#pre-outbreak!joel

It’s just one of those mornings when you wake up with that itch that your own hand or your box of toys can’t do anything about.

Getting out of bed and pulling on a t-shirt, you grab your phone and go out to the kitchen to put the coffee on. You send Joel a text, short and to the point: Got time?

He calls you immediately. You smile as you press the green receiver.

”That was fast.”

”You read my mind,” he tells you in a muffled voice. ”I woke up thinking about you.”

”Then come over. And you could’ve texted me that.”

”Texting takes twice as long, I ain’t got time. See you in fifteen.”

You barely get to finish your coffee before you hear Joel’s truck on your driveway, and you’re not even by the front door when he knocks on it. As soon as you open the door, he’s through it, arms around your waist, lips on yours. He’s in a hurry, you can tell, but you love these hurried meetings, if only because he wants you so much. You love being wanted this much, this hard, this desperately.

He tastes of coffee, same as you, and a little sweat on his upper lip. It’s early, but the temperature is already in the mid-eighties. Your AC is keeping your home nice and cool, though.

You shove the door close and wrap your arms around Joel's neck, kissing him back and groaning when his hands slide down to your ass, fingers digging into the soft flesh as he pushes you up against him. He is already stiff, and you wonder if he’s been so during his entire drive here.

"Don't have long," he lets you know between the kisses. "Gotta get to a building site across town in an hour, and - "

"Then make it count," you cut him off, and Joel reacts immediately, grabbing the hem of your t-shirt, and pulling the garment off of you. He presses his lips on yours again, hands on your tits as he walks you backwards to the bedroom. The kiss breaks only for as long as it takes him to get rid of his own clothes before he pushes you down on the bed. He immediately kneels before you and pulls down your panties before leaning in to kiss your cunt. You sigh out the first little hint of pleasure, but that sigh turns into a moan as Joel wastes no time teasing you. His tongue, quick and agile, starts to work your clit.

“Joel…!” you keen, legs opening wide to give him better access between your thick thighs. He’s sloppy and loud, but not aimless in his endeavor. His hands travel up your thighs to your belly, then to your breasts, where he rolls your nipples between forefingers and thumbs. You buck against him, keening to encourage him to go on, take hold of his hands and push them against your tits to make him grab them. He hums against your clit, looking up and grinning at your enthusiasm. How he can smile and have his tongue do that to you at the same time is beyond you, but you do not dwell on it as Joel puts it into a higher gear. Tongue on your clit, he pushes you quickly towards your peak, and when the pleasure turns more intense, you start to grind against him, your fingers plaiting with his and holding on, head thrown back to your Yes, yes, yesyesyes! until his tongue takes you over the edge. Your legs twitch as you try to catch your breath, but Joel doesn’t give you much of a respite.

“’nother one, beautiful,” he murmurs, licking his lips and letting go of your hands. “You taste so fuckin’ good.”

He attacks your clit again, licking, pushing, and prodding. Your hips buck up but are immediately locked down to the mattress by one of his strong arms placed across your lower abdomen. Your pussy clenches when you feel his fingertips at your opening. The second after, he slides two fingers inside you, his tongue and lips still on your clit as he finds that magical spot on your front wall. You shout out, back arching off the mattress, hands digging into the sheets as he massages that spot.

“God, Joel, oh God, don’t stop, fuckfuckfuck!”

He’s breathing heavily against your folds, but his tongue doesn’t stop, and his fingers are insisting on drawing a second orgasm from you. It’s almost too much, but you woke up wanting him, needing him, so you let your mind go blank and surrender, your moans turning more and more breathless the further you go. When you come, there is no sound, only a momentary stiffness in your entire body before you fall apart. You’re trembling all over, but Joel still goes on licking you. Your clit is on fire, your pussy is clenching, but goddamn him, he doesn’t stop.

“Joel,” you cry out, “stop, I can’t, I need a rest!”

“One more,” he tells you gasps, letting your clit be for just a moment. “I know you can, baby, be good for me now, gimme one more.”

You shake your head and press your thighs together, trying to crawl away, but Joel exhales sharply and grabs your waist.

“Just stay where you are, sweetheart, it’ll be over soon.”

He pries open your legs again, and this time he plants his mouth on your clit, and sucks. Your upper back shoots up from the bed but Joel already has his arms around your thighs, holding them open, locking his head firmly between them. The pleasure is almost painful in its intensity, shooting through your entire body, and you’re desperately trying to hold onto his head, the sheets, yourself, anything to relieve the force with which he’s sucking your overstimulated clit. But Joel doesn’t budge, and when you start to kick, he gets up onto the bed and lifts your lower body up into the air. Never once does his lips leave your clit, and you feel his scorching, labored breath on you, but nothing else suggests that he’s having any trouble lifting half of your heavy body off the bed. You kick, and he growls, finally letting go, but only to grab he backs of your thighs and bend you double. Your swollen pussy is obscenely on display, and you don’t get to ask him to wait before he slots his lips over your clit again.

You’re helplessly trapped, bent double and held in place by Joel’s strong builder’s hands, moaning and cursing until the pressure becomes too much. You hear a splash, Joel who hums and slurps, and you laugh without knowing why. Warm liquid is running down between your ass cheeks, and Joel latches back onto your clit, this time gulping the wet before getting a hold.

The third orgasm finally tears through you, and Joel releases you to tremble before him. You want to close your legs, but your hamstrings are so intensely stretched that you have to roll over onto your side to press your thighs together. Your clit is throbbing painfully, the skin around your pussy is grated raw by Joel’s facial hair, but he’s already nudging you to return onto your back.

“You did great, darlin’,” he praises you thickly, his tongue stiff after its service. “Just lemme grab a rubber, and I’ll fuck you good, okay?”

You whimper in return and blink your eyes open. Joel’s face, blurry at the edges, is somewhere above you, smiling at you before disappearing out of sight. You can dimly see the ceiling fan rotations, but truth is you can barely see at all, so you rub at your eyes before drawing your fingers through your hair.

Joel returns next to you, and you dimly hear the rustle of the condom wrapper. He takes his place between your legs, opening them gently.

“Be a good girl for me, or I’ll eat you out again,” he asks you sweetly, and you know you won’t survive that, so you let your knees fall to the sides, even if your hips are getting tense.

He slides into you slowly but surely, one inch after the other until he’s fully sheathed. Bending over to kiss you, his tongue slow now, he gives you a moment to adjust before he straightens his back, takes you by the waist, and starts to pump into you. It’s fast and shallow, and he gets breathless quickly, huffing out each quick breath before sucking in new air in time with his thrusts. You don’t even know if you’re breathing at all anymore, but you’re catching up with him now, and raise your hips slightly to meet his thrusts. He growls and comes down onto his forearms, getting in deeper. You embrace him, pull him down and into you, guide his head right next to yours where he hides his face in your neck as you pant your encouragement into his ear. You kiss, bite, and suck his neck, scratch your nails down his back, and slap his ass.

