Afflicted (26 page)

Was that in the cards for Blake and I after all the pain we put each other through?

After dinner I got ready for bed, looking across the room at Blake’s massive form cramped up on the small sofa. So far he’s been true to his word and didn’t press for anything more than what I was willing to give. Seeing him look fragile and ashamed left me feeling horrible. We were both at fault for how
we
reacted. I was resentful of Rowan just like he was with Cole. We both hurt each other, but for the baby’s sake we needed to find a way to move past it and keep going forward. I was feeling empty inside.

“Blake.” I called out. He turned and looked at me with concern written all over his face. “I’m fine, but you’re not going to be if you sleep on the couch. You can sleep next to me if you stay on your side.”

Standing up in his tight, white t-shirt and boxers he made his way over to the bed and climbed in next to me. “Thanks, Pipe. Sweet dreams.” He turned to face the opposite direction.

I tried to fall asleep
, but feeling his body heat radiating off of him left me feeling cold and lonely. The guy that I loved more than anything was lying less than two feet away from me. I decided to let myself have tonight, and figure out the rest down the road. I turned and tapped him on the shoulder. He lifted his head and looked over at me sleepily.

“Can you hold me?” I asked. I wanted to say,
I need it more than I’ve ever needed anything.
I just wanted to feel secure and safe for once.

Moving his body he cuddled into me pulling me close and interlacing our fingers. Resting his head next to mine
, he whispered, “I’m scared of the gift you’re giving me. I’ve never been more afraid in my life. The rest of our lives are going to revolve around this one little creature, but I’m glad it’s with you. We’ll figure it out, Pipe. We always find our way, and for some reason fate keeps throwing us back together. It’s meant to be.”

I turned to look at him
,
but
he was already asleep again. I didn’t think about it like that. I guess fate does have a funny way of making things happen. Look at Aubrey and Jake, she could barely stand to let her own family touch her, but with Jake she’s a entirely new person. Maybe that was Blake for me.

He saved me from feeling obligated to stay with Cole. I honestly think I would have since I had a serious pair of blinders on. The things that I let him get away with just because I wanted to avoid a confrontation were just ridiculous. I let the fact that Blake had a
bad rep aid in my decision, thinking he was the unsafe option even when he proved otherwise. Listening to his steady breathing I drifted off.

When I woke up I was starving and had to pee.
Blake was still holding me tightly in his arms. I attempted to move out of his grip, but he just snuggled me closer, telling me he was too comfortable to let me go. When I told him I had bathroom needs to attend to he reluctantly let me go. I think we both knew that slow and steady was going to win the race this time. We ate breakfast and decided that we would take things one day at a time until both of us felt comfortable moving forward and what our relationship would be.

Three months later…

Blake

We just touched
down in LA for the first stop of the tour. Piper and I went to the doctor the other day and found out that we were having a little girl. I was over the moon with excitement that I was going to have a daddy’s little girl. Things were going really well with the two of us,
and
we were pretty much back to the way that we were before the whole Cole incident. He tried contacting her a couple times before she took out a restraining order against him for his stalking tendencies.

I moved her into the guest
house with me about a month ago since I refused to let her stay alone with him lurking in the shadows. We were doing a shorter tour this time around since both Aubrey and Piper were pregnant and only had less than three months left each.

Pulling into the driveway of my house I suddenly felt nervous since Piper hasn’t been here before
, and LA didn’t exactly bring back pleasant memories. Leading her to the front door I fished my keys out of my front pocket and unlocked the door. The living room was all teal with black, leather furniture and a massive flat screen TV. The kitchen was behind the living room with black cabinets and all stainless steel appliances. I had a bedroom, a guestroom and a small office in the back of the house.

Taking her hand I led her back to the bedroom and through the door. The walls were al
l white except for one painted sea green that my bed was pushed up against. My oversized, black furniture suddenly felt overly masculine. The entire house screamed bachelor pad. First, I made sure to show her where the bathroom was since she was in there every five minutes. She seemed to be taking it all in while I opened the sliding door to the small patio that had a path leading to the ocean.

“I love it
, Blake. It’s quaint.” She smiled thoughtfully.

I shrugged and leaned in to kiss her. I loved the baby bump she was sporting
. She rocked being pregnant like a supermodel. I was already hard and wanted to be in my favorite place, inside her. Peeling her dress off, I slid my hand up her thigh caressing her wetness. Pregnancy has made her insatiable.

Letting out a low moan as I touched her swollen clit
and slipped a finger inside her heat causing her to buck forward. Leaning down I continuing to work her into a frenzy before she detonated around me. Quickly unbuckling my jeans and kicking them across them across the room I pulled her on top of me and slid inside inch by inch. She let out loud moan once she hit where my piercings were. She loved the extra sensation they gave her. Taking her full breasts in my hand, I ran my thumbs across her peaked nipples causing her to pick up her pace. Every time with her was a gift,
and
I would never take one day with her for granted, ever again.

I felt her muscles start to tighten around me
, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer. Rubbing my thumb on her swollen nub she let go mewling causing me to let go, shooting deep inside her. I pulled her down on top of me, even though it was starting to become an awkward position and kissed the hell out of her.

“I love you, Piper Jane Nicholson.”

“I love you too, Blake Ryan Potter.” She said breathlessly. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“As ready as I’m going to be. I think it’s going to be great though.”

