Just One More Breath (24 page)

Shawn

*Seven Months Later*

I stood behind Nicole
. My arms were wrapped around her waist and I was gently caressing her belly. The feeling of my two little ones moving inside her belly made my heart melt. I had come to cherish the intimate moments I shared with my wife and our babies. I didn’t think it was possible to be completely in love with people I had never met, but that all changed the day I found out Nicole was pregnant.

I still couldn’t believe how much ou
r lives had changed in such a small amount of time. After we found out about the twins, everything seemed to move in warp speed. I immediately wanted to get married.

“I didn’t plan on us having a long engagement anyway,” I explained. “How about we get the wedding out of the way so that we can focus on preparing for the babies?” I
had asked, while I’d run my hand up and down Nicole’s flat belly.

Nicole
had agreed easily. My mother, however, wasn’t as pleased with our decision to keep the wedding small and intimate. Apparently, she had dreams of us having a really big and beautiful wedding.

Next on my to
-do list had been buying a house. There was no way we could live comfortably with twins in our teeny-tiny apartment. After three months of looking, we were able to find a perfect house a stone’s throw away from my parents’.

Everyone was really excited about the babies. Nicole’s parents, Shane
, and even Matthew flew in to help with the move. Before we picked up the keys from the real estate office, we stopped at Dr. Leonard’s office for the anatomy testing of the babies. While we sat in the waiting room I noticed Nicole staring at me while I browsed through a parenting magazine.

“Shawn
, I thank God every day for you,” she said on a sniffle.
Oh God, here go the pregnancy hormones again
. “The way you’re taking care of me during our pregnancy is even more tender and loving than the way you took care of me after I lost Jax,” she said through her tears.

She was right
. If she had a crazy food craving, I dropped whatever I was doing to get it for her and if I wasn’t available, I enlisted Mark or one of my parents to do it. Everyone was so happy about the babies, and loved Nicole so unconditionally, they all helped willingly. I rubbed her feet every night, massaged her body, and checked on her regularly while she was at work.

Because of the growing excitement about the genders of the twins, Nicole decided that it would be nice for the whole family to find out together. So she had the doctor write them on a piece of paper and place it in a sealed envelope. Then we took it to a local bakery and had them fill cupcake with icing to correspond with the gender of the babies.

After all of the moving was done, we handed everyone a cupcake. A few bites ensued a few squeals of pleasure, and some groans of displeasure, and the gender of the new generation of Burns twins was revealed. The grandmas planned the biggest baby/bridal shower for Nicole known to man. Although she was already married, my mother insisted on it. I was grateful that I didn’t have to attend; instead I hung out with my father, Nicole’s dad, and my brother, until it was time for us to help transport gifts back to the house.

That night
, Nicole lay in our bed with her feet propped on my thigh. She moaned, enjoying the feel of my hands as they massaged her extremely swollen feet. “So, did you have fun tonight,” I asked.

Nicole smiled. “I really did, but it was exhausting,” she said with a yawn.

“Oh yeah, how so?”

Nicole barely kept one eye open while she spoke to me. “Well, I had a ton of gifts to open. And then after that we played a few baby shower games. Then Zena came up with a crazy marshmallow game for the bridal shower side of things that scarred me for life.”

My eyebrow rose. “How the hell can a game involving marshmallows scar you for life?”

“Well,” Nicole said, seemingly more awake. “So for this game, you have to strategically place a marshmallow in your mouth and then say a phrase. In this case the phase chosen was ‘pocket pussy.’” I snickered and Nicole continued
. “You’re not allowed to chew the marshmallow and you have to keep stuffing your mouth with more and more of them, and the person who was able to say pocket pussy the most clearly, won the game.”

I was shocked. “Oh my God.”

“Yep,” Nicole replied. “And you’ll never guess who won,” Nicole said with a sarcastic smile.

“Who?” I asked.

“YO’ MAMA,” Nicole yelled.

I hit my head repeatedly with the palm of my hand, desperately trying to knock images of my mother speaking with a mouthful of marshmallows out of my head.

Nicole continued teasing me. “Yes, she did. She had sixteen marshmallows in her mouth, wiping out all of her competition. So you know what the secret to your parents’ happy marriage is?” Nicole said while she laughed.

I grabbed Nicole’s pinky toe and she froze
. Her eyes narrowed, and she gave me an evil look. “Shawn Michael Burns. Don’t. You. Dare,” she said with a strong voice.

My glare matched her own. “You just made some sick suggestions about my mo
ther, Nicole,” I said while I wiggled my fingers back and forth right by the sole of her foot. “I think you owe me an apology.”

