Forgotten Awakenings (Awakenings #2) Read online

  An abashed look crept over Sadie’s face. “Well, you know when I asked to speak to her privately during my first visit?”

  Both Callum and Derek nodded, while Elle simply stood there. They hadn’t told her about that part of Sadie’s first visit, just that everything with the baby looked good.

  “I knew that I needed a doctor who would understand about us, one that wouldn’t judge our relationship. We were already dealing with a lot, and had been treated like scum because of our decision to be together. So, I explained to her about our relationship, and made it clear that if she had an issue with us being together, I needed to know so I could find someone new. She told me that while she’d never dealt with a situation such as ours, all she cared about was me having a support system, especially with you being in the hospital, Elle.”

  “She already knew about me?” Elle asked.

  Sadie nodded. “She’d read about you in the paper, and I guess she put two and two together. Anyway, Dr. Kemp explained that she understood the struggle, told me about Isabel, and promised to be here for us.”

  “So why didn’t you tell us?” Callum wondered.

  “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Didn’t seem important. I was just relieved that the baby was okay and anxious to get back to Elle.”

  “So were we, honey,” Callum told her, bringing his hand up to her face and kissing her softly.

  The door to the room opened and Elle looked over as Dr. Kemp pushed the large, bulky ultrasound machine inside. She plugged in the machine, and flipped a switch, causing a low hum to fill the room.

  “Sorry. This thing is a little loud,” Dr. Kemp said, sighing. She turned to Sadie, though once again, Elle could have sworn that her eyes drifted to her. “You ready?”

  Sadie reached over and took hold of Elle’s hand. “Yes, we are.”

  Dr. Kemp grinned before taking a seat on the small, black rolling stool and picking up a bottle of ultrasound gel. “This will be cold.”

  Though she’d been warned, Sadie squeaked when the gel hit her stomach, causing Derek and Callum to laugh. At least, until she turned her glare toward them. Dr. Kemp picked up the small wand and began smearing the gel on Sadie’s stomach, and pushed a few buttons on the machine. A moment later, a loud, thumping sound filled the air.

  “Is that … is that the baby?” Elle stammered, her eyes filling with tears.

  “Yes. Your baby has a strong heartbeat. Running about one hundred and fifty-two,” Dr. Kemp explained.

  “Oh,” Elle whispered.

  “Would you like to see your baby?” the doctor asked.

  “Yes,” the four of them replied together, causing the doctor’s smile to widen.

  She turned the screen toward them.

  The tears that begged to fall tumbled down Elle’s face. There on the screen was their baby. A sweet little face, tiny hands, a nose, lips, a spine, a flashing heartbeat — their baby, their future. Elle brought Sadie’s hand up to her lips, unable to keep from openly weeping.

  “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Sadie asked.

  “Our baby,” Elle cried. “That’s our baby.”

  “He or she is beautiful, don’t you agree?”

  Elle nodded, and turned to Dr. Kemp. “The baby’s healthy, right?”

  “Perfectly. Growing according to schedule, which keeps Sadie’s due date around the fourteenth of October, give or take a few days.” Dr. Kemp paused. “Would you like to know the baby’s gender?”

  “You can tell already?” Callum asked, sounding shocked.

  “Yes. Normally, we’d wait a few more weeks to try, but since you’re here and the baby is cooperating, I can tell you. But only if you’re sure you want to know.”

  “Oh, um,” Sadie murmured, looking from Elle to Derek and then to Callum. “Do y’all want to know? We can wait, if you want. Be surprised.”

  “No!” Callum and Derek blurted out.

  “No, you don’t want to find out, or no, you don’t want to wait?” Elle asked, smirking.

  “No, we don’t want to wait,” they replied together again, causing everyone to laugh.

  “I want — no, we want — to know if we’re having a daughter or a son,” Derek said. “But if you two want to wait, then we can. Right, Cal?”

  “Of course,” Callum agreed. “It’s up to you.”

  “Elle?” Sadie asked, turning her gaze onto her. “Do you want to know?”

  “Um,” Elle murmured. “I do. I don’t care if we have a boy or a girl, but I’d like to know.”

