The First Intermission Read online

  “Fuck, Bec. You feel so amazing. Love this pussy squeezing my cock,” he growls into my ear. I love it when my husband busts out the dirty talk in bed. He doesn’t do it often, but when he does, it turns me on so much.

  “Harder, Scott,” I instruct him. He shifts and situates one of my legs up on his shoulder, giving him a different angle. He increases the pressure of his thrusts and I feel another orgasm building.

  “I’m almost there, babe,” he pants. “Need you with me.”

  I drop a hand to my clit and rub my fingertips around it, aiding in the buildup of my orgasm. I can feel his cock swell seconds before he’s thrusting hard inside me and calling out as his orgasm barrels out of him. It triggers my own release, and I melt back into the mattress as Scott collapses on top of me.

  Once he’s caught his breath, he pushes up and brings his lips to mine. “Love you,” he says against them.

  “I love you, too.”

  He slips out of me and grabs a washcloth from the nightstand, offering it up to me to clean up with before I climb out of bed and head into the bathroom. Scott follows me in and turns on the water in the shower for the two of us. I use the bathroom, then join him under the hot water.

  “Are you ready to head home in a couple of days?” he finally says, breaking the silence we’ve fallen into as we cling to each other under the spray of the water.

  “I am. I’m ready to just relax with the kids. Spend some time at the cabin, just the four of us. Plus, I can’t wait to see Ben and Ashley, and spoil their baby once he or she is born in a few weeks.”

  “Speaking of babies, I was serious about what I said earlier,” Scott says, dropping a kiss to my shoulder. “I want another baby. Are you good with that?”

  I turn so I’m facing him and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. “I was hoping to get you on board with it this summer, so you’ve just made my plans a whole lot easier. I’m more than ready to add another baby to our family.”

  “Good, throw out the birth control then.”

  “You do remember I never went back on birth control after Anna was born, don’t you?”

  “Does it make me a shitty husband if I didn’t?” he asks seriously.

  “Nope.” I chuckle. “If we’d gotten pregnant before now, we’d have made it work, so don’t sweat it. You had a lot of things to focus on lately, and whether I was on birth control or not wasn’t one of those things.”

  “Yeah, but now I feel like a jackass not knowing my own wife wasn’t on the pill. I’m sure you already told me this, but why?”

  “It kept messing with my breast milk supply, and since we’ve always wanted a house full of kids, I just didn’t let it stress me out. We did discuss this when it was happening, but that was a while ago. I’m guessing it just didn’t sink in for you,” I tell him, then reach behind him to turn off the water that’s starting to cool off.

  “So, we don’t have to wait then to start trying?” he asks, a tinge of excitement present in his voice.

  “Nope,” I say, popping the P as I dry off, and a smile fills my lips. “As a matter of fact, the next few days are the perfect time for us to be ‘trying’.”

  “Hmm. I like the sound of that.” He kisses me deeply before pulling me back out to our bed and we both collapse against the pillows. It’s now well into the middle of the night and our two kids are going to be up in a matter of just a few hours, expecting me to be up with them.

  “Good night,” I say on a yawn.

  “Night, beautiful,” Scott tells me, wrapping his big body around mine as we both drift off to sleep.

  Chapter Three

  Mark

  “Just breathe, Princess,” I coach my wife through another contraction. “You’re doing so great,” I say as I wipe the cold washcloth across her face, helping to cool her down as she works through labor. My wife is such a badass when it comes to being pregnant and delivering our kids.

  She also had nothing to worry about all those years ago when she was afraid she couldn’t get pregnant. It only took us a few tries when she got pregnant. She was shocked and scared shitless we’d lose the baby, but our son is now three years old and the best thing that has ever happened to me, besides meeting the love of my life and convincing her to spend the rest of her life with me.

  “I’m so ready for this to be over with,” Laura says, once her contraction lets up.