“Harder, Joel, harder, I need it harder!”

He snarls, his head snaps up from your neck as he gulps air into his lungs. His arms curl around your head as he picks up the pace. His cock is so deep, so hard, filling your pussy to the brink of annihilation it seems, and he doesn’t stop, he just goes on and on fucking you, his body slick with sweat that rubs off on you, his breaths growing increasingly audible for each thrust.

“Fuck!” he finally grunts before pulling out. “Roll over, baby.”

You obey, getting on all fours, and are immediately shoved down onto your chest as he slams into you. Hands on your hips, he goes hard and fast, groaning now as he breaths, one hand scrambling for a grip on your lower back without finding. His cock keeps assaulting your pussy, you are in heaven, and you still keep asking him to go harder. He pushes you down, hands pressing into your lower back as he goes on fucking you, reaching impossibly deeper each time, until you’re screaming and have to muffle yourself by pushing your face down into the sheets. Joel swears, his hips start to move erratically, and then he drives himself deep inside and stays there as he roars, pushing even deeper.

He slumps down next to you, panting like after a marathon. You turn your head to better breathe, but you can’t turn move your legs. Joel lies next to you, eyes closed, mouth open as he draws shallow breath after shallow breath, skin glistening with sweat. You want to say something but have to lick your lips several times before you can form words.

“Fuck, but you’re good.”

He blinks, and slowly turns his head towards you.

“What?”

“You’re so fucking good at this.”

“Am I?”

His cluelessness is adorable.

“Yes, you are, Joel!”

“I don’t know…” He makes a move that resembles a shrug. “I just enjoy you.”

Like this is just any ordinary fuck. You smile widely, a new kind of warmth spreading inside you. Joel just is that kind of humble person.

He now draws a deep breath, sighs it out, and then sits up. He leans over you to kiss your back, shoulder, neck, and finally mouth.

“I gotta go.”

“Sure.”

He leaves the bed, throwing a glance at the bedside clock radio.

“37 minutes. That’s a new record.”

“Jesus Christ.”

You hear the rustle of clothes and manage to roll over onto your back. Everything hurts so good, and you’re grateful you don’t have work today.

Joel sighs. “You look so fucking pretty, baby.”

You hum, smiling at him. As he picks up his t-shirt, you remember something. 

”Put it on the right way.”

“Huh?”

“You had your t-shirt on backwards and inside out when you got here,” you giggle. “Make sure it’s the right way now.”

“But then Tommy will notice, and he’ll know where I’ve been,” Joel points out pragmatically, still putting the t-shirt on the right way. It immediately gets dark spots in the front.

“I think he’ll know either way,” you yawn. Joel returns to bed for one last kiss.

“Fuck, I wanna stay.”

“I want that too.” You cup his cheek to keep his lips on yours for a moment longer.

“Mmm…” he hums into your mouth. “See you this weekend?”

“Absolutely.”

Sarah smiled, just like she always did whenever she got to talk to you. The relationship the two of you had built up over the past year she had known you, was something very special. Not only did she love the connection you, from one woman to another, but she truly felt like you had a close friendship she wouldn't want to give up. Ever.

"I'm good, thanks, how are you?"

You sighed, "Good… now that I'm home."

"Adult work isn't getting any more exciting?" She joked, making you chuckle.

"Exactly." A second of silence passed before you noticed nothing coming from her side. "Are you okay?"

Sarah made herself more comfortable on the couch, "Yup… sorry that I called you-"

"Don't worry, sweetie, trust me, hearing you right now has been the best part of the entire day."

Your comment made her grin even wider, "Well I'm happy to make your day better," to which you both giggled. "I was just wondering if you've heard anything from dad. Did he say he has to work late today?"

You let her question register in your brain before you went through the conversation you had with Joel last night since you haven't heard from today yet. "Ehm… no, I don't think he said anything about that. Isn't he home yet?"

Sarah shook her head before realising, you can't see her, "No, so I kinda thought, maybe he's still at work, but… now I don't know."

"Maybe something came up-"

"He isn't picking up." That made you go quiet. "I tried calling him, and it just went straight to his voicemail."

You bit your lip. Oh, God. You knew the stress of a parent not being at home at the usual time just all too well, remembering all the times it had happened to you as a kid and you immediately thought of the worst-case scenario.

"What about uncle Tommy?" You suggested.

The girl was just about to open her mouth and answer when the front door opened. Her head snapped to her left, eyes immediately on the familiar figure of her father entering the room.

"Wow…" she breathed out.

"What? What is it?" You hastily wondered.

"Speaking of the devil," you could hear the slight annoyance in her voice, "Guess who just walked through the door?" Joel sent her a questioning look as he walked further into the living room, throwing himself onto the couch, right next to his daughter.

You couldn't help but chuckle, "Hm… maybe your father, who once again decided to work longer and not tell us about it?"

"Mh," she grinned before turning to the man and shaking her head with a frown on her face.

A breath of relief fell from your lips as you got up from your position on one of the armchairs in your living room, "Well then, mystery solved. You better interrogate the heck out of him."

"Without you?" She gasped.

"Oh, trust me, he'll get a good talking-to from me tomorrow." Your answer received a grin from the girl, followed by a subtle devilish giggle.

"Good. Thank you for picking up, not like some other people here." Her comment was clearly directed to her father, earning her a soft shove to her upper arm, making her grin.

You smiled, "Anytime, sweetie. I guess I have to go back to my boring life now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep!" The happiness and excitement radiated off that little girl, lightning up the sparkle in her eyes at the mention of the following day. "See ya! Good night, Y/N."

"Good night, Sarah."

The youngest Miller placed the phone back on the side table, before turning to the oldest one, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She cleared her throat, "What do you have to say in your defence, Sir?" Her eyes followed his movements as he leaned back into the sofa with a groan, running a hand over his face.

"I forgot to tell you-"

"Oh, really!" She quickly exclaimed, interrupting Joel, receiving a warning glance from him, making her sulk back into the cushions.

"So as I was saying," he glanced at her, "I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you that I'd be in town after work. And I forgot to charge my phone."

Sarah scrunched her eyebrows, "What were you doing in town?"

Joel groaned, getting up to look for some food in the kitchen, "I wanted to get something for Y/N for tomorrow."

His answer made the girl laugh out loud as she got up to join him in the other room, sitting down at the dining table, "Are you serious?"

He looked up at her from his crouched position as he was trying to find something to eat in the fridge. "What?"