  “Thank God!” Sadie laughed. “I want to know so bad!”

  Everyone laughed with her as they turned to Dr. Kemp, who had been patiently waiting for them to make up their minds.

  “You’re having a …,” She paused for dramatic effect, “… girl. A healthy baby girl.”

  “Oh, wow,” Sadie whimpered. “A daughter.”

  “Crap,” Derek muttered under his breath.

  “What?” Elle asked, shocked that he’d upset about having a daughter. “You were hoping it was a boy?”

  “No,” he grumbled. “But how are Callum and I supposed to keep the boys away? Our daughter will be beautiful. Especially, with you and Sadie as her mothers.”

  Elle smiled. “Yeah, she will.”

  And looking back at the screen, she released a shallow breath. They were having a daughter.

  Four

  After they left Dr. Kemp’s office, having scheduled Sadie’s next appointment, the four of them headed back to the house to get ready for their night out. Elle was more excited than she was willing to show, but the last few months had felt like the longest of her life, and she was ready to put all her worries on the backburner and just focus on her fiancés.

  “You’re smiling.” Looking over her shoulder, she found Callum leaning against the doorjamb. “I like when you smile.”

  “Guess it’s a good thing I like smiling,” she laughed. Smoothing out the front of her dress first, she placed her hand on the dresser and turned toward him. “How do I look?”

  “Beautiful,” he said. “But then again you’re always beautiful.”

  Elle’s cheeks warmed as she shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

  “You are!” he insisted, pushing off the wood frame and walking over to her, sliding his arms around her waist. He pressed his lips against the side of her neck and took a deep breath. “You smell good, too. Is that the perfume I gave you for Christmas?”

  Elle moaned, and nodded. “It’s my favorite. I only wear it on special occasions.”

  “And this qualifies as a special occasion?” he asked, leaning back enough to look her in the eye.

  Once more, Elle’s head bobbed up and down. “It’s always special when I’m with you.”

  “Same for me,” he admitted. “I hate to think about how close we were to losing you, Elle.”

  “Me, too.” She whimpered and placed her hands on his chest. “I was so scared.”

  Callum hummed, and leaned his forehead against hers. “But we’ve got you now. You don’t have to be scared anymore.”

  “I know.” And she did know, but that didn’t make the feeling go away. Every day that Trixie was still free meant one more day of living with the knowledge that she could — and most likely would — come back for her.

  “Do you?” he asked. “Because sometimes you get this look in your eyes like you’re not sure you still want to be here with us.”

  “What? I do not!” she denied.

  “Hmm, okay.”

  Elle could tell she didn’t believe her. “I do want to be here, Cal. I do!”

  “Okay,” he said.

  “You say that, but I know you don’t mean it,” she argued.

  “What do you want me to say, Elle?” he exasperated. “You’re here, but you’re not here. Not really. We love you. God, we love you so much it hurts.”

  “I love you, too. All of you. I do, I swear!”

  “And I believe you,” he said, tightening his g
rip on her hips.

  “Do you really?” she asked.

  “Elle, I’ve never doubted that you love me. That you love Sadie and Derek, too. I just … I don’t know. You say you want us, but then you pull away every time we try to touch you.”

  “You’re touching me now, and I’m not pulling away,” she grumbled.

  “You know what I mean,” he groused.

  Elle sighed. “I want to be able to make love to you, Callum. I really do, but it hurts. My leg always hurts.”

  “I know, and I’m not trying to sound like an asshole, but I miss you, baby. I miss touching you, kissing you, loving you.”

  “I’m sorry,” she cried.

  “Hey, don’t cry,” he fretted bringing his hand up to her face.

  “I can’t help it,” she blubbered.

  “What is going on in here?” At the sound of Sadie’s voice, Callum and Elle looked to the doorway of their bedroom, where they found Derek and Sadie standing. The red-headed woman looked from Elle to Callum, and her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing!” he exclaimed, putting his hands in the air.

  “Then why is she crying?” Sadie snarled, and Elle had to stifle her moan: pissed off Sadie was hot.

