Broken Free (The Broken Series) (12 page)

“Honey, your dad asked you a question,” Sofia whispered.

Daniel looked around the obstacle on the table.

Her brother
stood. “You mind if I move that?”

Daniel’s yes came with Sofia’s no. At realizing how irrational it was for him to not want it moved, he shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Put it on the floor there
, if you don’t mind.”

Daniel finally looked at his father, surprised at how well everything was going. It didn’t make sense, really. Why should anything go well with his father? The man never did anything for anybody but his dick and his dollar. Maybe this was where things went sour. “I was asking what made you decide on Daniel for a name,” his father repeated
, his brows raised and a mocking joy in his eyes.

Sofia grabbed Daniel’s hand and squeezed, maybe feeling the same premonition as him. “Because that’s what Sofia wanted.”

“You have a middle name picked out? Maybe Lucas?” His father laughed boisterously, looking around the table as if to see who else thought it was funny. Everybody did. Or at least pretended to. Except Seth, Sofia and Daniel.

“His middle name is Seth.” Daniel met his brother’s proud gaze. “After my brother.” Sofia squeezed his hand again and he realized he was trembling.

His father turned to Seth. “Ah yeah, that’s right. You pick out any names yet?”

“Actually yes. If it’s a boy, we’re naming him Seth Daniel.” Seth looked at Daniel and grinned. “After my brother.”

Okay, fuck, Daniel hadn’t known that. And it kicked him in his emotional ass.

“Sofia will have plenty more babies,” Dara said, “I’m sure they will name the next one after—”

“No!” The word shot out like a whip. “I’m sure we won’t promise anybody anything.” The pin drop silence that followed was his cue. He got up from the table and walked out before he said more. Like,
Dara would be happy to name her baby after you, dad. If she really has one.
The sound of his father’s laughter followed him to the garage where Daniel paced a little. The bastard needed to leave. He’d played house long enough, played loving family. What did he fucking want from him? Did he
really
think Daniel would just accept him as a
father?

The idea made him want to tear the garage apart with his bare hands.

Chapter Seventeen

Daniel merged into traffic, trying to be patient with Sofia on this. “Don’t you want to have your own first baby shower?”

“Oh honey, it’s not a big deal.”

“Why?”

She shrugged a little. “I mean I have everything I need, it just seems pointless.”

“Pointless?”

She turned in her seat and gave him one huff. “Daniel…what is wrong, why are you giving me the third degree about this?”

“I’m not, I’m just trying to understand why you don’t want a baby shower for your first baby,
our
first baby, I thought it wasn’t just about getting shit, but about it being part of our-our journey as a new family.”

She sucked in a breath.
“Ohhhh honey.” Daniel braced for the poor Danny boy crap that was coming. “You want to have a baby shower,” she cooed, amazed.

Fuck,
great. Refuting was useless now. “Yeah. I do. I do want a baby shower, is that weird? Stupid? This is our baby, our first baby, there’s a lot of first things happening, pictures and video to take at those kinds of things.”

“Oh my God,” she gasped, “you’re the sweetest man ever, yes, yes we should have a baby shower!”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Now I feel stupid, like I’m the one having a baby shower.”

“Well you know, you
can,
men do have baby showers too!”

“No
, men don’t have baby showers.”

“Oh yes they do! I read about it online!”

Daniel glanced at her and saw she was dead serious. “Why does that surprise me?”

She laughed once. “Apparently a lot of men feel the same as you. I mean to me, the guy should be the one having the shower anyway, the woman gets to carry the baby and experience all that stuff the man can’t.”

“Yeah and go through the pain, you may not want to forget that part.”

“But…wait, I thought I was having the pain epidural thingy?”

“Yes, you are, but I’m thinking before that, when women didn’t have that luxury.”

Sofia ewed. “Let’s live in the present
sweetie, not the prehistoric days.”

“So what about Sarah and Dara’s shower?”

“Oh! We can do a triple shower?”

“A
triple
shower? Wouldn’t that be kind of weird?”

“Nooooo not at all, it’ll be fun.”

Daniel couldn’t get rid of his smirk as he tried to figure out how to talk her out of that without looking like a baby.

“What? You don’t like that idea, talk to me, tell me what you want,” she cooed, making it harder.

“I just…” he shrugged his shoulders and held them for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Don’t you… want this to just be
our
thing? I don’t want to share it with anybody, sorry, I know that sounds selfish, but every time I think of doing it, my brain makes this loud screeching sound in my ears.”

