“Why?” I hiss.
He looks at me, frowning. I guess he didn’t think I’d ask him that. “Antoinette, come here, baby. I have no idea how you got under my skin from the first second I saw you. All I know is that I knew you were mine and that I was a selfish prick.”
The dreaded, hated tears are already spilling. This is it. The moment he kills me with his truths, and I almost reach up to kiss him so I don’t have to face them.
“I don’t… I told you I loved you, and you told me to leave,” I yell at him, all of a sudden angry. “Don’t you get it? I was already feeling…” I try to move away from him. It’s impossible to think when he’s this near.
“Look at me. Tell me. Tell me everything, baby, so I can make it better.”
“You can’t,” I yell. “I was already feeling not good enough for you and now I’m pregnant and I’ll always feel like I trapped you.” There. My dirty secret is out. His hand tightens and brings me to his warm chest.
“Not good enough for me?” He cocks his head. “Antoinette, you are my everything.”
“What?” I’m sobbing now, certain I’m not hearing things right.
He smiles and my heart thuds. “Antoinette, Cookie, Candy, Van Doran, you’re my everything.” He kisses my lips and I throw my arms around his neck, not having a clue what he’s saying but not caring because I see it in his eyes and know it in my soul.
Mitchell Axel Fontaine is in love and he loves me.
“Maybe the Stuffed Muffins can convince you that you are my everything.”
“What are you talking about?”
He laughs, his lips taking mine, then whispers, “You’ll see.” He swings me into his arms and I scream, holding on to his neck.
“We need to make sure my seed really did the job.” He tosses me on the bed as he starts to tear off his bloody clothes. He’s bruised on his abs, and his lip is bleeding again. And all I can do is stare at him. He’s so hot. His beautiful face is calm, almost peaceful, as if at war with his battered body. His eyes rake over me from head to toe, making my breath stutter.
Fierce.
Beautiful.
And mine.AXEL
Fifteen months laterI can sense her looking at me through the window. Antoinette has a thing for watching me run with my girls. I feel a cool chubby hand smack me right in the lips as I straighten her hat so the heat can’t burn her fair skin. “Sweetheart, Daddy loves you, but Mommy needs to change you. You stink.”
She starts laughing. I start baby talking to her, telling her she’s the most beautiful stinky baby in the world. As I lift her out of the Baby Bjorn, her chubby legs almost kick me in the face.
“Come on, Michelle, be a good girl while Daddy gets your sister.” I turn my head because she truly does stink, and with the jogging, it might have leaked out of her diaper.
Perfect.
“If I had ovaries, they would be bursting.” Doug walks up carrying a large Starbucks coffee. “Here, let me take her.”
Michelle tries to leap out of my arms. “Christ, Doug, put the coffee down. What are you, crazy?”
He rolls his eyes and sets the coffee down as he takes Michelle. “Come to Uncle Dougie.” My daughter laughs as she hugs him and I fucking melt.
“You’re so fucked, man,” Doug whispers and shakes his head as he takes her up the stairs leading to my large yellow house. Because that’s how I roll these days.
After numerous fights, I decided that I had to agree with Antoinette. We can’t live in the clubhouse having twins.
So, I bought the love of my life the house of her choice. She picked it out. It’s not on the same street as Eve and Charlie’s but close enough so we can walk over for parties.
I look down at my sleeping beauty inside the jogger. Juliet has dark black curls and her mother’s violet eyes. She’s gentle natured, unless you make her mad, and then Michelle looks like the angel.
In a year and a half, I’ve become a father, a homeowner, and I get to wake up to the most beautiful woman to walk this earth.
I’d like to say this bliss was easy. It wasn’t. We’ve had lots of obstacles to overcome. Me with my reluctance to, shall we say, grow up. And her with trusting me. But we work on it and we love each other.
“Come on, my angel.” I scoop Juliet up. Her eyes blink open and my heart aches. It’s not rational, this love I have for my family. The fear that at any time this could be taken from me makes me look up to the window at my ethereal princess. She’s laughing with Doug, but her hands are waving me inside.