  “We were just talking,” Callum mumbled.

  “Mmhmm,” she scoffed before turning back to Elle. “What did he say?”

  “Nothing,” she lied. “I’m just being emotional.”

  “Okay, if that’s your story.”

  It was clear Sadie didn’t believe either of them, but the last thing Elle wanted was for her dysfunctional ability to move on with her life to cause her lovers to fight. Besides, Callum was right: she needed to let them take care of her.

  “Can we just go to dinner?” Elle asked, reaching for Sadie’s hand. “I’m starving. And I know you must be hungry.”

  “I am,” she admitted, smirking as she walked over and blended their fingers together. “But I don’t get to eat what I want, until after we have dinner, so we’d better hurry.”

  —FA—

  “How much longer?” Sadie grumbled, one hand resting casually on Elle’s knee. Callum sat on the other side of Elle, his arm stretched across the back of the red, vinyl bench they were perched on while waiting for a table. Derek sat next to Sadie, who was dragging her fingers through his dark hair.

  When they arrived at The Sardine Can, a charming little seafood joint down on the pier, there had been a small wait, but several other patrons had been seated before them — people who had arrived after they did. Elle tried to brush it off, while Sadie had made her displeasure clear by huffing, complaining loudly, and outright whining about the wait.

  “I’ll go ask her again.” Derek kissed the side of Sadie’s head before he walked over to the hostess, and once again asked how much longer were going to have to wait. An annoyed expression filled his face as he nodded at whatever she’d told him and walked back over to them.

  “She said it’ll be at least another twenty minutes,” he grumbled, sliding onto the bench next to Sadie. He took hold of her hand, lifting it to his lips. “Though, there are at least five empty tables.”

  “Hmm,” Elle hummed, shifting her attention back to the podium, noticing the way the hostess was glaring at them, and in that moment, their long wait made sense. “Ah, of course.”

  “Of course what?” Callum asked, his confusion evident.

  With a shake of her head, Elle shifted her eyes to him. “It’s us. She has a problem with us.”

  “What?” Sadie grumbled, looking from her to the woman standing opposite of them. “What the fuck are you looking at?” she asked, loudly.

  “Sadie,” Elle hissed, but her lover shook her hand off and stood up.

  “You got a problem?” Sadie asked, folding her arms in front of her.

  “Nope,” the woman, easily close to sixty, snarled. “We’re just so busy tonight.”

  “Yeah, we can tell,” Derek said, tilting his head to the dining room. “All those empty tables must be broken, right?”

  The woman didn’t reply, not that she needed to, It was clear to Elle that the woman didn’t want them there.

  “We’d like to speak to your manager,” Callum added, standing up and placing his hands on his hips.

  “I’m the owner,” she replied, smarmily. “And as the owner, I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, and I’m evoking that right. We’re a family restaurant, and the last thing we need are for children to be exposed to you and your immoral behavior.”

  “How dare you —” Sadie started, but stopped speaking when Elle stepped toward the door. “Sweetie.”

  “It’s not worth it,” she muttered, shifting her glare toward the owner/hostess. “This place was a dump, anyway. The food tastes like shit.”

  Then, she turned and walked out of the restaurant, letting the door close behind her. The cool night air hit her hard and tears sprinkled down her face. As the doors opened once more, Elle turned and faced her lovers.

  “Tell me again how it doesn’t matter what people think,” she whimpered.

  “It doesn’t matter what people think of us,” the three of them muttered together.

  “And it doesn’t,” Derek added.

  Elle rolled her eyes. “You’re fooling yourself if you think that.”

  “Then, I guess I’m a fool,” he said. “That bitch’s opinion doesn’t mean shit to me, Elle. The only people whose opinions matter are standing right here. Just you, Sadie, and Callum.”

  “And you’re all I need, too,” Elle admitted. “But we should have known we weren’t going to be welcome everywhere. Some people refuse to accept anything diverse.”

  “Look, let’s go somewhere else,” Callum suggested. “Or we can grab take out and go home, to the beach, wherever you want. Just don’t let that bitch ruin our night. Please?”

