As soon as she steps into the hall, I cover her mouth with my hand and whisper, “Don’t wake Hope,” into her ear before dragging her down the hall to my room.
Closing the door behind me halfway, I push her onto the bed then crawl on top of her with my legs between hers. The only thing separating us is the small towel she’s wearing and my jeans.
“Jax,” she says, and I hear the fear and worry in her tone. Reaching over, I turn on the lamp next to the bed so I can see her face.
“I don’t care if it’s too soon to tell you. I don’t care if you think we need more time. I’m not going to pretend I don’t love you.”
“Jax,” she repeats, but this time there’s a softness in her tone that wasn’t there before.
“I love you, Ellie. I loved you before I even knew who you were. I have no idea how this works. I have no idea how it’s possible to find someone who was made just for me, but you were. You were made for me. You’re everything I never knew I wanted. You and Hope complete me, and it doesn’t matter if I tell you now or a year from now, because my feelings will still be the same. You were meant to be mine,” I say, watching as tears slip from the corners of her eyes, into the hair at her temples.
“It’s too soon,” she whispers.
“It’s not.”
“We don’t even know each other.”
“I know enough to know how I feel.”
“It’s too soon,” she repeats softly, searching my face as her fingers intertwine with mine.
“It’s not,” I say again, leaning in to kiss her then pulling back enough to reveal, “Time’s only going to make what I feel now stronger, what you feel stronger.” I kiss her, rolling to my back and adjusting her to rest on top of me.
“I love you too,” she says so quietly I barely hear her over the loud pounding of my own heart. “I didn’t think it was possible to feel this way.”
“You have me, Ellie. You and Hope both have me, always,” I tell her, running my hand over her wet hair while listening to her softly cry. “I promise we’ll be happy.”
“I’m already happy,” she whimpers, and I feel her body shudder against mine. Holding her a little closer, I listen as her tears stop and her breathing evens out then roll her to the side, adjusting her until she’s under the covers, and I get out of bed.
Going down the hall, I open Hope’s door and walk across her almost dark room then crouch down next to her, laying my hand on her chest, feeling the rise and fall under my palm before kissing her forehead and going back down to my room. Slipping off my jeans and shirt and climbing into bed behind Ellie, I fall asleep.
“You have to be quiet, Angel,” I hear Ellie say then feel wiggling and a warm small hand land on my face.
“He’s snoring weally loud,” I hear Hope whisper loudly then hear her giggle. “He sounds wike a monster.”
“I thought that you were still tired,” I hear Ellie whisper as I open one eye then the other and dip my chin down, seeing both Hope and Ellie’s eyes on me. Hope is on the opposite side of Ellie with her arm across her mom’s neck and her hand resting against my cheek.
“Morning,” I rumble, and Hope giggles, but Ellie’s eyes go soft.
“Morning. I was going to get up to let you sleep,” Ellie says.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead then raising my hand to run it over Hope’s hair.
“Can we have Skittle pancakes?” Hope asks, and I feel myself smile when her mom’s face pales at just the idea of Skittle pancakes.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” I tell her.
“Oh,” she pouts.
“How about we have eggs and toast?” Ellie suggests, rolling to her back.
“But I want pancakes.”
“We can’t have pancakes everyday, Sweetheart,” I tell her gently, putting my elbow in the bed and resting my head in my hand.
“Why not?”
“If we have them everyday, they won’t be special,” Ellie tells her, pulling her to lay against her chest, and I notice she now has on the shirt I wore yesterday, which is a good thing, since Hope came into the room.
“Oh,” Hope says then looks at me. “Is that why we can’t have birthday cake everyday?”
“Exactly,” Ellie confirms with a smile.
“Can I have a sister?”
“Lord,” Ellie whispers, and I chuckle then say, “Maybe one day.”
“Can I have a dog?” she asks after a few seconds.
“How about a time out?” Ellie asks her.
“I don’t want a time out.” She frowns.
“Go brush your teeth, sweetheart, then we’ll go and make breakfast,” I say.
“Okay,” she pouts, kissing her mom then me and standing up on the bed, jumping twice before landing on her bottom on the edge and sliding off the side, onto the floor, and running out of the room.
“She’s persistent,” Ellie murmurs, and I roll onto her, caging her in underneath me.
“I say we just give her what she wants,” I mutter into the skin of her neck, hearing her sharp intake of breath.
“It’s way to soon for a baby,” she whimpers as I slip my knees between hers and run my hand up her thigh, cupping her ass and pulling her core closer to my erection.
“Maybe,” I say, nuzzling against her ear then biting it, loving the moan that comes after.
“Jax,” she whispers, running her hands up my back while lifting her knee and wrapping her foot around the back of my thigh, bringing me even closer. Grinding against her, I cup her breast then lean forward so I can lick over her lips.
“I’m done!” Hope yells from somewhere down the hall, making me groan in frustration. Rolling to my back, I hear Ellie laugh and I lift my head to glare at her as she gets out of bed and walks to the door.
“I’ll see you downstairs.” She smiles then looks down at my lap and laughs.
“See you downstairs,” I agree, wrapping my hand around myself, trying to relieve the pressure before rolling out of bed and heading to the shower. I turn the water to cold and get in, killing my hard-on after a few painful minutes before turning the water to hot and washing up quickly.
When I get downstairs, Ellie is dressed and her hair is up on top of her head in a bun that fits the outfit she’s wearing. The black, form-fitting, long sleeve t-shirt dress goes down past her knees, where it’s met with black tights and black knee-high boots with a low heel.
“Where are we going?” I ask her, seeing she’s dressed for the day.
Turning to look at me over her shoulder, she replies, “Work. We talked about this yesterday. You said you’d watch Hope.”
“That was before last night,” I remind her quietly.
“I’m still going to work,” she responds then looks at Hope, who is sitting on the counter, watching us. “She won’t bother me there.” She goes to the fridge and gets out a carton of eggs.
“Ellie,” I say harshly, watching her eyes turn hard.
“Jax,” she retorts in the same harsh tone, walking over to the counter and telling Hope she can crack the eggs to scramble them.