Today. Tomorrow. Always.: a Free Falling novella Read online

  I sat on the edge of the bed. “Recently?”

  He shrugged. “Hell, I don’t remember, but it was recent enough that I hadn’t forgotten. So… yeah, we’ll say it was recent.”

  I sat there in silence, thinking. Our family was in transition in more ways than one. AJ was just getting to the point where his job didn’t require him to be out of the country at least once every other month. Plus, we’d also recently decided that now was a good time for me to leave my job. I’d dreamed of starting my own interior design business, and during a talk one weekend, AJ told me to just go for it, resign, and that’s what I did. With money not being an issue, we could afford for me to not bring anything in for a while as I built up my clientele. But a baby… I had no idea he felt that way right now. Honestly, I thought that was the last thing he wanted to think about.

  The shower cut off in the bathroom down the hall and Terrell was on his feet right away. “That’s my cue. Gotta go,” he announced.

  “You’re cue?” I asked, still a bit distracted.

  A slick smile spread across his face and he clarified. “There’s about to be a beautiful, naked woman in my bedroom in a few seconds. I’ll let you figure the rest out.”

  I frowned and laughed a bit. “Ew! You’re disgusting. Just… ugh… get out.”

  He disappeared out into the hallway while I sat there thinking about what he’d revealed. I never would’ve guessed…

  Ten minutes passed and the sound of the garage door opening let me know AJ had finally made it home. I’d just taken our son to his own room to finish his nap when I heard some shuffling downstairs. The commotion was followed by what sounded like AJ taking another trip to the garage, more rustling, and then finally quiet footsteps on the stairs. He appeared in the doorway, dressed in the gray suit I’d seen him in that morning, but somehow he looked better in it this afternoon.

  “Hey,” I smiled.

  He looked me up and down before repeating the same phrase back to me.

  “Sounded like you were moving furniture down there,” I joked.

  He smiled back. “Nah, just bringing in some old junk of mine that my dad found.”

  I nodded and walked from the closet where I’d been standing when he came in, easing my hands around his waist, longing to feel his arms around me. “I missed you,” I said softly, pressing my cheek to his chest. His dark, silk tie felt cool against the side of my face. Then I felt those hands of his, firmly pressed to my back.

  He kissed the top of my hair and walked me backward into the room without letting go. “I missed you, too,” he said, just before closing the door to our bedroom behind him.

  “Are Terrell and Maisha still asleep or something?” he asked, checking the time on his watch.

  I frowned again, remembering Terrell’s statement. “Uh, no,” I said with a laugh. “But I’m pretty sure they’re in bed, though.”

  He got the hint and laughed, too.

  I finally released him so he could change into more comfortable clothes. Retreating to the bed, I sat there and watched him undress—first, undoing his tie, then unbuttoning his shirt to reveal the ribbed-tank beneath.

  “So, how were things here today? The boy give you any more trouble?” he asked with a smile. He put his dress shirt in the bag to go to the cleaners and then unzipped his pants while I stared.

  “Nope. No trouble at all.”

  Tan thighs cloaked halfway down by form-fitting, black boxer-briefs came into view and I kept watching as he slipped his pants off, stuffing them in the bag as well. He didn’t even realize he had an audience.

  “Gotta find Kai a new assistant,” he said with a sigh. “Just someone to fill in temporarily while his current assistant is out on leave.”

  The tank came off and I stared at the definition of his chest and abdomen when I was supposed to be replying. That’s how conversations go—both people have to speak words.

  He chuckled once before asking, “You listening?”

  My eyes flickered up from his body to his face. “Uh-huh,” I answered, which was mostly true. It was true that I’d heard his voice, knew he was speaking to me, but I had no earthly idea what he’d said. “Just repeat that last part,” I requested.

  AJ shook his head and decided to come over to sit beside me instead of finding new clothes to put on right away. As if I wasn’t already having a hard enough time concentrating, I now had him sitting so close, wearing nothing but briefs, still smelling of soap and cologne even halfway through the day.

  “I was just saying that I have to find Kai an assistant to replace the one he has now,” he repeated.

  Forcing my eyes to the carpet instead of him, I listened more intently this time.

  “Carla, the woman I mentioned, has to go on leave; she’ll be out for at least six months—the rest of her pregnancy, and then her actual maternity leave.”

  “Well, what about a temp agency? They should be able to get someone out right away,” I suggested.

  AJ shook his head. “Won’t work. Carla was a beast at her job. Won’t be easy to replace her.”

  “What about Reese? Doesn’t she know of someone who could fill in?” As soon as I said it, I knew it was a bad idea.

  “Uh… I’m pretty sure Reese is the only one in her circle who’s actually employable,” he said, chuckling. He had a point; her circle of friends was pretty rough around the edges. AJ had been extremely skeptical about bringing her onboard the year before, but her father, a business colleague of his, practically begged him to hire her—his ‘out of control, mess of a daughter’ he’d called her. And she was a mess at first, but AJ just had a way with people. He wasn’t the boss anyone loved to hate. His team loved and respected him to no end. Even Reese quickly started putting her best foot forward soon after being hired in.

