Rhett by Margaret McHeyzer
Dani walks out of the bedroom, her eyes sleepy as she yawns. “There’s my girl,” I say as I close the laptop, not wanting Dani to see the research I’ve been doing. She walks over and I open my arms so she can sit on my lap. She nuzzles into my chest with her nose in the crook of my neck. “You okay?”
“I feel tired, I shouldn’t have had such a long sleep.” Dani slings her legs over mine, and I hold her close to me.
“You needed it. These last three days have been massive for us.”
“I think I’ll go back to work tomorrow,” she says.
“No can do, my love. No can do.”
Her cheeks pull up into a smile. “I can’t sit around for the next seven and a half months, nor can you stay home to babysit me. You’ve taken enough time from work, and so have I.”
“Nope, not yet.” There’s a knock on the front door, and I groan at the interruption. “I’ll get it.” Dani’s body softens as she pushes off of me and heads into the kitchen. I walk down the hallway and open the door. “Penelope, shit, what’s wrong?” Her eyes are red, and she has tears streaming down her cheeks.
She pushes her way into the house, and starts down the hall to the kitchen. She plonks herself on a stool, and looks over to Dani. “Hey, Dani,” she says.
Dani looks over her shoulder, grabs the tissue box and walks over to Pen. “Are you okay?” Dani sits beside Pen, takes a tissue out of the box and hands it to Pen. “Oh shit,” Dani says. “What happened?”
What happened? I look over, trying to figure out what Dani knows that I don’t.
“He...um...” Pen bursts into tears, and all I can do is stand here not knowing what he did. I assume her tears have something to do with Dane.
“It’s okay,” Dani says as she leans in and gives Pen a hug.
What’s okay? What the hell is going on? “I have no idea what’s going on, but I’ll call Dean and Alec. Who are we beating up?”
“She broke up with Dane,” Dani says.
How the hell does she know that? Pen’s barely said five words since she’s been here. “You’re not beating anyone up, Rhett,” Pen says once she’s blown her nose. “Dane and Scarlett are leaving.”
“Your fiancé and his sister are leaving?” I ask. Pen nods. Now I’m so damn confused. “That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it? You two are always breaking up and getting back together, why would he move?”
“He’s not moving because of me,” Pen says. “They’re moving to New York because of some family stuff.”
“What family stuff?” I ask. I need have a word with Dane, because this bullshit isn’t on.
“It’s not my story to tell, Rhett. He asked me to go with him, but, I can’t.” She buries her face in her hands and cries some more. “I broke it off with him.”
Oh shit. Fuck, I thought those two finally had their shit together, and now he’s leaving and she’s heartbroken. “Pen, I’m sorry.” Dani stands and jerks her head to the side so I can sit where she was. Pen buries her head into my shoulder, crying uncontrollably. I hate seeing her so hurt. “It’ll be okay,” I say as I sit holding her.
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love him.”
This is fucked. I don’t like seeing Penelope upset, especially when it comes to Dane. She’s loved him since the moment they met, and they have always had such bad timing. Now, when they’ve finally got their shit together, he’s moving for some bullshit reason. “It’ll be okay. Just, give it time.” Pen sits back and nods while wiping at her eyes with another tissue. “I’m sorry, I barged in here, and I shouldn’t have.”
“Bullshit,” Dani says. “You and Rhett are tight, and just because I’m here, it doesn’t mean your friendship should take a back seat.”
Pen’s smile is sad, but she stands and walks over to Dani. She hugs her for a brief moment. She always makes herself at home, she toes off her shoes, and tucks her feet under her butt. “Thank you, Dani. I’m going to be honest and say, I wasn’t sure how you’d be with me. I really hoped you’d see there’s nothing here.” She points to herself then me. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and Rhett’s exactly the brother I wish I had.” Pen leans over and hugs me. “Although, damn he can be annoying. Especially when he was pining over you. Acting like such a damn baby.”
“No, I wasn’t,” I protest so fast I nearly cut Pen off.
“Yeah, you were. My God.” Pen rolls her eyes, while Dani’s laughing. “I’ve never seen Rhett so heartbroken. I was on the verge of coming to find you, and dragging you back. Seriously, Dani, he was unbearable.”
“Should I leave so you two can continue this bullshit bitch session?” I ask.
“Whoa, hold up a moment, buddy. Did you just call the mother of your future baby, and your best friend a bitch?” Pen snaps her fingers.
