Destination Connelly (33 page)

“I mean it, Nora,” he whispers in my ear. “I want to marry you tomorrow and I want babies the next day.”

I want more kids just as badly, if not more, than Connelly. But I want that to be a decision we make together. When the time is right for us.

My head falls to his shoulder. “I don’t think it quite works that fast.”

“I can make all kinds of magic happen, baby.” I feel his smile against my temple when he kisses me.

“I thought you weren’t a sorcerer?”

“Have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he jokes.

“Has Hazel been working on you?”

He tugs my hair until our eyes meet. A soft smile spreads his full pink lips, which lower to meet mine. God, I’d give anything to have him naked and taking me fast and rough right now.

“And if she has?” he breathes against my mouth.

“Who knew such a strong man could bend like hot iron with a single flick of an eyelash?”

“Like mother, like daughter.”

“Touché.”

Dipping low, he presses his lips reverently to mine. He craddles my face and takes control, tilting me so our mouths slant perfectly together. Sweeping his tongue inside, he slowly makes love to my mouth the way I hope he’ll be doing to me later in the guest house.

“God, I love you, Nora,” he murmurs against my cheek, “so damn much.”

This right here is what I’ve wanted since the moment I laid eyes on Connelly Colloway when I was seventeen. To belong to him. To be his wife. To live our days and nights together: loving, fighting, being. Even after the past few weeks of blissful happiness, I still wake up some days wondering if I’ve dropped into a dream. It takes all of two seconds to realize I’m not when I feel Connelly’s strong, powerful arms surround me, holding tight like I’ll vanish any second. I think he feels the same way I do: he may wake up and I’ll be
his
dream. But I’m not. He’s not.
We’re
not. This is as real as it gets. I’m so euphoric my chest feels like it may crack from the fullness most days.

“I love you so much I can hardly breathe sometimes.”

It’s not until now that I realize snow’s starting to fall hard. The large flakes have gathered in his black hair and on the shoulders of his navy peacoat. He looks divine. “It’s you and me now. You, me, Hazel, and all the siblings we can give her.” Dropping his voice to a sultry timber, he declares, “I plan on starting tonight, I want you to know. I’m going to fuck you until it’s physically impossible for me to continue.”

That familiar tingle between my legs starts burning. “Promise?” I tease, knowing full well we can’t make a baby yet. And so does he.

“Oh hell yeah,” he promises darkly. “If it wasn’t so cold, I think I’d bend you over and fuck you right here.”

I wrap my hand around the thickening bulge in his pants and gaze up at him with what I know is mischief in my eyes. “I think I’d let you.”

“Nora,” he rumbles, fingers covering mine, squeezing hard. “Do not tempt me.” I giggle right before a blast of frigid air hits me. “Come on. Let’s get back. You’re shivering.”

With one more fast kiss and grins plastered on our faces, we hurry back to the house the same way we came, hands locked. The temperature has dropped about five degrees, the wind is gusty, and a thin white glaze now blankets the ground.

The moment we set foot in the kitchen, nine sets of eyes stop what they’re doing and turn our way. Even the twins quiet down. The only set I’m glued to, however, is our daughter’s. They’re bright with anxious anticipation, darting back and forth between her dad and me.

She knew.

Connelly confirms it when he smirks and shrugs his shoulders. “You don’t think I’d ask you to marry me without our daughter’s okay, do you?”

“You said yes?” her little voice squeaks as she bounces up and down.

Before answering, I look around the room, realizing two things.

Everyone
knew what that little walk was about, and I feel like the luckiest woman on earth to be able to share this special moment with a family that loves my daughter and me unconditionally. And now they’re our family.
Our family
.

Standing side by side with my soul mate, I marvel at the obstacles we’ve overcome. We’ve both made mistakes. We’ve both been wronged. We’re both imperfect but perfectly perfect for each other.

That’s the thing about a soul mate, though. They know you. All of you. The good, the bad, the dark and ugly scarred parts of you, yet they love the entire package regardless. And with my entire family surrounding us, I couldn’t feel more loved or accepted for all of my perfect imperfections.

A grin overtakes me as I look into my daughter’s angelic face. “I said yes.”

The entire kitchen erupts in chaos.