  “I know you are. Soon, she’ll be here, and it will all be worth it,” I reassure her, then drop a kiss to her forehead.

  We’ve been at the hospital now for about four hours and she’s made great progress. When we arrived and they got her all checked in, she was already five centimeters dilated, and her contractions have been steady the entire time.

  “Mark…” She moans as another contraction hits her, then starts in on her breathing, and I watch the monitor as the contraction peaks and then goes away. “Can you please call the nurse? I feel like I need to push.”

  “Sure thing.” I hit the call button on the side of her hospital bed. It only takes a few seconds before the nurse is answering the call.

  “Hello.”

  “Laura is saying she feels like she needs to push. Can you possibly come check on her?” I say over the intercom.

  “Of course, I’ll be right in,” our nurse says over the speaker.

  A few seconds later, the door opens and in walks our nurse. She washes her hands and then slips on a pair of gloves.

  “What kind of pressure are you feeling?” the nurse asks as she looks over the strip of current contractions. She waits for the one that is currently happening to stop before she lifts the sheets off of Laura’s legs so she can check her progress.

  “Oh my, yes, sweetheart, you are ready to push. I can already see the top of your baby girl’s head.” She immediately jumps into action, running to the doorway and yelling down the hall for the doctor and backup. “We’re crowning in here.”

  She comes back to the bedside and presses a button on the bed that has the bottom portion moving away, exposing the stirrups and opening up for delivery. As she rushes around the room, prepping it for the final minutes of delivery, I hold my wife’s hand tight and help her breathe through the contractions.

  “I can’t stop from pushing,” Laura calls out as another contraction hits her.

  “I know, Momma, but we need to wait for someone to catch your sweet girl.” She winks and smiles. “Not too much longer, the doctor will be here in a minute.”

  A few seconds later, the door opens again and in walks Dr. Abbott, followed by another one of the nurses.

  “Hello, Laura. Mark.” Dr. Abbott greets us as she pulls on a blue gown to cover her clothes. “Let’s have a baby, shall we?” she asks, taking her place at the foot of the bed between my wife’s legs. “Laura, on the next contraction, I want you to take a big breath and push as hard as you can.”

  “Okay,” she replies as she lays her head back on the bed, closing her eyes and gathering her strength between the contractions.

  “Mark, you take this leg and I’ll grab the other,” the nurse instructs.

  “Got it,” I confirm. I alternate between watching the monitor and my wife’s face for the next thirty or so seconds until the next contraction starts to ramp up.

  “Okay, big breath, Laura,” Dr. Abbott instructs. “Now, bear down and push.”

  The nurse starts counting as Laura pushes. She’s got a death grip on my hand while I also hold up her leg.

  “That’s it, Princess, you’re doing amazing.”

  “Good, now relax,” the doctor instructs. “Next contraction, I think her head will be out. So, I might not need you to push for as long.”

  “Really, already?” Laura questions. She pushed with Miles for over an hour, so to have only been pushing for less than a minute is a completely different experience.

  “Yep, your body knew what to do this time. Okay, bear down!”

  Laura sucks in a deep breath and pulls her chin to her chest as be
st as she can, then pushes with all her strength.

  “Okay, stop for a few seconds,” Dr. Abbott instructs, and I look down to see my daughter’s head out. She quickly checks to make sure the cord isn’t around her neck. “Now, one last little push and your daughter will be here!”

  Laura listens and pushes one last time. Then, the room is filled with the greatest sound in the world when our daughter takes her first breath and lets out the cutest wail of a cry I’ve ever heard.

  Tears fill my eyes as I watch my daughter be placed on my wife’s chest. The nurses start wiping her down as the doctor still attends to Laura.

  “You’re so amazing,” I tell Laura as I kiss her, then kiss the top of my daughter’s head. “Welcome to the world, Isabella Grace.”

