"When your eyes catch mine
I know I talk too much
So give me your two lips
And baby, I'll shut up"
~-~-~
I worked on the cradle for the entire week and Chelsea soon realized what it was. "Daddy's making a cradle for you, princess! He loves you so much!" She walked around me with Lucy in her arms.
"There are nails on the floor, be careful..." I told her and she stared at me in disbelief, "I'm touched." She pretended to wipe tears from her eyes. Chelsea had turned into a baby herself after being around Lucy.
To my relief, she soon disappeared to give our baby a shower, and by Sunday I was nearly done with the cradle. It wasn't perfect and I hated it but Chelsea told me that it was more than enough. I didn't care about her opinion.
My top priority was that the wooden edges shouldn't hurt Lucy. It was too prickly and she could pierce her fingers if we weren't careful.
"You could cover it all with bubble wrap," my wife suggested.
"Do you have it?"
"I've got plenty of it," she smirked and began digging around the junk in her room. Soon enough she pulled out huge sheets of bubble wrap, Chelsea owned an unhealthy number of weird things.
When I wrapped it around the sharp wood, it looked much better and Chelsea covered the plastic with her spare blanket. She filled it with pillows and the cradle looked much cosier than the one at the shop. I laid Lucy inside and she squirmed around due to the sudden change in background.
"Admit it, the bubble wrap was an amazing idea," Chelsea nudged me.
"It might be the only sensible thing that has come out of your head," I replied.
"You are terrible, Leo." She rolled her eyes and collapsed on the bed, "But it was very sweet of you to build a literal cradle."
I climbed onto the bed and hovered over her. With a twinkle in her eyes, Chelsea reached for my face and began caressing my stubble. We hadn't fucked since she told me about Trent but I was not going to forgive her. Not now, not ever.
"Make love to me?" She whispered and leaned up for a kiss. My fingers draped around her neck, forcing her down on the pillow. Chelsea gasped for air and whimpered when I loosened my grip to nip at her neck.
"L-Leo..." Her breathing was shaky when I sucked on her skin.
When she attempted to touch me again, I squeezed her hands above her head and traced my thumb down to her lips.
"No touching."
I unbuttoned her shirt at an agonizing pace and traced my fingers from her neck to her navel. Chelsea's breasts were heaving by the time I unclasped her bra. She couldn't keep herself from squirming when I kissed her hard nipples, she was already wet.
I wanted to torment her in every possible way.
My tongue teased her nipples and she shuddered under me, "Stay still."
I bit her pink skin and she moaned loudly, "Ah! Leo!"
Chelsea opened her eyes blinked when I wasn't teasing her anymore. Withing mere seconds, I slipped my hand into her panties. She arched her back, moaning my name out loud.
"Were you this wet for Trent?"
I flicked her folds while keeping a steady pressure on her nub. She spread her legs further, revealing her wetness.
"P-please..." She begged.
"Answer me."
"No, n-no ah... n-no..."
She moaned when I teased her clit and dragged my tongue along her neck.
"Did you scream his name?"
"For fuck's sake, Leo, no! A-argh! I'm sorry..." Chelsea whimpered.
She bit into the pillow when I pushed three fingers inside her without warning.
"I'm so mad."
My warm breath fanned her neck and she desperately tried to kiss me but I pulled back. I got off the bed and licked my fingers just to drive her insane, it worked every time.
"Where are you going?" She grabbed the edge of my shirt. I could see the panic in her eyes.
"It does not concern you."
I smacked her hand away and walked over to the cradle before gently kissing Lucy's head.
"Please Leo, don't do this to me-"
I slammed the door while leaving.
***
"Where are we going today?" I asked Jim. The boys were always at the back of the truck while I was riding shotgun.
"There's an apartment at the edge of town and we're moving things there," he replied.
It was around seven in the morning and it had rained heavily last night. I could smell the wet road and it felt refreshing for some reason.
