Aiight lil nigga… don’t make me come out of character on you…

Jaden’s “bedtime” had come and gone, but he was still bouncing around his room like it was midday – or like my father and Imara hadn’t bothered keeping him on schedule the few days he’d stayed with them while I was gone, and Devyn was working crazy hospital hours.

I wasn’t too bothered by that – they were grandparents, doing us a major favor. It was their right to do what they wanted in their house, it wasn’t like they hadn’t raised kids of their own.

Damn.

I’m even starting to sound like them.

“Jaden…,” I warned, catching him by the ankle as he tried to crawl to the other end of the bed. I easily towed his giggly body back to his pillow, relieved when I caught the big yawn he let out. That meant he was on his way down, for real this time.

“Play, daddy,” he grunted, frustrated that I’d tucked him in again.

“Not tonight lil’ man,” I told him, snagging a book from the shelf that was out of his reach – his little ass liked ripping pages – then sitting down beside him on the bed. “Daddy is tired, and it’s late -too late for you to be up still. So…” – I flipped the storybook to one I hadn’t read before – “We’ve had the bath, had a snack, kissed mommy, got tucked in… and now I’m going to read the story, and we’re going to sleep, okay?”

…

No answer.

I looked down to find Jaden passed out, hands spread over his head, and a line of drool already making a puddle.

Guess I bored him to sleep.

Shaking my head, I carefully got up, not wanting to disturb him. I took a second to lift the protective railing at the side of his bed, to keep him in if he decided to start rolling around. I lowered the lights, turned on his space projector, and tiptoed out of his room, pulling the door almost closed behind me.

Now it was my turn to kiss mommy.

I was barely two steps down the hall when the doorbell rang.

Shit.

I jogged downstairs and to the front door, trying to get there before whoever was interrupting me getting into my wife rang the bell again and woke up my kid. Without even a glance at the screen showing the feed from the doorbell camera, I snatched the door open.

“What the hell do you want?”

My neighbor, Levi, took a step back, eyes wide. “Is this a bad time?”

“I haven’t seen my wife in a week.”

His eyes went wider, concerned. “Like… she’s missing?” he asked.

“Motherfu—nah! I’ve been out of town.”

“Ohhh,” he nodded, finally picking up what I was putting down. “My bad. I just got home myself, saw your car in the driveway. Thought I’d let you know your painting was finished. It’s dry, packed and ready to be installed whenever you’re ready.”

A little of the tension left my shoulders, since he was here to deliver good news. Levi Anders was an amazingly talented artist, who’d donated that gift to the children’s ward at University Hospital last year. After seeing the mural he’d done, I contacted him as soon as we found out about Devyn’s new pregnancy, to commission something for our nursery.

She still didn’t know.

“Could we get it in for Christmas?” I asked, knowing I might not get the affirmative answer I was looking for. It was exactly two weeks away, and everybody was busy now.

Levi shrugged. “Not a problem. I’ll share my schedule with you via email, and you let me know if you see a time that works. I’ll get my guys over here, and we’ll make it happen.”

“My man,” I told him, extending a hand in his direction. Originally, I’d intended for the portrait to be a “push present”, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a better Christmas gift.

If the baby’s head was as big as Jaden’s had been, that deserved diamonds, not canvas.

“Ay – my bad for answering the door like that,” I said, as we parted ways. “But like I said… I haven’t seen my wife in a week.”

Levi grinned, and nodded as he stepped away from the door. “No hard feelings man, handle your business.”

Right.

Now it was my turn to kiss mommy.

I found her in bed, curled on her side with her body pillow and a bowl of watermelon chunks. “Who was at the door?” she asked, pushing her hair back from her face.

“Just Levi dropping by. Where the hell did you find good watermelon this time of year?” I asked, changing the subject as quickly as I could and climbing in beside her. My hand immediately found a resting place on her rounded belly.

