"Hey, beautiful. You look more and more like your mamma," Liz whispered, kissing July’s chubby cheek while walking into the living room. She sat on the couch; my heart squeezed at the sight of her holding my niece, her long blonde hair over the opposite shoulder that July’s head was laid against. To see the comfort and ease she had with a baby was surprising.
Asher cleared his throat; I looked at him, brow raised. His eyes went to Liz, and then came back to me in a silent question. I shook my head.
"Where's November?" Liz asked, looking around.
"Taking a nap. July's been giving us a hard time; she doesn't want the bottle, so November’s boobs are on tap, and it’s wearing her out."
"Let me see a bottle," I said, walking over to Liz, sitting next to her.
"You wanna try feeding her?" Asher asked, walking into the kitchen to get a bottle out of the fridge.
"Let me see her, baby," I said quietly, next to Liz's ear. I could smell her subtle scent and my mouth watered, making me want to put my lips all over her. I could tell she didn't want to hand July over. When she finally gave in, I ran my fingers down her cheek to her chin, pulling her forward, trying not to scare her off. I kissed her softly on the edge of her mouth. I was glad I was not the only one affected. The small gasp she made let me know a lot more that she probably wanted me to.
"You need to stop kissing me," she whispered, looking away.
"Never," I told her, putting July in the crook of my arm. Asher walked back into the room holding a bottle.
"She won't take it. I can't even get her to drink it and I'm her favorite person in the world." Asher said, looking smug. I shook my head and chuckled. I took the bottle from him, rubbing the bottle’s nipple across her lips while squeezing it so some of the milk came out, and after a second, she latched on. She struggled a little, but I could tell she wasn’t happy with the flow of milk, so I pulled it away when she started to fuss. I handed her to Liz, and headed to the kitchen so I could poke another hole in the nipple. When I was done, I took July back, and went through the same steps again. Once she latched on, I could see that she was content; I looked over at my brother, and he didn't look so smug anymore.
"Shit, bro. Why didn't I think of that? My poor wife has been exhausted, and I haven't been able to do a damn thing about it because she wouldn't take a bottle."
"What can I say? I know women," I shrugged. Asher looked over at Liz, who was watching July; he looked back at me and smirked. If I wasn't holding my niece, I would have punched him in the face. He thought this shit was funny. Ahh, f**k, all my brothers did.
"Sure, you do," he chuckled, walking to the kitchen to pull out some sandwich stuff from the fridge.
"Do you guys want to eat?"
"No, thanks," Liz said, her eyes never leaving July.
“Do you want kids?” I asked, her eyes meeting mine.
“No,” she shook her head.
My heart froze. Looking at her, I could see the longing on her face with the way she looked at July. “Why don’t you want kids?” I knew the question sounded almost angry, but she caught me off guard.
“I just don’t,” she whispered. Standing up, she walked towards the back door where Beast was sitting outside, looking in through the glass. She opened the door and stepped out. I watched as she walked down the back steps to the yard, picked up a ball, and threw it for him.
“What did you say?” Asher asked, coming back into the living room with a sandwich and chips. July finished eating, so I put her against my shoulder to burp. I looked back out the door and watched Beast run up to Liz with the ball in his mouth, his tail going a million miles a minute as she wrestled the ball from him, and tossed it again.
“I asked her if she wanted kids. When she said no, I asked her why not. She said she just didn’t, and she got up and walked off.”
“Dude, what the f**k?”
“What? It’s just a question; she f**king shocked me saying that she doesn’t want kids.”
“Let’s say she has a reason for not wanting a child. Do you think that she would tell you the reason? And why would she, when you’re not someone she trusts?” He asked, shoving a huge bite of ham sandwich in his mouth.
I shook my head looking back out the window; she was now sitting on the grass, with Beast sitting on top of her. “I know it’s f**ked up, but she’s it.” He raised a brow at me. “I knew from the minute I saw her.”
“She’s your boom.” He nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, but some shit went down, and I used it as an excuse to avoid what I was feeling and pushed her away. I was still trying to hold on, but it didn’t work and blew up in my face. Now, I'm trying to figure out how the f**k to get back to where we were.”
“The only advice I can give you is to stick with it, and it might not hurt to push her a little; it sounds like she’s not going to be very open to a relationship with you. But don’t give her a choice; play all your cards, even the ones that push her into a corner.”
“Is that what you did, Don Juan?” I asked, looking down at July who had fallen asleep. If I got this in the end, I would do whatever was necessary.
“Fuck yeah!” he said, making me laugh. He shook his head, shoving chips into his mouth. “Laugh all you want, f**ker, but look at my life. I have a beautiful woman wearing my ring in my bed every night, a little girl who couldn’t be more perfect, and if God’s feeling generous, I will have my wife knocked up before the years out.”