Melody of the Heart (Runaway Train #4)(64)

It didn’t take me long to finish, and I kept my eyes on hers until the very end. When it was over, I collapsed onto my back, bringing her with me. “So what do you think about married sex?”

“Mmm, I think it’s pretty amazing.” Propping her head up on her arm, she gave me a wicked a look. “I wonder if it’s just as good in the Jacuzzi tub or against the wall with the great view of Vegas outside.”

I grinned. “I don’t know, but you can sure as hell bet we’ll try it to see!”

BRAYDEN

The Present

Giovanni shifted the notepad on his lap and reached for a bottle of water. After he took a swig, he motioned to us. “Once again, any time you two need a break, feel free.”

I rose off the couch and stretched my arms over my head while Lily took a sip of her Coke. “Yeah, that last bit was a little intense.”

At the feel of Lily’s hand on my lower back, I turned around. “It’s hard reliving it all again. Isn’t it?” she asked, softly.

“Only the parts where I was such an *.” I cringed. “I’m still not sure I deserved a second chance.”

“The real you did, and I was happy to give it to him.”

“He thanks you from the bottom of his heart.” I winked at her as I sat back down. We turned to Giovanni who was watching us intently.

When I cocked my brows at him, he merely smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just in stolen moments like those, I see that you guys really are the real deal, and this isn’t just some cleverly spun PR story.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “No, if I was going to have someone write this, I would sure as hell not have the part where I was a bastard in there.”

Lily swatted my arm playfully. “In the end, it’s worth it because we see how far we’ve come, and that what we had was worth fighting for. My dad always said, ‘Anything worth having is hard work’.”

“That’s true. It took some hard work to get us started, but once we did, it was pretty smooth sailing,” I replied.

Giovanni nodded. “Let’s see. So you guys got married in Vegas, but then I see you had another wedding a month later here in Georgia?”

Lily groaned as she buried her head in her hands. “Yes, that would be correct.”

Giovanni glanced from her to me. “Another tough story to relive?”

Peeking at him through her fingers, Lily replied, “Only if you consider that our families were furious with us for eloping and demanded we have a proper church wedding.”

“Preferably where Elvis did not officiate,” I added.

With a chuckle, Giovanni said, “Oh, I see.” His gaze met mine. “Does that mean your parents finally came around about you marrying Lily?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it took them f*cking long enough to get with the program. When Paul died, I think they finally realized that there was never going to be another girl for me, and that if they wanted to be a part of my life, they would embrace Lily.”

“I think it also had to do with the fact that they didn’t want to miss out on any future grandchildren,” Lily said, with a smile.

“That is true. Hell, they’ve been better grandparents than they ever were parents to me.”

“That leads us to another one of my questions. Your son, Jude, was born a little over a year after you got married.”

“Fifteen months to be exact,” Lily corrected.

Giovanni nodded. “Since you had been together for so many years, did you intend on starting a family right away?”

I chuckled. “Not exactly.”

“We always wanted a big family, but no, Jude was a complete and total surprise. One of those birth control failure mysteries.” Lily made a face like she didn’t like her wording. “I mean, he was very wanted. It’s just it was a surprise.”

Patting her leg, I said, “At the time, I was only seeing her once or twice a month, so I guess you could say my stored up swimmers were really potent.”

Lily squealed, her hands once again covering her face. Giovanni and I both laughed at her reaction. “Hey, it’s what happened with the Baby Boomers after WWII. Kinda makes sense it would be the same way for us,” I rationalized.

“So you conceived when you weren’t actively trying?” Givoanni asked.

“That’s right,” Lily replied, fanning her reddened face with her hand.

“I like to call it, ‘That teeny, tiny .1% of birth control pills non-effectiveness’.”

Lily huffed at my side. “Yeah, well, I like to call it an unexpected miracle.”

I grinned at her. “Actually, we call him Jude, and even though he’s almost twelve and at that know-it-all preteen stage, we still love him.”

BRAYDEN

The Past

Rolling over in bed, I snuggled closer to Lily’s warmth. I lived for the weekends that she got to come along on tour with us. They seemed too few and far between lately. I was going to have to talk to her again about coming out every weekend, rather than every other one. More than anything, I wanted her to quit her teaching job, but she refused. I know it was because she loved what she did so much and had worked hard to earn her degree. But at the end of the day, I was a selfish bastard who wanted her with me twenty-four seven. And it wasn’t just my dick that needed her with me all the time either.