Chapter Fifty One
Maria fisted her hand in his hair, as her other hand latched tightly on his broad shoulder, “That depends.” She gasped out. She wished they didn’t have to stop, she was enjoying the electric volts his lips were sending through her body.
“On what?” his breath got more raged, his body tightened even more when he unfastened one more button with his tongue exposing more of her soft skin. There was no going back, he was a lawyer convincing people is what he did for a living.
“On how long you want Izzy to be in therapy.” a chuckle managed to escape past her gasps as she silently encouraged him to keep making his way down her torso.
“What?” he looked up at her, his chin resting on her chest.
“Look behind you.” she said, opening her eyes.
Dave turned to find Izzy knocking the spoon and fork on the table. She didn’t look at all disturbed, as she went on with her loud drumming, which he hadn’t noticed. For the first time he wished she wasn’t around. With a frustrated groan he sat upright pulling Maria up with him.
“I forgot she was here.”
“I didn’t.” she sat there, her hands limp in his as she waited for her body to recover, “Especially with all the noise she’s making.”
“I didn’t hear it.” the side of his lips rose naughtily, “I was too… engrossed trying to have my way with you.” Maria moved closer to him, her lips close to touching his, “I didn’t, I’m a mom.”
“I’m a dad.” he felt the fire waken at their closeness. He wanted to kiss her again and forget his daughter was there, again.
“That’s different. Apart from the baby oven and the feeding system in our bodies, we also have a baby sensor installed in our heads.”
“So, you are the parents and we are just the assistants, is that what you are saying?” he placed his hands on her back, and pulled her closer to him, her legs wide and he in the middle.
“I’m just calling a spade a spade. We make, with your help and God’s blessings, babies. We protect and feed them while they are inside us.”
Dave put a hand on her belly, “Inside here? This is where the magic happens?” he said, interrupting her.
She combed her fingers through his hair, “Yes. Then we birth, feed and nurture them until they are old enough to be independent.”
“That’s where we come in and do all the hard work.” “No, just a quarter of the hard work. Half of it is already done and the other quarter we do.”
“We really do have it easy, don’t we?” He brushed her long hair behind her shoulder.
“Very easy.” she looked up when she heard Izzy fuss. Her face was beginning to crease as she was about to start crying. She was tired of being ignored, “I think it’s time you do your assisting job before Izzy’s whimpers become wails.”
Dave moaned, “We should have had her go out to a very long lunch with Carol.” he captured Maria’s lips and pulled her down for a kiss, “Maybe she’ll sooth herself if we completely ignore her.”
Maria punched him in the shoulder and pushed him away, easily sliding off him, “Would you go!”
Dave stood up and went to Izzy. He lifted her out of her chair and held her, “What’s wrong with my little princess?”
“She’s hungry.” Maria buttoned her shirt as she stood up, “Where did you learn to unbutton shirts with your mouth?”
“It’s all in the tongue.” he declared proudly, “I learned it in college.”
Maria moved to the table and stood in front of him. She picked up Izzy’s food and began feeding her, “You must have had a lot of practice.” she baited him. She wasn’t jealous, just curious.
Dave chuckled, “Lots…” he stopped, catching himself. Tensed, he looked at Maria who had an amused look on her face, “You are smooth.” he said, relaxing.
“Your daddy left you starving to do one of his college tricks.” Maria spoke to Izzy putting another spoon full in her mouth.
“Her mommy had me distracted, and I’m still distracted.” Dave’s smile faded when he saw Maria’s face dull, “You still aren’t comfortable with it?”
Maria wiped Izzy’s chin, “Not really. It just feels weird.”
“What do you mean weird?”
“Like I’m counting my chickens before they hatch weird.” When Dave didn’t say anything, she went on, “I keep expecting something to go wrong, like at any moment I’ll be robbed of everything I’ve grown to love over the past few months.”
“No one is going to rob you of anything.” Dave said, decisively. He knew what she was scared of, and he was scared of it too. Ricky was about to pounce and destroy their lives, but Dave was determined not to let him.
“Ricky will. He’s waiting somewhere, planning how he’ll hurt me the most.” Maria spoke quietly, momentarily submerged in her pain, “He’ll go after Michael first, that I’m sure of.” her eyes trailed to Izzy, “And if he knows about you, and Izzy, he’ll go after her then you.”
Dave wiped the tear away from her face, and then settled his hand on her cheek. She leaned into it, “He’ll torture me by taking all of you away from me before he kills me. I’m sure of it, I’m very sure of it.”
“Let me handle Ricky, you have a birthday party to plan, remember?”
Maria smiled, “You always handle everything. You’ve made my life so very different, and so much easier since I met you.”
“I’m the assistant, I’m just doing my job assisting you.”
Maria took Izzy from him, “Okay, but first, you need to eat.”