Saving Us (2 page)

He
pushed the hair out of my face and opened his mouth to speak, but his bedroom door came flying open and we covered up quickly.

Bella and Noah stood at the foot our the bed. She had a huge smile on her face. “Uncle Conner, does this mean you and Aunt Amy are married now?”

Chapter 2

Conner

How was I supposed to answer something like that? Obviously, seeing two people in bed together represented a married couple. Telling the child the wrong thing was really going to piss my sister off. Thankfully, Ty was walking by with one of the twins. He did a quick glance and started to walk by before backing up after he realized the predicament.

"Iz, what are you and Noah doing in here?"

She kept staring at us in the bed. Amy threw the covers up over her face.

"Isabella, answer me." His stern voice made her turn right around.

"Uncle Conner and Aunt Amy got married."

Ty looked as shocked as I did. "They can't get...Sweetie, go play please." He watched them run out of the room. He looked down at his son is his arms. "I'm going to kick your uncle's ass."

The little guy started grabbing at Ty's nose and laughing. "How was I to know she was goin' to walk in like that?"

"Ever heard of a lock?"

From under the covers I heard Amy whine. "It was my fault. I'm not used to being around curious little eyes. I'm so sorry."

Miranda came walking into the room with a basket of clothes in her hands. "Sorry for what?"

I let out a chuckle and pulled the covers off of Amy. She sat up but kept the sheet covering our naked bodies. "Bella walked in on me and Conner in bed. She thinks we are married now and Ty didn't know how to explain something like that. Please don't be mad."

"She's too damn curious. Just don't talk about it to her, until I can figure out what to tell her. I'm sure as hell not going to explain divorce to her again. That took forever and she wouldn't stop
askin' if when her father and I fought , were we goin' to get a divorce."

Ty smacked her in the ass. "That's never goin' to happen."

My sister smiled and gave him one of those smiles that had a hidden meaning. I shook my head. "You think we can get some privacy up in here?"

"Well, shit! Far be it from us to cock block you, dude." Ty grabbed my sister by the hand and pulled her out of the room before I could come up with a retaliation comment. I suppose it was paybacks for me telling Iz to walk in on them awhile back.

Amy had pulled the covers back over her head and refused to let me look at her. I grabbed the edge of the sheet and tried to pry it away from her. "Come on, let me see that pretty face."

"I'm never coming ou
t of this room again."

"Now that you
say it like that, I think that might benefit me more. Sure, we'd have to eat and shower, but stayin' in bed with a beautiful naked woman for eternity seems like a good way to live."

I felt her leg slide and kick me. "Be serious
, Conner, I don't want to face them. They know what we were doing. Plus, Bella thinks we're married. How am I supposed to explain this to her?"

I started laughing and reached up to grab her breast through the covers. "You don't have to explain things. Besides, what can they say? We're having a baby together. Obviously, we have been together before."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care. I don't want anyone thinking I'm a terrible person." Finally, she let me pull down the sheets.

"Blaze, my family loves you. I don't know what you're so worried about. Get your pretty little self up and get dressed."

I could understand why Amy felt the way she did. I knew her situation more than anyone, but being with Amy changed all of my rules about being with a married woman. I was so in love with her, that I couldn't help myself. Sure, she was still married, but in her situation, it was never about her being a cheater. Rick had cheated, in fact, he'd done it many times. Not to mention the fact that he had lied their whole marriage and abused her physically so badly that he sent her right into my waiting arms. He only wanted her for convenience or some twisted business deal that we didn't know yet. Whatever it was, he didn't want her like I did and now that she was carrying my child, I would stop at nothing until she was free of that bastard.

Amy was a beautiful woman and she deserved to be happy. I was once a broken man, so jealous of my own family's happiness that I drove myself into a dangerous addiction. Amy made me want more for myself. She made me care about my future. I'll admit that after I knew I loved her, I always hoped that she would get pregnant and want to be with me. I know it sounds bad, but the truth is, she needed an out and having my baby would have given it to her. Maybe that was the real reason she was lying next to me in my bed; although it didn't even matter. For the first time in a year, she was where she needed to be and I wasn't going to let her go.

By New Year's Eve Amy had finally stopped worrying about my family. Colt and Van were still in town visiting as well as my mother and John, but Lucy and my aunt had flown home the day after Christmas. They were expecting Lucy's adult kids for a visit and couldn't stay any longer because of it.

I guess what helped Amy was the fact that I may or may not have told my sister that she felt uncomfortable, who in turn told my mother. Even though my mother was overwhelmed with spending time with her grandchildren, she seem
ed on cloud nine every time there was a mention of me being a father. I knew from across the room when she was thinking of it, because she would look at me and her face would just light up. It had been too long since I'd made my mother smile like that.

For New Year's Eve our family made a shit load of food and hung around all night. After the babies were asleep, we took the party out to the barn to shoot pool and celebrate. Of course, Miranda had the baby monitor and was keeping it hooked to her pants in case the babies woke up.

We were shooting partners in pool and had drawn names to see who was on who's team. It ended up being Colt and Ty's dad, John and Ty and me and Van's dad. We played a set of five games and the winner played the team that was waiting. After John and Ty won the first match, the three older guys quit on us to play cards with the women. As much as we all liked to play cards, I think me, Colt and Ty, liked playing pool better.

Ty leaned against the table. "What's the wager fuckers?"

"I ain't taken my clothes off, if that's what you're thinkin'. I still ain't heard the end of that shit." Colt adjusted his John Deere hat and I could tell he was uneasy about running around naked the last time he lost one of Ty's bets.

