Page 21 of Valor
After several yearsof marriage to the love of my life, if I’ve learned one thing it’s that I’ll always be learning. Much as I try to plan or control our lives, like I used to direct troops on the ground, nothing ever goes smoothly.
If it weren’t for Livvie, I don’t know how I’d get through it.
I’d be an angry, bitter old man, lamenting over what might have been. Without her, I’d be lost, plain and simple.
She’s everything to me.
And I mean to spend the rest of our lives making sure she doesn’t forget it.
“C’mere,” I tell her, as she comes out of the bathroom. She does so hesitantly, but I don’t mind. I like watching her, all rounded curves to my sharper edges. The house is finally quiet after Jack, Sofie, and the boys left for the airport, the kids conked out not soon after. It had been an eventful few days.
She climbs in bed next to me and sits by my side. My hands go to her legs automatically. Her skin is always so damn soft that I can’t stop touching her.
“I think I know why I’ve been so up and down lately,” she says with a sheepish smile.
I caress her side with my knuckles, content to have her back with me. I’ll weather any storm as long as she’s by my side.
She shifts to lean over and kiss my throat. My arms tighten around her waist, and I wonder if she’ll let me make love with her again. She keeps up that kissing all over me and I’ll be begging soon enough. I can’t ever seem to get enough of her.
“I hadn’t noticed,” I say, as my fingers dig into her skin. I try to look down the neck of her shirt, but she pulls back flirtatiously. “No, stay.”
Already, I’m begging.
“Just a sec. I have something I want to show you,” she says, and slips back out of bed to go to the bathroom.
A stupid smile pulls at my lips as I ogle her ass. Sometimes she struts around, teasing me and showing off her body. Other times, I feel like a teenager catching glimpses of a woman for the first time. God, with Liv, it always feels like the first time. Even when we go through rough patches like we have these past few months, I know we’ll always come out on the other side stronger for it.
She comes back and her breasts sway with the movement. I feel myself tighten with lust. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her, and I want to spend the rest of our lives making sure she never forgets it, rough patches and all.
“What is it?” I ask, so I keep from pawing at her.
“Promise you won’t freak out?” She nibbles at her lip and I nod.
She gives me a card with elaborate red and gold writing on it and a heart in gold film. It takes a minute for the words to sink in.
Roses are red, love is sweet.
Our family is growing by one heart and two feet.
Inside the card is an ultrasound photo. I look up at her, then back at the card.
“You’re freaking out, aren’t you?” she says, a tremor in her voice. “I know we weren’t necessarily planning on more, but—” Her explanation ends in a squeal as I tackle her back on the bed.
She’s still wet and I slide in effortlessly. Her moan is music to my ears. “You’re pregnant?” I say, even though my voice is hoarse.
Her fingers dig into my biceps as she nods. “About six weeks or so. Ben, I can’t think when you—when you do that.”
“I’m not freaking out. I’m happy.” I pause my movements, keeping my cock firmly, deeply inside her. I frame her face with my hands. “You make me happy. You always have. I promise to show you for the rest of our lives.”
“You already do,” she says breathlessly. “You do. Sometimes I get distracted by work, and the kids, and the house, but you’re a great husband, Ben. The best. Sometimes I think I don’t quite deserve you, but—”
“Don’t say that.”
She puts a finger to my lips. “But,” she continues, “I don’t care. I’m keeping you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
All I can do is kiss her. After all this time, I still love kissing her. I love the way she moans into my mouth, little mewls that tell me how much she enjoys what we’re doing. I love how she tangles her hands around my neck and locks her legs around my waist like she never wants to let me go.
It’s so easy to forget those things when daily shit blots it out. For a minute, that love got lost in the haze, suffocated on both our parts by inattention. But I drive myself into her, wanting to make sure neither of us forget how it feels when we’re connected.