“About fucking time,” I hear Luke say over the melee right before Barb yells at him for swearing in front of little ears, to which he just laughs.

Then we’re encased in arms and congratulations and tears. When Connelly reaches for me, I slide easily into his hold.

I love this family. I love their boundless love. I love their unwavering loyalty. I love their dedication, commitment, and support of each other. I love that Hazel and I are now part of their crazy, flawed, tight little unit.

Most of all, I’ll love this man next to me with every part of my being until I take my last breath.

It may be over eleven years in the making, but I’d say that Connelly and I have more than earned the overflowing joy that’s spilling out of this room.

Just goes to prove: Never say never.

C
onn

“
I
don’t understand
how
I’m
being punished for
your
dream, fireball,” Luke’s loud, gruff voice booms.

“Because…because you just
are
,” Addy responds tightly. Luke has her locked in his arms but she’s trying to squirm away. She squeals and I presume he’s found a ticklish spot. Addy Colloway is like a rabid animal sometimes. Wild and unpredictable. And I thought Nora had a quick temper. She’s got nothing on Luke’s wife and he’s even subdued her somewhat. I can only imagine what their bedroom is like when he’s taming her.

“What’s that all about, princess?” I ask my lovely wife, nodding toward Addy and Luke. She’s sitting next to me, unhappily I might add. I made her get off her feet and rest like she’s supposed to. I almost put the kibosh on this Memorial Day party, the first one in our new Lake Forest home, but Nora insisted. Her insistence came complete with real tears, so I was forced into this little barbecue or would have been forced to live with the consequences.

I’m a smart man.

“Addy had a dream that Luke had an affair with Halle Berry, so she’s refused to let him watch any movies with her in it.”

“Uh oh.” I chuckle. “The X-Men series is one of his faves.”

“Exactly,” she smirks.

“I think she’s overreacting a bit, don’t you? I mean, Luke can control a lot of things about Addy, but her dreams aren’t one of them.” I turn my gaze, meeting Nora’s. She’s scowling. “Or maybe not.” That puts a smile on her gorgeous face. I grab her hand and bring it to my lips, brushing them across her knuckles.

One thing I quickly learned about the women in this family…they’re stuck together like superglue, even Hazel. You don’t cross. You don’t question. You don’t argue. You just agree. Life is easier that way. Everyone has learned this little trick except Luke. He still pushes Addy constantly, but then again that’s their thing.

Hazel pops out the front door, face stuck in her new cell phone. She’s been begging for one for six months and I finally caved. Imagine that.

“Ladybird, you cleaned your room, right?”

“Yep,” she answers, not looking away from the screen for an instant as she bounds down the wooden porch steps.

“Hazel.”

She stops midstep and turns back. “Yeah,” she responds guiltily.

“Your room?”

“Yes, Daddy. My room is clean.”

Eye twitch. Shuffle step. She’s getting better, but she’ll never best me. I arch a knowing brow.

“Fine.” She stomps back up the stairs. I hold out my hand as she passes by. Her phone drops in my palm. Her mother and I laugh and her little feet pound louder.

“And be quiet. The baby’s sleeping!” I yell behind her, tucking the mind-sucking contraption in my back pocket.

“She’s doomed. She knows she’ll never get away with anything with you as her father.”

“Well, at least I have that going for me,” I mumble.

Our daughter has hit the age of twelve and apparently something happens overnight when girls turn twelve. Before, you couldn’t go anywhere without them attached to your hip; now you’re the bane of their precious existence. You were once the smartest human being on earth, and now you suddenly have nothing but air between your ears. You used to be the light of their lives, but now you’re darkness they have to suffer through.

Nora assures me it will eventually pass. In five years or so.

My mother assures me we all pulled the same shit to some degree, but it was around the age of fourteen instead. Being a parent of a preteen is damn hard work.

“You feeling okay?” I ask.

“I’m fine, Connelly. Jesus, stop smothering me.”

I’m not sure who I feel more sorry for at the moment: Nora or myself. Her hormones are raging. One minute she’s like sunshine. Bright. Happy. Warm. The next, she’s turned into Medusa. I’m sure I see snakes swirling in her hair and I have to work hard to dodge their poisonous strikes. I’m stuck with two unpredictable women. My forecast of penance has finally come true.

