Brett's Little Headaches (6 page)

After breakfast it was wash up time and the boys got dressed. “Why don’t we take a Sunday morning drive? It’s nice out, we can drive down to the beach or wherever you’d like to go.”

“The beach sounds nice; I don’t go that often because the boys can’t swim as yet and I’m nervous about taking them on my own now that they can move around so quickly.”

“The beach it is.” There was an ulterior motive of course. To get to the beach we had to go through the countryside first.

Last night when I was house hunting on the net, I had seen quite a few nice places that I intended to go by and just nonchalantly point them out to her to get her reaction.

Later I’ll spring it on her. There was no reason I couldn’t buy her dream house while she was deciding what she wanted to do, because there was no way I was ever letting her go. She didn’t need to know that now of course.

We got the boys ready and packed a bag with everything that they could possibly need for the day.

I was amazed at how much was needed just for that one little outing, and my respect for her as a mother went up a couple of notches.

At least mom had had dad and nana and an army of servants, though she was another one of those do it yourself females, but my Laurie was doing it all on her own mostly.

She looked so young this morning, maybe because I’d caught her before she’d done anything to her face. For some reason it made me even more determined to take care of her.

If I didn’t know any better I would’ve believed something happened in that park yesterday, something otherworldly. I’ve never in my life had this strong urge to cover, to protect, anyone.

I’ve felt protective of others before, mom, my sisters, but there has never been a time when I’ve felt those same emotions so strongly for someone else. And especially not coupled with the heavy dose of lust that was burning a hole in my gut.

While the boys sat on the floor waiting for us, I backed her into the wall around the corner.

“Hi.” I nuzzled her cheek and nibbled her ear.

“Hi.” I kissed the greeting off her lips and pulled her in close. That same inferno from the night before singed me and she reacted the same.

She was all but climbing my dick and I realized what she was doing. Adjusting our bodies, I lined up my hard cock with her pussy through the soft sweats she wore.

I could feel her better this way than through the jeans. There was a slight tremble in her limbs as I ground my cock into her, and just as she’d done the night before, she climaxed.

I gritted my teeth and held myself still until she got what she needed, but it was hard as fuck not to unzip and drive in. Her mouth was ravenous on mine as I fed her my tongue.

We both needed to come up for air and I left my face buried in her neck while she blew into my chest.

I pulled back when I was under control again and looked down at her. “You really don’t want to see where this goes? You really think that either one of us are ever going to find that with anyone else?”

She didn’t answer, but I hadn’t expected her to. “You ready to go?” I kissed her forehead and dropped my arms from around her.

“Just two minutes.” She started to head for the bathroom but I stopped her. “Don’t do anything to your face, I like it just like that.”

She blushed and nodded before escaping into the bathroom and leaving me alone with the boys, who were only too happy to have their new toy back.

Poor Gunther, I should’ve brought him along, but I hadn’t been sure what we would be doing and this apartment was not big enough for him to just hang out in.

We were on the road ten minutes later. The day was just beginning and already I was feeling like a million.

Tomorrow I was sure to be closing deals that would add more money to the family coffers, but I now knew a feeling that beat that hands down.

Funnily enough, I’ve never really had much use for money, I like making it, but after you’ve got the basics, there isn’t really much more you can do with it. Now with them, I can think of a million things I can do with my bank account.

I held her hand as we drove while we both took turns answering the boys’ questions and there were a lot.

She was tense for the first twenty minutes or so until she relaxed and just enjoyed the view out the window.

When we came to the first place I actually grew nervous, what if she didn’t like any of the ones I chose?

I kept up a running conversation, just pointing out the houses as we drove by, slowing down enough for her to get a good look.

It was the third one that caught her attention. I knew it by the way she craned her neck to get a better look and the way her pulse jumped in her wrist.

I pretended to be enjoying the architecture, while I asked her about the color of the stone and the grounds that consisted of a massive lawn with a garden that could barely be made out from the street.

I was pleased that she seemed reluctant to leave the area, but if I hung around there much longer I was afraid she’d figure me out and that might sour her on the idea.

I already knew exactly what I was going to do, how I was going to work it. It had taken me only one day to figure her out. Thank fuck she didn’t have any hidden pockets; I’ve dealt with enough of that shit to last me a lifetime.

BRETT

The beach wasn’t crowded as yet and I found a nice spot for us to spread the blanket that we’d brought. The boys were and handful from the time their little feet touched sand, and their only interest, was in the water.

Between the two of us they kept us hopping and I have to admit I was ass tired within an hour maybe. “How do you do it?” the little rascals were having a snack and chattering away at each other, which they do a lot of I noticed.

I’ll have to keep an eye on that as they get older, who knows what the fuck they might be getting up to with that secret code shit they seem to be speaking.

Laurie says it’s just baby talk, but I’m not too sure. I was a boy once, with brothers. Speaking of which, I need to call and rub it in that I beat them in the grandbaby race.

