Page 15 of Dragon Daddy’s Second Chance (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #5)
CHAPTER 14
***BLAKE***
I t was a relief to walk into the cabin and find only Susan and Theo, but Blake was still nervous about how their talk with the little boy was going to go. “Mommy!” Theo called, jumping to his feet and throwing himself at Wren’s legs. “You don’t look sad anymore; I’m so glad.”
Wren picked Theo up with a grunt and gave him a big hug. “No, I’m not sad anymore,” she said, pulling back to look at him. “But there is something we need to talk to you about.”
“Oh, I think that’s my cue to go take a nap,” Susan said, getting to her feet. “I’ll be in my bedroom if you need me.”
When she was gone, Wren motioned for Blake to sit down on the couch, then carried Theo over and sat down next to him. “Sweetheart, do you remember when I told you that your dad loves us but can’t be with us?” she asked, then waited until Theo nodded his head. “Well, things have changed, and your dad…well, he’s free to be with us now.”
Theo thought about that for a second, then looked over at him. “Does that mean you’re my dad?” he asked. “Mommy always looks sad when she talks about you, but she doesn’t look sad now, so I guess I’m glad that you’re here. Can we go back to the beach now?”
Wren looked at him over the top of Theo’s head and shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, sport, let’s go to the beach,” he said, wondering if it was really going to be that easy. “Are you sure you don’t have some questions for me?”
Theo studied him for a second. “Are you going to be around all the time now?” he asked. “Are you going to move in with us?”
“Let’s see, yes, I’m going to be around you all the time now. I hope that’s okay,” he said. “I think we can share your mom, can’t we?”
“Only if I still get story time,” Theo said, a challenge in his voice. “We always read stories at bedtime.”
“I would never dream of interfering with story time,” he said. “But maybe I could do story time with you sometimes.”
After a brief pause, Theo smiled. “Okay,” he said. “I get four stories every night.”
“Theo…” Wren said, looking down at him.
“Oh, right,” Theo said. “Three stories, sometimes I get mixed up.”
“Well then, we’ve got story time all figured out,” he said. “What’s next?”
Theo’s face became serious. “Why haven’t you been with us before now?” he asked. “Why did you stay away?”
Aware that he was talking to a five-year-old, he chose his words carefully. “A bad woman has been keeping us apart, but she isn’t going to be able to do that anymore,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you guys for a long time. Now that I’ve found you, I’m never going to lose you again.”
That seemed to satisfy the child. “That’s okay then,” Theo said, then looked up at Wren. “Are you guys going to get married? ”
“Oh, I don’t…that’s not…” Wren stammered. “Hey, weren’t we going to the beach?”
He laughed, “I think maybe we’d better take this one step at a time,” he said, ruffling Theo’s hair, but he was thinking about a ring again. “The beach first, wedding rings later.”
After a full day spent at the beach, Blake felt more than ready to handle story time and bed with Theo, so he tucked him in, then began to read to him. His son watched him intently, a happy smile on his face, his eyes getting heavier by the second, and a wave of love so powerful it took his breath away washed over him. Forcing himself to concentrate on the book, he flipped the pages, deciding that he enjoyed being a father.
“And they all lived happily ever after,” Blake said, closing the last book with a snap. “I think that was my favorite one.”
When there was no answer, he looked over at his son, and a wave of tenderness washed over him. Sound asleep, his long eye lashes brushing his cheeks, he looked just like his mother. Love welled up inside him, followed by profound gratitude that he’d been given a second chance at the life he was supposed to lead. He wasn’t embarrassed by the tears that slipped down his cheeks; he knew how lucky he was, and he didn’t bother to wipe them away when Wren slipped up behind him.
“I’m sure it’s all a bit overwhelming,” she said, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “I still get all weepy when I watch him sleeping sometimes. He’s a little miracle.”
“Our little miracle,” he said, reaching up and taking her hand. “You’ve done an amazing job with him, Wren. I have a long way to go to get caught up.”
“You were great with him today,” she said. “It’s not easy being a parent, but I think you’re already getting the hang of it. ”
“I hope so. I want to be the best father that I can be,” he said. “I didn’t have a very good role model.”
