“You and Connor have made one beautiful little girl.” He smiled. “I never thought I’d see the day that Connor would become a father.”

“To be honest with you, I never thought I would see this day myself,” I said as I looked down.

“Well, you fought, you won, and now you’ve been rewarded. I can’t think of two other people who deserve this more than you and Connor.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. “I love you, Denny.”

“I love you too, Elle.” He smiled as he kissed me on the forehead.

When Nurse Bailey walked into the room, she announced that it was time for everyone to leave. She took Julia from Jenny and handed her to me, as it was time for my lesson in breastfeeding.

* * *

I walked through the elevator doors to the penthouse. It felt good to be home. The past couple of days in the hospital were uncomfortable and starting to drive me crazy. Connor followed behind me with Julia, and Claire and Denny emerged from the kitchen.

“Welcome home, Ellery,” Claire said as she gave me a light hug.

“Thank you, Claire.”

The aroma of apple pie filled the air of the penthouse and it smelled wonderful. “Are you making apple pie?” I asked her.

“Yes, I am, and just for you.” She smiled.

Connor looked at me and then at Claire. “What about me?” he asked.

“You can have some too, Connor,” she replied.

Connor asked Denny if he could hold the car seat while he helped me up the stairs.

“Come on, baby. Do you want me to carry you?”

“No, I can walk. But thank you for offering.” I smiled at him.

“You know what that smile does to me, Elle.”

He took my hand and helped me up the stairs. We reached the bedroom, and I immediately lay down on the bed.

“I’ve missed this bed.”

Denny brought Julia up to the room and set the car seat down on the floor. “Welcome home, you three.” He smiled and then walked out of the room.

As Connor climbed on the bed and lay next to me, we both stared at Julia, who was sound asleep.

“She’s perfect, like you,” he whispered as he softly kissed my neck.

I smiled and closed my eyes as his lips traveled to the edge of my ear.

“I can’t wait to make love to you,” I whispered. “Especially now that I’m not pregnant anymore.”

“I loved making love to you while you were pregnant.”

Suddenly, Julia started to cry. We looked at each other and smiled. Connor got up and carefully took her from her car seat. I took off my shirt as he gently handed her to me and she latched onto my breast.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing you feed our daughter,” he said as he sat down on the bed next to me and kissed me on the lips.

This was my family—the three of us—and I didn’t want anything more.

Chapter 6 Connor Six weeks later

Life was getting back to normal, as much as it could, with a baby in the house. Ellery had trouble breast-feeding after the first week, so we ended up bottle-feeding Julia, which made it easier for me to help out with the feedings. I tried to hire a nanny, but Ellery wanted nothing to do with it and said that she didn’t want a stranger raising our child. I worked from home as much as I could, but I had reached a point when I had to start going into the office.

I was sitting at my desk, going over some paperwork, when a text message came through from Ellery.

“You better be home early tonight. I just left the doctor’s office, and I’ve been cleared to have sex! You better be ready, Mr. Black, because tonight’s the night!”

Just reading that made me hard. I’d been craving her, and I couldn’t wait to be inside her again.

“I’ll be home, don’t you worry about it. By the way, I’m already hard.” I quickly replied.

“Good. You better make sure you stay that way.”

As I looked over at my computer, I saw that it was six o’clock. I needed to hurry up and finish going over some papers so I could get home to my wife and daughter. I called the florist and had them deliver two dozen roses to the office so I could bring them home to Ellery. Once the flowers arrived, I was finished for the day. I grabbed my things and headed out the door. Denny was waiting for me like usual in the front. When I opened the door, I threw my briefcase on the seat and climbed in.

“Beautiful flowers, Connor. You shouldn’t have.” He smiled.

“Tonight’s the night, Denny. I get to have sex with my wife again!”

“Congratulations, Connor. Is someone looking after Julia while the two of you celebrate?”

“No, I don’t think so. Why?” I asked.

“Good luck with that.” He smirked.

I sighed because I honestly didn’t know what he meant. As I got out of the limo, I told Denny I’d see him tomorrow. The elevator doors opened and all I could smell was Chinese food. I walked into the kitchen and saw Ellery taking the cartons out of the bag while Julia was awake and sitting in her bouncy seat. When I walked over to Ellery and handed her the flowers, I kissed her firmly on the lips. Julia started to whine.

“They’re beautiful, Connor. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, baby.” I smiled.