Since they’re older they’ve beaten me at pretty much everything else, but this was a biggie.

“You have to prioritize. In the beginning, especially when they first started walking, it was rough. I jumped each time one of them moved. I was always afraid they would fall and hurt themselves.

I was constantly moving, never a dull moment. But then I got the hang of it and stopped being afraid, now I just watch and let them play with my heart in my throat. I guess it’s always going to be that way as a mom. Do you have kids?”

She asked the last as if she thought she was overstepping. Hah, she can ask me anything, in fact I want her to.

“No, no kids, speaking of which, where’s their dad?” The word damn near burnt a hole in my tongue.

“He’s gone.” She shifted sand through her fingers and gazed off over the water. “He’s never even met them, but I don’t blame him, not anymore. We were young, well I was two years younger, but he was still a kid himself.”

“But do you think he’ll come back one day, want to have a part in their lives?”

“I don’t see how, he’s never been here for them. I think I would be pissed if he showed up at some later date after all the ground work has been done you know.”

“Yeah I hear you, so there’s no way you’d go back to him?”

“Are you nuts? I wouldn’t do that to my boys. As young as he was, I was younger; I stuck it out, he could’ve too. No, the boys don’t need that kind of influence in their lives.”

“What if he came back seeking custody at some later date?”

“I’ll fight him to the death before I’d ever let that happen. No judge in their right mind would ever do that after what he’s done.”

You might be surprised. I didn’t say that out loud, but the reality was that the justice system could be fucked sometimes and you never knew what was going to happen.

Especially if the judge was one of those asshole types that believed kids belonged with both parents, no matter how fucked they were.

“You said yesterday that you want to go back to school full time, what is it you want to study?”

“Right now I’m just taking the prerequisites for when I can go, that way they will be out of the way. I was actually thinking of early childhood development, I want to be a teacher. Either that or a daycare provider.” She shrugged her shoulders and looked away again.

“And that’s your dream?”

“No actually, my dream, before all this happened, was to grow up, meet prince charming, get married and have a ton of kids. I’ve never really been career oriented. But now with the boys, I have to face reality.”

Damn this was sounding better and better. If she’d said it was her lifelong dream to be a career woman, I would’ve found a way to live with it.

But the reality is, I make more than enough money so that my wife wouldn’t have to lift a finger to do anything, and quite frankly I don’t want my woman working outside the home; something else to file away for future reference.

I fished for more information while we ran after the boys and played catch with them or built sand castles.

Before you know it, it was naptime and the boys were getting cranky. We packed up and headed back after feeding them the fruit and snacks she’d brought for their lunch.

I’d just spent three hours with them and it felt like nothing, like I could do it all day and not grow weary of it. My adrenaline was pumping like the time my brothers and I climbed Everest. I was definitely a goner.

We passed by the house again and although she was a little tired, she still smiled at it and watched out the window until it was out of sight.

I didn’t miss the touch of sadness that left her when we turned the corner and it was no longer in view. She probably thought she’d never see it again.

Back at her place I helped her get the boys to bed. “I have something to do baby, how about I go take care of that and I’ll be back with dinner later?”

“You don’t have to do that...”

“I want to, what would the boys like? There’s this really nice Italian place I know that have the best spaghetti and meatballs.”

“Oh they’d love that thanks, are you sure?” I pulled her into me for a much needed kiss. She took me under as soon as our tongues met. Each time I took her mouth, it got harder and harder to let her go.

“You’re so soft and sweet baby. What time is it?” she checked her watch and told me.

“Thirteen days, six hours to go, damn that seems so long all of a sudden. You said before that you only trust your dad to babysit...”

“Oh that’s outside the babysitter I take them to. She doesn’t work weekends so dad usually helps out then.”

“So you only work during the week?”

“Yeah, which is a bummer because the restaurant gets busier on the weekend, but hey, you take what you can get right.” Not for long, and not if I have anything to say about it.

I felt even surer of myself and what I was about to do when I left her. This had to be right, there’s no way life could be so unfair as to put this woman in my way and not let me have her.

The realtor wasn’t too put out about a last minute call on a Sunday. Especially not when I gave him my name.

After a quick clean up to get the sand off, and a little rough housing with my dog, I was back on the road and headed for her dream house.

The place looked even better up close, and the inside was a thing of beauty. There was more than enough room with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, and the backyard was plenty big enough for my rough and tumble boys to play in.

I could already see us here. I’ll have to give the boys swimming lessons even though the large in-ground pool was gated.

Would she be happy here? She’s the one that would be spending her days here while me and the boys went about school and work.

And I can’t believe that I’m actually standing here contemplating this shit. Just a few short days ago I was ready to write off women.

Someone that I had grown to trust had betrayed me in the worst way and when she didn’t get what she wanted, she’d gone to great lengths to destroy me.

A man in my position couldn’t afford to have certain blemishes on his record and the one she tried to leave me with was a doozy.