His daughter shook her head, "You're looking for an anniversary gift one day before your anniversary?"

Joel took out the container holding dinner from two days ago, grinning when it reminded him of you. Always making sure there was food in the house he lived in. You cared for him. And his daughter. "I've been thinking about what to get her for a few days, alright? But I haven't had the time to actually go and look for it," he defended himself, but it didn't get the look off the girl's face.

"And what did you find?"

He sighed, "Nothing. That's the problem."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I have no idea…" Sarah could tell how exhausted he must be with the heavy breath leaving his lips. But the fact that he truly cared about getting you something special made her ecstatic. "You hungry?" Her father wondered, getting a shake of her head in response,

"I ate earlier." She shot up from her seat and skipped over into the kitchen, "So?! What are you gonna do?" Leaning on the counter, eyeing her dad suspiciously as he took a bite of the cold food with a fork. That also earned him a weird look from her, but he just wanted to get something into his stomach, not caring about the temperature - your cooking was gourmet to him in any way.

"I don't know," he answered, shrugging, "I can't believe I'm so fucking bad at giving gifts." Sarah ignored the swear word, blaming his fatigue, and didn't remind him of the swear jar you and her had brought into the house two months earlier.

"What did you gift her for her birthday?"

Tomorrow would be your first anniversary together.

A full years of being an official couple. While Joel was a romantic gentleman in every way possible, buying you flowers 'just 'cause', calling you sometimes multiple times a day 'just to hear your voice', keeping you in the house over the weekends and sometimes overnight during the week 'because he could never spend too much time with you', he still was a horrible gift giver - a fact no one could deny.

But more of a problem was your inability of receiving gifts. Because you hated it. You loved giving, hated receiving - not in all parts of life though. Especially not with Joel.

Though, whenever he had asked you what you wanted for your anniversary, birthday, or even International Woman's Day, he got the same answer each time: "I don't want anything." The truth was, you truly didn't. You've never been a big fan of material things, rather finding the thought behind something and a small gesture much more meaningful and loving. All the 'little' things your partner would do for you were enough - opening doors, carrying you whenever your feet hurt and taking you out for dinner on random days, were just a few of them. Yes, it may be the bare minimum, but still a rare minimum.

A rare minimum you had never been blessed with, with any of your past boyfriends. All until you met Joel and found out what it was like to have a true man by your side.

"That necklace you told me she'd like," he reminded her, brushing a hand over the wild curls he adored so much.

Sarah nodded with an open mouth, "Aaah, right right, I remember. She really did like that." They both nodded in sync. "But do you know what she loved even more?" Making the oldest Miller's head perk up,

"What?"

His daughter grinned at him, "The poster I made for her."

"True," he couldn't help but copy her facial expression, "She did like that a lot."

"She LOVED it!" Sarah shouted out, hitting her palms on the top of the counter, "She almost cried when she saw it," followed by giving her father a side-eye look, "She only said thanks to your gift, but she had tears because of mine."

Joel glanced at her, one eyebrow raised, "What are you tryna tell me?"

"Y/N loves me more than you," she flipped an invisible strand of hair to underline her comment.

The older man smiled, "Sure."

"Buuut," she dragged out the word, leaning over to steal a piece of broccoli from the container Joel was eating out of, "I also think that she would just appreciate self-made stuff more than things you can buy."

He stopped for a second to think before nodding his head, "So you're suggesting that I what? Build something?" Sarah nodded. "And what exactly?"

"Man, what do I know… You're the contractor here." But all he could do was sigh. He was in fact the contractor, but what the hell had that something to do with anything. The man put the food to the side to make some space and place his elbows on the counter, shoving his face into his two palms, groaning out loud.

The daughter of the family stood by his side, staring at him in amusement, finding this situation much funnier than her dad. With a chuckle, she passed him placing a somewhat comforting hand on his back.

"You're a lousy gift giver." Her comment though was anything but comforting.

He straightened his back to glare down at the girl, "Thanks." But it just got a giggle out of her.

After a quick glance around the room, the idea she had been holding in, as it was supposed to stay a secret present from her to the couple, came back up into her brain. "We could bake something for her."

That caught his attention. Joel didn't hate the idea. He definitely didn't. Your sweet tooth was known to the family, added to your appreciation and love for self-made gifts turned it into the perfect present.

"We?"

Sarah scoffed, "You really think I'd trust you with baking a cake?"

"Hey," he took her statement as an offence, "I'm doing very well in the kitchen." He didn't even believe that himself.

"Pff," she patted his back once again, "Sure, dad. Sure."

"I'm a great cook, alright?" he took it one step further, but his daughter was having none of it, giggling at him while shaking her head,

"You're an okay cook and a terrible baker."

He took the last bite of what was left in the plastic box before moving to put it into the dishwasher. "You can't be serious right now…"

Moments like these were Sarah's favourite. Watching her dad get all rilled up just never failed to make her chuckle. Joel enjoyed it just as much. The happiness radiating off her, with a beautiful and bright smile decorating her face, was a sight he never wanted to lose. "Uncle Tommy's a better baker than you," she quickly added before sliding past him to find the fitting cookbook on the shelf in the living room.

Joel's head shot into her direction, a finger pointing at her before she disappeared, "You take that back!" Her high-pitched giggles filled his ears with love and joy.

-

Sarah's feet were dangling off the counter while she was snacking on some of the sprinkles she wanted to put on the cake, along with taste-testing the pink sugar writing. Her father was preparing the frosting, every now and then checking on the cake in the oven, making sure it wouldn't burn because that was the last thing he needed.

They were sharing a few moments of comfortable silence in the room, whereas the girl's mind was filled with questions, daring to slip out any second as she didn't want to hold them back for much longer.

"So, Y/N's coming over tomorrow?"

Joel nodded with a whisk in the bowl, covered in blue-greenish frosting Sarah had coloured, "Yeah, I'm picking her up from work, and I'd bring her here," he looked up, "If that's okay with you."

"Of course," his daughter chuckled, putting the sprinkles down, freeing her hands so she could place them on the counter. She puckered her lips, thinking carefully about her next question. As much as she thought of a way to introduce the subject, she couldn't think of one, so she just jumped into the cold water.

"Do you wanna marry Y/N?" The words made Joel stop in his tracks, his eyes shot up to meet hers.

He sent her a questioning glance, "W-Where's that coming from?"

She shrugged, "I was just thinking. You know… you've been together for a year… and you seem happy-"

"We are," he assured her.

"And don’t adults think about getting married? When they’re happy."

He stood up straighter to lean onto the counter, crossing his arms, leaving the work on the frosting on the side for a bit. "Aren't you a little too young to be thinking about marriage?"

