Rhys

As I rolled through the remains of the colorful wrapping paper while wrestling with my nephews Jax and Cody, I couldn’t imagine a happier time in my life. It wasn’t just about being silly with the kids. It was the way Allison’s family made me feel like I was truly home. Growing up, I’d never experienced Christmases like the ones at Allison’s. There had been fine china and crystal in the formal dining room while my sister and I had been banished to the nursery to eat our turkey and dressing. It didn’t get better as I grew older. Instead, it remained just as cold and sterile. The only warmth came from our nanny and cook.

And then I’d befriended Jake, AJ, and Brayden when we were at Georgia Tech. With their friendship came my entrance into their band, Runaway Train. That’s when I’d gained the family I’d always desired. In turn, each of them made me a member of their own family. It was through Jake that I met Allison. Never would I have imagined his gangly, brace-faced little sister would one day become my wife. The only woman I’d truly ever given my heart and soul to.

When I looked up from the kids, I met her gaze. I winked at her, which sent a beaming smile to her face. God, she was beautiful with her long, dark hair and crystal blue eyes. She’d been gorgeous since the time she turned sixteen. It was a cliché, but she was like a caterpillar immerging from its cocoon to become a beautiful butterfly. Gone were the braces and the awkwardness. The gangly legs were now sexy as hell, and I loved nothing more than having them wrapped around my waist. But the best part of all was how beautiful Allison was on the inside. She had the kindest spirit, sweetest soul, and loving heart. I was a hell of a lucky man that she was mine.

Allison’s sister, Andrea, rose out off of the couch beside her. Eyeing her son and daughter, she clapped her hands together. “Okay guys, it’s time we started packing up. We have to get to Big John and Meme’s by six.”

“Aw, we want to stay here with Uncle Rhys,” Cody whined.

I chuckled at his reaction. “Sorry, Little Man, but Allison and I have to get on the road, too.”

After spending last night with Allison’s parents, we were heading down to Savannah. While my relationship with my parents could be characterized as strained as best, the main reason for going back home was to see my sister, Ellie. We planned on having Santa Claus waiting on her when she came over tomorrow morning. Even though she was thirty-one, she loved Christmas with the same childish abandon as when we were kids.

“Speaking of getting on the road, we better get packed up,” Allison said as she started for the stairs.

After giving each of the kids a quick hug and kiss, I pulled myself up off the floor. While the others worked on cleaning up the mess of wrapping paper and boxes, I went to help Allison. As I turned back to eye the kids one last time, warmth radiated through my chest at the thought that next year Allison and I would have a child of our own.

If you would have told me last Christmas that we’d be expecting a child, I would have laughed in your face. It’s not that I didn’t want children. They were always the “someday” or “one day” that Allison and I talked about. Sure, at thirty-two I wasn’t getting any younger, but Allison was still so young. She was thriving in her fashion design business. It just didn’t seem like the right time.

But sometimes you don’t know what you need until it’s staring right at you. In our case, it was a frightened seventeen-year-old birth mother asking us to be her baby’s parents. I don’t think I’d ever experienced such shock as when Allison told me what Keira had asked her. I was piss-my-pants- scared and fought the urge to run away. I’d spent the last four years of our relationship dealing with the fear I had at becoming a father. At the same time, I knew an opportunity like this didn’t come out of thin air without having a purpose. For Allison and me, it was clear that the universe was ready for us to be parents.

When I entered the bedroom, Allison was bent over the bed. Her luscious ass was on perfect display through her jeans. Although it was the most inopportune moment, my dick instantly hardened. Even after all these years together, she still that effect on me. It probably didn’t hurt that we’d spent the last two weeks apart while I was out on tour, and she was here in Atlanta working on designs.

At the thought of the five-hour car ride ahead of us, I knew I had to have her right here and right now. I crossed the room to get to her in two long strides. Sliding my arm around her waist, I pulled Allison back against me. My free hand went to cup and knead her breast.

She sucked in a harsh breath as her nipple pebbled under my fingers. “What are you doing?”

Dipping my head, I licked a trail up her neck to her earlobe. “Loving my beautiful wife.”

“While I appreciate the sentiment, you do realize it’s broad daylight at my parents’ house?”

“I’m fully aware of when and where we are.”

When my other hand came between her legs, she moaned. “Rhys, we can’t do this right now.”

“Considering I can feel how wet you are through your jeans, I’d say you’re more than ready.” I licked the shell of her hear. “Give in, Allison.

