Rising from the Ashes (16 page)

I’d totally forgotten about Burt’s nickname for me. He’d started calling me
sunflower
when Jeremy and I were just kids, and for the longest time, I’d thought it was because of my blonde hair. That was before he told me that I shined like the sun and lit up all their lives when I was around. I loved him calling me
sunflower
almost as much as I loved when Jeremy called me
sugar
.

“How you doin’, darlin’?” he drawled as he put my feet back on the ground. “We’ve missed you something fierce around here.”

“I’m so sorry I waited seven years to see y’all again.” I could feel the tears welling up. To my horror, my voice cracked, and everyone standing by me knew I was about to lose it.

“Hey now, sunflower, it’s okay.” Burt pulled me back into his barrel chest and squeezed gently. “We understood, darlin’. We’re just glad you and Jeremy came to your senses. It’s nice to have you back.”

I pulled away and ran my fingers under my eyes to fix any smudged mascara. “It’s so good to be back,” I whispered.

Sensing I needed a change of subject, Jeremy wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and pulled me to him. “Don’t be tryin’ to steal my woman, Pop,” he said with a smile in his voice.

I could see the pride shining in both of their eyes as they looked at me and Jeremy together.

How did I ever walk away from all these wonderful people?

Then, just like anytime I started to feel happy, I was hit with an ugly reminder. I’d walked away because I couldn’t risk seeing the disappointment on their faces if they found out what I’d done. Walking away had been easier than letting them down. I couldn’t stand the idea of that.

I was pulled from my ruminations by the sound of Burt’s deep belly laugh.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, son,” Burt replied as he wrapped an arm around Kathy’s shoulders. “Got everything I need right here.”

The love that they had for each other was written all over them. Not many people were lucky enough to have that, and all I could do was hope I hadn’t ruined my chance at having the same thing with Jeremy.

A loud thundering sound caught my attention, and I turned just in time to see four kids come flying into the living room like a destructive hurricane.

“Eww, Poppy’s kissin’ on Granny!” one of them yelled.

“Uncle Jeremy smells like butt crack!” another shouted.

That was quickly followed by, “Get back here, you little monsters!”

All four kids let out delighted shrieks loud enough to break every window in the house, and ran from the living room just as Chris and Michael came after them.

Chris was the second youngest at only twenty-three, but he’d married his high school sweetheart, Michelle, right after graduation. From what Jeremy had said, they were insanely happy. They had a three-year-old boy and a newborn baby girl, the only girl out of the whole bunch. I’d been an only child growing up, and I didn’t have any close family, so I’d never really gotten the chance to be around babies. I was kind of excited about meeting her.

Michael was thirty-two, and had been married to Sandra for the past ten years, so I’d gotten to know her pretty well before Jeremy and I broke up. She was one tough woman, mainly because she had to be. Michael and Sandra were the parents of the remaining three children—all boys ranging from ages seven to two. Sandra was my kind of people, all attitude on the outside but with a soft, caring center. I really liked her.

“Savannah!” Chris and Michael both yelled and immediately stopped chasing after the kiddos to engulf me in a group hug.

And just like that, it was like I hadn’t been gone for the past seven years.

“What’s your name?” Cameron, Michael’s four-year-old son, asked.

I smiled at the adorable towheaded boy. “I’m Savannah, but all my friends call me Savvy.”

His face scrunched up like he’d just smelled something disgusting. “Why they call you that?” he asked. “That’s a stupid name.”

“
You’re
a stupid name!” Johnny yelled at Cameron.

Johnny was Chris and Michelle’s three-year-old son—the one who had informed everybody that Jeremy smelled like butt crack.

“Am not!” Cameron hollered back. “Mama, Cam said I’m a stupid name. Make him take it back!”

“Are too, poop face!”

I sat there with Jeremy, both of us trying to suppress our laughter, as the kids went back and forth, and the adults tried to holler over them with threats of time-outs, no TV, and no Christmas. Michael even went as far as pulling out his cell phone and threatening to call Santa. All that did was send the kids into a fit of hysterical tears while Sandra threatened to murder him for making the situation worse.

Dinner was eventful to say the least.

As the evening passed and we moved the party into the living room, I soaked in as much of the family dynamic as I could. I hadn’t grown up in a home with so much love, and I wanted to experience as much as possible.

I sat in a rocker, snuggled up with baby Caitlyn, while chatting with Burt and the women as Jeremy and his brothers wrestled on the floor with the boys, trying to expel as much of their energy as possible.