"For me? Yeah," she scoffed, "Because boys? Disgusting," getting a proud smirk for father as a response, "But I mean for you two… I don't know… I was just wondering."

Joel sighed, getting back to work, "Well… I mean, you ain't wrong, sweetheart. But there's a lot of things you need to do before you get married or even think about proposing."

"Like moving in?"

"Sure," he nodded, "Some couples move in before they get married. It's not the traditional way, but as we know, traditional is boring." She copied his head movements with a grin plastered on her face.

"Then why not ask her?" Sarah tilted her head and raised her eyebrows as soon as she locked eyes with the oldest Miller again.

"What do you mean?"

"Ask her to move in."

Joel chuckled in surprise, the spit in his throat almost making him joke, "You sure have some interesting suggestions today, kiddo. You alright? Do I have to be worried?" His facial expression made her laugh out loud as she nudged him with her foot, making him squirm away jokingly.

"Nooo, dad! I'm just saying," she motioned around with her hands,

"You've been together for a while… and… she's already spending every weekend here and sometimes comes over during the week. She makes sure we eat," Joel nodded along with all of the things his daughter was listing, "She takes care of me and you, she already has some of her stuff in your drawer-"

"How do you know about that?" She grinned sheepishly at him, "I saw it when I went through your stuff…"

The father took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, "Alright… how about we don't do that anymore?" Eyeing the little girl sitting on the counter to his left, but she just shrugged,

"You said we shouldn't keep any secrets from each other."

He sighed. Fuck. She wasn't wrong. "You're right… I did say that." Goddamn, always smarter than any other adult in the room. That was his little Sarah.

"So, are you gonna ask her?"

After tasting the frosting and checking its consistency, he gave the girl the whisk, just like he saw you doing it multiple times before. She accepted it with a bright smile.

Joel enjoyed having conversations like these. Obviously, he understood that she was still a kid, and he would never deny her of her innocent mind and easy-going-with-the-wind mindset, but he also appreciated the slightly more adult talks they could share. That's why he was more than happy to explain it to her.

"It's not as easy as you think it is, kiddo. Y/N still has an apartment. One that she shares. So, we’d have to talk about that first. And there's a lot of document stuff we'd have to get-"

"I asked her," she caught his attention when he came back up to stand up straight from looking at the cake through the oven window.

"What?"

"I asked her if she would like to move in with us. Not like actually, but just, you know, the idea of it."

Now Joel became interested. Of course, the two of you had had the conversation about a shared home before, but every couple had that at some point in their relationship. Hearing what you'd think about the idea now would have maybe changed. Now it was more relevant than ever, apparently.

"And," he looked down at his fingers, "What did she say?"

Sarah smirked, "She said the same thing as you just did. So really a match made in heaven," and rolled her eyes jokingly, "But she also said that she'd really like the idea… if I was okay with it."

"And? Are you- I-I mean, would you?"

"Of course! Are you kidding me?! I love her so much! Probably even more than you-"

"I doubt that."

"I don't," she stated straightforwardly, "And you're happy when you're with her, and you make her happy. What more you could want? AND thanks to her, the weekends aren't so boring anymore."

"What was wrong with the weekends before?" He was slightly taken aback by her comment, unsure if it was meant ironically or not. But then again, he was probably overthinking a lot at that moment.

Sarah smiled, "Don't get me wrong, dad. I loved the weekends with you and uncle Tommy, but having another woman in the house is just…" She shrugged, unsure of how to explain just how comfortable you made her feel. Joel and her were open about a lot of things, but Joel was… well, he was your typical single Texanian-dad, that didn't know what to do in certain female-focused situations - let's just put it like that.

Having conversations from woman to woman was something the father appreciated very much when it came to what you brought along when getting to know his kid. And the girl was happier than ever, being finally able to talk to an older person about certain struggles she might encounter that were still slightly too embarrassing to discuss with her dad.

"It's different, I know. I understand," he smiled at her.

"It's good different though," she nodded, "I really like her."

"And you'd be okay with her living here?" He finally asked. Sarah was the reason for his still-intact heartbeat. The only thing having kept him alive so far. Now you had also joined to share that position, but he was still his blood, and you'd never even try to get in between that.

"More than okay," she exclaimed, "I'd be SO happy to have her here constantly. I'd finally have someone against you."

Joel squinted his eyes at her, "Because Tommy isn't enough already?" Receiving a smug smile in return.

He shook his head with a chuckle when the timer went off, indicating that the cake was finally done. Sarah hopped off the counter to stand back on her two feet when her father leaned down to get the cake out of the oven and placed it on the stove.

"You know," he threw the dishtowel he used to not burn his hand to the side before turning to face the girl, "You might be a bit too smart for a kid your age."

The youngest Miller crossed her arms proudly, holding her chin up high, "Thanks, I got it from my uncle." That just made Joel look at her in surprise, almost making her laugh out loud.

He put on his low dad voice, "You got that from your father, thank you very much."

She dropped her hands, "Whatever," and moved a bit closer to stand right next to him, "So will you ask her tomorrow?"

"Yes," he promised her, "I will ask her tomorrow." To which she started bouncing up and down, her body full of excitement, making Joel chuckle and pull her in for a side hug and gift her a kiss on the top of her head.

She clapped her hands, "Now, let's start decorating."

-

You were running -scratch that - Sprinting through the hospital corridors, desperately trying to find the info point a nurse had told you to go to.

You had never crossed town at the speed you just did. Once the message from the other side of the call registered in your brain, you dropped everything at work, ignored the calls from your boss, just shouted a quick, "Family emergency," and raced to catch the next possible bus.

With a big breath shooting out of your lungs, you came to a halt once you came to sight with the hotspot you were looking for. You braced yourself up with your palm, trying to catch your breath before you spoke up, "Hi, sorry, I'm looking for Joel Miller. He's supposed to be in a check-up room."

The nurse looked up at you, surprised by the sound of urgency in your voice. She was quick to type the name into her system, but it felt like hours for you. Your legs were nervously shaking, barely able to hold you up anymore.

She opened her mouth, making you stare at her, eyes widened, "Room 293, down the hall on the right." You were just about to thank her and continue your race but she continued, "He's just got done with the medical exam, but I'd ask you to please wait outside until a doctor comes and approves of him accepting visitors."

Fuck that. You muttered a quick thanks before your legs took you where she explained the room would be.

If they really thought you'd wait for a fucking doctor to allow you to see your boyfriend you expected to be in the worst possible condition, they were wrong. Very wrong.

Hectically, your eyes scanned each number plate on the side of the doors as you tried to find the right one.

290… 291… 292… 293! A sigh of relief washed over you. You got closer to the door, glancing to the left and right, just to make sure there was no one that could see you walk in before you knocked three times. A quiet, "Yeah?" rang through your ears and you didn't wait for another second to open the door.

