Fool That I Am (17 page)

Billie was thoughtful as she began the task of cleaning up
the mess left over from that morning. She stuffed wrapping paper and boxes in a
trash bag and hauled the gifts to the kids’ rooms. Her mind was frantically
spinning with thoughts of Sam as she finished washing the dishes, vacuuming the
floor, and pouring out the old coffee. The house was empty and silent without
the kids here to distract her and loneliness welled up inside her. She wanted
nothing more in the world than to be with Sam.

Before she could stop herself, she stepped into the shower
and took special care to groom herself from top to bottom, paying special
attention to her bikini area. After drying off, she slathered herself in
scented lotion, applied a light layer of make-up, and blew her hair out the way
Emilio had taught her to do. In her bedroom, she grabbed the gift box from
Connie and drew out the naughty matching bra and panty set. It was red silk
trimmed with soft, white fur and she tried not to feel ridiculous as she
shimmied into the thong and pulled the Santa-themed bra over her breasts.
Connie had assured her that Hank went wild when she wore one like it and spent
many days proving to her how sorry he was for his part in that night’s debacle.
Finally, Billie dressed with care by pulling on her best skinny jeans, a
form-fitting red sweater, and slipped her feet into a pair of Jimmy Choos that
Diana had given her for Christmas.

Standing in front of the mirror, Billie honestly appraised
herself. She had to admit that she looked damn good and that confidence
bolstered her failing courage. She grabbed her purse, threw on her coat, and
picked up the lone wrapped present left under the tree and determinedly left
the house to jump in her car.

Fifteen minutes later, she steeled her spine to knock on the
door in front of her. Her stomach was behaving like she was on a roller coaster
and her hands were shaking from more than the cold when the door opened to
reveal Sam standing there looking deliciously rumpled in his green plaid pajama
pants, bare feet, and black tank top with a look of surprise on his face.

“Merry Christmas, Sam,” she managed to whisper as they stood
staring at each other across his threshold.

Seeming to shake himself out of a dream, he stepped aside
and ushered her into his house and closed the door. He silently followed her as
she made her way into the living room where it was obvious Sam had been
watching football and drinking coffee.

He rushed over to clean off a spot on the couch where he had
left a pile of magazines and gestured for her to have a seat. He was charmingly
awkward and off-balance as he took a seat next to her. “I didn’t know you were
coming or I would have been more presentable,” he smiled wryly, gesturing to
his pajamas.

Billie’s eyes twinkled as she boldly replied, “I think you
look great.” Then her courage failed and she thrust the wrapped gift toward him
with flaming cheeks. “I brought your gift. It’s not much, but I wanted you to
have it.”

He took the gift and lifted his eyes to hers. “You didn’t
have to get me anything, B.J.”

“Open it,” she prompted him, ignoring his protests.

He obediently tore the wrapping off the flat, thin gift.
Inside was a framed 8x10 picture clearly drawn by a small child. Across the
paper were various pictures of stick figures with hilariously disproportionate
heads and bodies. In one scene, the big person was drinking tea with the little
person, and in another scene, the big stick figure appeared to be holding the
little figure over his head. Another one showed what appeared to be the big
figure tossing the little one into a pile of leaves. Interspersed all across
the paper were little heart-shaped stickers and at the bottom of the paper was
indecipherable scribbles with a hand-written interpretation below it that said,
“Me and Uncle Sam.”

He swallowed hard, blinking quickly so he wouldn’t make a
fool of himself more than he already had with this woman. Clearing his throat,
he choked out, “Best gift I’ve ever gotten. Thank you, B.J.”

“No, thank
you
, Sam,” she said softly, reaching
across his lap to grasp his hand in hers. Their eyes met and she continued,
“You have been there for me and the kids every step of the way. You cushioned
every fall, paved every crack, and filled in every gap that life tried to throw
my way. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize I chose the wrong friend
all those years ago.”