"I got somethin' better and you ain't gotta run around naked, well, not totally naked that is." They both cocked an eyebrow and looked at me. I shook my head and started laughing. I knew they were dying to know what my idea was, so I took another swig of my beer before responding. "Loser has to wear Miranda's little Santa outfit she wore in that picture."

"And they have to have their picture taken in it," Ty added.

Colt looked at Ty and then back to me. "You two have lived together too long. You're both sick in the head."

"Just agree to it and shut your pussy mouth. Let’s get this game going." Ty stood up and grabbed his stick.

Colt crossed his arms and kept shaking his head. "Just so you know, I ain't losing this time."

"Yeah, you keep tellin' yourself that, cuz." I pounded my fist against Tys before we got the game started.

Once we got to playing, things became more serious. Even Ty stopped cracking jokes after he missed an easy cut shot. He pounded the butt of his stick on the hard floor and cussed under his breath.

Bella and Noah were running around with the dog, while the rest of the adults were sitting at a large round table engulfed in their card game.

The
way that we worked the game was that we each had to play each other. The first person to lose two matches lost the bet. Since Ty and I played pool so much, I think we both knew whom was going to lose. I had an easy bank shot and sunk my ball into the called pocket.

Colt threw his arms up in the air. "God. Damn. It!"

Ty and I pounded our fists together again and I watched Ty walk up and smack Colt on the ass. "Van, you better get your camera ready. It looks like Colt is going to be giving us a fashion show."

Colt leaned against the wall and looked both pissed and embarrassed. We couldn't help but to keep laughing at him.

"I ain't never making a bet with the two of you assholes again." He grabbed another beer out of the refrigerator.

"Hey, at least you won't be naked," I joked.

The girls were laughing even before they knew exactly what was going on. Miranda came walking over to find out why her husband was hunched over laughing his ass off. "What did you do now?” She asked.

He continued laughing, so hard he could barely speak. "Oh my God, baby, you need to go inside and get me your Santa outfit."
He laughed even harder. "Colt is going to put it on and jingle all around for us."

When he said jingle all around, I spit my beer clear across the room.

Miranda leaned over toward Van and whispered in her ear. We watched her stand up and walk toward Ty. She pushed him before getting up in his face. "Is it necessary for you to make him so miserable. He's going to hate visiting you if you keep it up."

He grabbed her by her face and kissed her before jokingly shoving her away. "He loves us. Get over yourself." He looked over at Miranda. "Baby, don't forget
to grab the camera when you get the outfit."

I walked over and ran my hands over Amy's shoulders. “You havin' fun yet?"

She giggled and looked back at me. "I actually love it. You don't know how long I've wanted to be surrounded by a family. The longer I'm around them, the more I love them."

I kissed the top of her head. "I like you bein' here. If it’s okay, I'd like you to stick around."

She smiled and reached up to touch my face. "It's definitely okay, Conner."

"Now we just have to get you divorced."

"You say that like it’s going to be easy." She didn't seem so sure.

"As long as you and our son our safe, I will wait as long as it takes."

She shook her head and laughed. "Your son? You're so sure about that."

"I'm always right, Blaze."

A couple minutes passed before Miranda came back into the room carrying a very small little number in her hands and her camera strung around her neck. “This is as far as I am involved in this, Tyler. I refuse to have Colt want to beat my ass. It’s too cold outside to run.”

I shook my head, but kept my hands on Amy’s shoulders. She was brave for wanting to be a part of this family. Van kept shaking her
head as Miranda made her way back over to where she was sitting. She crossed her legs and waited for her husband to make a move. Colt just stood there with his hands on his hips as Ty reached the small amount of fabric over to him. “If I were you, I’d change in the other room. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t really feel like seeing anyone else’s meat besides my own.”

I was already laughing, just seeing Colt’s face turning a shade of red. Even underneath his whiskers, it was obvious. “You best get to changin’. I don’t feel like waitin’ all night to see this. I’ve waited too damn long for this woman to be with me, so I ain’t about to waste any more of it.”

I heard Van and Randa making little sounds, like what I’d just said was sweet or something. I squeezed on Amy’s shoulders, while waiting for my cousin to get his ass in gear.

Colt looked around the room. “Do I seriously have to do this shit?”

“You bet your sweet ass you do.” Ty laughed as he said it. He blew Van a kiss when she rolled her eyes at him. I could see where the history between them made it easy for those two to communicate on a different level. It wasn’t anything inappropriate. Well, let me rephrase that, because everything Ty does is inappropriate. That little bastard could make a smart comment about anything. Sometimes I wondered if he wasn’t wired right. Still, he was pretty fun to be around.

“Let’s get this party started. Get out the shots. I think our cousin needs one, before he shows us his love muscles again.” Ty and I slapped five as he grabbed the bottle of bourbon. Amy cocked her eyebrow when she saw me taking a shot. It burned going down. I knew what she was worried about, but my days of being an addict were over. There was no way I would do another drug with a little baby on the way. My life was different and it had purpose.

“Woohoo! Hell yeah!” Ty danced around to the music, pulling my sister to her feet and grinding all over her from behind. He was so horrible at dancing, that we were all laughing at him. My poor sister was hunched over laughing at his shenanigans. He was behind her, trying to shake the front of his body up against hers. When he could meet her movements, he reached around and held onto both of her tits. She put her hands over his and tried to move them but he wouldn’t let her. “Stop, baby, I’m all up in this shit.”

I covered my eyes with one of my hands “Please spare us the groping. I may never be the same again.”