“You know what? I’m leaving. You two, stay and say whatever you want, as long as I don’t have to hear it, I’m fine.” I stand from the sofa.
“Wanna order pizza, Dani?” Pen asks. “My shout.”
“Did someone say pizza?” I ask.
“Yeah, and you’re not invited. Shoo.” Pen flicks her hand to get rid of me.
I look to Dani who’s sipping water and giggling. She lifts her shoulders, then flicks her hand at me too. “Fine, I’m going.”
“Good riddance,” Pen adds.
She jumps up to hug me. “Look after her while I’m not here. I’ve got something to do,” I whisper.
“On it.”
I walk over to Dani, and hug her. “You okay if I go out for an hour or so?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She angles her head up, and I lean down to give her a kiss. Fuck, I need her so badly. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I say softly.
“Are you two gonna have sex right now? Because I can just put the TV on while you go for a quickie.”
“Oh my God,” Dani mumbles against my lips. She pulls back, laughing.
“I’m going.”
“Bye!” Pen calls.
I look over to Dani, smile and wink. She blows me a kiss as I walk down the hallway.
I fucking adore Dani so much.
I pull up into the parking area and turn my car off and sit looking at the store. Jesus, it’s quite overwhelming. I get out of my car, and walk into the store.
Soft music is playing and the staff all look so young and happy. A woman looks up from serving a customer, warmly smiles, and continues with her customer.
I have no idea where to start. I stand for a moment, staring at the overwhelming number of choices. To the left is a massive section of strollers. In the middle is a range of towels, and all the stuff a baby would need for its crib. Everywhere I look, there are so many baby things. I think I’m in over my head here. I’m not sure where to begin.
“First time dad, right?”
I turn to find an older woman standing next to me. I instantly see her name tag, and breathe out a relieved sigh. “Am I that obvious?”
“You look like a deer in the headlights. So, yeah.” She has a little chuckle. “What are you after today?”
“Um, I have no idea.”
She laughs louder. “Well, let’s make this as painless as possible. I’ll ask you some questions, and from your answers, we can see what you need.”
Seems straightforward. “Sounds good to me.”
“When is the baby due?” she asks. I look at her and blink. “Right. How about this, how far along is your...wife? Girlfriend? Partner?”
“My wife,” I say with confidence. Technically not yet, but soon. “She’s about six or seven weeks.”
The woman’s eyes widen. “Wow, okay. Are you sure you want to start your search so early on?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I ask, confused.
“Sometimes people like to wait until the three-month mark, just to be sure.”
“Sure of what? She’s pregnant,” I say matter-of-factly.
She holds her hands up, then links them together. “Okay. So, what do you have for the baby?”
“Not a single thing, so we need everything.”
“Alright. Would you prefer to come back with your wife?”
“No.” I shake my head. “This is a surprise for her.”
“Aww, that’s cute.” She smiles widely. “I’d suggest you don’t go crazy and buy everything today.” I crinkle my brows at her. “Yes, I know, I’m not a very good sales-woman.” She chuckles. “The reason I say don’t buy everything today, is because people will buy you a lot, and there are some things you need to do a bit of research on. For example.” She points over to the strollers. “There are all different types of strollers, and it’s something I’d suggest you come back with your wife so you can both try a few out and see what you both like.”
“Ah, okay. Makes sense. What can I buy today?”
“Well, there’s so many things you can leave here with today. Let’s start at the grass roots of everything. Disposable or reusable diapers?” I stand staring at her, having no idea what we’re going to use. She laughs at my non-reaction. “Bottle or breast fed?” Again, I just stare. She clutches at her stomach as she laughs. “How about we look at car seats?”
“Car seats are a good idea.”
“Do you have one family car, or two? Do you want one car seat, or two?”
This gets me thinking of Dani’s car. It’s old and shit, and I refuse to have her and my baby in a car that’s not safe. I’ll upgrade her car to something with all the airbags, and all the safety features. “I’ll get one car seat for now.”
“Great. Let’s head over to the car seats, and I can talk you through the features.”
“Give me the one with the highest safety rating.”
“They can be quite pricey,” she says.
“Money means nothing if my baby isn’t safe.” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice an older man staring at me. He’s tapping his finger to his lip and his eyes narrow while he’s staring. What the hell is his problem?
