Page 7 of Fighting Our Forever

Chapter Five

Paul

Seven Hours Later

I’ve been watching Callie holding Winnie Grace for a while now, and I can’t help but picture her holding our own child. The smile that’s been plastered across her face since she met that little girl is doing things to my heart that I didn’t know I was ready for.

“Alright Aunt Callie, Uncle Ryan needs a turn. You’ve been hogging her long enough,” Ryan jokes.

Callie glares up at him but changes her expression when she looks back down at that little girl. I watch as she rubs her face against Winnie’s cheek softly, and then lightly kisses the top of her head, before walking over to Ryan and placing her in his arms.

I look around the room, and I’m amazed that this is my life now. This could be us soon. We could be in this very room, welcoming our first born. Olivia looks happy but exhausted, as she watches her baby in everyone’s arms. Garret and Logan are sitting next to their wife, looking happier than I have ever seen them, including their wedding day.

Eventually, Logan stands up. “Alright y'all. Olivia needs to rest before the rest of the family starts making their appearances. Callie, you know you are welcome anytime, but let’s let momma and baby get some sleep. I’m sure you could use some yourself, before school tomorrow.”

“You might be my brother-in-law, but you don’t get to tell me what to do. I can decide when I need sleep,” she huffs.

“Sunshine…” Garret says sternly, almost letting a smile slip. “Fine. I’m only leaving because I can tell Olivia needs some sleep, and she won’t do that with all of us here.”

Ryan hands Winnie Grace over to Logan, and we all say our goodbyes to the happy, but tired family. I don’t miss the looks Logan and Garret give Ryan and me. “We’ll be talking soon,” Garret says, watching Ryan lead Callie out the door. I nod, knowing he sees her as his sister and needs to pull his weight to protect her.

As soon as we exit the room, I catch Callie by the hand and pull her next to me, not letting her hand go as we walk towards the truck. The closer we get to my truck, the more the excitement of the night begins to wane, and Callie’s stride begins to slow.

When we get into the truck, Callie sits up stiffly between us, not touching us in the close quarters of the front seat. Not, ten minutes in, Ryan looks over at me with a huge grin on his smug face. Callie has fallen asleep and is leaning into Ryan, with her head on his shoulder. Instead of being jealous, I’m surprisingly happy knowing he gets this stolen moment with her.

I pull into her drive and sit for a few minutes, not ready to wake her and leave her here while we go back to our house. It unnerves me to leave her when her place is in our home.

“Baby Doll” Ryan whispers to the woman taking up all the space in my heart. I look over and watch him gently push the hair from her face and behind her ear. “Callie, wake up darlin’.”

She moves slightly but then readjusts on Ryan’s shoulder, as if she’s settling in for a good sleep. Ryan, the goof laughs. “I guess she was pretty tired, huh?”

As much as I’d love to stay with her for the rest of the day, we’re all tired, not having slept in over twenty-four hours. “Calliope, wake up baby,” I say firmly.

I can tell the moment she wakes when her soft body becomes tense, and then slowly raises from Ryan’s shoulder. He watches and quirks an eyebrow, watching her panicked face. “Oh, you weren’t bothering me. Paul figured you might want to sleep in your bed more than my shoulder though.”

She nods her head sleepily. “Let’s get you to bed Precious. Come on.” We walk her to her door and wait while she clumsily tries to find her keys in her purse.

“We got it love.” I open the door for her and follow her in and watch as she pulls her hoodie from her sexy body, flinging it on the floor of the hallway. She turns at the first door and immediately crawls into bed.

After she’s settled and is no longer wiggling around the bed like a puppy trying to find the perfect spot, I cover her up. Once again, her auburn hair is in her face, so I push it from her eyes, where it fans against her pillow. My fingers linger on the shell of her ear and I trace a path across the soft freckled skin of her neck. When she moans sleepily, my dick hardens in my jeans, and I curse the need flooding my veins.

Pulling myself away from her is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in years. It’s easier tonight though, knowing she isn’t going to be running from us anymore, I won’t let her. I kiss the crown of her head and walk out of her room as Ryan gets his goodbye too.

The thirty-minute drive is unusually quiet, but one I’m thankful for as I replay the night we had in my head. When I park in our driveway, I turn off the truck and sit, waiting for Ryan to get out whatever it is he needs to say.

“I can’t wait anymore, Paul. I’m ready for forever, and I’m impatient enough to want it to start right now. I’m done moving slow. I know we pushed her tonight, and I was happy she admitted to the attraction, but it’s not enough for me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. I want her. I don’t want to do this dance and pony show, dating for however long is acceptable until we get to move this to the next level. We know her, even if we haven’t been with her since we met. She’s been it for me since that day in the hospital. I don’t want to pretend that we’re just getting started. We’ve been started for months now.”

“You know she doesn’t see it that way. She’s skittish. We took our time because she needed it.”

“You’re right. But taking this slow is going to be torture. I want her in our house, in our bed every night. I’m ready to hire the movers and kidnap her if that’s what needs to happen.”

“Slow down. We have time, we don’t have to rush this. Why the sudden need to get her here? Callie isn’t going anywhere.”

“Forget it. I need some sleep. I’ll feel better about all of this when I can wake up and go see her.” He gets out of the truck before I can question him more.

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