“Close and lock the door,” she commanded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

While I crossed the room to the door, Allison unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. She was shoving them down her thighs when I turned the lock on the door. I walked slowly back over to her, enjoying the view of her in her skimpy red panties.

“Aren’t you festive?” I teasingly asked, as I motioned to her underwear.

“Just wait,” she replied with a smile. After sweeping her sweater over her head, she revealed a matching red bra.

“Very nice.”

Her hands came to the waistband of my pants. While one hand worked to unzip me, the other caressed my dick through the fabric. Once she had my pants and underwear down around my ankles, I stepped out of them. Reaching between us, Allison took my cock in her hand, causing me to hiss. As she began to stroke me, I brought my lips to hers and plunged my tongue into her warm, inviting mouth.

Breaking our lip-lock, I started to push Allison down onto the bed, but she frowned up at me. “You’re leaving your sweater on?”

I glanced down at my chest. “Sorry. Got lost in the moment.”

After I lifted it over my head, Allison’s look of lustful appreciation made me glad I had. As I nudged her onto her back, I slipped between her thighs. After pulling off her panties and tossing them to the side of the bed, I guided my erection to her core. With one thrust, I buried myself deep inside her. It’d been almost five years since our first time together before we’d been actually been a couple. We’d come together hundreds of times since then, but it never got old. I’d once feared that with monogamy, the thrill of sex would wane. But not with Allison.

Jerking the cup of her bra down, I brought my mouth to her breast. Allison moaned and brought her hands to my hair. My tongue flicked and sucked her nipple into a hardened peak. “Mmm, Rhys,” Allison panted.

As I pumped furiously, my dick went deeper and deeper as Allison’s hips rose up to meet each thrust. We were in perfect sync. Although I wanted the sex to go on and on, I knew we had to hurry before someone discovered us. Reaching between us, I pinched Allison’s clit, causing her to cry out. “Shh,” I murmured into her neck.

“Can’t. Help. It,” she muttered. A few more tweaks had her walls convulsing around me. The tightness of her around my dick sent me off a few thrusts later.

We lay there, panting to catch our breath. After a few minutes, Allison turned her head on the pillow towards me. “Do you think they’ve missed us yet?”

“I think the better question would be did they hear the squeaky bed from downstairs?”

Allison’s eyes bulged. “I knew we should have gone in the bathroom and turned on the water.”

I chuckled. “Don’t you think they would have wondered why we were running water for no apparent reason?”

“It’s better than trying to explain why the bed was squeaking.”

I pushed the stray strands of hair out of her face. “I’m pretty sure with the kids running around like mad that no one heard us.”

“God, I hope so.”

After kissing her one last time, I pulled myself into a sitting position. “We better get going.”

Allison bobbed her head before rolling off the bed. Adjusting the cups of her bra, she said, “You know this is about to change, don’t you?”

I jumped back into my pants. “How’s that?”

“When the baby comes, our sex life is going to change.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

Allison shook her head as she pulled her sweater back on. “You say that now when we aren’t sleep deprived, or he’s lying between us in bed.”

“I don’t think we’ll be the first parents to get it on in the same bed as our child.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose not.”

“Think of the pioneers. They used to sleep three and four to a bed.”

“Doesn’t seem like it was much of a deterrent,” she teased.

“Not exactly.” I crossed the room to stand beside her. I placed my hands on her shoulders.

“Look, what it all boils down to is making time to still be husband and wife while keeping the communication flowing.”

Allison eyed me curiously. “Since when did you become so knowledgeable about marriage and children?”

I grinned. “I spent years observing the marriages of the Runaway Train guys. AJ, Jake, and Brayden have given me tons of advice on how to survive the first six weeks of newborn life as well as keeping the fires burning.”

“I really don’t want to know what Jake had to say about us keeping our fires burning,” Allison groaned.

“Trust me, he feels the same way about me discussing anything about you. It’s usually only AJ and Brayden who get specific. Since they feel like you’re their little sister as well, they really don’t want to hear much either.”

Allison exhaled a relieved breath. “That’s good to know.” After she grabbed her pants off the floor, she pulled her phone out and eyed it curiously.

“Everything okay?”

I didn’t have to ask to know why she was checking her phone. Even though it was three weeks until Keira’s due date, Allison was a nervous wreck about the baby coming while we were gone to Savannah. Okay, maybe we were both nervous about it.

“Nope. Nothing.”

“No news is good news, right?”

She smiled. “That’s right.” She then jerked her thumb at the bathroom. “Come on. We need to clean up before we go downstairs.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.