His eyes snapped to hers and his heart began to beat out a
tattoo. “What are you trying to say, Beej?”

Taking a deep breath, she stepped off the cliff and fell
headlong into the scariest moment of her life. “I’m trying to say that I’ve
been in love with you for years, Sam Garrett. I’m not sure when it began, but
I’ve known since before Lola was born that my heart would always belong to you.
I’ve tried to fight it, let it go, move on, and find someone else, but my heart
is set on you.”

A fierce light began to glow in his eyes and his body became
rigid with tension. “What about Daniel?” he demanded, his hands curling into
fists.

“It ended that night,” she replied honestly. “He was a good
man and he deserves to have someone who is free to give their heart. Mine was
already taken.”

“Good,” he bit out, before his hand shot out to cup her head
and bring her lips to his for a bruising kiss.

Billie’s heart thrilled and her breath caught in excitement.
Sam’s passion ignited her own and blazed out of control. His large hands were
gentle, but firm, as he pushed her back into the couch cushions and continued
to explore her mouth. Sam was like a man possessed as he kissed a trail over to
her neck and inhaled her scent deep into his lungs. His hands were busy, too,
as they skimmed up underneath her sweater exploring her soft skin until his fingers
encountered something soft and furry.

Lifting his head to regard her quizzically, he raised an
eyebrow in question. Instead of answering, Billie boldly whisked her sweater
over head to reveal the fur-trimmed bra. His throat bobbed as he looked his fill
before he reached out a finger to lightly trace the path of the fur. Billie
couldn’t suppress the shudder of anticipation that rocked her as he reverently
touched, cupped, and admired her silk-clad assets.

Unable to help herself, she whispered, “There’s matching
panties, too.”

A shriek of laughter escaped her mouth as he bolted to his
feet, lifted her in his arms, and walked down the hall at a determined pace
toward his bedroom.

************************************************************************

Hours later, as they lay in each other’s arms after taking a
brief nap, Billie tried hard to remember the last time she had felt so happy.
She couldn’t seem to take her hands off him and she spent long minutes tracing
the line of his jaw, his strong neck, and down over the hard muscles in his
chest and abdomen before switching around to grasp his firm behind and give it
a squeeze.

A low rumble purred in his chest before mumbling, “Woman,
you are insatiable. I’m going to need sustenance before I can service you
again.” He belied his word by rolling her to her back and began to kiss a trail
down to her breasts.

She laughed light-heartedly and replied, “I can’t help it. I
finally understand what all the fuss is about over sex. Now that I know what
I’ve been missing out on, I’m going to have to keep you.”

His voice came out muffled from where it was buried under
the covers. “You won’t have a choice. I’m never going to let you go.”

Her heart filled to overflowing with his words, but a
lingering worry caused her to arrest his progress and draw him back up to look
at her. “Sam, I have something to tell you.”

A dark look crossed his face causing his nose to flare
slightly. “I don’t want to know about you and Daniel. That’s in the past,” he
declared harshly.

A look of confusion clouded her face for a moment before she
understood what he was talking about. Rolling her eyes, she replied huffily,
“No, you big goof. That’s not what I was going to say. I never even slept with
him. He was a complete gentleman.”

His fierce expression cleared immediately with a dazzling
grin and he again began to disappear south under the covers. “Oh. Well, he was
an idiot. Now where was I?”

Billie fought not to laugh again, but the serious nature of
what she needed to tell him demanded that she try and keep a straight face.
Pulling him back up determinedly, she tried again. “No, Sam. It’s about Renata
and Chad.”

Slowly, the playful look disappeared from his face as he
searched her eyes briefly. “I should have known it was him,” he guessed
correctly, his face hardening in disappointment. His hands burrowed in her hair
with a mind of their own as he worked it through in his head. “If I had just
opened my eyes, I would have seen it.”

Throwing her leg across his hips, she burrowed closer to him
and rested her face against his chest. “It’s not your fault, Sam. Chad is the
one who made the decision to be selfish.”

