"Riley, you need to make a decision." I chuckled while staring up at the beautiful girl with her legs wrapped tightly around my bare torso.
"I just can't do it," Riley whined and huffed, letting out the most comical sigh.
"Why not?" I raised my eyebrow to question her because I didn't understand her hesitation at all. She always had to overthink even the most minor things.
"I don't know. I'm just not ready for it yet. I need more time."
"You said you would do it yesterday." I whined at her.
"How about tomorrow? We can do it tomorrow." She sang out sweetly.
Riley smiled down at me as the sunlight bathed her with luminous light. Her golden hair was piled in that chaotic ball, slightly off-center on top of her head. There was nothing I wouldn't do for this girl. I couldn't believe I was thinking about giving in and letting her off the hook again for the third straight day in a row.
Riley sucked in her bottom lip between her teeth and batted her eyelashes at me.
My girl was such a little tease.
"Fine. Tomorrow, but you can't back out this time." I caved, letting her get her way.
Riley slid her palms over my stomach and up towards my chest. She shifted on top of me like she was about to climb off but ended up planting herself right up against her favorite seat. If I didn't have boxers on and wasn't worn out already, we would be right back at it again.
Both of us were struggling to get out of bed today to face the world. Riley even tackled me and sat on top of me the last time I tried to get up. We had a million things to do this morning, but neither of us was willing to move an inch from each other.
Riley's light pink bra strap slid down off her shoulder as she explored the muscles on my chest and arms. She began to raise her palm off my body to fix it. My hand flew up and immediately pulled hers back down to my skin and away from the thin strap.
"Don't. You. Dare. Touch. That." I took a deep breath between each word.
Her eyes lit up mischievously like she was thinking about testing me. I would love it if she did. My head had come up with a whole host of new filthy things to try with her.
We were definitely not going to get anything done today at the rate we were moving.
My fingers traced the curve of her breast down over her bra, pulling the strap down a little further. She leaned her head backwards and closed her eyes. Her body moved over me as I brushed my finger between the fabric of her bra in the spot where her hard nipple was slipping out to tease me.
"Mmm... that feels amazing." Riley moaned as I turned my hand and ran my nail lightly over her sensitive skin.
I brought my hands down from her chest and over her oversized, pregnant belly. My palms cupped each side of it as I slid my thumbs up and down right below her belly button, admiring the way her body had changed over the last few months to grow the little life inside of it.
So fucking beautiful and strong.
I was a lucky man.
Riley's belly moved as the rowdy guy inside her stretched out. It went back to its original shape when he settled back down in a better spot. It was hypnotic the way he danced under her skin. I could lay here for hours just watching him.
I can't believe how much I loved Riley and the little boy inside her.
And she loved us too.
We were going to be a family and it meant everything to me.
Honestly, I was still terrified about being someone's father. I was scared I would screw up and ruin everything—including him. But Riley wasn't scared at all. She had faith in me that I could do this.
We only had a few weeks left before we would find out.
But first, we needed to figure out what we were going to name him.
Riley and I had been waking up every morning and having the same discussion for two weeks now. It was my absolute favorite part of the day.
I was growing more nervous about the baby but excited at the same time to get to meet him. Besides Riley, he was the only thing I ever thought or talked about anymore.
I was hoping Riley would decide on a name for him soon. I didn't want to wait until the last second. Even her mom and JD couldn't believe she hadn't picked one out. Her dad and I had even spent a whole day last week throwing out a few classic guitar-themed ones for her, but she wrinkled her nose and shook her head with everyone.
It wasn't like she wasn't trying to give him a name.
I had caught her in the middle of the night furiously scratching out line by line of a jumbo baby name book instead of sleeping. Her mom bought her the book to help out, but reading through the book had become an obsession to Riley. The last time I checked her progress, Riley had scratched out every boy name up to the letter "Q".
We were running out of letters.