Your eyes immediately fell to the man sitting on the examining bed. He was alive. At least he looked like it.

"Y/N?"

Out of breath, you tried to speak, "Joel… w-what the fuck?!" He couldn't even open his mouth. "Are you out of your goddamn mind? What the- what the hell happened to you?!" You got closer to him, your fingers coming up to gently touch his chin, turning his head to look at the small scraps next to his eyes. You noticed the bandage on his forehead, guessing he must've gotten stitches there, only making you sigh again.

Joel got a hold of your hands, holding them close to his chest as he tried to calm you down, "Sweetheart… I'm okay," he brushed some wild hairs that were covering your face, to the side, "I'm alright."

"No," you shook your head, already feeling your throat close up, "Look at you."

"This is nothing, I promise."

While his right hand held onto yours tightly, the palm of his left one ran up and down your lower arm. You shrugged out of his grasp to hide your face behind your hands as soon as you could feel the first tears rolling down your cheeks. Your fingers pressed into your eyes.

"You scared the shit of out me," your voice was not much more than a whisper, but the room was quiet, so Joel was able to hear you clearly. He pushed himself off the bed, standing up in front of you to engulf you in a warm hug when he noticed your brittle voice and your whole body shaking.

His low voice tried to calm down your soft cries as he pressed your head into his chest, ignoring the slight pain in his ribs, remembering the big bruise that was forming there. "I'm sorry, darlin'," he whispered, "I'm sorry. But I'm okay. I promise." He moved his hands from brushing over your back to cupping your cheeks, his thumbs caressing your skin, wiping away the wet stains your tears left. "I'm alive," he grinned at you, but you just shook your head.

"You're a fucking idiot, Miller," pushing a finger into his chest, getting a subtle groan out of him, making you flinch back immediately, "What?" Your eyes hastily ran over his body, "You're hurt there too."

You tried to push his shirt up, but he stopped you, placing his hands on top of yours, "No no, don't worry. Just hurts a little."

You couldn't help but to sigh again. That man was going to be the death of you. With a few steps back, you distanced yourself from him, sitting down in one of the chairs by the desk across from the bed. Carefully, Joel sat back on top of the bed. Your eyes scanned his form as you noticed the hiss he was trying to hold back, his lips pressed together tightly.

You shook your head and closed your eyes, lowering your head.

"Did Tommy call you?"

You scoffed, "Obviously."

"Did you call Sarah?" To which you motioned a 'no' to him.

"You don't need two women in your life to have a heart attack," you explained, "And I didn't know what to tell her. Tommy just said there was an accident on the construction site, and you're in the hospital. I didn't even let him finish. I sprinted out of the office." Your story made him chuckle, but he noticed your still anxious and tense body.

"He brought me here just to make sure everything was alright. I wasn't hurt badly. No one was."

You looked up to meet his eye, "Joel, you got stitches!"

He shrugged, "Not the first time, not the last time."

"Why would you say that?!" You stared at him unamused, your mouth open. Taking a deep breath in, your hand brushed through your hair while you let your eyes travel around the room. You hated hospitals. You had yet to have a positive experience in one of these buildings. The silence that overcame the room was choking. But you weren't in the mood to say anything else, nor did you know what to even say, and Joel could read you like the back of his hand. He knew he scared you. He hated it, so he was the first to break the stillness.

"Happy Anniversary."

You raised your head, finding him grinning at you shyly, making you shake your head, "Don't. This isn't funny." He nodded, understanding what was going on in your head. Another moment of silence filled the room.

"I'm sorry. I know this isn't the way you expected to spend our anniver-"

"I couldn't care less about the anniversary, Joel!" You exclaimed in frustration, "I- I thought you were-," you stopped before you could get choked up again, not even wanting to dare to say out loud what was going on in your head when you answered Tommy's phone call. "God knows what could've happened to you!"

"Come 'ere," he nodded you over, but you shook your head,

"Joel-" you were stopped by the motion of his hand for you to come closer. The man was already hurt, you didn't have to add to that. With a sigh, you stood up, leaving your bag on the chair next to you, before walking up to him again. The oldest Miller leaned forward to grasp your hand and pulled you closer, even getting a soft smile out of you.

His hand rested on your hips as you stood between his legs while you intertwined your fingers behind his neck.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, darlin'. I promise I'll be more careful."

"You better," your finger slid through his hair as you noticed the look in his eyes while he was staring at you. His right hand found its way to the back of your neck, pulling you down to finally do what he had been wanting to do all day. His lips moved against yours as you could feel him smirking before he pulled back slightly.

"I'll make it up to you tonight." You looked into his eyes in confusion, but only for a second before you moved your head back with a gasp.

"Joel!" You smacked his shoulders gently, "You're sitting on fucking a hospital bed, how could you think about sex right now?" He just continued grinning, his hands moving all over your body, keeping his eyes on yours, "How could I not with you in front of me."

A chuckle escaped from your lips followed by a shake of your head, "You're unbelievable." You got pulled closer again, his lips smashing against yours.

"Unbelievably in love with you." Earning himself a giggle and a quick peck from you.

Your fingers softly grazed the skin of his cheek, careful not to touch any of his injuries as you smiled, "Happy Anniversary, Joel." He couldn't help but to copy your facial expression, keeping you as close to him as he possibly could.

-

You drove the two of you home after the oldest Miller had gotten released from the hospital, and Tommy had already made his way back to his place. Joel was definitely moving slightly more carefully, but he assured you he was a-okay - you didn't fully believe it, but it wasn't worth a discussion.

After parking the car in the garage, you made your way into the house through the backdoor. Joel opened it for you to walk in first, just like he always did. You gave him a quick, "thank you," and stepped in before you stopped in your tracks, a high-pitched voice surprising you with a loud,

"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"

"Oh, Jesus!" Your hand flew up to your chest, your breathing quickening as you took in the scene in front of you. Sarah was beaming at you with her bright smile, a pink poster with big letters staring directly at you.

You started laughing, "God, you scared me, kid."

Joel stopped behind you, laughing at the sight. She ignored your exclaim, running up to wrap her arms around your torso, making you do the same around her shoulders. You pulled her in, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "You really are just the cutest," pulling back to look at her, petting her cheek, "Thank you, sweetie."

She gave you another quick grin before moving on to her father, doing the same to congratulate him, when she noticed the cuts on his face.

"What happened to you?"

Joel shrugged, a hand brushing over her hair, "Just a little accident at work. Nothing to worry about."

