Page 8 of Christmas Wedding
“Well, you will just have to wait until tomorrow.” He turned off the stove and faced her. “How did it go at the doctor's?” It was cute the way he worried about her, but she didn’t want to let that get in the way of Thanksgiving. Tomorrow was going to be a special day, no matter how bad she felt physically.
“It was fine. He’s not sure what the problem is, although he did tell me that I should not have to help cook Thanksgiving dinner. I should prop up my feet and drink some wine—oh, and have lots of sex. Yes, he definitely said to have tons of sex.” Sawyer smiled at her, seeming to be on board with the whole sex as medicine thing she came up with. “Anyway, I won’t know anything until after the holiday. They took some blood, but he didn’t know if the lab would be open since tomorrow is a holiday. He said he’ll call as soon as he knows something.” Lorna kissed Sawyer’s cheek and snuck a pinch of stuffing, moaning as her taste buds danced a happy dance. “You can really cook. That tastes so good.” Sawyer playfully swatted her ass as she made her way to the refrigerator. “How about you shower and take a nap. You look tired, baby. I can handle things here.”
Lorna kissed him, “I owe you,” she mumbled.
“I’ll collect when you are better rested. I have an idea of how you can repay me,” Sawyer said, bobbing his eyebrows at her.Lorna laughed on her way up the stairs. She felt bad that she couldn’t help cook as they planned, but she was dead on her feet, and a shower and nap sounded heavenly. Plus, she wanted to be ready for their big day tomorrow—their first family tradition together. She couldn’t wait.
Sawyer was worried about Lorna. She looked completely exhausted. He needed to control himself around her and give her time to rest. The night before, he was a demanding ass, and they didn’t get much sleep. Today, Lorna was paying the price, and he felt like shit about that. He thought that finding out that Joe had made it back to New York a few weeks back would calm his nerves, but he was wrong. He got a call from an old army buddy who ran a small security firm in the city, confirming that Joe was no longer in Colorado. His credit cards were traced back to New York, where he lived. At least that much of his story was true, although the rest of Joe’s motives for tracking down Piper were still a mystery. If he traveled across the country just to check out Piper’s aunt and childhood home, then mission accomplished. But it just didn’t add up. Was he out for revenge, or was it just a coincidence that he showed up in Piper’s ice-cream shop? Sawyer knew better than to believe in fate or random coincidence. Joe wanted something, and that had Sawyer on edge. His friend offered to track Joe down and have a little chat with him, but they would have to find him first. He went to Joe’s home and even talked to his neighbors, but no one saw him for weeks. Sawyer wasn’t going to let his guard down until his buddy had eyes on Joe in New York, far away from Piper and Lorna. Until that happened, he wanted either Tag or himself with Piper always. The problem with that planwas that Lorna was left unguarded. Maybe it was time to call in some help. He knew some guys in the area who served with him. They would jump in to lend a hand, no questions asked.
He needed to take more precautions with Lorna because the thought of Joe being in the same room with her again made him sick. It was bad enough that he was able to get so close to Lorna in the first place. Every time he thought of her being alone at the house with Joe, he wanted to punch a wall. He would like five minutes alone with the guy. He would have no problem finding out what the hell Joe wanted with Piper and Lorna; he would take pleasure in beating the truth out of the asshole. The house phone rang, startling him. He knew that Lorna wouldn’t be able to answer it, so he let it go to voicemail. He was stuffing the turkey and couldn’t clean his hands fast enough. Besides, it was probably Piper or Sunny wondering what they could do to help with tomorrow’s dinner. At the beep, he listened for someone to start talking, but no one did. The person didn’t hang up, and he could hear a muffled conversation on the other end. Finally, a woman started talking.