“You will be because it’s important to you,” she said. “You don’t have to be your father, Blake, you can be you. Now let’s go to bed, I’m exhausted and I promise you, there won’t be any sleeping in tomorrow.”
He got up, tucked the blankets up around Theo’s neck even though it was warm, then took Wren’s hand and left the bedroom. “It was nice of Susan to switch cabins with me,” he said. “I hate to imagine what your parents think, but I don’t want to be away from you for even one night.”
“I don’t care what my parents think. They threw me away when I needed them most,” she said. “If they hadn’t turned their backs on me, I might have been brave enough to contact you when I found out about Theo. I don’t know if or when I’ll be ready to talk to them. They hurt me, Blake, all they cared about was their reputation, which was more important to them than I was. I don’t care how far they’ve come. It doesn’t erase what they did. You weren’t there; you didn’t hear my father screaming obscenities at me or see him throwing my clothes out the window onto the front yard.”
“Oh, Wren, I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I should have been there with you. I should have been there with you the entire time. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I’ll make all your dreams come true, and we’ll never have a thing to do with your parents or mine again. We’ll have our own little family, just you, Theo, and me.”
“I like the sound of that,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty, Blake, I just don’t think I’m ready to forgive my parents yet.”
“I don’t blame you,” he said, stroking her back. “My mother and I are going to have a long talk when I get home. She’s got a lot to answer, and I have a feeling she’s not going to like what I have to say. ”
“Let’s promise to be better parents to our kids than ours were to us,” she said, looking up at him. “Together, we can undo the damage they’ve done.”
“Kids?” he asked, grinning at her. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Blake, stop kidding around…I just thought…well, I mean that you’d want more kids,” she said, a blush spreading across her cheeks. “I know we haven’t talked about it yet…”
He grabbed her hand. “We should get started right away,” he said. “You know these things take time, and Theo needs a brother or sister.”
***Wren***
Wren’s entire body was already throbbing with desire as she let Blake pull her into the bedroom. “Blake, I didn’t mean right now,” she said, gasping when she saw the look in his eyes. “Theo is right in the next room.”
“Then you’re going to have to be quiet,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “We don’t have to make a baby tonight, Wren, I just want to practice.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” she said, giggling when he began to kiss her on the neck. “Blake, stop that, it tickles.”
He swept her up off her feet and carried her over to the bed. “I’m going to do more than tickle you, sweetheart,” he said, laying her down, then whipping her nightgown up over her head. “I’m going to make love to you until the sun comes up, then start all over again.”
Blake didn’t quite fulfill his promise, but it was deep into the night before she finally curled up next to him and fell asleep. A satisfied smile was on her face, and his gentle snores filled the bedroom, a comforting sound. After a deep, soothing sleep, she woke with Blake curled around her, and the feel of his naked skin against hers made goosebumps break out all over her body, and she shivered at the memory of the night before.
“Good morning,” Blake whispered in her ear, his hand sliding over her breast. “All that wiggling around woke me up.”
She gasped when he began to tease her nipple with his thumb and finger, then sighed with pleasure when he slipped into her from behind. “Good morning,” she managed to say, her voice slightly breathless. “I thought you were still asleep.”
“Not anymore,” Blake said, his voice full of amusement. “Not with you lying naked next to me.”
The conversation died away after that as the passion between them took over, and it was more than an hour later before they lay exhausted in each other’s arms. “I could get used to waking up that way,” she said. “Much better than any old alarm clock.”
“I should hope so,” Blake said, laughing. “I’m a finely tuned machine.”
She laughed, “Oh, is that so?” she asked. “Maybe I should give you a quick once over to make sure everything is in working order.”
Before she could follow through,, little footsteps pounded down the hallway, and Theo appeared in the doorway. “Mom, Aunt Lisa is coming down the path, and she’s got doughnuts with her,” he said, then looked over at Blake. “Umm…you should get up.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, especially if there are doughnuts involved,” Blake said. “Why don’t you wait for us in the living room? We’ll be right there.”
