The Quarterback's Baby: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (9 page)

Epilogue

The wedding was a blur. Mainly, because whenever a guest came by to talk to me, Noah would quickly take me by his side and say, “You do love me. You did it because you loved me thinking it was the best thing for me.”

Each and every time I had to reassure him, and beg him to forgive me, saying that I had made a mistake. Seeing how lost he was compared to how confident he was normally made me realize that the enormity of my mistake..

After the wedding we were both on the flight back to Minnesota. In true Grandma style, she didn’t hesitate to tell Noah that she thought I should have told him sooner. That she didn’t support my decision.

‘Thanks Grandma
’
I whispered as she kept going on and on about it. I wouldn’t have minded but I was so taken aback by the whole thing. Not only seeing him again, but knowing the reason that we had been apart was because of a lie. One that Michelle had orchestrated to keep us apart, because she had a dream.

I hated her so much. Despised her for what she did to us. But part of me wondered, that small part as a mother would I ever go to such lengths to protect my child?

To make sure that they fulfilled the life that they had wanted from such an early age?

Then, I remembered that I was his best friend. The love of his life. Yet, she wasn’t the only one that had deceived him. I had done it too. I knew what she was like and yet I had listened to her, let her carve her evil lies into my head and make me believe them. Too easily. I should have trusted Noah, even more myself and I didn’t.

A lesson that I had learnt the hard way and one that I would never repeat.

As we headed to Nathan’s room. Noah started to cry. “Do I look okay?
”
he asked me.

I was surprised by his question; Noah was only three months old. He would just see a man. He would
n’
t know that it was his father walking through the door.

“But, he’s only a baby. He won’t know the difference.”

Noah nodded, “He may not, but I will. Ava Parker. You are never to leave me again. Never to not talk to me and never to hurt me as much as you have done so far.”

I agreed as I held him in my arms. He sighed, “Here goes nothing. I just hope he’s not too disappointed.
”

I laughed and said, “How can he be? He’s the quarter back’s baby. His future is bright.
”

Noah nervously held his baby, his hands were trembling as he held him. I felt guilty. Bad. Such a low life, knowing that all those scans, my pregnancy and finally the birth had been taken away from him.

Time that we could never get back.

I wasn’t doing what I thought was right for him. I was doing it for myself. So that I would never feel guilty if he ever decided to give up his dream, but I realized as I watched him. His dream was in front of me. Having a family. One that would love him unconditionally.

He took a deep breath, “I’m going to love you forever.”

He gulped as he spoke.

“Is it Okay? Am I holding him right?”

Noah looked awkward something that I had never seen. The confident guy with the perfect abs was now quivering like a little child himself.

His self-confidence was taken away as he held his baby.

Our child.

“I will do one thing. And one thing only. Give you the foundation to be whatever you want to be and give you the foundation of life.”

That was what parenthood was all about and as I kissed first our son and then Noah, I promised to do the same.

I loved them both with all my heart.

Unconditionally.

###The End###

Bonus Sports Stepbrother Secret Baby Book

Author’s Note:

If you’ve read Stepbrother Tease, then you have read some parts of this book, but not everything. I have adapted the story to include bonus chapters.

The Midfielder’s Baby

A Sports Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance

By 

Stephanie Brother

© 2016 Stephanie Brother

All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author's imagination.

Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

The Midfielder’s Baby

Giles loves to tease me, play with me and haunt me. Any other girl would just keep out of his way, and avoid the arrogant captain of the lacrosse team. I can’t, because he just happens to be my stepbrother.

I wish he wasn’t, because I can’t get him of my mind.

I want him in every single way.

I have to tell him tonight, before he leaves for college, exactly how I feel. There’s just one problem: I’m not sure if he feels the same.

But I’m about to find out, and it scares the living daylight out of me.

Chapter 1

“What the hell?!
”
I shouted as Giles whipped the beach towel away from my body. Since that towel was the only thing between me and public indecency, I made a lunge for it, but he was too quick.

“Goddammit!
”
I screeched, as brakes squealed and horns blasted. Some guy yelled something disgusting out of his truck window as he whizzed by. I couldn’t believe what was happening.