“I didn’t,” she answered, wrinkling her nose. “It’s just watermelon. Not good watermelon. But baby girl wanted it.”

I smiled, dipping my head for a taste of her fruit-flavored lips. “Look at you. Already spoiling her.”

“Mind your business,” she teased back, grinning as my loving caress of her belly turned into a hand in her panties.

“This is my business, and I’m about to mind the hell out of it.”

Her eyes closed, and a little hiss escaped her lips as my fingers ran past her clit, dipping into her for ever-present moisture before I came back to that sensitive spot.

“I missed you,” she murmured, her lids fluttering open as she ran her fingers through my hair, bringing her hand to rest at the back of my neck. I leaned in more, capturing her lips with mine, replying to her declaration with one of my own as I rid her of those panties.

Devyn grinned against my mouth, using her free hand to unbutton the pajama top she wore, revealing nothing underneath but honey-toned skin, her stomach and breasts both baring the signature swelling of the third trimester.

Damn she’s beautiful.

I accepted her obvious, but unspoken invitation, moving down her body to taste her breasts, paying particular attention to those sensitive, butterscotch nipples. She was still propped halfway up on her body pillow, giving her a perfect view as I tugged and licked and teased, did everything she liked, exactly how she liked it – I hadn’t seen my wife in damn near a week. I’d do anything she wanted.

With her hand on top of my head, she signaled exactly what that was, urging me downward. I kissed my way there, paying proper homage to her bump before I settled between her legs.

Home. Finally.

I didn’t tease like I usually would – I dove right in like a man starved, because I was. I buried my face between her thighs, content to barely breathe until I was on the verge of drowning, and had eaten my fill with her legs trembling on my shoulders as she came.

She greeted me with a lazy smile when I came back up, grabbing the back of my neck for another kiss. I obliged her, then offered a sleepy grin of my own as I stripped off the clothes I’d thrown on after my shower.

We were both exhausted, and it was barely eight at night.

As doctors on a hectic hospital schedule, sleep was already a luxury, especially once we added Jaden to the mix. Factor in the pregnancy, and then my trip, and the last few days had been rough, for both of us.

But this was necessary.

“Mmmmm,” we moaned together, gratified by the sweet friction and heat of that first stroke as I pushed into her from behind. From her position on her side, she made herself comfortable with one of my arms as a headrest. I slid my free hand between her legs.

And then it was on.

She rolled her head, sinking her teeth into my bicep as I stroked her. That spurred me to push harder, faster, plunging deep as my heart rate sped up. Her thighs squeezed my hand as I teased her clit, working until I could feel her body clenching around me. Milking me.

“Shit,” I whispered into the back of her neck, kissing her there as she rolled her hips backward. We were both panting now, perspiration building on our skin, giving it all the energy we had.

“Joseph,” she whimpered.

I pumped harder, cause I knew what that meant.

She was almost there.

A moment later, her whole body tensed, followed by those frantic involuntary contractions that always pulled me over the edge with her.

Neither of us moved to pull away.

We stayed there, stuck like that, thoroughly entangled with each other. My only adjustment was to move my hand from between her legs to cup one of her breasts instead, letting that soft warmth soothe me to sleep while I was still inside her.

Exactly where I wanted to be.

I was sleeping so good that the next time my eyes opened, I barely registered where I was. It only took a second to figure out I was still at home, in my own bed, being shaken awake.

“Joseph!” Devyn hissed, with none of the honey and seduction of a few hours before. Now, her tone was frantic, and… pained?

“What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting up as soon as I processed that realization. I reached for the switch beside the bed, flipping the lights on.

She gasped, but didn’t answer.

It took my eyes a second to adjust to the light, but I quickly picked up on what her gasp had been about.

The bed was soaked.

I looked at her, her hair wild from not being tied down, still naked from what we’d been doing before we fell asleep.

Still beautiful.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked, and with wide eyes, she nodded.

“Yeah. My water broke.”