“I didn’t love her, but the fact that Chad snuck around
behind my back is what hurts,” he revealed. “I thought we were friends, but I
guess I was wrong. Now he will have to live with the consequences of his
actions. He already lost the greatest woman on earth, now he’s lost a loyal
friend, too.”

Billie kissed his warm skin in comfort before pulling back
to look up at him with a playful smile. “Do you need cheering up?” she asked in
faux innocence. “I can kiss it and make it all better,” she offered with a
naughty grin as she took a page out of his book and headed under the covers.

His stomach swooped in anticipation and his mouth went dry.
Swallowing with difficulty, he replied, “Oh, yeah. I’m super depressed. I think
I’m going to need more than a kiss, though.”

Her happy laughter was muffled as she followed through on
her offer for the rest of the day.

One year later….

“Oh, my God!” squealed Jessica excitedly. “He is so cute!”

“I don’t know,” Shanay replied skeptically, her head cocked
to the side. “They all look the same to me. I guess he’s cute as far as they
go.”

Irene pushed them both out of the way and exclaimed, “Hands
off, bitches. I’m the first one to get my hands on him.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Connie announced, entering the room with
flair, as usual. “Back off,
abuela
! He’s all mine!”

Tired laughter floated across the room from the hospital bed
where Billie was cradling her newborn son in her arms while Sam snored noisily
from the chair next to the bed. “Shhh, you guys! You’re going to wake him up!”

As Connie confidently scooped the heavy bundle into her
arms, she cooed, “It’s too late. His widdle biddie eyes are open already.”

Rolling her eyes at her friend’s goofy baby talk, Billie
replied drily, “I was talking about Sam. He hasn’t slept a wink since I went
into labor yesterday morning. I had to have his mom slip him a Tylenol PM so he
would finally get some sleep.”

The ladies all laughed and joked about the weakness of men
as they took turns passing around the baby, kissing his thatch of black hair,
and exclaiming over his hefty weight at over nine pounds.

“What did Derrick and Lola think of their new brother?” Irene
asked as she nosily studied the beeping monitors, fluffed Billie’s pillow, and
checked her blood pressure.

Billie let her fuss over her since it was hard for a nurse
to ever stop caring for a patient and replied, “Derrick is ecstatic. Since he
has a new little sister from his dad’s side, he was quite pleased to level out
the estrogen on this side. Lola is skeptical, but she was much cheered when Sam
reminded her that she was still his only girl.”

Connie, having completed a thorough check up on the baby and
counted his little digits, swaddled him back in his blanket and lifted him to
her shoulder to rock. Her right hand glittered with a diamond from her wedding
to Hank three months ago and she smiled softly. “I need all the practice I can
get,
mijo
,” she crooned to the baby who had fallen back asleep. “You
will have a new cousin to play with soon, okay?”

The room grew quiet as everyone turned to look at Connie in
surprise. It didn’t last long as Jessica squealed, clapping her hands, and
rushed to give Connie an impromptu hug. The rest of the women followed suit,
offering congratulations and advice.

When the excitement died down and her nurse friends insisted
she get some rest, they all filed out of the hospital room leaving her alone to
gaze at the new baby with love and tenderness.

Sam groaned and stretched as he woke up in the chair and his
sleepy eyes landed on his wife and child. Billie smiled softly at him and he
thought his heart would burst from being so full. Settling himself gently on
the bed next to her, he drank in the sight of his new son sleeping soundly
against his mother’s chest.

“You know, I thought that nothing could be better than last
Christmas. I was so wrong,” he admitted, running his knuckles down the side of
her face.

Billie blinked back emotional tears as she handed their son
over to his father. She smiled contentedly and agreed, “Yes, little Samuel was
the best Christmas gift I ever received.”

Sam leaned over and captured her lips for a lingering kiss.
Without pulling away, he breathed, “I love you, Billie Jean.”

“I love you, too, Sam. Fool that I am, I always will.”