Hide and Seek (20 page)

He pressed her up against the door and kissed her as he locked it. "Ready to start collecting on those favors?" he murmured.

"Oh yeah," she whispered back, and they fell into bed.

Sam woke once during the night, and Rob brought him to their bed so he could watch Maddie feed him. "You're going to see this a lot from now on," Maddie told him. "It's okay if you want to go back to sleep."

"Nah." He snuggled next to her as she nursed. "Actually, I view this as another opportunity to make love. Since we're awake, and everything."

Maddie chuckled and fed Sam, then returned him to his crib. She climbed back into bed and Rob pulled her into his arms. "I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow." She grinned as he kissed her neck. "I'm not used to this much…exercise….anymore."

"Then we'll have another lazy day. We're not on any schedule." His mouth found her tattoo, and he paid it special attention. "I can call Smoky to go out and feed Bo if I need to."

"Don't you have to get back to work?" Maddie squirmed as he teased her.

Rob pulled up and looked at her. "Nope." He shook his head. "I took the week off. Now I think I'll take the month. Maybe two."

"Are you serious?" Maddie's eyes lit up.

"Absolutely. There's no way I'm going back to work, yet. I want to be with you and our kids. I need to be with you. That's all I can think about, right now."

Maddie was not tired the next day as she feared, but energized by the idea of moving into Rob's house. She packed all her suitcases, and loaded the back seat of her car with hanging clothes. She helped Rob take apart Sam's room and fill up the back of his truck. Rob laughed when he found the little O-State football jersey with 'Cooper' on the back. "I love it!" He grinned, and put in gently in the box with Sam's clothes.

They stopped for lunch, but by mid-afternoon had loaded all they could take in one trip. "Holy cow, we got a lot of stuff packed in here." Rob looked at the truck and car. "One more trip for the furniture and some odds and ends ought to do it. I'll get Smoky and his horse trailer. We can put all the furniture in that."

"Whatever you say." Maddie kicked her feet up. "I'll just bring some cleaning supplies and spiff up after you, and this place will be a memory. That, plus a couple more rent payments. But that's not too bad."

He dropped on to the couch next to her and kissed her cheek. "I'll finish the rent payments for you. I still feel like I owe you big time."

"Oh, you do." Maddie grinned, nuzzling his neck. "But you keep trying to pay me back with money, and I'm not having that, buster. Favors, I tell you."

"Oh, you'll get your favors, don't worry about that."

"I told you, I have no worries, anymore," Maddie crawled onto his lap and curled up next to him. "I am a little tired, though. Can we rest a minute before we go?"

"You bet." He brushed her hair back with his hand, and kissed her forehead. He leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes. They dozed until Sam's cry woke them a half hour later. "Somebody's hungry." He woke her gently.

"Somebody's always hungry." Maddie yawned, and gave Rob a kiss before she stood up. "After he eats, maybe we should go."

"I'll get Sophie up and ready."

"Twenty minutes," she said, on her way to Sam's room, where he slept in his car seat. She fed and changed the baby, and gathered up the last of his stuff.

Rob slipped his arms around Maddie and pulled her close. "I promise you, I'll protect him with my life." He whispered in her ear "He's my son, Maddie."

"I know." She swiped at her tears and let Rob hold her for a minute. "Okay." She rubbed her face one last time and stepped back. "Sophie, got everything you need?"

"Yep!" She was already belted in. Rob gave her a tickle and shut her door.

Maddie kissed Sam's forehead and buckled his seat into the truck. "See you at home, little guy." She closed the door and turned to Rob.

"That sounds nice." He smiled at her.

"Yeah, it does. I'm going to stop by the post office and put in my change of address. We'll be a few minutes behind you."

"Yee haw!" Maddie whooped, and grinned as she got into her car. "Lord I love hearing that!" She started to back out then stuck her head out the window. "Oh, hey, I love you, too."

Rob grinned and started up his truck.