Nicole pursed her lips
. “I didn’t make any sick implications about your mother, I simply suggested that she might be talented in the—”

I mercilessly tickled her cutting off h
er words. “Shawn, please stop,” she cried between laughs. “You’re making the babies kick me like crazy,” she said with a howl.

But I didn’t care. “Not until you take it back.”

“I didn’t say anything that needed to be taken back. I just simply pointed out that your mom was able to—”

I tickled her harder and soon Nicole was having a hard time catching her breath. “Shawn. Stop. Please,” she said repeatedly. “You’re gonna make me—”

Before she could finish her sentence I felt something warm and wet spreading up my thigh. I paused and looked at Nicole, her cheeks were beet red, and at that point it was my turn to laugh.

“Did you just pee yourself?” I yelled, holding my stomach.

“Shut up!” Nicole barked. “One of your evil children drop-kicked my bladder and I was already laughing. So I couldn’t help myself,” she said, as she tried desperately to slide off the bed and into the bathroom.

“Maybe we should’ve added adult
-sized diapers to the baby registry,” I called out behind her.

“Shut up,” she yelled right before she slammed our en-suite bathroom door.

“I love you, Nicole Burns,” I said as I heard her turn the shower on.

“I love you too, Shawn Burns,” Nicole yelled back from the other side of the door.

Less than a minute later I heard Nicole shriek in the bathroom. “Shawn, I don’t think I peed myself,” Nicole called out in alarm. “I think my water just broke.”

I darted from the bed and ran into the bathroom. “Your water just broke
? Are you sure, honey?”

Nicole nodded, and before she could blink, I had hauled her into the room and was shoving a change of clothes in her direction. I was moving at warp speed, grabbing the b
aby bag, and snapping the car seats into the back of the car. And before Nicole could take one deep breath, we were on our way to the hospital. She sat in the passenger seat of the car and rubbed the charm around her neck and smiled.

Nicole

Ten Months Later

“Happy
Anniversary,” Shawn, Zena and I said simultaneously when Mama Burns opened the door.

“Where
are my grandbabies?” she screeched, not bothering to acknowledge what we just said. She shoved past me and clapped with pleasure as her eyes landed on our identical twin girls, Shay and Sasha.

“Where are my princesses?” Papa Burns bellowed from down the hallway. The girls began to giggle and kick as they stretched out of their father arms and over to their grandparents.

“Are you wearing jeggings?” Mama Burns asked Shay in a high-pitched voice. “Who bought you jeggings?”

I shook my head and chuckled
. Mama Burns knew good and well that she bought those jeggings and damn near every other outfit the girls have. Every week she shows up at our house with bags full of clothes that the girls “must have.”

The only thing I can
remember buying for the girls were bibs that said, “Be careful what you say to me. My grandma is crazy and I’m not afraid to tell on you.” Of course Grandmamma Burns puts those bibs on them every chance she gets.

We followed them into the backyard where everyone else was hanging out. Like his parents, Shawn’s brothers turned into a bunch of softies anytime their nieces came around. After another five minutes of being completely ignored
, Shawn leaned into my ear and whispered, “Go to the basement bathroom and I will meet you there in two minutes.”

I looked at him with wide eyes and he winked at me
, making my heartbeat accelerate.
I love it when he gets bossy.

I scurried into the bathroom and waited patiently for Shawn. I
flipped on the light and looked at myself in the bathroom vanity; my eyes were lively and I looked happy and it was all thanks to my wonderful husband. A light tap sounded on the door and my smile got wider, I opened the door and Shawn grabbed my waist, pushing me farther inside. He lifted me onto the bathroom vanity and stood between my legs, planting a wet kiss onto my lips.

“I love you
, Nicole Burns,” he said sweetly.

God, would I ever grow tired of hearing him call me that?
“I love you too, Shawn Burns,” I said with a ridiculous grin on my face.

“I have a gift for you
,” he said, pulling a rectangular box out of his pocket.

I gave him a questioning look
. “Why? What’s the occasion?”

“There needs to be an occasion for me to buy my wife something nice?”

I nodded and slid the box out of his fingers. A gasp escaped my lips when I saw a lower cased “j” charm sitting inside. It matched the “S” that Shawn gave me the day he proposed and the two girls holding hands that he gave me the day I gave birth. I handed it to Shawn so he could add it to my bracelet. He brought my wrist up so we could both look at it. The “j” hung over the girls charm as if it was protecting it, the same way I imagined Jax was protecting his sisters from heaven.

