Obligation

“Five-count,” the doctor says.

We all start counting. Once we reach five, Myla collapses back onto the bed, breathing heavily as a loud cry fills the room.

“I’m so proud of you,” I whisper, kissing the skin above her ear as our son is placed on her chest.

“He’s really here,” she whispers, running her hand over his still-wet hair. “He is so beautiful.” Her eyes lift to meet mine, and the wonder I see there takes my breath away.

I lean in and whisper against her lips, “He is beautiful.”

His skin is lighter than mine but darker than Myla’s. His hair is black, and it already has a little wave to it. His nose is wide—like mine and the rest of the men in my family.

“We need a name,” she says.

I look at her then at our son. Since the moment we talked about naming him, I have said that I wanted to wait until we met him. I knew I wanted our son to have a strong name, a name that demanded respect, one that a good man, a man of honor, would have.

“What do you think of Maxim?” I ask her.

Tears fill her eyes as she looks down at him again and whispers, “Maxim,” then kisses his head. “It’s perfect.”

“I’m going to take him and get him cleaned up,” a nurse says softly.

I look at her then my son and want to say no, but I know she has a job to do.

“I’ll bring him back,” she assures me.

I nod, and Myla kisses his head once more before the nurse takes him from her arms.

“I can’t believe he’s here,” she says as we watch the nurses clean him up.

I knew the moment I met Myla that she was going to change my life. I just had no idea to what extreme it would be. Not only did she make me a husband and father, but she made me want to be better, someone she would be proud to call hers.

“Love you, makamae,” I tell her.

She shakes her head and lifts her hand to run down my jaw. “Love you too,” she whispers.

One year later

Myla

“Kai!” I yell as my hands go to the top of his head between my legs.

I woke up with Kai behind me on the bed. His hand was wrapped over my waist, his leg over the top of mine so I couldn’t move as his fingers slid in and out of me, torturing me. When I was going to come from his fingers, he turned me over then tormented my breasts while holding my hands against my stomach.

Now, his head is between my legs, and I finally have the ability to touch him, but that doesn’t mean he is giving me what I want.

“I really want to come,” I tell him, and his fingers slowly slide into me, lifting up when they reach that beautiful spot. “Kai, please,” I whisper.

That must be what he wanted, because his mouth latches on to my clit and his fingers pump quickly, making the orgasm that was building detonate. My legs start to shake, and my hands go to my sides on the bed, bunching up the sheets in my fists, My hips lift higher to his mouth as he drinks my orgasm, the strokes of his fingers and tongue slowing.

I try to get my body back under control as I feel his mouth on my belly. Then it’s on my breast as he moves up my body until his hips are snugly between my thighs.

“Good morning.” He smiles as his hand wraps around the back of my neck.

His mouth comes down on mine, stealing the last of my breath as he enters me with one long thrust. The taste of me and him is on my mouth as he consumes me. I lift my hands to his back as his hand travels down my side, over my hip, and then under, lifting my thigh higher as he goes deeper.

“Right there,” I hiss when he hits that spot deep inside me that has my toes curling and my thighs squeezing his waist tighter.

“I feel it. Squeeze me.”

He groans as his fingers dig into my skin and his hips pump faster. I lift my other leg higher and he wraps his arm under it, lifting up so he can pound harder.

“Oh, God!” I scream, putting my hands above my head, pressing my fingers against the wall.

He dips his head and pulls my nipple into his mouth, and I feel my pussy begin to pulse around him, pulling him deeper as my orgasm overtakes me. His hips jerk. Then he plants himself deep, his forehead falling to my collarbone as I feel his chest moving rapidly and the beat of his heart pounding against my sweat-soaked skin.

“That had to be it,” he breathes, lifting his head to look at me.

“Be what?” I ask in a daze, my orgasm still lingering in my system.

“The time I got my girl.”

I shake my head and start to laugh. We decided a while back that we would start trying for another baby, and since then, Kai has insisted he wants a girl. But unlike the first time we got pregnant, this time has seemed to be a little more work. Yesterday, when I took an ovulation test, Kai sent Maxim away to his parents’ house for a few days when it came up positive in hopes that lots of sex during this time would get us what we wanted.

“It will happen,” I tell him.

He rests his head against my chest again.

Four years later

What we didn’t know then was that Kai was right. That was the moment he got his girl.

I look down near the shore as Kai chases Melanie, our youngest. Her cries of joy and laughter fill the air as her long, curly, blond hair flies around her head.

“No, Daddy!” she screams, making me laugh.

Kai has been chasing her for the last few minutes, trying to get her to put her swim bottoms back on, but every time he gets close to catching her, she runs off again.

I take in the hotness that is my husband when he pauses, crossing his arms over his chest. His shirtless torso is defined by hard muscle covered by smooth, dark skin. His hair is down, and the shorts he has on show of the V of his hips. His eyes come to me and he shakes his head. I know what he’s thinking. She’s cute, but a pain. The moment he held her in his arms—actually, before that—she had him wrapped around her little finger. I guess that’s not surprising since she is his only girl.

Melanie pauses, looks over her shoulder, realizing that her dad isn’t chasing her, and then runs back past him just out of arm’s reach before running towards me, screaming, “Sabe me, Mommy!”

I catch her in my arms, careful of my belly, and pat her cute, bottomless little toosh. “Easy, baby,” I tell her, quietly pulling her close to my chest.

“Sorry,” she says, patting my belly, where her baby brother is growing.

“Got you.” Kai chuckles, plucking her out of my arms and quickly putting her pants on her before she has a chance to wiggle away again.