“Hi, Lorna, this is Dr. March’s office. We were able to get your blood and urine to the lab before they closed for the day. We marked them as urgent, and the results are back. On your HIPAA form, you marked that it was all right to leave you messages on your voicemail. So, well—okay, you’re pregnant. I know this must come as a shock, and I’m so sorry that I’m leaving the message like this. We just wanted you to know so that you are cautious about taking medication and drinking over the holiday. We will be in the office for a few more hours. Feel free to call us back or come in, and we will go over everything with you. Okay then—bye.” Sawyer couldn’t seem to get his brain to work. It was like he was watching a movie or listening to a story about someone else’s life. A part of him even felt bad for listening to Lorna’s message, but the nurse was talking aboutLorna and a baby that he helped to create. It had everything to do with him, and he wasn’t sure what to do next. He needed to tell Lorna or at least get her to listen to the message. Hell, he wasn’t sure that he could get the words out of his mouth to tell her himself. How did this happen? They were always so careful, using condoms every time that they made love.
He washed his hands and stood in the middle of the kitchen, trying to figure out his next move. He heard the shower turn on and decided to give Lorna a minute. Honestly, he needed a minute to collect himself and figure out how he felt about a baby. His and Lorna’s baby. He always thought that he wanted a family—a big one, since he didn’t have one growing up. When he was little, he hoped that a family might adopt him, and he could have brothers and sisters, but that never happened. When he met Lorna, he wasn’t sure if kids were even a possibility, but now—now it was a reality. Sawyer found Lorna in the shower, shampooing her hair, and he decided to join her. He stripped out of his clothes and opened the glass door, startling Lorna from her daydream.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He stepped under the spray and took over-shampooing her hair, massaging her scalp. She moaned and leaned back into his body.
“You didn’t, I was thinking about last night. You just surprised me.” Sawyer pulled her back into the spray of the warm water, rinsing her hair. He grabbed her shower gel and poured it into the palm of his hand, rubbing it all over her sexy body. When he got to her tummy, he froze. He needed to tell her, but the thought of Lorna carrying his baby did strange things to him. He was consumed with a burning desire for her. He wrapped his soapy hands around her middle and pulled her back into his erection. She gasped when he ground his cock into her back, grabbing onto his thighs for balance.
“Is this okay, honey? If you aren’t up for what I’m asking, tell me now.” He knew that he was being a dick—she was already exhausted from the night before, but knowing that she was pregnant was both a relief and a turn on. He just hoped that she would feel the same way about the baby.
“I’m good, Jonathan, please don’t stop.” He loved the way she stuttered his name, her breath catching each time he ground his erection into her back.
“Turn around, honey. I want to see your face when you come for me.” Lorna moaned again, turning in his embrace. He picked her up to align their bodies and gently backed her up against the shower wall. She hissed when her warm skin contacted the cold marble as she wrapped her legs around him.
“Open your eyes, Lorna. I want to see you.” Her eyes opened, and he knew that she wanted this as much as he did. She smiled at him, and that was all he needed. He thrust his cock hard and fast into her body, devouring every little breathy moan and sigh that escaped her mouth with his own. She was his everything, and now she was going to give him everything that he ever wanted. She just didn’t know it yet. Lorna shouted out his name as she found her release, and he followed her over the edge. It was the first time they didn’t use a condom, and she felt so fucking good, he could barely control himself. He held her in place, his cock still buried deep inside of her.
“Marry me, Lorna.” Her eyes flew open with those three simple words, her shock evident.
“What?” She all but whispered her question. Sawyer softly kissed her lips, sliding free from her tight, hot pussy. His dick was not happy, but he needed to do this properly.
“I want you to marry me. I want you to be my wife and have a family with me. I want everything with you.” He framed her face with his hands, wiping away what he guessed were tears. Lorna shivered. “Shit, honey, I’m sorry. You’re cold.” He shut offthe shower and found a towel to wrap Lorna in, pulling another around his waist.