  “Ready to cut the cord, Dad?” Dr. Abbott asks a few moments later. She hands me the scissors and they hold up the cord. Once cut, they take Isabella away, so they can do all the checks they need to do on her. It only takes a few minutes until they return her to Laura, all wrapped up like a baby burrito.

  “She weighed in at seven pounds five ounces and is twenty inches long. Official time of birth was 5:05 a.m., on June tenth,” the nurse tells us.

  “Hi, Bella. Hi, baby,” Laura coos at her as she blinks her eyes a few times up at Laura. The smile that fills my wife’s face is worth every second she squeezed my hand tonight. Every night I laid in bed next to her, rubbing her sore back, feet, hips—you name it, I rubbed it over the course of the last nine months.

  “I can’t believe she’s actually here,” Laura says, looking at me with a tired yet love-filled look on her face.

  “She is, and you both were amazing. I love you both so much,” I tell her, kissing her again. This time, I let my lips linger against hers for a few seconds.

  “Are you ready to hold her?” Laura asks once we break our kiss.

  “Absolutely.” I pick up my baby girl for the first time, pulling her in against my chest, and just breathe in her new baby smell.

  “Hi, baby. I’m your daddy. I love you so much,” I tell her as I hold her close, kissing her sweet, soft skin. Tears fill my eyes once again as I have a few minutes with my baby girl. How in the hell did I get so damn lucky to have this amazing wife, and now two kids?

  About thirty minutes later, the doctor has finished up everything she’s needed for and the nurses have the room cleaned up from the delivery.

  “How’s she doing with nursing?” our nurse, Emma, asks when she comes back in the room.

  “Great. Latched right on and has been doing great since.”

  “Any pain?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “I know this isn’t your first time, but just a reminder that the cramping while nursing can sometimes be painful as your uterus contracts back down over the next couple of weeks. We do have orders on file for some pain meds, so please let me know if you want to take the medicine. Once Isabella is done nursing, let’s get you up and into the shower,” Emma tells her, checking stuff on the computer next to Laura’s bed.

  “That sounds like heaven.”

  “Mark, if you want to get out anything you guys may have brought for the shower, we can get things ready for Laura.”

  “That, I can do,” I tell her as I grab the bag we brought with us. I pull out Laura’s things and take them into the bathroom, then return to the couch off to the side in the room. The exhaustion has finally caught up to me from everything that has taken place in the last twenty-four hours.

  The room is quiet, except for the small squeaky noises coming from Isabella nursing, and the occasional deep breath from Laura. I rest my head back and feel sleep claim me.

  I wake a couple hours later. The room is still dark, thanks to the blackout shades the hospital was smart enough to install. I look over and find my wife holding our baby girl. She’s currently checking her over, counting her fingers and toes, running her fingertips over Bella’s baby soft skin.

  “She’s perfect,” I sleepily say into the silence.

  “She is,” Laura agrees with me. “How was your nap?”

  “Good, what time is it?” I ask, having never put my watch back on after I showered after the game.

  She looks over at her phone on the table next to her bed. “Just after ten. Mom and Dad will be here in about twenty minutes with Miles.”

  “Okay. Do you need anything? I can run downstairs and grab you something to eat from the cafeteria.”

  “I’m good. They already brought me a breakfast tray.”

  “Have you slept at all?” I ask, concerned for my wife.

  “Not a lot, but I got a few small catnaps. I showered and fell asleep until they brought me the food. Then she woke up again and I nursed her on the other side before changing her first poopy diaper. I almost considered waking you up for that but figured you could use the sleep. She fell back asleep, as did I, after that, and we’ve only been awake for about thirty minutes.”

  “I should probably call my parents and let them know she arrived. I never did that before I fell asleep.”

  “I’m sure they’d like to know.” Laura laughs at me.

  I pull out my phone and pull up my mom’s contact.

  “About time we hear from you!” my mother chides as soon as she answers the call.