You moved further into the house, placing your bag on one of the dining chairs. Your eyes took in the room, holding your gaze once again on the poster Sarah had clearly self-made. She had placed it on top of the table before she had rushed over to the two of you, so you were able to run your fingers over the little stones and glitter patches she had glued on. You remembered the sign you had gotten from her only a month ago.

"You outdid yourself this time, Sarah," you turned to her when you noticed she had come to stand next to you, "It's so cute."

"Thanks," she radiated her happiness on you. "And look!" She skipped into the kitchen, making your gaze follow her when she pointed to the counter when you saw what got her so excited.

You started giggling. On the countertop sat a turquoise-coloured cake, with white frosting details on the side on pink hearts decorating the top of it.

"Oh my god!" you exclaimed, "Awww, did you do that yourself?"

She shrugged with a smile, "Dad helped me." To which Joel got closer to you two, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion,

"I thought you helped me." His arm snaked around your waist.

"Well," she answered him, "You thought wrong," sending him a sheepish grin that made you chuckle.

You opened your arms to get her into another hug, tightening your arms around her just a little tighter than before, "Well, I appreciate it a lot. Thank you, sweetie. I love it." Your eyes may have gotten a little glassy, but you were able to hold it back, not wanting to surprise them with a gush of happiness.

Joel next to you cleared his throat, gaining all the attention of the room. You released Sarah from your grasped and wrapped your arms around your partner's waist. "And thank you to you too, of course," smiling up at him as he looked down. You puckered your lips, making him smirk and lower his head to meet your mouth, giving you a quick peck.

Sarah interrupted your small moment of love when she called out, "Okay, let's eat!"

All three of you followed her orders and sat down around the dining table after grabbing plates, forks, and a knife to cut the cake. While your eyes were on Joel, who was giving each one of you a good slice, you also noticed the little girl next in the middle of the two of you, happily clapping drumming her hands on the surface, that smile of hers never leaving her face.

It was in moments like these when you truly thought to yourself what you could have possibly done in your past life to deserve people like them in your life. A boyfriend that would carry you to the ends of the world, in whose arms you felt safer than anywhere else, along with a wonderful daughter that looked at you as if you were the reason for the stars lighting up the sky.

You enjoyed the sweet dinner, easily falling into a comfortable conversation like you usually would. Sarah told you about her good day at school, bragging about the grade she had gotten on her chemistry exam, earning her a round of applause from you and a kiss on her cheek from her father. Joel and you talked about your workdays, leaving out the time you had spent in the hospital. He was fine, that's all you cared about.

After the meal, you brought all the dirty dishes into the kitchen, loading up the dishwasher, Joel placed the cake back into the fridge, and Sarah was put in charge of choosing a movie to let the evening come to an end.

Her choice fell on Jurassic Park, knowing how much the oldest in the house loved the movie, and after getting a nod of approval from you, she put it into the DVD player, telling you to hurry up and join her on the couch.

Joel and you sat down on either side of her before the girl made herself comfortable and laid her head on your lap while resting her legs on her father's. Automatically, your hands found their way to her head, brushing through her unruly hair you always complimented.

This position allowed Joel to come just a little bit closer, lifting his daughter's legs to slide over to you, pulling your head to lean on his shoulder and copying your actions to start patting your head as well. Not even forty minutes later, the soft snores and even breaths from the little girl accompanied the sounds coming from the TV. You looked down with a chuckle.

"What?" Joel wondered, "Did she fall asleep?"

"Yeah," you smiled, eyeing him suspiciously once he stood up with a groan,

"Finally." He crouched down slightly, moving one arm underneath Sarah's knees, while his other one steadied her neck. He straightened his back and pointed a finger at you, "You stay here. I still have something to make up to you."

Getting a giggle out of you, "Joel!"

"I mean it!" He shout-whispered at you before disappearing upstairs.

You brought your knees up, hugging them to your body when you remembered the little gift that was still hidden in your bag. With a soft huff, you pushed yourself off the sofa and walked over to the dining room the snatch your bag off the chair.

"Darlin', where- oh, there you are," Joel found you with your back turned towards him, rummaging through your back when he crept up on you and placed his hands on your hips once he got close enough. His lips immediately latched onto your neck, peppering it with kisses, making you giggle.

"Stooop," you laughed, leaning back into his chest.

"What are you doing?" He wondered as you turned around, your hands hidden behind your back.

You grinned up at him, "I've got something for you."

"You do?" His eyebrows shot up, "Why? Having you here is already enough," he didn't even wait for a response from you, just saw you rolling your eyes, making him chuckle as he pulled you in for a quick kiss.

You were first to retrieve back, receiving a low whine from him in return, to which you shook your head with a smile. "May I give you your gift now?"

Joel stood up straighter and put his hands out, palm up, in front of you, closing his eyes along the process. Without wasting another second, you placed the little box into his grasp. He opened his eyes again, looking suspiciously at the packaging, shaking it slightly,

"What is it?"

"You really expect me to tell you instead of just opening it?"

He smiled, "Alright, alright."

You could hardly contain your excitement as he ripped the paper off the box, throwing it onto the table behind you. As soon as Joel opened it, his eyes shot up to find you grinning right at him.

"Darlin'…"

"Sarah told me you've been looking for one," you explained, "But she also said that you never take the time to go downtown and look for one. So, I thought, I'd just save you the stress."

His fingers ran across the rounded edges of the watch in the box. It looked expensive, that's for sure.

"You didn't have to do that, sweetheart," he spoke quietly, still in awe of the present worth so much more than just money in his hands.

You shrugged, "I know, but I wanted to."

Joel took it out of its packaging, putting that to the side as well before wrapping it around his wrist. Your fingers came to help, closing the little buckle so it fit him perfectly.

He couldn't take his eyes off the watch, "Thank you, darlin'," but you were a much better sight to him, "I love it," so he pulled you in again, "I ain't never taking that off ever again."

Your hands found their usual place on the back of his neck again as you kissed him back, whispering against his lips, "I'm glad you like it. Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary," he mumbled back, giving you a peck before sliding out of your embrace, "Well, I guess it's time for me to give you your present now?"

"Joel," you whined, "I told you, I don't-"

His hand stopped you before he exited the kitchen and came back only seconds later, his hand in a tight fist. You waited patiently for him to open his mouth again, even though you were anything but that.

He stopped in front of you, raised his arm and let what he was holding drop down while holding onto what looked like a key ring.

"What is it?" You reached out to grab it, laying it flat against your palm to analyse it. A key. Attached to a pendant representing three figures, a figure that was supposed to be a man, next to a woman, who then again stood next to the same figure just in small.

"The key to my heart?" He jokingly answered, making it sound more like a question, making you look up.

"Ha ha," you rolled your eyes. Always the romantic…

Joel took a deep breath before clearing his throat, "I mean… I guess it kinda is, but ehm… it's a housekey." You had to tear your eyes away from the object in your hands once again once your brain registered what he had just said.

