Page 61 of Coyote
“She’s spending the weekend with Reggie’s nieces. She hasn’t seen them in a while, so she was really excited. She took Ruby with her too, apparently, they are having a whale of a time.”
I was thrilled to hear that our daughter hadn’t been negatively impacted by this whole situation. “She’s a special little girl, and I’m not just saying that because I love her mom.”
Bethany’s eyes misted over, “And I love her dad too. He’s a special man and I can’t think of anyone else I’d want in my life protecting us.”
My chest ached with happiness to hear those words. I didn’t know what in the world I’d ever done to deserve Bethany, but I planned to enjoy and protect what we had together. But in order to do that, I had to get out of this fucking hospital. “Any idea when I’m getting outta here?” I asked, hoping it would be sometime soon.”
“I’m not sure. They talked about keeping you in for observation for a couple of days after you woke up. I guess they want to make sure you’re stable before they discharge you.”
“I’m stable now,” I grumbled, secretly loving the fuss Bethany was making over me, this woman was my life, and I couldn’t wait to be out of this fucking hospital bed and back home with my old lady and our daughter. I’d missed out on three years of their lives, and we had a lot of catching up to do. I reached out my hand and stroked Bethany’s dark hair, gently pulling her head down. As our lips met, I knew that we’d never be apart again.
Epilogue
Bethany
It had been almost seven months since Coyote was discharged from the hospital. True to form, he’d persuaded the doctor to let him out early, with promises not to do anything silly. He’s a very active person and had bounced back from his injuries more quickly than I ever thought possible. Though I made sure he took it easy for a while, that meant he had to get help at the auto repair shop as heavy lifting was out for a few months, but he grumblingly conceded. Heavy lifting might have been off the table, but my man sure found other ways to work out. I stood in our kitchen, rubbing one hand over my baby bump as I watched him cut firewood for the fireplace and smiled to myself. The pregnancy was unplanned, pretty much like Nessa’s, but we were both over the moon.
Watching his muscles ripple as he heaved that axe over his head and brought it down, splintering the logs was my new favorite thing. A few weeks ago, I’d mentioned how romantic fireplaces were, and he’d immediately set about cleaning the chimney and making sure it was ready for use. When he stopped to bring the edge of his t-shirt up to wipe the sweat from his face, his tight abs were in full display. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but I couldn’t get enough of him. Seeing him like this had always turned me on, but today this man was making my clit tingle.
A familiar feminine voice drifted from the other side of the room. “You wouldn’t happen to be perving on my brother, would you Bethany?”
I spun around so fast my coffee sloshed around in my cup to see Callie standing in the doorway with a rueful grin on her face.
“Yes. I mean no, of course not,” I stammered, embarrassed to be blatantly caught in the act.
“Tell the truth,” she teased.
I smothered back a smile and took another sip of my coffee before admitting, “Maybe. He’s the best thing in my world other than Nessa.”
Callie smiled, then quickly turned to the doorway as a gruff voice muttered, “Well, I’ll be sure to let him know you like eye fucking him when he’s hot and sweaty.”
I almost spat my coffee out as Breaker walked into the room with a smirk on his face.
Callie reached out and poked her husband in the ribs. “Stop embarrassing my brother’s old lady.”
“Luckily I’m pretty unshakable,” I grinned gamely.
“Well, knowing my little bro, that’s probably for the best,” she said with a laugh. Glancing up at Breaker, she continued, “We just wanted to let you know we have Nessa’s bag packed in the car, we’ve sent her to the potty and walked Ruby so there shouldn’t be any accidents on the way.”
“That means we’re ready to take off. You and Coyote will be here all by yourself, so you can get back to eye fucking your man without worrying about anyone intruding and teasing the fuck outta you over it,” Breaker said.
Unsure exactly how to respond to his bold statement, I murmured, “Thank you both for keeping Nessa for the weekend. She hasn’t been on a solo adventure for a few weeks, so she’s really eager. And we’re grateful to have some time where it’s just the two of us, in a few more months we’ll both have our hands full with the new baby.”
Callie grinned. “Tell me about it, we’re always pleased for the occasional weekend alone when the kids stay at my mom’s, or with you and Coyote. Anyway, we’re delighted to have Nessa. She’s always so well behaved, and her cousins love her.”
“Well in her defense, she hasn’t really figured out the thrills of acting out quite yet. I’m sure she’ll turn out to be a handful when that happens.”
“Like we care,” Breaker interjected. “We have corners at our house too and I’m not afraid to use them for time outs.”
“Well, you have my permission,” I replied, knowing that out of all the people in our lives, Callie and Breaker spoil her the most.
I walked them to the door and watched as Nessa ran towards Coyote and threw her arms around one of his legs. He stooped down and picked her up, swinging her around in his arms, “Stinky Daddy!” she said with a giggle.
“Daddy’s been chopping wood, so Mommy doesn’t get cold tonight. It’s not stink, it’s hard work,” he said, as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. He put her down and she waved at us, then skipped happily over to Callie’s car with Ruby hot on her heels.
Breaker strapped her in her the car safety seat, and then went around to put Ruby in her carrier. I swear these two people were so nice to us that I couldn’t help but love them. In fact, Callie and I were becoming good friends. I know Coyote and I weren’t married, but I would be happy to call both of them brother and sister-in-law.
Marriage was something we had yet to talk about, what with my abduction, Coyote’s injuries, the recuperation, organizing Reggie and Thomas’ wedding—which had been a fabulous affair—we’d barely had time to take a breath over the past six months. And then I found out I was expecting. They say that good things come to those who wait, Coyote and I had waited enough for us to get back together, so I knew that one day we’d make it official, so it honestly wasn’t on my radar.