“Yeah I know, but he just wants to make sure that you don’t end up alone. He means well,” she said.
She was right but no matter how much I was on board with this arrangement, I hated to be pushed into anything. By the time we finished getting everything in place for the party I only had about two hours to get ready for dinner with Nova. Instead of heading out to my house I decided to get ready in the private suite in my office. I showered, brushed my teeth and moisturized my skin. I picked out a blue suit from my closet and dressed. I had gotten a fresh taper and my beard lined up so after grabbing my wallet and phone I was ready to pick up Nova.
The drive to her home wasn’t long. Nova lived in a nice gated community with a wide variety of single family homes. My driver parked in her driveway behind Nova’s green KIA Telluride with personalized nurses plates. He let me out and made my way to the door to get my wife to be. It was weird that after all this time alone in a matter of days I would have a wife and daughter. I just hoped I was able to live up to the responsibility that came with taking care of a family. My grandfather had been a great example of how a man provides and cares for their family. I would take those lessons and put them to good use.
Nerves bubbled in the pit of my stomach as I rang her doorbell and waited. I had never been one to be worried about what someone thought of me but for some reason I cared what Nova thought. It felt like I was chasing her approval whenever I was around her. I wanted her to see me as a man worthy of being in her and her daughter’s lives. I heard movement behind the door before it opened and standing in Squishmallow pajamas stood a small little girl with curls peeking from under the hood of her pajama top.
“Hi, is Nova at home?" I asked, giving her my best smile. She looked so much like her mother. Especially with the curious expression on her face.
“Yes, are you my mommy's new husband?" she blurted out. From what I knew about her mother, I understood her directness.
“Timberly, what did I tell you about answering the door?” I heard Nova ask behind her.
“Not to,” she answered her mother with a pouty expression. Nova appeared behind Timberly looking like a dream in the pink dress that hugged every curve she had. I had to look away before my mind drifted to all the improper things I wanted to do to her tonight. I had to remember that Timberly was present so after giving her a good head to toe I kept my eyes on her pretty face.
“These are for you,” I said, handing the lilies to Nova while trying to steal glances at her at the same time. I remembered her telling me that they were her favorites at the Gala.
“Thank you. Please come in,” she said, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on my cheek. Before stepping to the side and letting me into her beautiful home. Her home had a comfortable warmth to it. It was clean but you could tell a child lived here by the stuffed animals on the sofa and coloring book on the coffee table.
“Next time I’ll bring something for the both of you,” I said as she led me to her sofa and I took a seat.
“Is it alright if we have a talk with Timberly before we leave?” She asked.
“Of course, we have time,” I said before turning toward Timberly who had taken a seat on the ottoman across from me.
“Timberly, this is Mr. Sanderson. He's the man I was telling you about earlier. And yes he did ask me to be his wife, but I have to make sure this is something you are okay with as well,” she explained to her daughter.
“How would you feel about your mother marrying me and me being your step dad?” I asked. I watched as Timberly’s eyes got brighter and the smile on her face grew.
“Does that mean you’ll go to all the daddy-daughter events at school with me?” she cheesed.
“Every one, Timber,” I told her. Just like her mother I would do anything in my power to make her happy and if that meant joining the PTA or chaperoning school trips I would do it.
“Well then I think you should marry Mr. Sanderson mommy. Will I get to call you dad when you marry my mom? She asked with her toothless grin.
“Whatever you're comfortable with dad, Crew, pops, old man. Just don’t call me bruh,” I said, making her and Nova laugh. We talked about what would happen after the wedding and the upcoming party before Nova took Timberly upstairs for bed. We left shortly after her nanny, Ms. Leona, arrived. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders after our talk with Timberly. Now all I had to do was make sure I won her mother over.
Dinner went great and we learned so much more about each other. When asked about Timberly’s father, Nova seemed to shy away from that subject. The only thing she said was that their relationship ended and he hadn’t been in Timberly’s life since she was a baby. I wouldn’t push her to discuss it now but we would have to talk about it. I needed Nova to open up to me about why she ran from him. From the information I gathered it wasn’t hard to guess. But I needed to know if he was gonna come back to try and take what was mine.
Nova and Timberly were my responsibility, and I wouldn’t let anyone come in and ruin what we were trying to build. I wasn’t the type to share so if he ever got the idea that he wanted to get his family back I needed him to know that it wasn’t happening. He had a chance and he failed to be the man they needed. It was my turn now and I wouldn’t let them down ever.
“Whenever you're ready to talk about your ex. I’m ready to listen. I’ve done my research on him and he is not a good man.But just know that neither am I. The only difference between us is that I will never hurt you or Timberly. And I’ll never let anyone else hurt you either,” I told her.
CHAPTER 11
Nova
Dinner with Crew was wonderful. He was the perfect gentleman escorting me home and giving me a passionate kiss at the door before seeing me in. I wanted so badly to have a replay of what we did on my desk a few days ago but he reminded me that Timberly was at home and he wanted to be respectful. I appreciated the sweet, respectable Crew but right now I wanted dirty filthy Sir. Ass eating, spit in my mouth Sir.
I don’t know what was wrong with me. Whenever I was around him, I became a dick hungry slut, willing to do anything and everything he asked of me. My wrist still had bruises from his belt, and I couldn’t wait for what kinky things he would do to me next. It’s like he got off on pulling me out of my dominant role and making me submit to him.
With Kyle he never required me to submit in the bedroom he wanted me to submit in my daily role as his fiancé. He wanted me to be his docile meek little housewife. Sex was for his pleasure only. I was to do it whenever he wanted however he wanted. Kyle demanded that I be okay with him cheating, even going as far as bringing women home during the last few months of my pregnancy after I was placed on bedrest. When I refused tostay if he kept seeing other women, he and his family threatened to take Timberly away from me.
At the time I was pregnant with no job and a half-completed degree. Kyle took care of me financially and I had nowhere to go. My mother took his side and told me that I should be happy someone was willing to take care of me like Kyle, and that I needed to be grateful for what I had. I found out later that Kyle was paying her mortgage. His mother was no help either. She told me that women were supposed to support our men right or wrong. That we all had to make sacrifices for comfort.
The last straw was a week after I gave birth to Timberly, Kyle came home from work and demanded sex. I told him I couldn’t for at least another six weeks, but he refused to listen to me and forced himself on me. From that moment on I started planning my escape. But I had to be careful because at every turn Kyle and his mother used Timberly as a pawn in their game to keep me under their thumbs. I knew I couldn’t get help from my family or his so I started squirreling money away to get out of town.
It took me a year and a half to get away from them and we’ve been running ever since. We came close to them finding us a few times but for the past two years we have felt safe and at home here in Timberline.