I made it to thirty-eight weeks before Harper and Presley gave their daddy and uncle a scare when I went into labor in Phoenix’s office at Cooper and Malone Private Investigations.
Edge and Mathias were having a meeting with Slade and Phoenix in Slade’s office next door, while I was kicking back on her leather couch talking to Miss Catherine on my phone.
I ended the call with Miss Catherine and called Edge and explained I might need to go to the hospital.
Then all hell broke loose in the adjoining office. I had three big ex-military men shouting and scrambling into Phoenix's office like it was on fire and not one of them, including Edge could think straight.
Phoenix unperturbed by their behavior called for an ambulance and proceeded to slap each man in the face to bring some order into the room, which had me laughing through the contractions.
Everything was happening fast.
It seemed to do the trick because they all assessed the situation, found there to be no enemy, no guns were necessary or brute force. There was only a pregnant woman (me) who had made a mess on the couch and was in need of hand holding and her birthing partner to help her stave off the fear of possibly giving birth without any medical help in an office.
Edge was playing his role while my gal-pal aka drill sergeant started issuing orders. I didn’t care what she was having them do; it kept the hovering men busy. I had clean towels from their office bathroom, fresh water in a jug, my overnight bag (I was prepared for any emergency at any time on the clock) was brought in from our car and a lit candle flickered on her office desk by the time the paramedics arrived to take me to the hospital, all the while I tried to stay calm and breathe through the pain and my fears.
For everything that had gone wrong in my life, the birth of our twins went without complications and no need for a C-section. Our son, Presley Dallas, was born first, followed closely by, Harper Catherine, our daughter.
I thought I knew what love was before, but this was a whole different level called Venerated.
“Babe, we’re gonna be late, you gotta get dressed, although I'm not complaining about the view." I nuzzle Whisper's neck, while she stands in only her scraps of sexy underwear in front of the floor length mirror in the master bedroom. I'm barefoot and just wearing my suit pants. I got distracted seeing her putting her lipstick on.
My hands cup her swollen baby-belly. She's in her seventh month. Then I decide she looks too damn sexy and I need to show her how hot her baby body is. I slide one hand down to her panties and slip my fingers beneath the red lace until I find the spot that makes her come. "Always wet for me babe," I murmur in her ear. She arches her back and rubs her ass against me, her lips parting. "You wanna come?”
“Always,” she sighs, her eyes closing.
“Then you better give me your mouth.” I tilt her chin sideways so I can get to ruining her perfect red lips while my fingers have her gasping and quietly moaning. I rub my thumb over her lace covered hard nipples, gently squeezing her tender breasts until she’s squirming in my arms.
"Edge…" she pants. It only takes a short time before she’s falling apart, soaking my fingers.
I ease them out of her while she watches me in the reflection, bringing them up to my mouth, sucking them clean. "Love the taste of you, babe," I rumble low. "I'll need those wet panties shortly." I tug her hips back against me, rubbing her ass over my bulge. "Sweetheart, I'm going to be hard for you all night, no time now to fix that, we gotta be going in ten minutes.”
She turns in my arms, one eyebrow raised in challenge. “Wanna bet?” She holds my hand, tugging me toward the bed with a mischievous grin as she seductively swings her curvy hips. “I think I’ve got this covered, but we might be a little late.” She plops down on the end of the bed and unbuckles my belt, and then she’s got my cock springing free and my clothing down around my ankles. “Honey, you know I can’t back down from a challenge.” And then she’s smearing her red lipstick all over my cock as she digs her nails into my ass.
"Shit, this isn't going to take long, not the way you're using that mouth of yours." She applies more suction, and I have to grit my teeth to stop me groaning out loud.
The little minx tilts her head and starts to go to town on my balls while her manicured fingers stroke me hard and fast. She's gonna get me over the finish line pretty quick if she keeps that up. “Jesus, babe…" I manage to get out before she slows the stroking and deep throats me. Then I'm seeing shooting stars that aren't really there but doesn't stop them lighting up around me as I come hard in her pretty mouth, grinding my teeth in the bid to muffle the low noises breaking free.
I think we’ve still got nine minutes to fill. “Babe, raise your bum so I can peel those panties off and then spread those sexy legs because I’m about to reciprocate the gesture, but you’re gonna have to be quiet.”
"Pillow," she says, biting down on her bottom lip in anticipation. She hands me her panties, and I shove them in my pocket. I swap them for the pillow.