"What?"

"So," he started explaining, his hands immediately on your hips again, "I was racking my brain over what I could give you today. But I just couldn't think of anything. Because honestly… I didn't think there was anything in this world that I could buy you, that would show you just how much you mean to me."

"Don't make me cry," you quickly intervened, making him chuckle as he placed a soft kiss on your cheek,

"I'll try," and put a strand of hair behind your ear. "Yesterday Sarah, the way too smart for her own good kid, that she is," the description made you smile, "got the idea of baking something for you because she said you value that a lot more than bought stuff." He had to take another deep breath before continuing, "And then while we were preparing the cake… you know her, she started asking all those questions until we landed on the whole moving-in thing." Throughout the whole speech, you listened attentively to your partner, keeping your eyes on him the entire time even while his drifted around the room. "Since you already spent the weekends with us and are here every now and then during the week, she asked me why you're not living with us yet."

"And your answer was?" A smug smile made its way onto your lips.

"Do you want the truth or what I told her?"

"The truth, please."

Joel's eyes followed his hands as they ran up and down your sides, "That her dad hasn't had the balls yet to ask his girlfriend." You shyly looked down back to your hands. At the little charm.

He noticed where your attention was and pointed at it, "Sarah picked that up today after school." Of course, she did… You could feel the tears coming back up. God, that girl was just too pure for the world…

"So?" His voice made you meet his eyes again, "What do you say? Can you handle three Millers under one roof?"

You pretended to think, playing with the lips he so desperately wanted to feel on his again, "It won't be easy."

He grinned, "That's not a no." You dropped the key onto the table behind you before your hands went back around his neck, pulling him in close enough for your lips to almost touch. You could feel his grip on your hips tighten.

The corners of your lips curled up, "That's because it's a yes," pecking his lips, "I'll take good care of you."

His left hand travelled to your lower back, "And we'll take good care of you too," he repeated giving you multiple little kisses, making you laugh. Oh, God how much he loved that sound. And now he would be able to hear that every single day. "Now, how about I stick true to that promise I made earlier?"

You nodded, breathing against each other's mouths, "Yeah, please do." And he didn't need to be told twice.

With one swift move, you were put onto the table, before he situated himself between your legs. His hands cupped your cheeks, pulling you as close as possible. You moved yourself slightly forward, letting a moan escape from your lips when you felt his tongue glide across your bottom lip.

Opening your mouth wider, gave him the opportunity to slip in, earning a deep groan from the man in front of you. Your fingers started playing with the hem of his shirt, signalling for him to pull back and pull it up as you helped him along with it, dragging him onto you the moment it came off - eyes immediately on the dark bruise forming on his ribs.

"Joel…," you gasped, reaching out to touch the dark spot, but he got a hold of your hand, bringing your knuckles up to his lips,

"It's nothin', darlin', don't worry about it." You could worry about the truth in his statement tomorrow, for now, you wanted to get him back on you, so you smashed your lips back onto his.

He chuckled, "Someone's eager," he started trailing kisses down your neck.

"Well, someone made me think about this for hours," you grabbed his face to bring him back up to you. You could never get enough of the touch of his lips. You would drown in it if you could. You wouldn't even care if you couldn't breathe anymore, it would be a happy death.

"And that someone is gonna make sure you won't be able to think at all for the next few hours," he whispered as his right hand slipped underneath your shirt, his thumb tracing over your bra.

You couldn't help the shake in your voice, "Hours? I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself, Miller." Knowing damn well that he wasn't. You had the privilege of getting the house to yourself every now and then or having had some alone time in your apartment. If he wanted to, he could go on for hours and hours. But you'd be lying if you said you didn't enjoy rilling him up just a little bit.

He scoffed, pulling your shirt over your head easily, "Sure, keep saying that. Keep talking while can." He knew what he was doing to you with those words.

His hands roamed your almost naked torso, cupping your still-covered breasts into his big hands, making you moan into his mouth.

You could feel that gentle touch of his on your body before it stopped on your ass, pulling you closer to him as he mumbled, "Come 'ere. Let's go upstairs."

You were held up tightly against him as he carried you up into the first floor, taking a sharp left to get you both into his, well now your, bedroom. Your bedroom. From now on, this was the room you'd be sharing with your partner. God, what a good time to be alive…

Once you had reached the bed, Joel slouched over, making sure to place you onto the mattress gently.

There were two sides to Joel Miller when it came to sex. You were very familiar with both. There was the soft side you adored so much. When he took his time with you, kissing every inch of your body, working you up just right, adoring your body and covering it with pure passion. His thrust would be slow and deep, gentle, yet just filled with the same amount of lust as his other side. The alter ego, as you'd like to think of it was fast-paced, hard, yet never too short, sex. Still very passionate, but loud and messy. Bruises weren't a rarety after a night like that. And while that was what you understood when thinking of sex, you adored love-making just a little bit more when the time was right. Just like at that moment.

His kisses moved from your neck, down between your breasts, along the middle of your torso, holding onto it tightly, until he reached the rim of your jeans. His fingers got to work on your button, opening it along with the zipper, before getting up slightly to free your legs from them, sliding them down as he started kneeling on the floor. Down at your ankles, he pulled them off completely, getting rid of your socks as well before starting his journey of kisses back up again.

You squirmed more and more the higher he came up, making him have to move his hands to your hips to hold you down and pull you closer to the end of the bed to reach your inner thighs.

"Ah, fuck baby…," he moaned in between kisses, "So. Fucking. Beautiful."

You were brushing some hair out of your face, heavy breaths leaving your lips. You didn't even dare to look down, knowing you'd probably only get closer to coming right then and there with the sight. "Joel, please…" you whined.

"I know, I know, darlin'," he continued admiring your thighs with his lips before hooking his fingers into the side pieces of your underwear. He noticed which ones you were wearing.

"You know," he gave them a kiss too, right onto your pelvic bone,

"These are my favourite."

You chuckled, "Of course, I know. Why do you think I put them on?"

"Well, but then it wouldn't be right of me to just take them off right away, now would it?" He smirked letting go of the fabric and prepping your legs up on the mattress. His lips moved down to the centre of your pussy, placing a gentle kiss right where you wanted him, sending a shiver through your entire body along with a shaky breath tumbling from your lips.

Once again, his finger hooked underneath the fabric of your underwear, only this time, pulling the centre piece to the side, giving him a clear view of your sex, clearly glistening even in the dim light coming from the moon outside.