Sofia giggled then awwwwwed. “Okay, we’ll have one by ourselves, only for our precious little
Danny boy,” she cooed while rubbing her tummy.

Daniel felt instantly better. “Yes, for our precious…
son.” He still had a hard time calling him Danny, Danny boy, or even Daniel, but Danny was the closest thing he liked because Seth called him that.

“So we’ll have to do three showers?” Sofia asked.

“Yeah, we can throw them a double shower.”

“Noooo! How would that be fair? It’ll look like we think our baby is better than theirs.”

“Well we do think that.”

She gasped. “No, I don’t, I love our baby more maybe but don’t think he’s better. Daniel.”

“Well that’s what I mean.”

“Still, we can’t make them feel like we think that.”

“Okay, we’ll throw Dara a small one first then we’ll do Sarah’s and Seth’s, then save yours for last.”

“We’ll have to make them all the same, I think.”

“What? No!”

“Baby,” Sofia turned her upper body toward him. “You can’t go all Hollywood for me and trailer park ghetto for Dara and Sarah.”

“I wasn’t thinking of doing that. For Sarah,” he mumbled.

She gasped. “You better start treating Dara nicer honey, I mean it.”

“Well I would if she wasn’t trying to cause shit every time I turn around. She invited my fucking
father
to Christmas baby! Of all fucking things! I still can’t believe she did that, I swear, I’m two cents away from paying a hit man to rocket launch her ass back to Romania, I’m telling you.”

“I’m sorry
sweetie, she thought she was doing something nice for you, she doesn’t know all the dirty details.”

“Really?” He didn’t believe that for one bit.

Sofia worried at her lower lip. “I mean she knows you had a very bad life.”

“With my father,” Daniel added.

She nodded. “Yes, but still, I think she’s thinking this will somehow help, and don’t worry, I will tell her to call him and let him know she jumped the gun on that one.”

“And if she thinks she’s inviting another internet sex tool twerp, she’s so wrong, this is our home and she is
not
going to be inviting the world and his brother lover into it.”

“Baby, she’s just trying to find somebody.”

“Well she’d better do it the old fashioned way, ‘cause playing click-a-dick online isn’t happening in our home. It’s dangerous. Just like her not going to a doctor. Which reminds me, when is the appointment that she didn’t schedule?” Daniel realized Sofia was looking out the window, upset. “Fuck baby, I’m sorry.” He was being like a rabid dog about everything to her, but dammit he liked having her to talk to, vent to. Only, she was so sensitive to his needs and when it caused a conflict with other people’s needs, it pressured her. 

When they got to the parking garage at the doctor’s office, Daniel hurried to help
Sofia out of the car then promptly pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry baby, we’ll throw Dara a nice party. We’ll make it Romanian, we’ll do it so that she’ll feel special, okay?”

Sofia laid her head on his chest for a long while, seeming content to never move from there. He stroked her hair and she finally looked up and gave him a happy smile and placed his hand on her stomach. “Somebody’s awake.”

Daniel’s heart skipped a beat at feeling the hard kicks against his hand. He gushed an awed laugh, never getting tired of that. “Wow, does that hurt? He’s so strong.”

She giggled. “Sometimes he kicks in spots that go ouch,” she mused, holding his hand and moving it to various places.

Daniel laughed in amazement when he felt a huge wave. “He’s cutting flips in there.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “He wants his daddy.”

For some reason, those words hit Daniel in an unexpected way. His throat closed up and his chest tightened. His baby wanted him. Needed him. It was his baby, all his, and that baby loved him. Nothing had ever moved or touched him more. He hugged Sofia, mostly to hide his emotions. He gasped on her shoulder, and she cooed to him. Of course she knew. She knew him so well. He hugged her tighter, loving that, and that it was okay. All of these feelings were all good. Normal.

****

Sofia watched the small town go by, letting the crisp colors of early winter excite her, soothe her. The doctor said the baby had turned, he was no longer breech. That was good. But she’d been thinking that the baby being breech was the reason for all her fears. That it explained that weird dream of the baby just suddenly being taken out of her like in a C-section. Not that she wanted a C-section, but why else would she get one now?

Stupid dream. It was just a dream. She just wished that nagging fear would leave. It wasn’t as bad, but she could feel it lingering in the back of her mind. Really, she felt like it was all okay. It was. She was probably scared out of habit no doubt. 

“You okay?”

