Page 49 of Rock the Cradle of Love
“Oh my God.” Noah shoves Taylor this time. “Shut up.”
They bump shoulders and lurch up the walk, giggling like little girls.
Noah lets them into the house and they leave the horseplay outside. The house is dark but for a faint light in the kitchen and the small low-level lights running up the wall along the staircase.
Together, they peek into the nursery and moon over their baby girl for a few moments. But as much as Taylor loves Emma, he’s more interested in sleep right now. He tugs on Noah’s hand and they continue down the hall and into Noah’s room.
Taylor drops his duffel and hangs his suit jacket over the treadmill in the corner. Noah tosses his on the bed and cups Taylor face. They kiss again, slow and deep, and Taylor’s dick starts to stir. “Mmmnnn…” he says against Noah’s mouth, “don’t start anything.”
“It was a kiss.”
“It’s been three weeks since we’ve done anything more than that.”
“Whose fault is that?”
“Mine. I know. But you look hot in that shirt—it matches your eyes. And I can barely keep my eyes open.” Taylor strips down to his underwear and crawls into bed. The sheets are cool and smell like something tropical. “C’mon, babe.”
Noah flips off the light and slides in behind him. His knees tuck up behind Taylor’s and his arms slides around Taylor’s waist. Noah nuzzles his nose into Taylor’s neck.
“I missed this more than anything, Noah. I love you so much.”
“I missed this too. Night, Taylor.”
“Night, Noe…”
Chapter Fifteen
Noah’s leg is bouncing again. They’ve been in this ugly, wood-paneled conference room for just over an hour while the mediator, an older woman with a sour face, has asked questions of Brenda, Julia, and himself.
Ms. Padget sits on one side of him, his mother on the other. Julia, her mother, and Julia’s lawyer sit across the table. Julia’s answered truthfully, much to Noah’s relief and Brenda’s displeased surprise, but he still can’t gauge the mediator’s thoughts.
Taylor sits quietly in a far corner, caring for Emma, who fussed very little and finally fell asleep in her stroller.
The faint buzz of the flickering fluorescent light is giving Noah a headache.
“Ms. Gilbert, Mr. Drinkwater, is Emma Mr. Drinkwater’s biological child?”
Julia shakes her head. “No, ma’am. The father is a college classmate of mine.”
“Does he know he’s fathered a child?”
“He told me to get rid of it and broke it off with me.”
Ms. Pembroke’s lips pinch together in disapproval.
“And, Mr. Drinkwater, why is it that you’re so willing to take on Ms. Gilbert’s child?”
Noah can’t help the smile that overtakes his face. “Ma’am, Julia’s been my best friend since I was twelve and she was nine. And I fell in love with Emma the first moment I laid eyes on her. She was six pounds, three ounces of pure joy wrapped in a soft bear-print blanket. I’ve always wanted a large family, and Emma needs someone right now. I have more than enough income to provide for Emma and for Julia if she needs it.”
Brenda’s face mottles red at his offer.
“You’re gone more than you’re home, Mr. Drinkwater. How do you plan to raise a family with a lifestyle like yours?”
“All due respect, ma’am, it’s a career, not a lifestyle, and I plan to do it like every other hockey player in the league with a family—with a really good support system.”
Her eyebrow arches, but she nods. The room goes quiet except for the annoying buzz of the light fixture and the faint scratch of the woman’s pen on paper. She applies the rubber stamp in front of her to the ink pad and then the paper. She signs her name with a flourish Noah didn’t think her capable of and closes the file folder in front of her.
“It is the finding of this hearing that there was no coercion on Mr. Drinkwater’s part in gaining Ms. Gilbert’s agreement to allow him to adopt her daughter, Emma Gilbert. Ms. Gilbert, as a legal adult and legal parent of Emma Elizabeth Gilbert, may waive her parental rights and surrender her daughter to Mr. Drinkwater’s custody and move forward with adoption proceedings.”