  “Sorry. It was a late night and then I crashed. Isabella was born at just after five this morning. Both her and Laura are doing great. You guys can come down whenever you’re ready. We’re in room 1502.”

  “I’m glad to hear both are doing well. We’ll head down shortly. Do either of you need anything?”

  “Can you pick me up some strong coffee? I have a feeling the hospital stuff isn’t going to cut it today.”

  “Sure can. Laura need anything?”

  “Laura, do you want or need my parents to bring anything?”

  “I’m good for now.”

  “She’s good, Mom. We’ll see you guys soon,” I say, then disconnect the call.

  “Come over here and cuddle with your girls before we have a room full of visitors,” Laura tells me, scooting over a little on the bed and patting the space next to her. I don’t have to be told twice, so I jump up and join my two best girls in the hospital bed.

  I slide in next to Laura and pull her in close to my side. She slides Bella onto my lap, and I just look down in awe at this amazing baby we made. I trace my finger along her palm and her little baby fingers instantly wrap around it, holding on tight. She’s content just looking up at us, not fussing at all.

  “She’s perfect. Thank you,” I tell Laura before I kiss her.

  We sit like that, just the three of us, for another twenty or so minutes before we hear a knock on the door and have our first set of visitors.

  Laura’s parents, David and Ruth, stroll through the door with Miles. I slip out of the bed and walk over, picking my son up.

  “Were you good for Nana and Papa last night?” I ask him.

  “Yes!” he answers me. “Sister.” He points over to Bella, who’s wrapped up in Laura’s arms.

  “Yes, buddy, that’s your baby sister. Are you ready to meet her?” I ask him quietly. He wraps an arm around my neck as I walk him over to the side of the bed. I place him next to Laura where I’d just been sitting and let him take in his new sibling.

  “Be gentle,” Laura instructs him as he reaches a hand out to touch Bella. He does as she says and lightly touches his baby sister’s hands and cheeks. I look over to see Ruth taking pictures of all of this and am glad someone thought to capture the kids meeting for the first time.

  “Do you want to hold her?” Laura asks him a few minutes later.

  “My baby!” he says excitedly.

  I help situate him a little better and take Bella from Laura’s hands, placing her in Miles’ lap. I keep my hands on Bella—we all know toddlers have the attention span of a gnat sometimes.

  “That’s so precious,” I hear Ruth say to David. “Why don’t you all look over here, and I’ll take a pic
ture of the four of you.”

  I scoot in as close as I can, with the rail of the bed pressing into my chest, as we all look at the camera. I don’t care how tired I look, I know that picture will become a favorite of mine. The first one as a family of four.

  Chapter Four

  Madison

  “Hey, handsome,” I greet my husband as he comes out of the bedroom.

  “Good morning,” he says, stopping to kiss me before making his way to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. “I can’t believe I slept in so long. Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”

  “It was really late by the time we crashed. I figured you could use the sleep. It isn’t like you have anywhere you have to be today.”

  “Yeah.” He runs a hand over his bald head. “It was quite the night,” he says, obviously thinking back to the night before. What a way to end a career, by winning the best trophy in professional sports.

  “Laura had the baby around five this morning. Both of them are doing great. She said they’ll be open to visitors later today, if we wanted to go up and see them.”

  “We can do that. Are we having dinner with your dad and Maria tonight?”

  “Yes, Dad texted me earlier, asking if we were still on for tonight. He said he’d grill up some steaks for all of us, and Maria is making everything else.”

  “I love that woman’s cooking,” he muses.

  “I won’t argue with you there.” I laugh as I join my husband in the kitchen to refill my cup of coffee, and Richard pulls me into his arms.

  “How does it feel to be done?” I ask, turning in his arms and placing a kiss on his lips.

  “Surreal. It hasn’t quite sunk in that the season is over. That my career as a player is done. I’m sure that part won’t really sink in until training camp starts back up and I’m not at it. That will be surreal. It’s been more than twenty years since I haven’t gone to a training camp.”