Mending by R. L. Griffin Read Free Book Online

Gallery on Duval Street, where Fred had arranged dinner be served and Thomas Arvid pictures hung on all the walls.
    There was only one dance, and it was to Ben Harper’s “Forever.” George cradled Stella in his arms and whispered the lyrics in her ear. She buzzed with the feeling that maybe she would have a forever after all. This feeling of hope—or relief—she wanted to tuck it inside her somewhere so she was able to pull it out and look at it, to remember what this moment had felt like, looked like.
    She and George were surrounded by almost everyone they loved. It was pretty damn near perfect.

Chapter Six
    Safe and Sound
    Stella had stuffed her expanding ass and boobs in her black string bikini and it was a little bit much for the small amount of fabric to take. She was lying on the lounge chair as George swam around in the pool, Ray LaMontagne played through the speakers.
    She felt water falling on her legs as George climbed on top of her. He unceremoniously pulled her bikini bottoms off, then rubbed her belly adoringly.
    “I love you,” he murmured.
    “I love you too,” she said.
    George pulled El to him by her hips and abruptly buried his face in between her legs. She stopped breathing until she screamed his name so loud that everyone walking by on Duval Street could hear.
    They barely separated their bodies for the remainder of the week they were alone together. As they boarded Jesse’s private plane back to DC, Stella realized she’d never felt so at peace in her life. George was her everything, her soft place to fall. She looked at her ring and smiled. She’d decided not to get a wedding band, but used the emerald as her engagement and wedding band. He’d picked a titanium band and was having a difficult time getting used to it.
    She kissed his lower lip, watching Cooper pace the length of the airplane. This really had been the perfect week. She wasn’t sure they were ready to get back to the grind of real life.
    “Love,” George whispered, “please don’t make me get a hard on that I can’t do anything about for hours.”
    “You’re so not fun,” she whined.
    “Oh, I’m fun. I’ll show you fun when we get back home.”
    “We could probably have fun on this flight.”
    “Ummm no. We’re not having sex on Jesse’s plane. That’s just rude.”
    “I promise he wouldn’t mind.”
    George laughed. “It probably wouldn’t be the first time.”

    George and Stella had been doing well; all of the doctors’ visits were good news and they were enjoying each other. Stella was able to see a future now, one that included her being happy and having her own family. It was such a change from six months ago and there was nothing to explain this change of heart except for her baby. He was it.
    Guilt was her dirty little secret, it ate away at her future and happiness, but she put it in a box in her mind as often as she could. Sometimes it got too big for the box and seeped out the sides, causing Stella to doubt everything, the truth like a piece of gum too big for her mouth. It took everything she had not to blurt out what she’d done. Sometimes she’d look at George, with his sincerity and integrity, and feel sorry that he ended up with her, but she resolved to change everything for him and the little Fucker and that’s a promise she intended to keep.
    Stella walked down the hall into the nursery and eased herself onto the floor to lay on the light blue and chocolate brown rug she'd recently purchased. She stared up at the ceiling and rubbed her enormous belly. Cooper turned in a few circles and then lay down in a huff beside her, resting his head on her belly. She sighed and rubbed Cooper's head. He wouldn’t know what to do when he wasn't the center of attention anymore.
    "Don't worry, Coop, you'll always be my first baby."
    She looked around the room, taking in all the decor that she and George had decided on for Liam. They'd decided to name the baby after George’s father; Liam was his