  Elle bit her lip as she nodded. “Okay. How about take out from Wang’s, and then we go home. Just us.”

  “Best deal I’ve heard all night, baby,” Derek agreed.

  Faster than Elle thought was possible, they’d picked up their usual order from Wang’s Chinese Palace and were back at their house. Derek turned on some music while Callum grabbed plates, forks, and napkins from the kitchen. Once they had their plates filled with cashew chicken, beef broccoli, sesame shrimp, fried rice, and eggrolls, they settled on the sofas and began to eat while chatting about the baby and their families.

  It was the first time in a while that Elle didn’t feel like a dancing chicken in the middle of a freak show.

  After they’d had their fill, Derek and Callum cleared their mess while Sadie and Elle cuddled together on the sofa. Elle brought her hand around to Sadie’s stomach, resting her palm against the hard bump.

  “I ate too much,” Sadie groaned, sliding her fingers over Elle’s. “Why didn’t you stop me when I went for my third plate?”

  “Because you would have told me to fuck off,” Elle laughed. “And you’re eating for two. It’s okay to eat more than normal.”

  “I know, but I’m pretty sure I ate more than Derek, and we know that man can eat,” she snickered.

  “I heard that,” Derek grumbled as he and Callum came back into the living room.

  They settled on the other sofa, Callum leaning against Derek, who snaked an arm around him. It reminded Elle of the first time they’d given each other a blow job, the memory causing her to shiver.

  “Baby, are you cold?” Sadie asked, turning her head up toward Elle.

  She shook her head. “Just thinking.”

  “About?” Sadie pressed.

  “Um, well, about them actually,” Elle murmured, tilting her head toward Derek and Callum.

  “What about us?” Callum asked.

  Elle felt her cheeks warm. “Um … about … about your first blowjobs. I mean, with each other.”

  Derek and Callum grinned and looked at each other. “Oh. Yeah, those were …” Derek moaned as his words hung in the air.


  “Hot,” Sadie and Elle said together.

  “Yeah?” Callum asked. “Why?”

  “Because you let go of your fears and doubts, and just … Well, came together,” Elle explained.

  “I, for one, would love to watch a reenactment,” Sadie hinted. “If you’re up for it, of course. Pun intended, by the way.”

  “Hmm,” Callum hummed before sliding off the couch and kneeling in front of Derek, who turned his attention to the man. “I was like this, right?”

  “Yes,” Elle murmured. “But you weren’t wearing a shirt, so you should probably take that off.”

  “Well, you two weren’t wearing those dresses. Seems to me, if we’re going to be authentic, you should strip those off, too,” Callum pointed out as he began to unbutton his shirt.

  “For the sake of authenticity, we’ll do what we have to. Right, Elle?”

  Sadie stood up and began stripping off her dress, leaving her standing in front of Elle with only a pair of black, silk panties, and a matching bra that was barely containing her engorged breasts. She grabbed Elle’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Then, she reached behind her and lowered the zipper on her dress, letting it pool at her feet. Sadie, Callum, and Derek all moaned. Elle hadn’t put on a bra, and in just a pair of ivory lace hipsters, she was baring it all.

  “Goddamn, baby, you look sexy,” Sadie groaned, giving her shoulder a gentle push so that Elle would sit back on the couch.

  However, instead of nestling herself back between Elle’s legs — like she had been the first time — Sadie dropped to her knees, grabbed Elle’s legs, and pulled her to the edge of the couch. Sadie grabbed the sides of her panties, and slowly lowered them down her legs, tossing them to Derek.

  “What are you doing?” Elle asked, unable to keep the nerves from lacing each word.

  “I told you I was starving,” Sadie cooed before gently pushing her legs apart. “Aren’t you going to let me eat?”

  “If you want to,” she stammered.

  “Oh, I want to.” Leaning in, Sadie gave her pussy a long lick.

  “Fuck me, that’s hot,” Derek groaned, and when Elle and Sadie looked over at him, he had one hand in Callum’s hair, while they both watched them. “Don’t stop.”

  “I’ll keep going when he has a mouthful of your cock,” Sadie challenged.