Page 81 of Finding Fate

“Tucker,” she breathed, and he leaned back as she moved to her knees to tug at his shirt and jeans. As soon as she’d cleared him of clothes, he reached for her dress, pulling it gently over her head. He laid her back down, and took a moment to marvel at her and the gentle rounding of her stomach.

He ran his hand over the swell and leaned to kiss her there, his lips brushing softly against where she carried his child. He felt her hand touch his cheek, pulling him gently back up, and she kissed him sweetly, urgently, while they discarded the rest of her clothing.

Their hands searched each other’s bodies, passionately, but slowly, neither wanting to rush. This time would be different than the rest.

Tucker sat back and pulled Isabel into his lap. The slight bulge of her belly pressed against the contours of his stomach as he held her close. Her hands wrapped around the back of his neck, and her fingertips wound themselves into the tousled hair just above the nape of his neck. Her lips locked with his. He used his hands to steady her hips against him as he moved, guiding and in control.

Their movements were slow and steady, each one like a current through his veins, every shift vital. Tucker set their pace, quickening each time Isabel was approaching release and then slowing for the next deliberate build of pleasure. She clung to him, gasping against him and tucking her head to his neck with her cries.

Tucker held the cycle for as long as possible, needing her, relishing in her, until her sweet moans made it too hard to continue. He held back just long enough for her pleasure to build up one last time, and they released together, their hands clutching each other tightly as their final moans of satisfaction combined.

* * *

Isabel followed Tucker down the stairs once they had finished. His family would be home soon, and while their parents probably weren’t unaware of what went on before they got home, the two teens did not want to be found in a situation that would confirm those suspicions.

They settled on the couch in the den and turned on the television, but neither of them was really watching it. Their minds were too wrapped up in what had just happened upstairs.

Isabel smiled to herself, reassured of Tucker’s feelings once again. She wished she hadn’t doubted him. He’d been trying to prove he didn’t deserve it.

“Are you cold?” Tucker asked her, running a hand down her arm when she shivered. “You’ve got goosebumps.”

“Yeah, kinda.” She hadn’t noticed it at first, but the cool front that had come in that day made the first floor of the house a little chilly. Tucker’s room had been much warmer. What they had been doing had been much warmer…

Tucker pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her. She nestled into his chest and let the blanket and heat of his body warm her. She felt so much better since they had talked. If only one of them could work up the courage to bring up what she knew they’d both been avoiding…

She watched Tucker check the time on his phone. They still had a little time before his family came home. “Should I try?” she wondered.

“Can I ask what you’re thinking?” his deep voice rumbled against her.

She frowned. It wasn’t going to be the most pleasant topic to bring up. But heck, a lot of unpleasant things had happened today. Why not add one more?

“Tuck…have you thought at all about what’s going to happen when the baby gets here?”

He tensed, his head dropping against the back of the couch. “Isabel…”

“We have to start talking about this, Tucker,” she pressed, hating that Ms. Lane had gotten to her that morning.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “You’re right, you’re right,” he agreed, sitting up straighter for their talk. She adjusted to sit on the middle cushion, curling up with the blanket tucked around her shoulders as she stared up at her boyfriend.

“So, have you? Thought about any of it?” she asked.

“Some. I think our parents will let us stay at home, at least until high school’s over.”

“What if that’s it, though? What if they want us to move out with the baby after graduation?”

That one was hard, and Tucker wasn’t sure how to answer. There was the possibility of him rooming with Jet, and Izzy finding a place with Annie like they’d once planned, except they couldn’t have a baby in a dorm. Should they get their own place? That was scary and exciting all at once, but he had no clue how they’d afford it.

“I’m not sure,” he finally answered. “What were you thinking?”

She shrugged. “Every option makes me worried I won’t get the chance to go to school. I won’t have to go to summer school, by the way. Ms. Lane said there’s a homebound program that would let me still graduate on time.”

“Well, that’s good news.”

Isabel nodded. “Leo did tell me his sister runs a daycare, and he thinks she would give us a good rate.”

“Another plus,”he noted.

“But Tucker, whatever we decide, I don’t want you to give up basketball. I don’t want you to give up your dreams. I know what it’s like to worry you might have to,” she sighed, sounding torn.

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