Page 28 of Better Than Baby
“Cheated?” I scoffed. “How?”
“Aaron is two-syllables that give you no wiggle room. Aar…that’s my only option. You, on the other hand, have Matt and Matty. Strong, virile, sexy choices.”
“I don’t know how to break this to you, but Matty is not a sexy nickname.” I veered around a slow-moving van, stealing a brief glance at my husband, who was practically hyperventilating next to me.
“What? Stop, halt, cease and desist! It’s the sexiest nickname ever,” he sputtered indignantly.
“It’s cute, baby. Not sexy. Big difference.”
More sputtering. “Cute? You think it’s cute when I say, ‘Matty, mm, fuck me harder. Yes, right there’? Nope, not cute. It’s hot.”
I guffawed. “Sure, but everything sounds different in the heat of the moment. You can make anything sound hot.”
“Why, thank you.”
“Except Horton. I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Oh, hold my beer, honey,” Aaron countered, clearing his throat.
“You don’t even drink beer.”
“I know, but hold my cosmo doesn’t flow off the tongue as easily. I’d offer to work on that, but since I’ve transitioned into my wine era, it might come across as trying too hard, and that’s never a good look.”
“Couldn’t you say, ‘Hold my Chardonnay’?” I offered, slowing at the traffic light.
“Oh, that’s a good one…although inaccurate. You know I’ve become a Pinot Grigio snob, Matty. I could shorten it to ‘Hold my Pinot,’ but if someone misunderstood and thought I was asking them to hold my penis, I would be oh so mortified.”
I made sure he saw my eye roll before the light turned green, but I couldn’t hide my grin. “How did we get to your penis?”
“Horton,” he replied matter-of-factly.
We lost it again and while it wouldn’t have been funny to anyone else, we couldn’t stop laughing. And when we finally regained composure, we invented a new game, giving a sexy spin to names we knew we’d never in a million years choose for our child. Archibald, Elmo, Dick, Bart…
We snickered like a couple of idiots all the way home.
Somehow it was the release we needed after walking on eggshells hoping this fragile new life would grow and thrive. And they were. We’d still worry and smother Lena with unintentional hovering, but today, in this moment, we gave ourselves permission to just be happy.
I dropped my keys into the bowl on the console table in the newly remodeled mudroom Aaron had insisted was a crucial element in our kitchen expansion and remodel project a few years ago.
A piece of that old conversation echoed in my head as I snaked my arm around his slim waist and leaned against the counter.
“Trust me, a larger mudroom makes sense, Matty. Someday we’re going to pull our minivan full of kids into the garage, and they’re going to trounce through my fabulous kitchen with muddy boots or get into huge fights because their sibling is in their way. Happened all the time when I was a kid. Add a dog to the mix, and it’ll be sheer mayhem!”
“You’re going to drive a minivan?”
“Ew, no, but…you get the idea.”
I glanced at the black-and-white tile in the adjoining space with the built-in bench to sit and remove shoes, the hooks above for coats, and the cubbies for miscellaneous things like hats and mittens. I didn’t want us to get ahead of ourselves, but I could see it now…the kids, the dog, the chaos. My heart suddenly felt too big for my chest.
I buried my nose in Aaron’s neck and breathed in his scent. “All right, husband, give me your best Horton.”
Aaron’s shoulders shook with laughter as he tried to wriggle away. “If you’re trying to get in my pants, that can never be your opening line. I thought you had to go back to the city anyway.”
“No, I’m going to work from home this afternoon.” I grabbed his ass and bent my knees to grind our cocks. Even with a few layers of clothing in between, he felt amazing. “What about you?”
He fiddled with the buttons of my oxford shirt and gazed up at me with half-hooded eyes. “I have an interview with a cranky old designer at three. And I have to pick up Murphy from the trainer’s by five.”
“I can do that for you,” I purred, nibbling his jaw as I unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his khakis.