  I thought some more as a troubled look came over his face. “Well, can’t a temp just be trained to do what he needs them to do?”

  Another shake of his head. “No, we don’t have that kind of time. Kai’s job is pretty demanding, which means he needs someone who’s already knowledgeable, sharp, and professional. He’d send a temp home crying her first day,” he said with a laugh. “Whoever it is has to have thick skin—someone who doesn’t need a whole lot of direction or coddling, and someone who can deal with his hectic schedule.”

  AJ had mentioned before that Kai’s hours were sporadic, but he never said why. “Does he have a second job or something?” I asked. “Why does he have to change up his hours so much?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t get all into his business like that. One thing’s for sure, though; I don’t know what the company would do without him now that we’ve seen how much smoother things run with him there. That’s why I have to take care of this quickly. Preferably, before he’s back in the country.”

  I stared at the ground some more, then it hit me. As if the idea just fell into my thoughts out of nowhere, I blurted, “What about Angel? She’s been looking to make a change. She’d be perfect!”

  He didn’t answer right away.

  “Think about it; she’s educated, very professional, his schedule wouldn’t bother her, and… she’d just be perfect,” I added as my enthusiastic tone died down. I grinned at him. “Don’t you agree?”

  It looked like he was going over it in his head. “You might be right.”

  I perked up a bit, thinking I solved his and Angel’s problem all at once. She’d been thinking about leaving her current employer for a while, so I knew this would interest her even though it was only temporary.

  “Her schedule doesn’t have to match his to a tee. Right now, Carla comes in three mornings a week, then one or two evenings if Kai’s there late. Otherwise, he faxes a lot of what he needs done to her home office.”

  “Angel’s already got a setup like that for when she does work on the side for Uncle Todd. Fax machine and everything,” I countered, really wanting this to work out.

  He rubbed his chin. “Speaking of, I thought he wanted her to come work
with him full-time? What about that? She may not even want this job.”

  AJ was right, but he was forgetting that, while yes, Angel did have a degree in accounting and her father had his own successful firm, she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about working up under her dad like that. The position at Arata would actually be the perfect opportunity for her to decide if that should be her next long-term move.

  I watched AJ intently. “If you think she’d be interested, the job is hers.”

  “She’s gonna be so excited!” I squealed. After kissing AJ’s cheek, I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to give Angel a call later; sharing the good news, assuming she’d want the position, that is.

  AJ stood from the bed now that his issue had become a non-issue and headed toward the dresser to grab something to wear. I was staring… hard. Couldn’t help myself. My husband was a beautiful specimen of a man and I gawked shamelessly at him whenever given the chance. Who wouldn’t? I must’ve been staring a little too hard, though, because he ended up catching me. Our encounter from the night before had left me satisfied, yet still wanting more. That’s how it always was. Without me having to explain my feelings, without having to put into words what I wanted, the distance between he and I disappeared as he crossed the room and came back to the bed.

  My back sank deep into the mattress when he came to lie on top of me, feverishly kissing my lips. I felt him between my legs, erect, ready. He pulled away just long enough to slip my shirt over my head, came back to consume me with another kiss, and then the next sound we heard was a tiny cry that filtered through the monitor on my nightstand.

  We both sighed heavily at the exact same time.

  “Like clockwork,” AJ said with a groan, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile as he peeled his body off of mine.

  “Every time,” I added, sitting up to clothe myself again. Through his boxers, I could still see that he was ‘standing at attention’, so to speak, as he slipped his t-shirt on. Eventually covering his lower half with a pair of basketball shorts, I almost protested out loud. A heavy sigh left my lungs as he turned to shoot me that irresistible, boyish grin of his as he went to Anthony’s rescue.

  I fell back on the bed, listening through the monitor as he quieted our son almost instantly, by simply walking into the room. AJ had such a way with our boy. I lay there, smiling to myself as father and son carried on a one-sided conversation, consisting of AJ asking Anthony what all the fuss was about as the little one whimpered and squealed softly in response. I leaned to the side to steal a glance at them across the hall and my smile only broadened. AJ had his arms full, letting the last of Anthony’s tears absorb into his shirt as he soothed him. He truly was in his element with this whole ‘fatherhood’ thing. He loved being a dad almost more than anything.

  My conversation with Terrell from earlier came back to me. Maybe he was right. Maybe AJ was more ready to grow our family than I thought.

  My two guys ventured back across the hallway and into my bedroom. AJ closed the door behind him again and plopped down on the mattress with Anthony still in his arms. I rubbed my baby’s back, but my attention was mostly on AJ.

  “Terrell and I had an interesting talk today.”

  He laughed. “Every conversation with Terrell is an interesting one.”

  I smiled. “True. But he mentioned that you two had talked about us having more kids.”

  He let his back rest against the headboard and Anthony started dozing again in his arms. “Mmm… I mean, it’s something that’s come up once or twice before, but not anything too deep. Why?”

  I shrugged and rested my head in his lap with my back to him since having his arms around me wasn’t an option. His free hand came down on my neck gently and he pulled my hair away from my skin. “No reason, really. He just got me to thinking,” I answered.

  “About?” AJ asked.

  “Us. Our family.”