She smiles widely. “I think the same way too.” We walk over to the baby seats, and she explains a few features to me. When we settle on the one I’m going to buy, she picks up an unopened box and heads over to the counter to leave it there. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Excuse me, do I know you?” the older man asks.
I look over to him and smile. “Hi.” Oh shit, this is the guy I pulled out of the water!
“I know you, don’t I?” he asks.
“Yeah, you do. I was the guy who jumped into the water when you had your accident.”
His eyes widen, and his mouth drops open. “Oh my God. Thank you.” He throws his arms around me, and hugs me. “Thank you, so much.”
“It’s okay,” I say trying to step back from his invasive hug.
He lowers his arms, turns and calls, “Chloe, come here?”
Oh man, this is awkward. A young woman waddles over to me, she’s rubbing at her incredibly large stomach. “Yeah, Dad?” She looks to me, and smiles unsure why her dad has called her over.
“This is the guy who saved me that day.”
She looks at me, and the happiness fades from her face. She bursts into tears and throws her arms around me. “Thank you so much for saving my dad. I can’t thank you enough.”
Her hard stomach is in the way as we gracelessly hug. “It’s my pleasure.” I pat her back awkwardly.
She steps back and wipes at her eyes. “Damn hormones. I need a tissue.” She waddles away, leaving me and the old man.
“First time?” he asks as he looks down at the car seats.
“Yeah,” I reply and try to search for the sales lady.
It’s obvious he can see I’m uncomfortable with the recognition. “Thank you for what you did.”
“It was my pleasure.”
He gives me a small nod, before retracting his steps. “All this,” he says as he looks around. “Means nothing when you hold your baby in your arms for the first time. That little baby will fill a hole you never even knew you had.” He smiles and looks down at his feet, before lifting his head and giving me one last nod. “Thank you for giving me the chance to be a grandfather.” Hesitantly, he offers his hand to shake.
His words hit me with a tremendous force in the chest. “Take care,” I say to him before he walks toward his daughter.
“Sorry about that. I got caught at the registers.”
“It’s okay,” I reply.
“Where were we? We’ve got a car seat, now let’s have a look at a bassinet. Or will you be putting the baby directly into a crib?” My blank stare is enough for her to chuckle again.
“How about, I get both.”
“This way.” She leads me over to the cribs and bassinets. The next hour is spent buying a range of baby products. The rest of the things we need, I’ll have to bring Dani with me.
Dani and Pen are sitting on the sofa talking. Dani turns to see me carrying in a stand and a baby bath. “What have you got?” she asks.
“Pen, can you give me a hand? There’s a heap of stuff in the car.”
“Sure.” Pen stands and heads out to start bringing things in.
“I bought some stuff,” I say as I open the stand’s legs and lower the tub into place.
“You bought a baby bath?” Dani turns to see Pen bringing in the car seat box. “And a car seat?”
“I got heaps of stuff. The lady at the store was really helpful. But you’ll have to come with me so we can pick out a stroller, and a breast pump, if you’re going to breastfeed. And are we going to do disposable or reusable diapers? And I didn’t get a diaper bag, because I thought it would be best if you’re there for that too. Oh, I got some clothes too, but the lady said don’t buy too much because we’ll likely get a lot as gifts.” Dani’s gone completely still, her mouth is open and she’s blinking slowly. “What?”
“How much did you buy, Rhett?” Pen asks as she brings in bags filled with baby wraps, toys, and clothes.
“Not much,” I reply.
“I don’t understand,” Dani says. “You did this?” She looks around at all the bags and boxes piling up.
“Yeah, I’ve got a few things coming too. There’s a changing table that’s going to be delivered, and a crib. It was too big to fit into my car. Oh, speaking of cars, we’ll go sometime next week to upgrade yours.”
“Rhett, I can’t afford that yet. Especially now The Narrow Table has burned down. I have no idea how long it’ll be before it’s rebuilt, or even if it will be rebuilt before I give birth.”
“I’m not having you and my baby in an unsafe car. I’m buying you a new car, and that’s it.”
“Rhett...”
“Nope, sorry. No discussion. It’ll make me feel better knowing you and my baby are safe. End of discussion.” She throws her head back and sighs.
“That’s it from the car.” Pen looks around. “It appears there are a lot of things that need to be put together. So on that note, I’m out of here. See you crazy kids later.” Pen waves to us, and heads out the front door.