“Let’s get you dried off. We have a lot to talk about.” Lorna was still shivering but nodded her head. He didn’t think this through. He wanted to show her how good they were together. Instead, his inner caveman appeared again, taking Lorna in the shower. “I’m fucking this all up. This isn’t how I planned to ask you to marry me. Hell, I planned on getting in the shower and going down on one knee to propose. But the thought of you carrying my child made me crazy. I just couldn’t help myself. I’m so sorry, honey,” Sawyer admitted.
“That’s why I can’t say yes. What if I can’t carry your child? We’ve already talked about this. Nothing has changed. I’m still forty years old, and the fact is, I may never be able to have children.” Sawyer laughed.
“I am fucking this all up. Lorna, I came up here to tell you that your doctor’s office called. You were getting into the shower, and I had raw turkey all over my hands, so I let the machine pick up. They left a message for you.” Lorna’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she turned to run downstairs, holding her towel up as she went. Sawyer was right on her heels. She pushed the button on the ancient answering machine to listen to the same message that he had heard earlier. Her trembling hands covered her face as she sobbed. Finally, the message ended, and she fell to the ground, rocking and crying. Sawyer knelt next to her, pulling her onto his lap. They sat there for what felt like hours as he whispered how much he loved her while stroking her back.
“I didn’t plan this, Jon. I swear I didn’t do this on purpose. I would never do anything to trap you like this,” she sobbed.
“Honey, I would never think you were trying to trap me. If I’m being totally honest, I’d be happy to be trapped with you.” He kissed her trembling lips as she sighed against his mouth.
“What do we do now?” She sounded so lost, he wanted to protect her, to tell her how much he needed and loved her all at once.
“For starters, you can marry me. I’ve wanted you since the first day I saw you in New York. I let you push me away for long enough now. Marry me. Let me prove to you how much I love you every day for the rest of our lives.” He could see the indecision in Lorna’s eyes; she seemed torn. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she nodded her head, tears pooling in her eyes.
“Yes, Jonathan. I will marry you. But I have one condition.” He didn’t like the sound of Lorna putting a stipulation on her acceptance of his proposal.
“I’m afraid to ask, but what condition?” He watched as she paced the kitchen. Lorna might be the strongest person that he has ever met. She just found out that she was pregnant with her first baby at forty, and now she was agreeing to marry him. Her head had to be spinning. The least he could do was give in to a few of her demands.
“Well—" she stopped pacing. “I don’t want to tell anyone about this until after the holidays. I won’t start showing until after Christmas. I don’t want to take away from Piper and Tag’s first holiday season together. Our news can wait.” Sawyer could see that this was important to Lorna. She was so selfless, not wanting to take away any happiness from Piper’s first Christmas with Tag. What she didn’t see was that everyone in town loved her and would only want her to be happy. Sawyer didn’t want to wait. He wanted to open their front door and shout it to the whole town that Lorna was pregnant with his baby and had agreed to marry him. But, for her, he would agree to this one concession. He knew that she probably needed to catch her breath; everything was happening so quickly.
“Fine,” he agreed. “As long as you know that come January 2, I’m shouting to the entire world how happy you have made me.” He pulled Lorna into his arms, losing her towel. He kissed his way down her body to where their baby was nestled in her womb. He gently kissed her tummy, looking up to find Lorna smiling down at him, tears streaming down her face.
“A baby,” she whispered. She covered her tummy with her hands as if protecting their unborn child. “I never thought I’d have a baby,” Lorna admitted. Sawyer stood and pulled her back into his arms.
“Well, I for one am thrilled that we get to be his or her parents. I know you’ll be a wonderful mom.” He kissed Lorna’s forehead. The thought of being a shitty dad scared him half to death. He had no real role model to follow, no way to know how to be a good parent. But he knew Piper, and he knew that Lorna was the primary reason that she turned out to be a wonderful person. He knew he had a learning curve to overcome when it came to being a dad, but he and Lorna could handle a baby. Or at least that was what he hoped.