“Now it’s complete
,” Shawn said, pleased with himself. “Unless, you want to have more kids.”

“Shawn, please, we would have to have sex in order to have more children and since your daughters are professional cock blockers
, that probably won’t happen.”

We both laughed at how accurate my statement was. It seem
ed like our girls had some kind of radar or internal alarm that went off whenever we attempted to have sexy adult time. As soon as we touched each other, one or both of them began crying. Every single time without fail.

I cupped Shawn’s fac
e in my hands and let my thumbs slip into his dimples.

“Thank you for the gift
, baby.”

Then I
pulled his lips onto mine and let my hands run down his chest. The feelings of his tongue rubbing against mine caused our kisses to become urgent. Soon my hands were making quick work of his zipper. I hopped off the vanity and sank down to my knees in front of him, my mouth watering. I freed him from his boxers and gripped his cock

“Well, hello
there stranger,” I said before running my tongue over him from base to tip.

Shawn moaned loudly and I had to fight back a laugh.
I continued working him in and out of my mouth the way I knew he loved it, and he slipped his hands into my hair and moved his hips, urging me on. I’m pretty sure he pulled out a few strands of my hair with his death grip.

Shawn pulled himself out of my mouth
and backed away. “I need to be inside of you, baby.” Then he pulled me to my feet and gave me an intense, hungry kiss. “Turn around and grab the edges of the sink,” he demanded.

A shiver moved down my spine as
I did what he asked. Shawn kneeled down in front of me and rid me of my jeans. I stood there for a minute waiting for something else to happen. After a few more seconds of waiting I looked back, and he was just sitting back on his haunches watching me. The look on his face was one of love and lust and my blood heated.

SMACK!
Shawn’s hand collided with my ass cheek. “Did I say you could turn around?”

I nodded,
turned around quickly, and assumed my position.

Shawn kissed the spot he had just spanked and then ran his palm over it as he stood.

“Good girl.”

He spread my legs f
arther apart and then ran his cock along my drenched seam. I gasped loudly at the feel of him against me and a surprise orgasm racked my body, making me laugh and duck my head with embarrassment.

“I’ve heard of a one
-minute man, but I’ve never heard of a one-minute woman,” Shawn said in an amused tone.

Instead of replying, I backed up into him causing his cock it sink into me.

“You don’t play fair,” Shawn whined, and then he grabbed my hips.

My body trembled as he began to move at a leisurely pace. He leaned over me and brought his
lips to my ear and sucked the lobe into his mouth. The feeling of his warm breath against my neck drove me wild and my movements became frantic, I met Shawn’s thrusts halfway and led his hands down to my breasts. He squeezed and kneaded my nipples between his fingers until I tipped over the edge, again.

Shawn followed closely behind me and we both sank to the bathroom floor. Best.
Quickie. Ever.

Fifteen minutes later we walked
hand in hand into backyard, where the biggest game of peek-a-boo known to man was taking place. Obviously no one noticed we were missing. I could see tearstains on Shay and Sasha’s faces but they were laughing happily on Shane and Zena’s laps while everyone else got in on the game.

Shawn moved behind me and wrapped his
arms around my waist. “Were they crying?” he asked his dad, who seemed exhausted from all of the hiding and reappearing.

“Yeah, the girls randomly started crying a few minutes ago, but then they stopped out of nowhere. Maybe we overwhelmed them?”

“Or maybe their CB radar picked up a signal,” Shawn whispered in my ear. I elbowed him lightly in his stomach and tried my best not to laugh.

Everyone was here
. Even Matthew was via Face Time. Suddenly I realized someone was missing. “Where’s Mari?” I asked Papa Burns.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders
. “Shane said that she canceled last minute. She came down with a stomach bug or something. He’s going to fly back early to take care of her.”

I tried my best to look concerned, but I really didn’t care.
I glanced over at Shane, sitting next to my best friend. A part of me wished they would have met each other earlier. They were both in toxic relationships with people who didn’t deserve them; people who didn’t appreciate how special they were. They could both do better.

In a perfect world,
Zena would be with a man more like Shane, a man who would give her the kind of love she never had. I’m hopeful that she will one day have the kind of love Shawn gave me.

I looked at my husband and then around at my family and I felt blessed. Blessed to have been given a second chance at love,
as not many people got that. Two years ago, I thought my life was over, until this beautiful man came along and saved me. He taught me that sometimes things happen in life that could make it seem like you would be forever in darkness. But you just had to take just one more breath and believe that the sun would appear again…and it always did.

~*~*~*~THE END~*~*~*~