Something felt strangely familiar and I looked around the road. Jim was making turns I knew.
"Stop the truck."
"Eh?" He stared at me puzzled.
"Stop the truck!" I yelled and he pulled over by the edge of the road.
"What's wrong with you, now?" Chuck asked as I got out.
"Ballerina?" Jim got out with me.
I stared at the company on the other side of the road. It looked as beautiful as always but I had never noticed it before.
"That's Xander Corp..." Stuart mumbled.
Marble steps led to automatic glass doors that had a fountain on either side. There were beautiful plants around the entrance and my employees looked as fashionable as always. The tall blue building with excellent architecture suddenly felt breathtaking in my eyes.
"You used to work there?" Jim asked me.
"I owned everything and everyone there."
"Damn..." Chase muttered.
That building might be the most beautiful thing after Lucy and Chelsea.
"But how did you end up here, Mr.Xander?" Jay turned to me.
Right then, I saw a black Mercedes pull over outside. Reed got out of it.
"That guy... I'll kill him."
Jim stared at me in horror, "He's the one who made you broke?"
"I don't know but something tells me that he has a huge hand in it. I'll break every bone in that shitty face of his."
The men around me stayed silent because they knew that I never joked.
"Let's just get in the truck and have a happy day at work." He patted my back, "I'll let you pick the radio channel, Ballerina," Jim smiled.
***
On returning home at night, I found Chelsea walking around with Lucy who was back to crying again.
"She's been crying all afternoon," my wife mumbled, her voice laced with concern.
"Is she hungry?" I took my baby from her and walked over to the balcony, hoping that it would ease her.
"I fed her and changed her diaper just now, it's not that."
"Did you talk to Dr.Carter?"
"Yeah, and she said there's nothing wrong... It's normal... But..."
"But what?"
"I don't know, doesn't she feel warmer than usual?" Chelsea's eyes were all panicky as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"She seems normal to me."
"Even Dr.Carter said that but I just... She feels really warm when I hold her... I think she has a fever, Leo. Should we take her to the hospital?" Chelsea kept squeezing her cardigan nervously.
"You're getting all worked up for no reason," I sighed, "If the doc said she's fine, she must be."
I rubbed my little girl's back, "Shh... We're here, Lucy." But she wasn't stopping her cries soon.
"I'll try something." Chelsea took Lucy from my arms and hugged her tightly. She began humming a tune while gently patting my child's back.
I leaned against the doorframe and paid attention.
The tune was oddly familiar.
It made my chest feel tight.
Lucy's sobs began growing softer and softer until she fell asleep in her mother's arms. Chelsea laid her in the cradle and kept staring at her for a long time. Her deep blue eyes looked so in love while staring at our kid.
This made me ponder over all the things that Chelsea had done as part of keeping our 'family' alive. Not that I cared, but my wife has never failed to admit the love she feels for me.
It could be her heart playing tricks on her because she was so young.
Young and gorgeous—the sexiest woman I had ever met in my life.
I didn't know how honest she was being about her feelings but there was one thing I was sure of—she cared about Lucy in the same way that I did, if possible, better than myself.
But I had to admit, I missed the sex.
It had been a few days since I left her hanging and Chelsea never tried anything silly after that. She seemed too proper all of a sudden.
I missed her too much.
"Hey-!"
"Shhh..." I hugged her from behind. "Don't wake her up," I whispered.
Chelsea turned to face me, "Do you want dinner?"
"I want to you instead."
She stared at me like I had grown two heads.
I wrapped my arms around her legs and lifted her off the floor. She let out a little yelp and squeezed my shoulders for support as I carried her towards the bed.
"Leo..."
She ran her fingers through my hair as I pulled off her clothes.
"Yeah?"
I paused to look at her eyes which were still flickering nervously, "Can we please take Lucy to the hospital?"
"Alright, we'll do it in the morning," I sighed.