Thanks to Giles and his latest prank, my curvaceous, naked ass was, at that moment, mooning the Pacific Coast highway.

“You’re a dead man!
”
I promised him.

Giles laughed hysterically, and pointed at me as he remained out of my reach. I wanted to chase him down and beat the crap out of him, but I resisted the temptation. I needed to focus on covering myself up somehow. I need to stop giving all those honk-happy asshole commuters a free peep show of my plus-sized bottom.

Giles’s vintage Woody station wagon was parked at least ten feet away, so at first I tried to just pull my wetsuit back up. But that didn’t go so well, and I had to stay butt-up and bent over to even attempt it. So, I did the only thing any girl would do in my situation would do, under the circumstances. I covered my tuft with one hand, and my rear end with the other, then bunny hopped all the way to the car.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Giles doubling over as he continued to roar with laughter. Man, was I going to get him for this!

Flinging open the passenger door, I collapsed butt-first onto the seat, leaving my legs outside the door. Now that my round white buttocks were no longer a point of interest, all the honking stopped and the cars picked up speed. I bent down and finished the job of removing the full-body wetsuit from my legs and feet. Once I got it off, I tried to fish out my bikini bottoms. I’d put those on, then I wouldn’t be exposed anymore. But, somehow, my bikini bottoms managed to get hopelessly tangled up inside the neoprene and I couldn’t get them free.

“Fuck!
”
I yelled in frustration. I couldn’t take it anymore. I hurled the whole mess onto sand-covered asphalt, and burst into tears.

Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around my knees and let all the anguish I’d been feeling for weeks, wash over me. My whole body shook. I couldn’t stop crying.

Why did he hate me?

Suddenly, Giles was there. Standing in front of the open door. He was no longer laughing. I covered myself with my hands.

“Here,
”
he said, placing the towel over my nakedness.

I was getting emotional for a different reason, but I couldn’t admit it.

“I’m sorry, sis,
”
he said.

My body convulsed. Sure, he was my stepbrother, but calling me sis made my feelings towards him seem bad. Almost like incest.

“Here, put these on,
”
he said. He’d pulled something out of the back seat, and now he was holding out my dry sweatpants. I didn’t reach for them, so he pressed them into my hand.

I couldn’t get dressed, I was frozen; moving seemed too difficult for me. I started to cry and shake again. He had no idea what I was going through. In just a few hours Giles would be leaving me, off to start his life in college. He’d be far away, too far. I felt as if he’d be gone forever. Meet new people. Forget about it. It would be as if I didn’t matter to him, because he wouldn’t miss me. He didn’t care.

“I’m sorry, Cherise, I didn’t mean anything,
”
Giles continued. I could tell he was trying hard to convince me. But I knew he meant to be mean; he wasn't sorry. He just hadn't expected me to react the way I had. I’d always been able to take his practical jokes like a trooper because I knew it was only a matter of time before I got him back and took my revenge. We'd been playing this game for as long as we’d known each other, ever since he came into my life during my freshman year in high school. But he'd never been able to get to me before. Not like this. Not until today.

He’d never seen me cry like this.

“Please stop crying Cherise,
”
Giles pleaded. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you, honest, sis, I was just having a laugh.”

The worst of my sadness faded as I started to believe him. Maybe he did feel bad about how much he'd upset me. If he only knew the real reasons I was sad. If he only knew how much I longed for him.

"Please forgive me," he went on. "Please don't tell on me."

So, that was his game. Sure, he might feel slightly bad about getting me so upset, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that wasn't his primary concern.

His real concern was whether or not I'd rat him out.

His real concern was that he'd taken his little practical joking too far and might have to deal with some unpleasant consequences. He was only being nice to me because, if I stayed upset, I might violate the unspoken terms of our ongoing competition. I might tell our parents about his latest prank, and he’d end up getting grounded. He was only making an effort because he didn't want to get in trouble.

I stared at him. An Adonis at the beach, with his broad muscular shoulders and his amazing abs, built up from being a midfielder on the lacrosse team. He’d nestled down in front of my open door and was trying to get me dressed. He was trying to pull my sweats up over my damp and sandy feet. I didn't help him, my body and soul still too upset to cooperate. He straightened my foot and stuck it through the hole in the scrunched up pant leg, and I shivered involuntarily as his fingers touched my skin.