"Get ready to bite down on it." I kneel down between her slender thighs. Wrapping a hand around the back of each of her knees, I bring her legs up over my shoulders so I can tilt her hips up a little. "Fuck, I love the smell of your pussy." I slide another pillow under her lower back, then I lick along her seam, cupping her ass so I can keep her crushed against my face while I suck and swirl my tongue inside her. She makes good use of that pillow saving Boxer and Evelyn from knowing what we're doing in here.
I get to my feet, stepping out of my wrinkled pants. “Hands, babe.” She holds her arms up to me, and I carefully pull her up to a sitting position before helping her to her feet.
She cups my face. “Kiss me, Edge.”
“Always.” I kiss her like it will be our last kiss and leave her breathless and a little wobbly on her feet. A smack on her ass gets her moving toward the mirror to check what damage we've done to her makeup and what isn't salvageable is her lipstick.
“Now we have to get dressed and out the door." I walk into the master bath and find the packet of baby wipes. There's always a packet in nearly every room of the house for any kiddie mop-up emergency. I classify this as an adult mop-up emergency. I toss them onto the bed. "I'll get another suit on and go spend a couple of minutes with Harper and Presley while you get ready and make sure Boxer and Doc Evelyn know everything they need to know."
“Okay, I’ll be quick.”
I've now swapped with Whisper, and she's in talking to our angels while I wait in the garage ready to help her into the SUV.
Fuck, I love my woman. She's brought me everything a man could want into my life, and she gets more beautiful every day. The ring I designed for her I've had with me since the night we nearly lost Mathias. I was supposed to propose to her that night on our birthdays, but things didn't work out that way.
Then I saw how much she enjoyed being free from the Hell’s bastards that had stolen most of her life and I realized I was being selfish wanting to mark her with my ring straight away.
She was a bird that needed to spread her wings that were no longer clipped. Even though she was pregnant, I wanted to give her as much freedom to be who she wanted to be before I tied her officially to me.
Our hearts are one, but I didn't want her to have any regrets. We were in a committed relationship with two monkeys—the whole shebang—but she needed to find herself. I wanted her to know her own identity, and then I could put that ring on her finger.
I knew I’d done the right thing because she never hinted at getting married. She was enjoying sharing a life with me, but she didn’t need the Mr and Mrs tag, and I respected that.
Study was a priority, and we made it work. She's now a landscaper in high demand and has her own company Whisper’s World of Landscaping.
We live in La Jolla. I bought my woman a hillside Mediterranean five-bedroom home with panoramic views of the ocean so she had plenty of windows she could open up and let the breeze in. We're not far from her sisterhood of women and their men who have filled our life with friendship. I sold several of my properties to buy it out-right nearly.
Miss Catherine ended up leaving Connard and moving in with us. We wouldn't have had it any other way. Harper and Presley loved her, and she loved them so much.
We brought Lenny out to San Diego at the same time as Miss C, but she was never gonna let a man tell her what to do, so we helped set Lenny up at White Sands Senior Independent Living Community in La Jolla. It's a pretty expensive place, but Lenny, the sly dog, had quite the nest egg. He stayed in Connard purely because he'd been sweet on Miss C for twenty odd years. Hope's husband, Levi, recommended the place. Lenny gets to play his saxophone and trumpet there, and Slade arranged a gig with Joe, the owner of Joe's Bar in OB for every Sunday for the lunch crowd.
Mathias lives here instead of Norway. He came out two years ago and is in partnership with me, funnily enough, we are Masson and Schenk Custom-Made Motorcycles.
We're not in competition with Joy Donovan, Levi's wife; we're just doing our thing. She's more into restoring vintage cars now and holding mechanic lessons for women, which is working for her. There's a lot of demand for women to know what's under the hood of their car. We will sometimes contract Joy to work on the bikes when we get called out on a job, so it works for everybody.
Our business is also a cover for the same business Boxer was running from Connard. Mathias and I decided to lend a helping hand with a business front for Boxer's freelance contracts, and the Soulless Bastards and The Lion's Den MCs have come on board. When called upon, they are on the payroll and help to fight the good fight. A bit of mystery naturally has to surround what Boxer, Lincoln and his team get up to, so that's all I'm at liberty to disclose. But I can tell you Doc Evelyn and Boxer also moved out to San Diego, and Paco pretty much runs Boxer’s bar in Connard.