"Thank you," Chelsea smiled.
I kissed her, and she wrapped her hands around my neck, pulling me deeper. When I got rid of all the clothes between us, it felt like paradise to be inside her again.
No matter how mad she made me, the sex would always stay top-notch.
She rocked her hips perfectly while panting against my chest. I left multiple hickeys on her neck as her fingers clung to my neck and hair. It wasn't long before we lost track of the rounds.
Around midnight, I got up for a glass of water and when I returned to bed, Chelsea wrapped her arms around me. She was half asleep and I touched the scar on her cheek.
"Does it still hurt?" I asked her.
"Not really," hse rubbed her eyes awake.
I pulled her body closer, "Once I take back my company, I'll kill Trent."
Chelsea stared at me in horror, "You won't do that."
"Do you care if he dies?" I glared at her.
"I only care about you getting arrested and being forced to separate from Lucy."
Her answer was better than I expected. "Nobody is separating me from Lucy." I caressed her face and she seemed lost for a moment.
"What?"
"It's nothing..."
She stared up at the ceiling and laid her head on my bicep.
"I can see through your lies by now, Chelsea. You were about to say something until you changed your mind."
She glanced at me with a smile, "You know nothing about me, Leo."
"I know everything about you."
"Yeah, right," she chuckled.
"I know how you love to be dominated in bed, but you want to keep experimenting. You don't like to be ignored and you're so darn talkative sometimes that it gets on my nerves."
"I know that you love money, clothes, cars, cosmetics, and everything that screams luxury. You love the attention that men give you when you walk by but you're trying to hold in all your desires 'cause you want your life to be a fairy tale."
"I know that you love forehead kisses more than anything because you're a sucker for romance. You dream of the perfect life with a perfect guy, and every day you try to make that dream come true by confessing to me. You strive to make me that perfect guy but it's clearly in vain."
"Most importantly, I know that you'd take a bullet for Lucy. You get excited over little things childishly because you are one at heart."
I paused, "I do know everything about you, Chelsea."
"How the fuck do you know that I love forehead kisses? You haven't even kissed me that way!" She gasped.
"You turn numb when they do that in movies," I replied.
She didn't reply.
"Now tell me what you were about to say."
"Kiss my forehead first," Chelsea whispered.
"Tell me the damn thing," I growled at her.
My sudden change of tone startled her and she turned her back against my face.
"I wish I had a dad who loved me in the same way you love Lucy." Her voice was barely audible.
"Was the song from earlier sung at your orphanage?"
She immediately turned to face me, "There's no way you could have guessed that far."
"Now it makes sense why I found it familiar."
"What do you mean, Leo?"
"I uh... I grew up in an orphanage all my life... It wasn't exactly like that but... Anyway... Tell me how you know the song," I changed the topic.
She stared at me for a while before turning away. "They would make us sing this before dinner every night. All the kids hated the song but I liked the tune a lot, so I would sing it around all the time. This happened when I was seven, I was adopted after that."
"It was a small place in Seattle, huh?" I asked back.
"I don't remember where it was but... It was small... Why do you know that?" She gasped, "Were you there?"
"If I remember correctly, it was called Sister Margaret's Home for Children or something... A shitty old lady who talked about a god who never existed. I hated the song because it kept glorifying this crappy idea that god helped everyone. God helps no one, we help ourselves in the end," I muttered.
Chelsea held the side of my face, "What did they do to make you like this?"
"Nobody did anything." I frowned.
"Something terrible happened long ago, and it killed your heart," she whispered.
"I'd be dead if something killed my heart."
"Leonardo, you know that I don't mean it in a literal sense." She glared at me.
"Nothing happened." I turned my back towards her.
"You're so stubborn, Leo-"
"Shut up and go to sleep. I've got work in the morning," I grunted.
How do you like the story so far?
Lyrics: shut up by Greyson Chance
Last Edited - 21/01/24