His head flew up and our eyes locked. Something passed between us at that moment, but I couldn't tell you what it was. Then he blinked and it was gone.

I’d been imagining it.

“I’ve got this,
”
I said suddenly, kicking his hand away. I bent forward to put on my sweatpants without his help, but made sure that the towel still covered my lap in the process. I was painfully aware of my naked sex, so close to my stepbrother; he’d need only pull the towel aside and ….

Stop it! I scolded myself, my chest suddenly rising as I took in a breath, as I continued to try and dress myself. Giles didn't move out of my way, causing my face to brush briefly against his rough stubble. I jerked away from the contact and put out my arm to shove him back. But he didn't budge. I couldn't look at him. What if he saw the lust in my eyes? I pulled one sweat pant leg up to my knee and did the same with the other. But, in order to get them fully on, I knew that I needed to lift my bottom off the passenger seat. I tried to keep the towel in place, but it slipped off before I could stop it, giving my stepbrother a close-up of my privates. I hurriedly completed the task, but just knowing he'd seen me down there sent a thrill of excitement through me that I couldn't begin to explain. My heart raced, and my tongue felt too big in my mouth. Involuntarily, I licked my lips and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Giles was still kneeling there, between my legs, the way I'd always dreamed he would.

Our eyes locked again. It was as if there was a new understanding, a new language that only my stepbrother and I could speak. For a moment, I thought I saw yearning in his eyes. Could it be?

But, then a look of abject horror crossed his face, and he turned away from me and jumped to his feet.

"You all better now?" he asked derisively, not looking at me. "Done with your little hissy fit yet?
”

He was back in his prick stepbrother mode. I pulled my legs inside the car and slammed the door shut, then crossed my arms tightly around my chest, and used my beach towel like a shawl.

“Are we cool?
”
he queried loudly, as he strapped the surfboards on the rack. “You're not going to tell me, are you?"

My heart sank.

He wasn't worried about me.

Only himself.

If I told my dad how his stepson's little prank had exposed his precious daughter in public, my dad would hit the roof. And my stepmom would back him up. They’d find a way to make Giles stay home for the night. It didn’t matter that he was over eighteen, and an official adult. Our parents were no nonsense strict. As long as they were paying for a roof over his head, they had leverage. He had to abide by their rules, or else. If I stayed upset and tattled as soon as we got home, I could put a damper on his plans. I could ruin his last night in California.

Hmmm. I pondered the idea. Maybe Giles being stuck at home all night would be a good thing. If he got grounded, at least he'd be home. At least I could see him a few more times before he was gone off to college.

On the other hand, if I acted cool like I usually did, taking his practical jokes in stride - there’d be nothing to hold him in the house. That thought alone made me consider breaking the unwritten pact.

All the other times, whenever he'd got me with one of his practical jokes, I’d never gone running to my parents. I was too busy making plans for how I'd get revenge. Too busy planning an even better practical joke. The last thing I wanted was my parents having a clue what we were up to, and trying to stop me from escalating the war that Giles had inevitably started. But, maybe the time for the old rules had ended. If I did the usual and said nothing, then he'd be gone, off the hook and out with his friends. And the next morning, I knew would be the end of it. That family brunch would happen, a chance for everyone to say goodbye and wish Giles well, and then he'd be gone for good. Out of my life, forever.

My body shuddered again at that thought, and I let out an involuntary sob, just as Giles flounced into his seat and started the engine.

“Oh Christ, Cherise, will you get over it already?! You're not going to be a little cry baby and fuck things up for me tonight, are you?"

“Fuck you," I said crossly, turning away from him. I couldn’t look at him. He didn’t care about me. All he cared about was himself. "Just take me home,
”
I huffed angrily.

I gave him the silent treatment the rest of the way home.

I talked to myself instead.

Face it, I told myself, you mean nothing to him. You are nothing but his punching bag; a target for his stupid pranks. The sooner he's gone, the better.

Get real, I tried to convince myself. You should find a nice guy who will treat you better. You should find a nice guy you can date publicly. You should find a nice guy who isn’t your stepbrother!