I moved my adopted parents into the best nursing home I could find in La Jolla where they passed away eleven months later. Whisper went and saw them every day showing them their grandchildren, and I went as often as I could. Their minds were too far gone to know who we were, but Harper and Presley brought smiles to their faces.
We visit my mom, or she comes here from Norway a few times a year, and we have fortnightly real-time chats with her. She's doing well and has a man in her life. We’re pretty close now, and she adores the kids.
Whisper, and I make sure our family is our priority, and if it isn't we fix it, so it is. She designs from home and has handpicked her staff who can make the magic happen until she can be back on her feet getting her hands back in the soil. We were all so proud of what Whisper has achieved.
All the complicated seemed to uncomplicate itself.
But then two months ago, Miss C passed away in her sleep. She’d told me the night prior that dem bones of hers were speaking to her and she knew her time was very soon. I wasn't to tell Whisper; she thought it would be better that way.
She didn’t want to tell Lenny, her beau, she just wanted to let the wind blow the way it always did right up until the end with no tears.
Miss C passed away peacefully in her sleep during the night with her blessing that we would one day be married. She didn't need to stick around for it; she'd had four incredible years living with us and reckoned eighty-nine and ten-twelfths was a good number to go out on.
I couldn’t sleep that night. I got up and went into her room and sat by her bed until I heard her take her last breath. I cried like a baby. The only other time I cried was when Whisper gave birth.
All my days since Mathias came back to us have been good days, except for that night. Fuck it was hard Miss C leaving us. I kissed her on the forehead and then I went in and woke Whisper up. We held each other and cried our hearts out. Then we called Boxer, and we cried some more, and then we had to let Lenny know.
She was an exceptional lady.
Today she would have been ninety years old.
Tonight I’m gonna ask the love of my life to be my wife and honor Miss C on this day.
I've got the ring in my pocket and have the bottle of French champagne on ice in the backseat with the food hamper, Happy, at Peace Café put together for me and a picnic blanket and her ballet flats. I put in an order with Retro, Birdie's husband and now a good friend of mine. Birdie's the lady who designed Harper and Presley's bedrooms. They own the popular Peace Café in Ocean Beach, and Happy their chef is known for his special picnic hampers.
The sun is going to set soon, and we're going to miss out on the view if we don't get moving.
I step back inside the house now that I’ve got the car packed with everything I’ll need. Our photographer will be beating us to the place if I don’t pull Whisper away from her children.
I walk into Harper’s room and find her curled up on the floor with the angels reading them a story.
“Daaaddy,” Harper squeals and my heart melts as she throws herself at my legs.
“Pumpkin,” I sing-song back and swing her up into my arms. She’s got her mother’s beauty including those brown eyes. I want to slow time down before I have to worry about the snotty nosed boy who looks at my daughter the way no boy should look at my daughter.
Presley throws his arms up into the air wanting a piece of the daddy action. I scoop him up in my other arm. The twins do everything together. Presley already has a protective nature about him when it comes to his sister. There’s a little bit of me in each of the kids, but they get their beauty from Whisper.
I don’t doubt Presley is gonna be doing me proud when he's a man when it comes to women, but I keep that to myself because no father wants to see his daughter doing him proud when it comes to the number of men she beds. There are definitely going to be two sets of rules; it simply has to be.
I look down at Whisper. "Mommy, don't you move, I'm going to take these two to Gramps and Nana Evelyn, and I'll come back and help you up."
“I won’t move. I don’t think I can get up without a little help,” she says laughing.
"Right you two, let's go." We get far enough away from Harper's room, and I whisper to them. "Do you remember what we talked about this morning?" They both nod their cherub faces.
“We’ve got a secret,” Harper whispers loudly.
“We have to keep it a secret too,” Presley says importantly.
"Daddy has to take Mommy out to dinner now, so she can eat and feed your little brother so he can be strong and come into our lives soon. Gramps and Nana Evelyn are going to feed you two too, so you're strong enough to cuddle your baby brother when he arrives."
I kiss them both and put them down on their feet where they scamper off to the great room and jump all over Boxer.
I duck my head around the corner.
“We gotta get going, you guys all set?" I ask Doc and Gramps. Boxer hates it when I call him Gramps but loves it when Harper and Presley scream it.
"We'll be fine. You go and get that ring on her finger." Doc's a total romantic, and as I've discovered, Gramps isn't too shabby himself when it comes to doing the right thing by his woman. He got a pretty impressive rock slipped onto her finger.