But today’s a good day. A happy day. A day of family celebration. Everyone I love is here. My whole life under one roof, including Nora’s father and my mom and her “boyfriend.” And because it’s a good day, I’m not going to let chemicals win this fight.

Picking up a protesting Nora, I settle her on my lap until her fight leaves. I gently grab her chin between my thumb and forefinger and lift her face to me.

“Better get used to it, princess. I will spend the rest of my life smothering you. Worrying about you to exhaustion. Loving you to annoyance.” I move my hand to her swollen belly, six and a half months ripe with our baby girl.

Yep…penance
.

She places her hand on top of mine, hooking our fingers together. “Everything is fine, Connelly. I swear. You’re being overprotective.”

“No cramps?”

“Nope.”

“No spotting?”

“None for weeks. Want evidence?”

“Maybe.” My chest stings where she swats me good. Little does she know I’m not playing. “I’m not going to apologize, sweetheart. Our baby girl has to bake a while longer.”

“I know,” she agrees quietly.

Nora and I got married in a small, private ceremony just weeks after we were engaged, with just our family in attendance. Neither of us wanted to wait or plan an unnecessarily elaborate wedding and the only people we wanted as witnesses were those who meant the most to us. Then we started the lengthy process of having my name added to Hazel’s birth certificate as her biological father—a painstaking procedure but well worth the effort in the end.

During this entire time, we embarked on building our new home and arguing about when we were going to have more kids. Nora hedged. She was nervous. She’d had a bad pregnancy and bad delivery with Hazel. She was worried she’d have a repeat. When we finally decided six months into our marriage to give it a go, little did we know that we’d have such difficulty getting my swimmers past the goal line. Turned out Nora had developed some endometriosis, so we went the medical intervention route. At last, after almost six months of shots and visits and procedures…success.

But then her fears came true. Nora started having problems similar to when she was pregnant with Hazel. She had pretty severe morning sickness and developed light spotting at ten weeks. Went into false labor once at the four-month mark. We thought we were going to lose the baby. Things were touch and go for a while and she was on complete bed rest for several weeks. Then, like divine intervention, the spotting stopped, the cramps went away, and her OB said as long as she took it easy, she could be up and around.

To be safe, she’s taken a leave of absence from work until after the baby’s born. It’s been hard for her, but I’m not unhappy in the least. Her sole goal right now is to take care of our children while I take care of her.

“I love you, Nora Colloway.” I hook a finger under her chin and tip her head to the right angle so I can kiss her.

“I love you back, Connelly Colloway,” she replies against my wet lips before pressing hers to them again.

“Hey, mind if I run a quick bath?” Ash interrupts looking completely disheveled, a filthy dirty, dripping one-year-old in his arms. Alyse is right behind him, calm as a cucumber, cooing at their daughter whose legs are flailing as she giggles. “Lila landed in a mud puddle before I could stop her.”

I want to laugh, but I know I don’t dare. I’ll be him this time next year.

Ah, fuck it.

“Go ahead. Yuck it up, brother. You’ll get your due.”

“Looking forward to it,” I reply, meaning every syllable. “Hey, see if Hazel wants to help. She loves that stuff.”

“Will do.”

Ash and Alyse head inside just as my mom and Bob plod up the steps, taking the chairs next to us. Nora tries to get up, but I stop her. She glares. I laugh. Life is good.

“How’s the mother-to-be doing today?” my mom asks Nora, patting her lovingly on the leg.

“Good, Barb. Thanks for asking.” I hear the smile before I see it.

“How come you’re sweet to her but sour to me?”

“Just the way it is, son,” my mother answers for my wife. She and Nora giggle, like they have an inside joke, while Bob shrugs his shoulders in an empathetic gesture.

“This has been a great day, Conn. We should make this a tradition,” Bob says, grabbing hold of my mom’s hand. My mother is glowing…like a newlywed. But they aren’t yet, although we hope they will be soon. Bob has been trying unsuccessfully to convince Barb Colloway to marry him. All us kids have given her our blessing, knowing it’s what Dad would have wanted. I think she’ll cave soon.

“I think we will, Bob.” I nod.