She turned to Daniel and smiled. The look of real concern on his face made her want to confess. Maybe she’d feel better. “I just thought that the baby was going to be breech.”

He glanced at her several times like he was trying to figure out how that was a problem.

“I mean that dream I had that freaked me out, well when I found out he was breach, I realized that that’s how I could have a baby with no pushing, if they did a C-section. The doctor had said if he didn’t turn, they’d do that or turn him but it made me think, that’s what happened in that dream, I didn’t push a baby out, it was just taken out.”

He still wasn’t getting it she could see.

“Now he’s turned. So why the dream?”

He took her hand and kissed it. “Baby, I know you don’t want to hear this again. But your fear. Is completely. Natural. Please believe me, I hate to see you tormented.”

She waved his worry away with a hand. “I’m not tormented just curious now.” She felt bad for lying but there was no use trying to convince him of her phobias. And really, she was ready to be done with them herself. “So we have a lot of parties to plan.” She gave him an excited grin.

That immediately changed his mood. “Yes. You think we should do Dara’s then Sarah’s then yours?”

Sofia nodded. “I think so, yes, are you okay with that?”

“Absolutely. That way we have practice and when we get to yours it’ll be perfect.” He grinned naughtily and it made her think of the other things that came with that grin. Like her. She came with that grin.

“Fuck you look sexy when you’re hot,” he murmured.

Sofia looked at him, the deep lusty sound in his voice triggering some serious chemicals. She was suddenly insanely aroused and parted her lips to breathe through the assault tingling through her.

Daniel saw it all. “You have to wait, please.”
His whisper was desperate. He wanted to be where he could do her good.

“Claim your prize?” she whispered, staring at his huge bulge in his jeans.

He glanced at her, shifting in his seat. “The bet?”

“Yes.” She raised her gaze to his cute profile. “Fuck me in my ass.”

“Oh my fucking God,” he whispered. “Yes. I will.”

*
***

At getting back, Daniel led Sofia quietly into the house and managed to make it to the bedroom without being seen. Sofia was out of her clothes and sitting on the bed before he turned from locking the door. Daniel ripped his clothes off on the way to her, his eyes locked on her breasts and belly.

“You’re so beautiful baby. I want you riding on me.”

She held her hand out to him and when he took it she brought his cock to her lips and sucked him with a ravenous hunger.

God yes, yes. He watched her mouth on him then angled his head wanting to see all of her. She had her legs open, playing with herself. Her belly was huge and amazingly sexy. He stopped her with a groan when she swirled her tongue along the ridge and flicked his slit. Drove him crazy. He pulled her up and kissed her, loving the taste of himself on her mouth. That’s where he belonged. All over her, in her.

His world spun with desire as he laid in the bed and helped her straddle his waist. “Beautiful,” he gasped, looking at her. She braced on his stomach, causing her full breasts to squeeze together. She took hold of his cock and rubbed it along herself, gasping. “Make love to me first,” he whispered, wanting inside her.

She obliged with a moan and slowly lowered on to him. Then she sat there on his waist with him buried deep inside her. An ethereal sight, that’s what she was, her lips parted and head back in ecstasy. She moved her hips a little, her fingers on her clit while she palmed the peak of her nipple slowly, moaning.

Daniel was crazy with hunger.

He let her have her fill, fighting to keep his orgasm at bay. She finally looked at him and raised up. She took hold of his cock and moved it to her ass and Daniel shoved a pillow under his head to watch, his heart jack hammering. “Go slow baby, easy.” The words were mangled with the raw animalistic urge this particular act brought him. He didn’t want to hurt her, that’s one thing he knew. More than all his desire combined, his desire to protect her and love her was greater. And that alone was such a joy and relief to experience. It was like…he was normal.

She gasped when his head penetrated her tight opening.

Daniel wanted to control her pace but he couldn’t think past the throbbing in his groin. He gripped the bedcovers tight, the pleasure bowing his back. He wanted to flick his hips. He growled and trembled with the urge, breathing carefully through the ordeal of her slowly lowering onto him. How could anything feel so good? His mind and body were fully engaged saying
This! This is the fucking shit right here, this, right here, is your ecstasy
. It made no sense, he didn’t even like the idea and yet, he loved it.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d endured before he realized Sofia was moving up and down on him, rubbing her clit and moaning. Really moaning. He gasped, studying her face, her body, to make sure she wasn’t in pain.

“Oh baby, yes,” she gasped, rubbing her nipple too.