngest.
Our family was complete.
Camila Chu was perfect. With her soft tan skin and the shape and color of her daddy’s dark eyes. I loved her with everything I had, but she was our fourth, and I was exhausted.
Happily exhausted.
Who would have ever thought that would have been a thing? I personally wouldn’t have. But it truly, truly was. Maybe it was because of the fact I knew how easily our journey could have gone differently. How the life we had created might not have happened if he hadn’t come back when he had.
“Shhh… You’re okay, mi niña bonita. Let’s see…. Twinkle, twinkle little star…” I heard him start to sing. She loved when her daddy sang; it soothed her. I pictured the scene in the nursery as he walked back and forth, her head resting on his shoulder, his hand cupping the back of her head carefully. The contrast of her dark hair and his light skin. She was at that point in life where teething was a bitch, and if she wasn’t hungry or had a stinky diaper, there wasn’t much we could do. My least favorite part of parenting to date. “There you are….” he cooed. “All better…. Shhh… my sleepy girl,” he whispered, and I smiled, opening my eyes, rolling to face the bedroom door as I adjusted the surprise I had set out with after he had fallen asleep.
A little while later, I watched him step into our room, a playful glare darted toward me when he noticed I was awake, but I simply smiled back.
“Faker,” he mumbled, and I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t fall into a fit of giggles.
“You’re just so good with her,” I whispered, still grinning as I watched him close and lock the door behind him. I loved watching my husband.
My husband.
Ten years, four kids, a mortgage, a tank full of fish later, the word still got to me. The sight of him still took my breath away. Bare chested with lean muscle, he was still in amazing shape. He made it a point to chisel out time in his day, and I helped make sure he found it. It was one of the many ways he found helped cope with the remnants of his time as a Marine and the things he’d seen.
Just like he helped me find a moment to read a couple of chapters a day with a glass of wine after a long day with the kids and work. We did that for one another.
“You can’t look at me like that,” he warned, but I played coy.
“Like what?” I whispered with a wicked smile.
“You know like what.”
“It’s six weeks today,” I whispered, sitting up, letting the comforter fall. His eyes narrowed as he took in what I had changed into after he’d fallen asleep. No matter my size—and with four pregnancies, it had definitely fluctuated—he had never stopped wanting me. He always made me feel wanted. Sexy in my own skin.
“Nina.”
“Make love to me, husband,” I pleaded, and I could see his internal struggle. Brandon, the stickler for rules, usually wanted to wait for the all clear from the doctor. I would be going later today, but it was more than hormonal need when it came to him. “I need you.” I was playing dirty, but I was also honest. I could see how those were the three words he needed to hear. My man could never deny me.
“You don’t play fair, baby,” he growled, coming up the bed, his hands skimming my legs, moving their way under the soft, silky material of my new nightie.
“Brandon,” I whimpered, feeling the way he traced the gusset of the sheer panties I was wearing below.
“So fucking wet. This for me, baby?”
“Always,” I moaned as his finger hooked over and slipped between my folds.
“Fuck yes, always.” His lips crushed mine.
Brandon
I kissed my wife, my love, my best friend, my reason for living with everything I had. I kissed her that way every single time.
Life was too fucking short not to.
My wife was a walking, breathing, living temptation, and I was a very weak man when it came to Nina Chu. My mouth memorized every curve and angle of her body and then repeated only to slow down at the swell of her tummy. She tried to cover it, but I looked up at her, and she knew not to.
“I love your body,” I whispered against her soft skin as I kept my eyes on hers. “You gave my life reason just by breathing.”
“Brandon.”
“Then did it four other times, mi niña linda. You breathed life into me and created us a family. Te amo.” Fuck me, I loved her more than I could have ever comprehended was possible.
Words weren’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough when it came to how I felt about Nina.
I was just glad that I was the lucky son of a gun who would die trying.