“Your sister able to make it for dinner, Nora?” Bob asks. Even though everyone knows Ella isn’t technically Nora’s sister now, no one acknowledges it, especially Nora and Ella. To them, they will always be sisters.

“She said she’d try.” I don’t hold out hope Ella will show. I don’t know what’s going on with her lately, but she’s been conspicuously absent and it’s upsetting Nora. I try to stay out of “sister stuff,” but I’ll have to get on Ella about that. I don’t want Nora under any stress whatsoever. I kiss Nora’s temple. She snuggles closer.

We fall quiet and I take a deep breath full of sublime gratitude.

With my wife and unborn child in my arms, we sit on our wraparound porch and I gaze out at the backyard. There, Gray and Livia push their giggling boys on the massive swing set big enough for a park. At three months along, Livia is barely showing, pregnant with just one this time. Gender still unknown.

Luke and Addy battle it out with lawn darts while three-month-old Charlotte naps in the crib upstairs.

Carl, the self-professed Master Griller, is cooking up brats and burgers, insistent that I take care of Nora while he takes care of the food. I didn’t put up too much of a fight.

Landyn is even here, arriving a short time ago. She’s part of the family after all, in so many ways, so it’s not a surprise she’s spending the day with us. What is the surprise, however, is who she brought with her: Cooper Jensen. They look a little friendly, too. I had no idea she was dating anyone, let alone Mr. Jensen. I’ll have to dig into that more another day. Right now, all I want to do is revel in being with my family.

“All right, food’s up!” Carl yells, prompting my mom into action. She runs inside to get the side dishes while Carl sets a giant platter on the twelve-foot custom outdoor table we had made for the patio, just for get-togethers like this.

Nora goes to follow her. I clamp her to me. “Just a minute.”

She glares at me with ire in her gleaming green eyes. My redhead is firing up again. “I can carry a salad, you know.”

I hold in a snicker. “Yes. I know.”

“Then let me up.”

“In a second. Answer a question first.”

She cocks her head. “The answer is yes.”

“You don’t know the question yet,” I tell her, chuckling.

“Then it’s a definite no.”

Laughing, I pull her close and whisper, “Are you happy, Nora?”

Tipping her head and softening her face, she presses my scruffy cheeks between her tiny hands, kissing me so slow and so soft I immediately harden. It’s been weeks since I’ve rocked inside her inviting heat. Sex is a no-no right now, but it’s forced us to be creative. Let’s just say we’ve eaten a lot of late-night meals off of each other, discovering several new erogenous zones.

“Bursting with it. You?”

“Blissfully content,” I reply, bringing her mouth again to mine. The truth is, I’ve never been fucking happier in my entire life, every day better than the last.

“Hey, you two lovebirds, food’s getting cold,” Livia yells. A glance in her direction shows we’re the last ones to the table.

I groan, wanting only to spend some naked time alone with my wife. “Why did we do this again?” I grumble, only half kidding.

“Come on, lover boy.” Standing, she grabs my hand, yanks me up, and wraps herself around me. “You’ll have plenty of time to keep me naked in bed since your mom is taking Hazel tomorrow for the next two weeks.”

“Mmm, how could I forget?” I nibble her neck, thinking of the many places we have yet to christen in the house.

“Come on.” She takes me by the hand, leading me down the steps. Her sexy ass, which has filled out nicely with her pregnancy, is what really pulls me forward. “Let’s go have another first.”

“Sounds perfect,” I reply, a smile the size of Texas on my face.

As I slide into an empty space at the table, Nora by my side, I take a moment to let my gaze meander over my family. Food is passed. Laughter rings. Voices get progressively louder. Grant cries when he drops his sippy cup on the ground. It’s utter chaos, but I’d give everything I own to experience this single second over and over again.

The Colloway boys have all battled tirelessly for our second chance at love and family and futures with women who almost slipped through our fingers. Women who were
always
meant to be ours. It hasn’t been easy. Each of us has had our own obstacles to overcome…our own demons to slay…our own souls to search.

As I told Gray a few months back, though, nothing worth winning is ever easy. Nothing worth having comes without sacrifice, wounds, or scars. And nothing worth holding on to comes without paying the ultimate price: your very soul. But if you’re with the right person, you won’t even know that piece of you is missing because that space is not dark and empty.

It’s whole and complete: filled with your other half.