It didn't matter to me what she decided in the end. I just wanted to know what to call the kid when I talked and sang to him in her belly. I wanted him to hear my voice and know me. I already felt so connected to him and I had only seen him on those grainy black and white videos at the doctors.
"Who do you think he will look like?" Riley asked me as she bent over and sandwiched the poor little guy between us. He kicked out again in irritation and I could feel him moving against my stomach. He was a fighter.
I rubbed her bare back and kissed her shoulder, trying not to laugh at the little popcorn kernels exploding in her belly.
"Round, beady little black eyes, and green fins." I joked with her.
"You are not funny." She frowned at me. I loved that plump, pouty lip when she stuck it out at me.
"You, beautiful. He will definitely look like you. Blond with mesmerizing green eyes." I answered without a second thought.
I did want him to look just like her. He needed enough of her in him to keep the demons I passed along at bay.
"You think so? Don't you want him to look like you at all?" She sounded surprised. She took my hand and laced her tiny fingers in mine.
I traced the outline of her fingers like the peaks and valleys of a rollercoaster and intertwined our hands together, stretching her hand as far as it would go to slide my large fingers between hers.
"Not really. Well, I do hope he is as tall as me. Oh, and I hope he gets my chest and not yours." I blurted out, catching a quick peek of the plump nipple sticking out of the top of her bra.
"What's wrong with my chest?" Riley asked insecurely and stared down at her body.
"Nothing is wrong. It is my third favorite thing to play with." I answered.
"What's the first?" She asked innocently.
I pulled my hands out of hers and grabbed her ass cheeks. I gave them a rough squeeze, followed by a hard smack that left my hand stinging.
Riley jumped and the frowned at me.
"One." I raised my eyebrow at her as I answered.
"You are terrible." Riley rolled her eyes at me and gave me her signature Riley glare. I started cracking up hysterically until tears formed in my eyes. I had gotten used to that look and I found myself missing it whenever she was away from me.
"I love you," I whispered up to her.
"I love you." She nodded and leaned down, holding my hands to the side, pinning them to the mattress to keep them off her backside.
"I'm so sorry that I hurt you, Beautiful. I never meant to hurt you." I apologized to her.
"I know. I forgive you." She lowered her head to kiss me.
The tip of her nose brushed my lips and she teased me. I bent towards her to capture her lips and her tongue darted out. Riley leaned forward and licked the front of my face with the sloppiest, wettest tongue.
I pulled back from her in shock.
She giggled and shook her hair in my face, tickling my nose. Then, she leaned over and licked my cheek again.
"What the fuck are you doing, Riley?" I tried to move my arms to stop her weirdness when she went in again.
"Ezra..." She laughed out my name and licked me again.
"Ezra."
Lick.
"Ezra."
Lick
"Ezra!"
Lick.
I closed my eyes when her tongue made contact with my eyeball. Then, when I opened them, there was a set of dark brown eyes in front of my face instead of Riley's sparkling green ones.
The bed I was in was so much harder than it was a few seconds ago and I was cold—so fucking cold.
My body began aching and I adjusted my position as I received another sloppy, stinking tongue swipe up my face.
"Potato. Come." A stern, panicked voice rang through the silence loudly.
The stupid dog whined and licked my face one last time. He chewed on the tips of the hair covering my forehead for a little bit longer before letting go.
"Potato. Here." The command came louder.
The dog shrunk down and backed away to spin around in the tight space. He walked towards a pair of legs a few feet away from where I was sitting. His head was hanging low and his tail was between his legs.
Potato never liked to be scolded.
Neither did I.
"What are you doing out here?" The familiar voice interrogated me.
I could already hear the disappointment in her voice as she evaluated the pitiful mess lying in the corner of the front porch on the freezing concrete.
I had let her down again.
I always let everyone down.
"Ezra, what happened? Why are you here?" She questioned.
"H-heyy M-M-Momma. I-I'm h-home." I slurred out and collapsed as everything around me disappeared into the shadows.