By the time the place emptied of guests I was over the day. My well planned homecoming was shot to hell but it was all good. As long as she was here with me at the end of all that shit I could deal.

“So you’re good now?” I rubbed her shoulders as we headed into our room.

“Nope!” She waved her hand in my face and I remembered the ring.

“Where is it?” She pointed to the night stand. My heart started racing for some fucked up reason as I picked up the box and opened it. I closed it again and she freaked.

“What, you don’t want to give it to me anymore? I said I was sorry, it all just hit me out of nowhere and I didn’t have time to think. I’d just been sitting there thinking how great my life is now that you’re in it and then the picture came through and…”

She started hyperventilating. “Shh, come ‘ere. Of course I want to give it to you, but I wanted it to be special. I wanted to plan a whole thing.”

“Really? That’s nice but after the day we had I just want your ring on my finger. And I plan to make some changes myself. I’m going to try not to jump the gun, but like Sherrie said, you’re fine and I expect women to always be after you.”

“Hey, just remember whoever is after me, I only have eyes for you. If I’d wanted anyone else, I wouldn’t be here with you. And believe me when I tell you, I will never hurt you.” I pulled her into my chest for a much needed hug.

“Remember, I told you, I saw what that shit did to my mother, I will never do that shit to someone else. Besides, she’d have my balls if I even think of doing that skeazy shit. Add the fact that she’d be disappointed as hell if I turned into one of those assholes, and I never disappoint my mother.”

“Thanks Max. I’m going to try really hard to hold onto everything you’ve said and done in the future.”

“That’s all I ask. Now let’s go take a shower, I want to wash this damn day off me.”

Of course I nailed her in the shower. It was fast hard and hot, but it was nothing in comparison to what I did to her once I got her back to our bed.

Raw emotion hit me out of nowhere when I put her beneath me and slid into her heat. My hands trembled and I think my heart did a little bit of that as well when I thought of all I could’ve lost.

“I’m sorry that you were hurt because of me. Sorry that something that was supposed to be beautiful got fucked up, again, because of me.” She lifted her lips for a kiss and I felt the tremble in them.

It took me a minute to realize she was crying as I fucked her. “I was so scared Max.” She grabbed onto me and cried into my chest and I stopped moving.

“Stop crying, you have nothing to be scared about. Look.” I reached for the ring I’d placed back on the nightstand and lifted her finger.

“This, says that you’re mine, that all your fears and worries now belong to me.” I slid the platinum and diamond ring on her finger and felt something inside me settle.

“Put it away baby girl. Know that I’ll always stand between you and whatever life throws at us but we have to do this shit together.” Her tears dried up and she looked at her ring with that light in her eyes that I’d been hoping for.

“I love you. I love you in a way that’s never gonna go away. I don’t care what you think you know about marriage and family, I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you how it’s supposed to be done.”

“Oh Max, thank you. Thanks for always knowing what to say.” I surged into her hoping that I could keep that promise wishing that for the rest of my life I never have to watch her go through anything like she did today.

I paid a visit to Arlene’s husband a few days later with a nice restraining order and a warning. As it turns out he’d already kicked her out of the house and was thinking divorce; not my problem.

The cops were still trying to figure out who put Ray in the hospital but no one had come knocking at my door, and Cox was back to being an asshole.

I tried asking him about that shit and that fool blew cigar smoke in my face and acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. Now I almost like him. Asshole!

Around my place things were back to normal. The women were into the holiday season that was right around the corner, my girl was happy and smiling all the time and I was having more sex than I did when I was a horn dog. Her teenage ass is horny as hell.

Life had smoothed out nicely, my only worries now were where to hide her gifts that I was hording because I couldn’t pass a store window without seeing something that I liked for her.

I would’ve chosen Tony’s place but he has bitch teeth in his head where the women in our family are concerned, and mom’s was a solid no. In the end I chose aunt Jess because she’s worst than that damn KGB.

I was keeping my eye out for any sign of pregnancy but that shit didn’t look like it was gonna appear anytime soon, even though I counted and she hadn’t had a period. I figured she’d know and since she wasn’t saying anything…well.

Holiday season in the city was just what I hoped it would be. We did all the kitschy shit people who have nothing better to do-do and she loved every minute of it.

I had a tree in my apartment for the first time since I bought the place, and stayed the hell out of her way when she decided to decorate the place like a freaking department store. She’d taken over my shit.

I didn’t care, no one was messing with my shit. Her school was going the way she wanted and our life was settling down to something resembling normalcy.

Xmas morning she woke up puking and I finally got my gift. I ignored her grouching in between bouts of sickness and nailed her in the walk-in closet while the others were cooking in the kitchen. She was not amused.

Mom, the baby hound got wind of that shit the second time she made a run for the bathroom to throw up and that quick Xmas was forgotten and wedding planning was in full swing.

That night when we went to bed you’d think her life was over. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to teach with a baby onboard, but some quick research soon put her mind at rest. I did some quick talking and pretty soon she was riding my dick and all was forgiven.

Of course that wasn’t the end of it. But because I was so excited, she soon followed suit and it only took her until the new year to lose the hunted look from her face.

Every morning we jumped on the rollercoaster in her head until she calmed the hell down and then life went on. Meanwhile I was looking forward to her gaining weight so that I didn’t have to fret every time she walked out the door. The struggle is real.

Of course with my luck she fucking glowed and was even more beautiful and I was giving serious thought to becoming her personal bodyguard.

We had one hell of a fight when it came to choosing a doctor because she didn’t think it made a difference whether it was a male or female, I beg to differ.

We ended up with a female in her fifties who thought I was cute because of all the questions I asked. Tony was on a new kick, reminding me that

I wasn’t the first father to be in the universe. Asshole.

And yet the night she went into labor at her damn studio he was as nervous as I was. Sherrie drove us all to the hospital, keeping everything calm, as she yelled out the window at New York city drivers to get the fuck out of her way before she mow them down. Good times.

I made it through labor, I don’t know how and promised never to do that shit again. She was supposed to be the one in pain, but I swear I felt every twinge. That shit’s for the birds.

But I do know in that room my life came full circle. I was a dad, I was a husband. I had the family that I never expected to have and I knew there was no way I would ever leave them. Because me without her, was something I never want to know.