Page 13 of Baby Makes 3

As I stare up into his beautiful face, I see that his eyelids are closed. He does that when he’s feeling vulnerable, when his emotions are running high. I can’t resist reaching up to touch his face. My fingertips dance softly across his cheeks, then his temples. He turns his face into one of my hands and presses a tender kiss on my palm.

His movements pick up speed, and the delicious friction of him inside me makes me shiver. When his jaws clench, and his arm muscles tighten, I know he’s close. I cup his face and pull him down for a kiss. “Come inside me,” I whisper. “Fill me.”

That little prompt is enough to push him over the edge. His body tenses and his muscles grow taut as his orgasm hits him hard. I feel the heated rush inside me. His chest is billowing, his lungs working overtime, and he kisses me with shaking lips.

After one last, deep thrust, he remains seated inside me. He rolls to his side, keeping us joined. His arms are around me, holding me close, and we both slowly come down from the high.

Eventually, he releases me so that he can explore my face with his fingertips. I smile, loving the feel of his fingers on my face, skimming across my brow, down the bridge of my nose, and across my mouth.

“You’re smiling,” he says quietly as he traces the curve of my lips.

“Yes.”

“Because?”

“Because I love you.”

Chapter 7 – Jamie

After we clean up, we return to bed. I lie on my back, and Molly lays her head in the crook of my shoulder and arm. I stroke her back, as usual. When we’re in bed, I can’t seem to keep my hands off her.

It’s important to me that she’s happy, and it kills me when she’s sad or hurting. I know right now a lot weighs heavily on her mind, and I wish I could fix it. But in this instance, I can’t.

She wants so much to conceive a child—our child. No matter how often I tell her it’s okay that she can’t, the pain still lingers in her heart.

Yes, I want children, but I want her more. I will always choose Molly.

After I suffered life-altering injuries in the military, my identity was shaken, as was my self-confidence. She gave all that back to me and so much more. She gave me a future. I owe her everything.

I try not to focus on what can’t be, but rather on what can. We’ve been gifted with an opportunity to adopt a baby girl. Adoption itself offers all kinds of risks and uncertainties. What if the birth mother changes her mind? It can happen. If this opportunity leads to disappointment, I’ll cope. I always do. But I hate the idea of Molly’s heart being broken.

* * *

Morning arrives. I know this because Gus is standing at my side of the bed, his big, boxy head resting on the mattress. I reach over and scratch his short fur. “You need to go out?”

He responds with a quiet chuff.

“Okay.”

Carefully, I extricate myself from Molly’s arms and head to the bathroom first. Then I throw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, socks, and grab my running shoes.

I follow Gus down the hallway to the living room, where I hear him pick up his harness and bring it to me, placing the handle carefully in the palm of my hand.

“Good boy,” I say as I strap it on him.

After pocketing my keys and phone, and throwing on a jacket, I exit the apartment, lock the door behind me, and let Gus lead me down the stairs to the ground floor. I realize I forgot to check the morning’s weather report. I just hope it’s not raining.

Gus waits patiently for me to open the door, and we jog down the steps to the sidewalk. He automatically turns left and leads me to the crosswalk. At the sound of the signal chime, he leads me into the street, and we cross to the park.

This early, there’s no one around. Only a few cars pass by.

Once we reach the grassy area, Gus leads me off the sidewalk onto the lawn, where he does his business.

He’s done so quickly, I know he only had to pee. That’s usually how it goes. His first trip outside is to pee. The rest will happen after he has breakfast. Fortunately for me, he’s very predictable.

We return to the pavement, and I walk him a few blocks, just to give him some exercise. We’ll go on a longer walk later this morning, after breakfast and after Molly leaves for work.

When we return to the apartment, Molly’s up, in the bathroom getting ready. After I remove Gus’s harness, I start on breakfast.

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