The M.I.L.F. Man

Crossing the Divide

I heard Chas groan, "Oh dear God..."

And I sighed and gave him a squeeze from behind because I felt exactly the same way the next morning. Only a little worse because...pregnant...morning. You know...

He raised one of my hands from his chest to his lips and kissed. "Gonna be a rough one, Mami."

"And we got to bed pretty early, too. For a night like that."

"However..."

I smiled because that "however" was meant to remind me that we hadn't actually slept that much.

And I kissed him between the shoulder blades. "I gotta go, though. Cause you know the one day I don't all the Valencia kids'll be there."

"How will they react to all this—how are you reacting to all this? Talk to me."

I sighed real deep. "Is it okay if we don't talk about it right this minute? I wanna just be us gettin' up, gettin' ready...goin' on about our business like it never even happened."

He kissed my hand again and shoved himself upright. "Saltines, m'lady?"

"No, wait! Just...gimme a minute." I rubbed his back. Kinda low and slow...

He looked back. Smiled. "Those hormones are making you hungry in every sense of the word, eh?"

"You complainin'?"

He ran a hand through my hair. "Well, actually I can't think of anything more erotic than making love to the woman carrying my child."

That hit me right where he meant it to. And though I was the one who'd turned the heat up, I gave him a "behave yourself" glare as I eased myself up...and was immediately too nauseous to enjoy the sly little smile he gave me in return.

His solution, after the saltines he brought to settle things down, was "fruit pizza." That's English muffin halves slathered with cream cheese and topped with all kinds of fruit. I sprinkled some crumbled-up bacon on top for the saltiness I needed—bacon didn't seem to bother me, especially if it was super crispy. Burnt was even better. Yeah, I know, but it worked.

So well that I was trudging to the garage a lot faster than I'd expected, considering how I'd felt when we first woke up. But it took all kinds of self-control to keep me from running back up to the loft to snuggle some more—he had afternoon classes that day.

And my God, what a night we'd had! I'd had all these little flashbacks in the shower—I could feel the buzz, still, when I closed my eyes. And the love in Ma Mere's eyes as she handed me that trophy...

I loved the idea that I might be able use the money and my membership to finally get something big going out there in our community—something that didn't depend on luck and little nickel and dime contributions that never added up to much.

My Chas on the other hand...well, he'd probably go right back to the kitchen and start figuring out what to feed me later. It grounded him, caring for my basic, day-to-day needs like that. Just us two—three now—living and loving each other, that's all he wanted.

I think that's why he tensed up sometimes at the gala, surrounded by all the glitz and glamor. He knew that world. It'd made him feel "weightless," he said. "As if I were floating aimlessly above the Earth, searching for something to hold onto."