  “Our family’s perfect,” he countered, and I could hear him smiling when he did.

  That made me smile, too. “I agree,” I said, adding the next part just a bit hesitantly. “When you mentioned it to him, the part about having more kids, did you mean right now?”

  He gave that some thought and then I had to glance at him over my shoulder when he laughed. “Well… I mean, we never really have been much for planning, Sam. We tend to do things how we see fit, not the way everyone else thinks we should.”

  I turned to face him, wanting to see his expression while we talked. Anthony yawned and placed his tiny hand on my name tattooed on the side of AJ’s neck before letting his eyes close again.

  There was a long bout of silence. I stared at AJ while waiting, but the more that time ticked past, the more curious I became about what he’d say next. “I encouraged you to start your own business, right?”

  I nodded, feeling the satiny material of his shorts against my face. “Right.”

  “I did that because I know this is something you’ve wanted for a long time, something you’ve been waiting for.”

  I nodded again.

  The hand not cradling our son extended toward me and warmed my chin when he cupped it, tilting my head just a bit so we were staring into one another’s eyes. “Above everything else, I want you to be happy. If that means putting our family on hold for a bit, I’m okay with that. Once you get settled and have your feet planted firmly, that’s when we can start discussing what I want.”

  I thought about that, listened to every syllable, wondering if I was misunderstanding him. It sounded to me like he’d just admitted to being more than ready to work on bringing another little Hahn into the world, but wanted me to be able to focus on my career… because he thought that was the most important thing to me? While I appreciated his concern, I was also a bit insulted at the same time. Had I really given him the impression that my career was the end-all be-all for me? If so, he was sadly mistaken.

  “Okay, so I’m gonna say something, and I don’t want you to be offended. Let me know when you’re ready,” I said, still wondering where he’d gotten that idea.

  He chuckled. “Speak your mind.”

  I took a deep breath and weighed my words. “This isn’t all about me, AJ. This is our life, mine and yours—the life we’re building together,” I said, adding emphasis to the last word. “We should’ve been able to talk about this.”

  His expression softened and I took his hand from my face to lace his fingers with mine.

  After a long pause, he nodded, agreeing with my logic. While I loved that he seemed to be hardwired to put me first, I wanted him to realize that his needs were number one on my list, too. We were a team—a good one, might I add. Always had been. Always would be.

  “What about a year from now,” he said, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “Hmm?”

  “What if we compromise and start trying in a year? Anthony will be two by then, more independent,” he added. “While right now would be awesome, I think a year’s probably better for you. That way you don’t have to put your career on hold.”

  I stared at him. It warmed my heart that the idea of expanding our family was so important to him, loved that he was so content that having another baby together was this high on his list. His request resonated with me and I gave my response, bringing a smile to his face when I agreed. “Then a year it is.”

  Chapter Three

  AJ

  Excited, Anthony squealed in Maisha’s lap, just like he always did when Sam and I blazed up the fire pit. Something about watching the flames just got him going. The weather was so nice we decided to sit poolside after coming in from having dinner in the city. We tried a Mediterranean restaurant not too far from the office and then walked around a bit while Sam and Maisha did some light shopping.

  “Sam,” Terrell called out, smirking a bit.

  With an eye roll, she cast a skeptical glance his way. The expression was laced with a faint smile when she responded with a dry, “What?”

  He was grinning too har
d for whatever he had to say to be innocent. “I think you should go in there and warm up your leftovers from the restaurant for me. I’m still hungry.”

  Maisha shook her head at her husband. “Mmm mmm mmm.”

  “Boy—” Sam couldn’t even find words. A laugh burst from her lips as she stared at Terrell like he was crazy. “No!” she finally managed to yell.

  “Stingy,” he grumbled under his breath, which made Sam laugh even harder.

  “It’s always food with you—figured that out the day you followed me and Dee to the store and then made us wait while you bought five bags of chips at once,” Sam complained, trying not to sound sentimental, failing at not sounding sentimental, when she thought back to when she and Terrell met our freshman year of college. As bad as he used to get under her skin, she couldn’t help but to love him.

  “Mm mm… it’s seven bags,” Maisha clarified. “I’ve known this man most of my life and it’s been seven bags since he’s had his own money to support his food habit. I don’t know if he thinks it’s lucky to get that many at once, but it’s always seven. Always,” she added, giving Terrell the side-eye.

  He waved her off. “Whatever. You don’t know me,” he teased, nudging her with his foot until she smiled at him.

  Sam sat back in her lounger and got lost in a thought. “You used to get on my nerves sooo bad,” she said with a smile, reminiscing about how she and Terrell came to be friends. I thought back on it, too, remembering when I didn’t exactly get all warm and fuzzy when it came to him either. Considering how close we were now, it seemed so stupid that I ever went through a period of not trusting him, thinking he had ulterior motives for befriending Sam.

  “Nah… that was all you. That stank attitude of yours made you such a joy to be around,” he said with an air of sarcasm.

  Sam stuck her tongue out at him and laughed a bit.

  “Sorry, but I’m gonna have to side with Sam on this one,” Maisha chimed in. “You’re a bit much for anyone to take in at first.”