Theo studied the two of them again and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, but don’t take forever,” he said. “I want to go to the beach again.”
“Bossy little thing, isn’t he?” Blake asked when Theo was gone. “I guess we’d better follow orders. ”
“And start shutting the bedroom door,” she said. “If he’d come in here just a few minutes sooner…”
“Yeah, that might have been awkward,” he said. “Note to self, close bedroom door before making love to my woman.”
“Your woman?” Wren asked, slipping out of bed. “Are we cavemen?”
“No, but I can’t call you my wife yet,” he said, grinning at her. “And girlfriend seems like an understatement, so I decided to go with woman.”
Wren rolled her eyes at him. “Get dressed,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want my man meeting my sister naked.”
Blake’s laughter followed her all the way to the living room, filling her with warmth and making her body tingle all over, but the good feeling didn’t last long. “You have to talk to Mom and Dad; you have to give them a chance to apologize,” Lisa said as soon as she walked in the door. “How much longer are you going to drag this out?”
“Well, good morning to you, too,” she said, taking the box of doughnuts from her sister. “I don’t want to talk about this. I’m barely speaking to you as it is. How could you bring them here? This was supposed to be my vacation, I was supposed to be relaxing and recharging, not dealing with ghosts from my past.”
Lisa had the grace to look sorry. “Wren, this fight between all of you isn’t healthy. You need to give them a chance to tell you how sorry they are,” she said. “I know that I overstepped, but I can’t go on listening to them go on and on about it; that’s all I ever hear about. It’s your fault, and you have to fix it; I want my old life back; I want things to go back to the way they were.”
“So, this is really more about you than me,” she said, letting out a long sigh. “You haven’t changed, Lisa, you’re still as self-centered as you’ve always been. You weren’t there that day, you didn’t hear Dad screaming at me, you didn’t see him throwing my clothes out the window. The neighbors came out to watch Lisa. It was humiliating. If it hadn’t been for Susan and her family, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
“Don’t talk to me about humiliation, I live with it daily,” Susan said. “People in town still talk, they still ask about you. The scandal just won’t go away; it’s ruined my life, and it’s ruined Mom and Dad’s life.”
“Ah, now I see. You all are embarrassed, and you want me to fix it,” she said, shaking her head. “You want me to forgive and forget so people will stop talking about you. Well, I’ve got news for you. I don’t care. Clearly, reconnecting with you was a mistake. I think you should leave now. None of this is my fault, so don’t blame me; blame Mom and Dad.”
Lisa turned and stomped out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her, and she realized that Theo was watching her, a shocked look on his face. “I’m sorry you had to see that, sweetheart,” she said, walking over to him. “Your aunt Lisa and I don’t have a very good relationship, but it’s nothing for you to worry about. Grown-ups fight sometimes.”
“That’s right, buddy,” Blake said, coming out of the bedroom. “Now, where are those doughnuts? We’re going to need some fuel if we go to the beach.”
She sent Blake a grateful look, “If you two are okay on your own, I think I’ll go take a shower,” she said, her voice shaking a little. “I’ll have a doughnut when I’m done.”
“You go on, Theo and I will be just fine,” Blake said, then crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “But I need a kiss first.”
“Gross,” Theo said. “Don’t do that in front of me.”
“Too late,” Blake said, planting a big kiss on her lips. “You’d better get into the kitchen, or you’ll be next. ”
Theo squealed and took off, calling, “Gross, gross, gross,” at the top of his lungs.
“Now, where were we?” Blake asked, pulling her closer again. “Oh, yeah, the gross part.”
When he’d kissed her thoroughly, Blake looked down at her, “Are you okay?” he asked. “That was a bit rough. It couldn’t have been easy to kick Lisa out.”
“She’s always been a selfish little brat,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “When she contacted me last year, I thought she’d changed, but I was wrong. The truth is, I’m not surprised she’s more worried about herself than me, it’s nothing new. I’m just a little disappointed.”
“We’ve got each other, sweetheart,” Blake said, smiling at her. “I love you, Wren.”
“I love you too,” she said, stretching up and giving him a kiss.