It was the last straw in a long line of bullshit that I’d had to put up with lately and I was at the end of my rope.

So it’s amazing that I find myself in the position of asking someone else to trust me with their future, their happiness.

But it felt right; I won’t falter now, I’m gonna go with my gut all the way and see where it takes me.

“We’ll take it.” I’ll leave the decorating and shit to her, but there was no reason I couldn’t get started on some things.

By the time we were through with paperwork and all that we could get done on a Sunday, it was time for me to grab dinner. I called it in and picked it up on the way back to her.

Now how was I going to let her know what I’d done? I’m pretty sure she was going to be pissed if I just came right out and told her that I’d bought us a house, so I have to be slick.

I called her on the way back to her place to let her know I was almost there. I felt more excitement than I had in a long time, which only made me doubly sure that I was on the right track, not much gets a rise out of me these days.

The thoughts that had been plaguing me this last week threatened to intrude again, but I knocked them back, they had no place here.

I pulled up to her place and ran up the stairs, dying to see them again like I hadn’t just left them a few short hours ago.

“Do you ever do anything small?” This was her question when she saw the bags of food I’d brought.

Since it wasn’t dinnertime quite yet I decided to hang with the boys, who were still a little tired from the beach even after their naps.

It hurt my heart a little the way they fought for my attention, the way they sucked it up, because I knew what it meant. They were starved for male companionship. Her father was probably the only one they were ever around.

It hurt because for some fucked up reason I imagined what their lives would be like without me, if someone else came along, someone less trustworthy who was only out to use, to hurt.

The thought made my guts hurt, but it made me even more determined.

We played with building blocks and whatever else they could think of while one or the other took turns sitting on my lap and regaling me with tale after tale.

“Okay you three, time for dinner.”

“Alright boys let’s go wash up.” I herded them into the bathroom that was barely big enough to hold me. I sneered and gritted my teeth, but held my tongue.

I can’t forget how she’d stood up to me yesterday with her cute self, and had no doubt she’d tear me a new one if I criticized her home.

My disdain wasn’t for her, I am proud of her for all that she’s achieved so far on her own. I just wanted to give her, them, so much more and soon.

Almost as soon as we sat down to eat, the doorbell rang and she got up to answer it. Some guy came in, hugged her and kissed the top of her head, and to make matters worse, the boys were fighting to get down from their chairs to go to him.

As you can imagine I was more than a little pissed the fuck off, and to add insult to injury, the fucker saw my reaction and fucking smirked at me.

I have to admit it was not my finest moment. I was at the point of calling her out, seriously, me. Mr. calm, cool and collected, was ready to strangle her ass in front of the stranger and the boys.

I didn’t even look at her, just kept my eyes on him as I left my seat and walked to where she was standing in front of him.

I didn’t miss the fucker’s grin when I put my arm around her and pulled her back into me, or the way she looked up at me like I’d lost my damn mind.

“Dad, this is Brett, Brett, my father Alan Payne.” Shit, no wonder he was laughing at me, he probably did that shit on purpose.

“Sir, pleased to meet you.” We shook hands and he walked over to say hello to his grandsons.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner dad? Brett brought enough food to feed an army.”

“If you’re sure you don’t mind.” He addressed this question to me and I was quick to assure him that it was fine by me. I got the impression the night before that he might not be too averse to his daughter dating someone, and who better than me? Maybe I could enlist his help if she proved to be too ornery.

“So Cantone, what brought you to my daughter’s neck of the woods? I don’t believe this is your playing field is it.”

“No, but the park where we met is between here and my place so...” He sat down across from me and fixed a plate.

The boys were talking his ear off, in fact they were telling him about Gunther and me from what little I could piece together.

He was studying me discretely, which was fine by me; he wouldn’t be any kind of a cop if he didn’t and an even worst father.

“So what’s the verdict?” I asked him as soon as Laurie left the room to make coffee.

“I have one question then I’ll let you know. What are your intentions?”

“I want to marry her.”

“What about the boys?”

“They’re mine.” He gave me a very searching look, like I imagine he would a suspect in the interrogation room, but I didn’t care, this shit was important, he could strip search me if it would get me closer to my goal.

“I think you should know, I already bought a house, she doesn’t know yet though so don’t mention it.”

“Damn son, that’s kinda fast isn’t it? Though I can’t say I’m surprised. I ran you of course, found out quite a lot. Everyone seems to like you, except those who oppose you in business. They say you’re fair and just in your dealings until it comes to your enemies, then you’re vicious.

I think you should know that if you do anything to harm my daughter or my grandkids I’ll bury you. Money or not!”

“Fair enough, so does that mean that I have your blessing?”

“Not that I think you need it, but sure. Might I suggest you keep moving fast, if you give her time to think she’ll make you both crazy, just overwhelm her if you will, trust me it’s the only way.”

“I kinda figured that.”

“So I see.”

She came back into the room then so we had to table our little discussion so I made a note to myself to contact him at a more opportune time.