Page 19 of Playful Summer

We fall asleep in each other’s arms, and I dream about the family I’ll have with her.

CHAPTER NINE

Piper

When Paxton asked about birth control, I panicked. When I was with Harris, I got pregnant once. We were using protection and it failed. His reaction was to tell me that we couldn’t afford to have a kid. I ended up having a miscarriage. Harris seemed relieved and when I told him how much it hurt me, he said we’d have a family ‘one day.’ A week later I found out about him cheating. So as hard as that time was for me, I’m glad I didn’t have a baby with him.

I stopped taking my birth control after finding out about Harris cheating. I didn’t see a need for it, I wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. So why take it?

Paxton’s reaction to this situation wasn’t what I would’ve expected. But the look he gave me last night is telling me that he’s not lying. I’m still trying not to freak out about this.

I open my eyes and look at Paxton. He’s a gorgeous man even when he’s sleeping.

“Your thoughts are loud.” He yawns.

I laugh and sit up to go to the bathroom.

“So are we still in the 'bathrooms are solitary time' stage?” Paxton smiles.

“We’ll never be out of that stage. Brushing teeth, bathing…okay. But peeing and pooping? That’s not sharing time,” I say to him.

He laughs more and watches me go to the bathroom.

“Did you want to join me for a shower?” I ask him as I open the door.

Paxton jumps up and is in the bathroom before I can get the shower on. We make love again and it’s as explosive as last night. He even spends time gently washing me up after. I’ve never had anyone treat me like this.

“Thank you,” I say to him.

“For what?”

“For showing me what it’s like to be cared for. For not getting angry that I’m not on birth control.”

“Baby, I’ll always take care of you. As for the birth control? Protection isn’t only on you, it’s on me too. I want to have a family with you. But if it’s something you’re not ready for, I’ll get some condoms and use them. Did someone hurt you? I feel like someone did something to you.”

I look up at Paxton.

“Harris. I was with him for three years. One day I wasn’t feeling good and I realized that my period was late. So I took a test…”

Paxton holds me as I talk.

“When I told Harris, he said we couldn’t afford a baby. And that one day we would discuss it. A few weeks later I miscarried. When I told him, he sounded relieved. And then a week after that, I found out he’d been cheating on me for the last six months. The worst part? She was pregnant.”

“Fucking asshole,” Paxton says quietly.

“There’s a part of me that’s still sad about the baby. But there’s the other part that’s relieved I’m not tied to him in any way. So when you said that you want to have a family with me? It made me feel cared for, you weren’t even mad about it.”

“Why would I be mad? There’s nothing you could do that would make me mad.”

“You’re like my fairytale prince. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but thank you.”

“I’ll always be here for you. That much you can count on.”

After Harris, I told myself screw it, I’m fine alone. Now that I have Paxton? I don’t want to be alone ever again.

Paxton

I made the archway that Rhett and Emiko are standing under. Standing beside my brother as he says his vows makes me think of my own vows. I can’t wait to be standing here with Piper. I know that we’ll get there, I don’t know when, but I know it’ll happen. My girl looks beautiful standing next to Emiko.

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