Dani bends to pick up one of the bags. “What are you doing?” I yell.
“What? What did I do?”
“You can’t pick that up, it’s heavy.”
“It’s a bag, Rhett. I’ll be fine.”
I snatch the bag out of her hands. “Nope. You’re not picking anything up that’s heavy.”
“You can’t be serious.” She grabs the bag from me.
“I’m damn serious,” I say, stealing it back.
She turns and throws her hands up in the air. “Next you’re going to say we can’t have sex either.” Well, I don’t want to hurt the baby. At my silence, she pivots and stares at me. “Rhett!”
“I don’t want to hurt either you or the baby,” I say honestly.
“I hate to hurt your fragile male ego, but you won’t hurt us.”
“I don’t want to take a risk,” I say. “I’d prefer we don’t have sex.”
Her eyes nearly bulge out of her head as she gasps and places her hand to her chest. She shakes her head, then snidely smiles. “Fine.” Dani trots past me toward our bedroom.
What’s she doing? I drop the bag and follow her into our room. She’s rummaging around through one of her drawers. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“Well,” she starts as she keeps looking through a different drawer. “You being a daddy and buying all those things has made me hot and horny, but you’re not going to give me what I need.” She pulls out a long, black satin pouch. “So, I’m taking care of myself.” Dani shimmies out of her sleep pants, rips her t-shirt and bra off, and gets up on the bed on all fours.
Fuck me. “You can’t do that,” my shaky voice breaks.
“Yeah? Watch me.”
What a damn invitation. I stand against the door frame, and watch Dani lower herself on her vibrator. Kneeling over it, she moves her hips, as she sits up and starts tugging on her nipples. My cock hardens quickly as I watch Dani enjoying herself. She looks over to me, her eyes locked on mine. “Dani,” I whisper. I unzip my jeans and slink my hand down around my hard cock.
“Watch me,” she demands.
I can’t help but take in her entire body. She slowly rides the vibrator as she flicks and pulls on her nipple. My hand speeds up as I watch my girl fucking her toy and loving it. I let out a groan when her eyes roll shut, and she bites on her lower lip. I strip out of my clothes, and slowly stalk toward the bed. Dani’s hips are moving perfectly while she arches onto the vibrator. Fuck, I want her so badly.
Without even realizing, I grab her around the hips, and drag her over to me. I reach down to the toy, and move it in and out of her. Her eyes are locked on mine, while her breathing intensifies. I can see she’s on the brink, but I don’t want her wasting an orgasm on a fucking toy. I want her cum on my face. I throw the toy on the bed, move Dani and lie on the bed. “On my face,” I instruct as I make myself comfortable. I want to tell her that she doesn’t need this stupid vibrator, although, playing with it and watching her is a definite turn on. Yeah, it can stay.
“Yes, sir,” she says and waggles her brows.
Dani straddles my face, and uses the headboard to hang on to while I tongue fuck her gloriously wet pussy. She rides my face, as I grip her hips so hard I know I’m going to leave a mark. I want her to stay on my tongue for a lifetime. My favorite meal has to be Dani. Her hips speed up, and her breathing changes as small moans escape her beautiful lips.
She smacks my hands away before scooting backward and sinking down on my cock. Closing her eyes, she rides me as hard as she needs. Skimming her hand down her stomach, she begins playing with her clit. I smack her hand out of the way, and with my thumb I watch her as I apply different pressure. I hit the spot she likes, because she speeds up and throws her head back while moaning. “That’s it, baby. That’s it.” I love how she moves when I’m inside her.
“I’m coming,” she groans as she bears down on me and fucks me so hard I’m about to lose myself in her too. “I’m coming,” she says again. She lowers and kisses me while still swiveling her hips.
Fuck, she’s kissing all of herself off my face. Jesus, she’s perfect. I clutch her hips and thrust upward hard. I feel my own release only a moment after Dani’s. With my cock still inside her, Dani lays her head to my shoulder. I kiss her temple. “At least I know I can’t knock you up again.” Dani snorts.
I begin drawing light and lazy patterns on her back. “Rhett?”
“Yeah.” I look up to the ceiling as I keep my touch on my girl.
“Thank you for giving me something I’ve never really had.”
“What’s that?”
She shifts to lean on an elbow. Lowering her head, Dani kisses me. “A family.”