I check my watch. I've learned to allow plenty of time to leave the house so we start getting ready early and hope we can get out the house relatively on time. The sunset hasn't begun yet.
"We're off and thank you for watching these two. I'll go get Whisper off the floor." Boxer laughs because he's had to get her up on more than one occasion. She likes to lay down with the monkeys and read to them, but then she's rolling about trying to get back up.
I walk back into Harper's room and there my woman is on all fours trying to get up in her sexy red cocktail dress.
“Babe, you have to learn patience.”
“I was nearly up.”
I roll my eyes.
***
I know I led her to believe we were going out to dinner at a restaurant, but I didn't exactly say that I just didn't correct her.
I park the car and jump out before she can attempt to get out by herself and jog around to the passenger door and open it for her.
“Edge, what are we doing here at Hermosa Park?”
“I thought we might check out the sunset for a little bit. It’s such a beautiful clear night.” Just let me grab the picnic blanket. I deliberately leave the hamper and champagne in the backseat. She hasn’t noticed them in there yet. Faith and Jase have the other key to my car and will bring everything down for me. I need my free hands to help Whisper. I saw them parked farther down. I need you to kick off those heels and slip on the ballet flats I brought along for you."
“Are we here for Miss Catherine’s birthday?” She is starting to piece some things together.
“Partly. Just let me get us to a nice spot where we can sit and enjoy the sunset.”
"Okay, honey. I'll sit back down in the car, and you can swap my shoes over."
“Sounds like a plan. These are sexy shoes, the ballet flats aren’t doing it for me as much,” I joke. "But I don't want you twisting an ankle."
I get her shoes swapped over and then we’re walking down the track until I find us a place to spread the picnic blanket out. We’ve got a panoramic view of the ocean.
I stand behind Whisper, wrapping my arms around her and enjoy the calm our life has become. There are other people scattered about, but not many and nobody too close to us.
“This is where we spread Miss Catherine’s ashes,” she says softly.
“Yeah, babe, it is.”
Faith arrives with her camera. It’s my cue to get down on bended knee while the light is perfect.
“Faith!” Whisper waves her over, stepping out of my arms to hug her. She's excited to see her friend. I'm already down on bended knee waiting for her to turn around. "What are you doing here?" Before Faith can answer, she sees Jase and waves to him. He’s got the hamper and the champagne. "Oh you're having a romantic night, and you've come to watch the sunset too."
“Um…sort of. I’ve come to take some pictures for a client,” she answers truthfully.
Whisper looks around, and that's when she sees me down on bended knee, the ring box in my open palm.
“Ooh…”
"Whisper De Ville, you are the most beautiful soul. I love you with all my heart and then some. My life has been forever changed for the better with you in it. You've given me children I would gladly die for. You've made me a happy man. You've grown into a successful woman who has the kindest heart I know. I wanted to say all this in the place we spread Miss Catherine's ashes hoping she might be looking down on us to hear me ask, ‘Will you marry me?' You would make me so fucking happy if you accepted this ring I've been carry around for four years." I open the box.
“Yes! Edge. Yes!” I realize I’m holding my hands like I’m praying when he waits for me to hold out my hand so he can slide the exquisite diamond ring onto my finger.
“Kiss me, babe.”
“Always.” I can hear Faith clicking away with her camera from all angles, capturing this moment for us. We are the client. Edge has set this all up.
Jase and Faith congratulate us and then more photos are taken with us sipping the French champagne, my diamond ring catching the light.
“Let me help you to sit.” I laugh at how serious he sounds. “What? I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
“I know, but I can’t help wondering what it’s like to be able to get up and down by myself again. It feels so long ago,” I say wistfully and laugh again.
Once we're both seated on the blanket, the hamper gets opened up, and all the goodies inside get spread about around us in a very stylish way. Faith knows what she's doing.
She takes a pile of romantic photos until she loses too much light and has to stop. They congratulate us again, and then they leave us to our happy moment with the promise to catch up in a couple of days to view the photos.
I'm lying back in Edge's arms, feeling like the luckiest girl. "I love you and want nothing more than to be your wife."
“Good because how awkward if you’d said no.”
“You knew I was a sure thing.”
“Pretty much.” He laughs.
And my life just got better and better.
THE END
If you would like to know more about Slade and Phoenix, you can find them in the Men Of Ocean Beach series. Read on for an extract from A Little Faith.