“She’s probably hungry again,” Ellery said as she looked over at Julia.

“I’ll feed her.” I smiled. I walked over and took her out of her bouncy seat. The minute I held her, she stopped.

“I think she missed her daddy today.” Ellery smiled as she set the food on the table.

I sat down at the table with her and attempted to eat. The minute I picked up my fork, Julia started to scream. Ellery got up and warmed a bottle for her. She went to take her from me, but I wouldn’t give her up.

“Let me feed her, Elle. You go and eat. You’ve been with her all day.”

“But you worked all day. I can feed her so you can eat your dinner.”

“No, now give me the bottle, and let me feed my daughter.” I smiled at her.

“Okay.” She smiled back as she handed me the bottle.

When I put the bottle in Julia’s mouth, she instantly started to drink it. As I looked over at Ellery, she glanced at me and ran the tip of her tongue across her lips. She was so beautiful, but she looked so tired.

“Baby, you’re getting me hard, and I’m holding our daughter.”

“Oops. Sorry.” She smiled. “Don’t forget to burp her.”

I took the bottle from Julia’s mouth and set it on the table. When I put her over my shoulder and patted her back, she let out a big burp and then started crying for more. Ellery got up from her chair and took her from me.

“It’s my turn now. I don’t want you eating cold food,” she said as she kissed me.

I took the food from the carton and began eating. The only thing I wanted was to get this dinner over with so I could make love to Ellery. When Julia finished eating, Ellery finished her dinner. I got up from the table and cleaned up while she took the baby upstairs to change her into her pajamas. Once I was done, I grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses and took them up to our bedroom. When I walked in, I found Ellery and Julia passed out on the bed. I looked down at my cock, which was semi-hard. Just knowing we were finally going to have sex aroused me. As I sighed, I set the bottle of wine on the dresser. I walked over to the bed and carefully picked up Julia. She stirred, opened her eyes, and closed them again. I carried her to her room and laid her down in the crib. As I walked back to the bedroom, I changed into my pajama bottoms, climbed into bed, and wrapped my arms around Ellery.

“Sleep well, my love,” I whispered to her.

* * *

Startled out of a sound sleep, I rolled over, gave Ellery a kiss, and told her to go back to sleep. She was exhausted, and it was my turn to take care of Julia. Her cries echoed through the baby monitor as I got out of bed and headed towards her bedroom. I turned on the lamp and walked over to her crib. As I looked down at her, she looked up at me and stopped crying. After I leaned over and picked her up, I sat down in the rocking chair. I sat and stared at her as she moved her little hands around, cooing and kicking her legs within the blanket in which she was wrapped.

“You have no idea how much you and your mommy have changed my life,” I whispered as I softly ran my hand across her cheek and slowly rocked back and forth. “I have so many plans for us. I can’t wait to take you to the park and to the beach. I’m going to teach you how to skate, how to ride a bike, and how to swim. You’ll always know how much Daddy loves you because you’ll hear and feel it every day. You’ve already rocked my world, baby girl, and I love you so much.”

Julia closed her eyes and folded her little hands. I looked up and saw Ellery standing in the doorway, smiling, as a single tear fell down her cheek. As I got up from chair and gently put Julia back in her crib, I walked over to Ellery and wiped her tear away. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. As I bent down and picked her up, she brushed her lips against mine. I carried her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed.

“I’m so sorry I fell asleep,” she said.

“Don’t be, baby. You’re tired, and you need all the rest you can get,” I whispered as my lips traveled to her neck.

“Make love to me, Connor.”

I took down one strap of her nightgown and softly kissed her exposed breast. The soft groan that came from the back of her throat excited me even more. It had been too long, and I was going to make up for lost time. As I took down the other strap from her shoulder, I sat up in front of her and pulled her nightgown off, exposing her entire body. She looked at me and smiled when I shed my pajama bottoms. My tongue made circles around her belly button as I softly kissed the incision from her C-section. While my mouth was devouring every inch of her torso, my hands were fondling her breasts, taking her puckered nipples between my fingers. As she threw her head back and moaned, Ellery moved her fingers swiftly through my hair. I grabbed the string of her panties as she slightly lifted her hips and took them down. My finger lightly traced the inside of her thigh, all the way up to her clit. I moved myself up to her lips and forcefully kissed her when I felt the wetness and arousal from her.