We showered and got dressed before I took her out to dinner. We met up with the rest of the band and discussed the upcoming show. Aubrey and Piper were cooing over each other and talking all things baby. I smiled at her from across the table and thought about how fucking lucky I was that she gave me another chance. When we headed home I held her hand and told her how much she meant to me, which I did every day.

Heading to bed I thought about what would change tomorrow.

I got up before sunrise and made some coffee. Around ten I made Piper French toast for breakfast and told her to take her time getting ready to go to the show. We were going to need to go a little earlier since the label was holding an acoustic show, followed by an interview and a meet and greet. After showering and getting dressed I went into my office to get some things in order. I was on the phone with my mom when Piper walked in the room wearing a strapless, white dress. I told my mom that I’d call her back and hung up the phone.

“You look stunning.” I said sincerely.

“Thanks.” She said, blushing.

Taking her hand I led her out to the car and headed off to the venue. When we arrive
d we were greeted by fifty anxious fans waiting in the back room. Kevin was already there and the rest of the gang showed up fifteen minutes later. After making sure that Piper was seated front and center I took the stage.

By the third song in I was growing increasingly anxious since ‘Piper’s
Song’ was next on the list. I stood in the middle of the stage with the spotlight fixed on me.

“Piper
, can you come up here for a minute?” I asked.

Aubrey pushed her out of her seat
, and Brett led her around the side of the stage. When she was standing in front of me I took her hand in mine and dropped to one knee.

“Piper Jane Nicholson, when we met you were like the fire I was missing in my life.
With you I finally found what I was chasing after. After everything we’ve been through over the past year I know for a fact that there is no one else that I would want by my side for the rest of eternity. I want every sunset with you. When you breathe I want to be the air for you. I want to be the one that gets to hold you at night and the one that makes you smile during the day. I want your heart, but mostly I just want you. Will you do the honor of becoming Mrs
.
Blake Potter?”

A st
ring of “awe’s” came from the audience.

“
Hmmm, let me think about it…” She pondered, making me wait. I was holding the ring between my thumb and forefinger with shaky hands. “Yes.” She squealed. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“Thank fuck!” I exclaimed, sliding the ring onto her delicate finger before getting to my feet and kissing her passionately. “Okay, you can go sit back down now.” I teased.

We did the rest of the acoustic set, along with all of our other obligations before wrapping up around 10. I suddenly had a crazy idea and wondered if Piper and the rest of the gang would be up for it. I rounded them all up and put it out there.

“
Soooo
, I was thinking that if it’s good with Piper we could get married tonight.”

She gasped.
“What? How?”

“Vegas isn’t that far from here.” I said. “I don’t want to wait anymore. Before you know it the baby will be here
and things will get hectic, even more hectic than they’re going to be with me going on tour. We can have a big wedding after the baby’s born if you want, but I’ve waited almost twenty-eight years waiting for you, that’s long enough. Besides, I want to be married when the baby gets here.”

“I’m down.” Derek said.

“Me too!” Aubrey squeaked. “And you’re already wearing white, coincidence I think not.”

“Alright.” Piper finally said.

“I’ll call and get a party bus to take you out there.” Brett said, fetching his phone from his suit jacket.

Taking Piper in my arms I swung her around
carefully and waited for the bus to arrive.

“By the end of the night you’re going to be my wife!” I exclaimed.

“Forever.” She said.

“And ever.”
I replied.

“I think I’m gonna go outside and throw up now.” Derek laughed.

Aubrey had Granny on speakerphone telling her the news.

“It’s about fucking time the two of you pulled your heads out of your asses.” She yelled. “Go to Vegas and visit Elvis now will ya goddammit!”

Chuckling into Piper’s hair I looked at her
and grinned.

“Alright Granny, love you.” Aubrey said, hanging up the phone.

“We’re going to get a head start.” I said, taking Piper’s hand and leading her out to the car.

As soon as I started the engine Foo
Fighter
’s ‘Walk’ came through the stereo. I looked over at her and grinned as I stepped down harder on the pedal. She leaned forward and turned it up as loud as it would go. Things were going to be okay as long as we were able to conquer them together.

Vegas here we come.

EPILOGUE

Learning To Walk Again

Piper

“Ow! That smarts, Pipe.” Blake said gritting his teeth together.

“Hold on, I’m almost done.” I said, packing in the last of the white ink around his tattoo.

Since we rushed down the aisle
, and he left for tour shortly after, we didn’t have time to get traditional wedding bands. He was worried about losing his ring or it interfering when he played, so he decided that getting it tattooed would be the best choice. I on the other hand, was rocking a set of giant rocks on my hand that I repeatedly said were too big in the store, but he said it wasn’t big enough. I was only a week,
and
a half away from my due date and I was beyond ready. The nursery was finished. It was painted bright pink with cheetah print everything, thanks to Aubrey’s decorating skills.

While Blake was on tour he put me in charge of buying us our own place for when he got back.
I chose a colonial style house not too far from Jake and Aubrey. We had a super fast closing that only took three weeks. I spent the rest of the time hiring painters and cleaners, even though I would have rather done it myself. The best part about the house was the massive, three-car garage that we turned part of into a tattoo studio so I could occasionally work from home.

As I was finishing up the last line I felt a gush.
Looking down at the floor I saw that it was wet. I’d been having Braxton-Hicks for a while now, but the pain I was having now was far worse than those.