Staring down at that beautiful little girl, I felt an ache inside my chest that I’d worked years to ignore. Guilt pushed its way to the surface as I tilted my head down to inhale that wonderful baby powder scent that all babies seemed to have. She began to stir in my arms, so I ran my fingers over her downy hair to try and comfort her.

My eyes lifted to catch Jeremy staring at me with a huge smile on his face, and I couldn’t help but question if I deserved the happiness I’d been feeling since we had gotten back together.

Shoving those painful feelings deep down, I summoned up a half-hearted smile, hoping he couldn’t notice the sorrow I was feeling shining in my eyes.

When Jeremy finally called it a night, Caitlyn had fallen asleep in my arms. I was so exhausted from the emotional turn I’d experienced that I was ready to leave. We said good-bye to everyone, and I spent the whole ride to my house trying to pull myself out of the self-induced funk I was in.

If I knew anything, it was that there was one sure-fire way to get my mind off of all the bad things swirling around. He might not have known it right then, but Jeremy was definitely about to get lucky.

“Oh God, Jeremy, I’m close.”

Thank Christ!
“That’s it, baby,” I replied, trying to coax her orgasm out of her.

If she didn’t come soon, I was liable to explode. The girl was riding me like it was an Olympic event, and she was going for gold. And considering I was seconds away from blowing harder than I’d ever had before, she deserved it!

I sat up, wrapped my lips around a gorgeous pink nipple, and began to suck, knowing how sensitive it was. I could feel her clenching tighter around me. I knew she was close, so I reached up and wrapped her hair around my hand and pulled just hard enough to make her scream.

“Oh FUCK! Baby!”

The sexy noises coming from her pushed me over right after her, causing me to moan her name like a friggin’ prayer until there was nothing left. My girl fucked like a dream, that was for sure. She milked every last drop until I collapsed back onto her bed and pulled her down with me.

“Holy shit,” she whispered into my neck once she caught her breath. “It gets better every damn time. I think you just about killed me.”

If she hadn’t just wrung me dry, I probably would have jumped out of bed and run naked through the streets, letting everyone know I’d fucked Savannah Morgan to near death. “The feeling’s mutual, sugar. I feel like I should write you a thank-you card or something.”

She bit my chest playfully and let out a quiet laugh. “In lieu of thank-you cards, I’ll accept monetary donations.”

I leaned up and nipped at her shoulder. “Ah…like a hooker.”

She smacked me on the arm and sat up, still straddling my hips and giving me an amazing view of her perfect body. “High priced call girl—get it right.”

I sat up and gave her a smacking kiss before falling back down. I still hadn’t fully recuperated.

“I had a nice time tonight,” she said as she ran her fingertips in random patterns over my chest. “I didn’t realize how much I missed your parents.”

I looked at my beautiful girl and smiled. “You think we could refrain from any talk of parents while I’m still inside you?”

She huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes before sliding off of me and out of bed, leaving me with a killer view of her ass as she walked into the bathroom to clean up.

“I’m glad you had fun, Savvy,” I said as she crawled back into bed with me minutes later. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, never wanting to let her go. “I know everyone was thrilled to see you.”

She laid her head on my chest and hugged me back. “I know. I could feel it. I forgot how nice it was to be around a family who are so open and loving with each other.”

She said it nonchalantly, but I knew how much it bothered her to have parents who were so disinterested in her life that she only saw them on holidays for the required family time. My heart broke for her. If there was anyone in the world who deserved all the love a family could give, it was Savannah. There wasn’t a person on the planet who went out of her way more than Savannah. The woman would bend over backwards for the people she cared about. She spent her entire life putting everyone else before herself, and I admired the hell out of her for it.

We lay silent for several minutes, just enjoying being with each other, and I caught myself thinking about how much I loved watching her with Caitlyn. Growing up with my family, I’d known from an early age that I wanted to have children of my own. When I’d seen Savvy holding my perfect little niece, in that moment, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to make that family with her. She was my world, and I was never going to let her go.

“So, what did you think of Caitlyn?” I asked casually, not wanting to jump right in at the risk of causing an infamous Savannah Morgan Freak-Out.

I could feel her smile against my chest, and I couldn’t help but grin in return.

“She’s so beautiful. I could’ve just held her all night. I love the way all little babies smell. I seriously wanted to steal her from Michelle and Chris.”