When Maddie and Sophie arrived at Rob's house, he was already unpacking the truck. He stopped to smile at them, then yelled, "Hey Bo! Maddie's home!"

The dog came bounding out the front door to greet the girls. "Hi, Bo!" Maddie ruffled his fur. "How's my big boy?"

"Okay." Maddie carried the box in and set it on the floor in the living room. Bo followed, looked around, and went to lie down next to Sam's car seat protectively. "Aw, sweet." She smiled at them.

Rob set a couple of boxes down on top of hers. "He's been lying next to the kid since we got here. Sam slept the whole way home."

"Home." Maddie looked around. "I almost can't believe I'm here." She wandered into the kitchen, then the bedroom. "God, everything looks the same."

"Boring." He stood behind her. "You need to Maddie-ize the place. You know, put your stuff around so I can see you're really here."

She turned to face him. "Well, we've got two vehicles full of
stuff
to bring in. By the time you're done unloading that, I bet you'll believe we're really here."

"…is playing on her new swing set. Can't you hear her?" They listened for a moment, and heard Sophie playing contentedly.

He looked at her. "Actually, that's an easy one to answer, because no, I did not. We were here twice, but she brought so much work with her, both times, it pissed me off. I spent my weekends taking care of things that needed to be done around here and running around with Sophie and Bo. They were very happy to be here."

Maddie smiled. "Are you telling me the truth? I don't want you to lie, just because you think that's what I want to hear."

"The truth is, I tried to start something with her the first time we were here, and she wanted to work. It pissed me off and I never tried again."

"When you were here?"

He rolled on top of her and grinned. "Don't go there. You know that Dee and I had sex. You also know, I was not happy with her. Hell, she wasn't happy with me, either. It's got to be about more than just sex, Maddie. I want the whole deal." He kissed her neck. "You are the whole deal. I want you."

"I want you, too." She kissed him hungrily.

Sam cried and they both froze. Maddie dropped her head on to the pillow, and Rob smiled. "You said we couldn't do this."

"For the rest of our lives." He finished her sentence and kissed her one more time, gently. He stood up and brought her with him. "And just to clarify, you are the only woman I have ever made love to in this bed. I never brought anybody here because of Sophie, until you."

Maddie was headed out but stopped to look back at him. "Just to clarify, am I the only one on the porch? In the kitchen? In the pool? In the field by the pond?"

He stopped and looked thoughtful, and she took a swing at him. He grabbed her arms and pulled her gently to him. "Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You are the only woman I have ever made love to on these grounds. And, you are the only woman I am ever going to make love to, for the rest of my life. Are we clear?"

"Oh, yeah." She kissed him deeply. "Thank you for telling me. I feel really good now."

"Yes, you do." He squeezed her butt. Sam cried louder and Bo came to their door and barked. "All right, all right, Bo. We're on our way."

"Patience, baby boy." Maddie went to Sam and unbuckled him. She lifted him from his car seat and smelled something suspicious. "Oh, holy cow, kiddo!" His diaper had leaked and he was dirty halfway up his back. She held him out to Rob and said "Here you go, Daddy."

"Whoa there, Nellie…what am I supposed to do with
that
?" He stared at the crying, dirty baby.

Maddie chuckled. "Oh, all right. You go find his diaper bag and bring it to me, please. We'll be in the bathroom."

Rob exhaled and nodded. "I can do that. Be right back."

"Uh, yeah, hurry." Maddie put Sam in the tub and stripped his clothes off. She ran a little warm water and washed him off.

"Yeah." She followed Rob and they sat on the bed and dressed Sam together. He stopped crying when he was dressed and warm again.

"All better." Rob hugged the baby to him. He smiled at Maddie. "I'll practice on the wet diapers and move up to those other ones, okay?"

She laughed. "Yep. That was a particularly icky one. I'm going to need to wash his car seat cover and clothes pretty quickly here."