Only, I know that isn’t the case.
There were no lengths that man wasn’t willing to go to make Ava and me happy. I have no doubt he paid a visit to my parents, and whatever it was that was said was enough to make them hand over the photograph.
I peel back the clear film on the photo album, revealing the sticky interior. With trembling hands, I place the photograph between us, and I hear Ava’s ragged gasp.
“Is that…is that you? Are you really my mom?”
The first tear falls, and I swipe at it quickly. I look down at the photo and feel a clamp in my chest. My sister is smiling down at a newborn baby in her arms, her cheeks stained with tear tracks. She looks equally parts happy and sad in this photo. It tells the story of a teenaged girl having to give up a baby she was unequivocally in love with. It tells the story of a mother saying her first hello and her last goodbye to her daughter.
I clear my throat, trying to keep the rest of my tears at bay, while I get the words out. My emotions have been getting the best of me lately, and today is no different.
“No. It’s not me. This is my sister, Madison, and well…you.”
Her little brows furrow as she processes. “So…Madison was my mom?”
I run my fingers through her hair. “She’s still your mother. But yes.”
“So, we really are family.”
I pull her into my arms, squeezing her tightly. “Blood or not, you’ve always been my family, Ava.”
Her little arms tighten around me. “Why does she look so happy and sad?” she whispers, still looking at the photograph.
“Because she was young when she had you. And even though she wanted to, she couldn’t keep you. That’s why she looks so happy and sad.”
I give her time to process, hoping it wasn’t too soon to do this. I hope I’m making the right decision here. When we eventually pull away, I look down at her, making sure she’s okay.
“You doing okay?”
“I think so. It makes me sad because she’s gone. But…I have you and I have Dad, and then I don’t feel so sad anymore.”
“I love you so much. You know that, right?”
She smiles through the mistiness in her eyes. “I love you, too, Mommy.”
When I pull her back into my arms and hold her, I know everything will be okay. And almost as if she knows we need it, I feel a warmth surrounding us, and I choke back the sob at the idea of Madison here, embracing us, like she’s wanted to do her entire life.
When I glance over my shoulder, I spot Baz leaning against the doorjamb, watching us. That same look on his face that Ava managed to capture in her drawing is there. The contentment. But there’s also something else there, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. There’s a blazing heat in his eyes. A protective gleam there that tells me he’d do anything for us, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I watch them from my perch in the doorway, and something strange happens in my chest. It’s like an unraveling of sorts. A warmth spilling into the cavity that takes my fucking breath away as I stare down at my girls. I never thought I’d be a man who could love another man’s child as his own, but when I look at Ava, all I feel is a protectiveness that I’ve only ever felt around Mackenzie. All I feel is the need to plow through any and everyone who dares to try to hurt them or take them from me.
I don’t know when or how it happened, but they’ve become my whole world, and I wouldn’t go back. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
As if sensing my presence, Mackenzie looks up, her sandy blond hair framing her face as she does so. It’s a strange change, but it’s one I’ve embraced with open arms because it’s the real her. This is Mackenzie Wright. Not Mackenzie pretending to be Scarlett. Not Mackenzie seeking revenge. But Mackenzie, a woman mourning her sister, a woman raising a daughter, a woman in love with me. A woman who is going to share my last name. And I’ll never tire of it.
Of her.
Of them.
Need fills my chest, expanding my lungs, and I have to refrain from stomping into the bedroom, tossing Mackenzie over my shoulder, and dragging her into the bedroom so I can fuck her. So I can get lost in her, shove my seed so far inside her, she has no choice but to be mine.
Like our minds have a portal, a connection we’re unaware but completely aware of, her lips part as she stares up at me, and her eyes grow heavy lidded. She places a kiss on the top of Ava’s head and asks if she’s okay.
I dig my cell out of my pocket, and I dial the only other woman in my life. She picks up on the first ring.
“Where’s my baby girl?” she asks, and despite myself, I grin.
“She’s here,” I say, catching both Mackenzie and Ava’s attention.
Ava perks up, spinning toward me. “Is that Grandma?” she asks, already thrumming with energy.
“It is. She wants to talk to you.” I hand off the phone to Ava, and almost immediately, she’s giggling and laughing, jumping into stories with my mother. While they’re doing that, I use this time to grab Mackenzie by the hand and drag her back down the hall to our bedroom. I lock the door behind me and stalk toward her, feeling a red haze of need.
A pensive look flashes over her face. “Is something…wrong?”
“Shhh.” I place my finger over her lips, shushing her. “I don’t want to talk right now, Mack. I just want to fuck you until you’re moaning my name. Until you’re coming all over my cock. Until my cum is rooted so deep inside you, you’ll feel me in there for days.”
She moans, falling into me, and I take her mouth, as we tear at our clothes. I push her down onto the bed, watching the way her hair fans around her. Her bare breasts heave, a slight flush covering the mounds as she works to control her breathing. She’ll never say it, but she loves this. She loves the rough fucking. She loves the dirty talk. She loves being my little fuck toy. And I give it to her. I give it all to her and after? I make love to her, just the way she likes it.
Without warning, I wrap a hand around her throat and slide down her body, licking her pussy through her underwear. She clamps a hand over her mouth, moaning as she does so. She’s trying desperately to keep quiet, but that won’t last long.
I pull back and let go of her neck to free my cock. I yank her panties to the side and slam into her. She chokes on air, her nipples going rock hard with the thrust. I pull all the way out and thrust all the way back in, time and time again. When she least expects it, I pull out and yank her around, onto her hands and knees, and I fuck her like this. Whispering dirty things in her ears, I ram my cock into her pussy with my fist wrapped around her blond hair, and my other hand gripped tightly around her throat, forcing her to look at me.
Her eyes are rolled back into her head, and she’s on the verge of coming. I feel it in the way her pussy grips my cock. The way she’s moaning my name. Just when she’s on the cusp, I lean forward, placing my mouth next to her ear, and I grit the words out through my pleasured haze. “When were you going to tell me that you’re pregnant?”
She groans, realizing what has me so riled up. Her pussy spasms around my cock, and I slow my thrusts, torturing her. I release her throat, that same hand finding her clit and toying with the bundle of nerves.