He didn't let another moment pass before he covered your slit in little kisses, his hands having a tighter grip on you once you started moving again. You were still enjoying the soft feather touches of his lips on yours when you suddenly felt the tip of his tongue running over your clit, getting a low moan out of you. You had to remember there was still a little girl in the room across from you - too much noise would eventually wake her up and you were not ready to have that kind of confrontation with her yet.

"Ah… Joel…" you breathed out, your fingers tangling around his hair, pulling slightly once you felt his tongue movements quicken and deepen.

He slipped around your clit, running it down to your hole before drawing circles around there as well. As soon as he was up again, gently sucking on your clit, you could already feel the arousal dripping out of you, making you shudder and hold onto his hair just a little tighter. He switched between focusing on your bundle of nerves and gathering every drip coming out of you with his tongue.

"Fuck," you couldn't help the whine erupting from you. You had to be quiet, not silent. Especially not when you knew what your sounds could do to Joel. You were confirmed of your thoughts when you heard the buckle of the belt on his jeans opening, followed by his zipper. Joel had to free his hands from holding onto you to get his jeans off his legs, dragging his boxers along with them to free his erect dick. But his tongue never left your heat - he was a God of multitasking and had proved that many times before.

Once you felt his right hand being placed on top of your abdomen and heard a deep groan coming from him, you knew he had started grasping his cock in his free hand. The thought of your partner jerking off to eating you out and the little breaths coming from you only added to the sensation that had been building up between your legs.

"Joel," you whimpered, "Don't-fuck, don't stop," begging him to keep going. His answer was another strong suck on your clit, and a lick of his tongue as he slid into you. The hand that had been holding you down was moving lower, still keeping you from moving too much, while his thumb had found its way to your clit, making sure to stimulate it, while his tongue was working inside of you.

"Oh, God, yeah…" you breathed out, uncontrollably starting to move your hips as well to get closer to the edge. Your moans came out higher-pitched as you pressed your lips together tighter, trying to keep as quiet as possible, while your partner was doing the Lord's work on you.

"Fuck- Joel, I'm gonna cum," you whined out, "I-"

"You can do it, baby," he encouraged you, letting go of his erection, to replace his tongue with two of his fingers, and going back to kissing your clit passionately while his right hand interlaced with yours.

"Come for me," he breathed against you.

You nodded, moaning slightly louder as the grip on his hand tightened, your hips moving around more. The tension kept building up, encouraging you to keep going as he moved his fingers in and out of you, the wet sounds echoing through the room.

"Come on, darlin'." His whisper made your body shake.

And after the last small whiny, "yeah…" slipped from your lips, you fell apart beneath him, tightening around his fingers, humming uncontrollably, and trying to hold in the moans and groans you could've let out.

Joel didn't stop though. He never does. He only removed his fingers to start cleaning you up with his tongue, not letting you recover from the orgasm that had washed over you.

You tried catching your breath, releasing his hand from your tight grasp, as you moved both your hands back to his hair, begging him to come up and hover over you, "Joel," you whispered, chest still heaving heavily.

With a smile, he came back up to face you after finally taking your underwear off completely, his arms resting on either side of you, peppering your face with kisses before stopping at your mouth. You could taste the remains of yourself on his tongue as he pushed it past your lips to slide over yours.

"I love you," he spoke quietly against your mouth, moving down to your jaw, making you smile as you pulled him to look you straight in the eyes, "I love you too," kissing him with just as much passion as before.

His right arm moved underneath your arched back, towing you into him as he sat you up on your knees. His fingers quickly opened the back of your bra, sliding it down your arms, following its trail to mark it with kisses. Once were boobs were free in front of you, he leaned down, getting to work on them as he decorated them with his lips. You threw your head back in relief, giving him easier access, sighing his name out loud.

When he wanted to feel your mouth on his again, he positioned his hand on your tits, engulfing them in the warmth of his palms.

"You're always so good to me." Now it was your time to move your lips down his throat, getting a soft moan out of him, while his fingers came to play with your nipples.

"How could I not," he got a hold of your chin, moving it gently so you'd be facing him again, "You deserve it," going back to stealing your breath and devouring your lips.

Joel sat down properly on the bed, giving you the opportunity, to take a seat on his lap. You let your hand travel down your body, between your legs to smear some of your wetness onto your palm before you moved onto him, covering his fully erect cock. He held himself up with his hands on the mattress, tilting his head back, letting the pleasure wash over him as a groan fell from his lips.

You pumped your hand up and down four times before you were ready to lower your head, but a soft grip on the back of your hair stopped you, gently pulling you back up, "No no, darlin', come on," Joel patted his lap, "Sit down." He had always been more of a giver than a receiver. Not that the hated blowjobs, how could he with your mouth, but he enjoyed giving a lot more than receiving.

You listened to his demand and scootched up onto his lap, not letting go of his erection in your hand as you lined it up with your sex before slowly sinking down on it, your hands coming to rest on his shoulders as soon as he grabbed you by your hips.

A soft but long whine vibrated in your throat as he started to fill you up, stretching you with his size. Your fingers started digging into his shoulders, making him hiss with a chuckle. His strong arms kept you as close as possible to him, waiting for you to set the pace and start moving.

You let your forehead fall against his once he was fully inside, and you started rotating your hip right away. Moving them back and forth to create some friction as both of you shared a round of low moans, kissing to prevent them from getting too loud. He moved his hips along with yours after getting to know the speed you were working with, making you sigh out loud. "Oh… fuck…"

Joel's hand came up to brush some of the hairs that stuck to your forehead, away, giving your cheeks a few pecks.

"You know, you get more beautiful each day," directing them down to your throat and the side of your neck.

You chuckled, "You're one to talk, dilf hot-shot." Your comment made the two of you giggle in chorus as you remembered him of the nickname he had earned himself at the last parent-teacher conference, which you found out, thanks to his daughter, who wondered what it meant.

He rolled his eyes,

"Oh please," he jerked his hips up to tease you, almost making you screech if it wasn't for you hiding your face in his neck. "I'll always find you beautiful, sweetheart, no matter the age."

His hand on your hair pulled you back gently to look at him again,

"Likewise, handsome," you smiled at him, gifting him with a kiss before your hands on his chest pushed him down, while you kept yourself up on your knees. As Joel lowered his body, following your directions, you felt his erection tipping with him, nudging the rough spot inside of you, getting a shaky moan from you in return.

Once he was comfortable, you braced yourself with your arms on the sides of his head to hover above him, continuing your make-out session. You felt his hands going down your body, finding their new place on your ass as he held on to it, keeping you still, while started to move his upwards. Having to pull back from the kiss, you released a soft sigh before starting to move against him, meeting his thrusts in the middle.

His grip tightened with his lips on you again, "Fuck, baby," he hissed, slightly picking up the pace. "Ya' gonna' be fuckin' death of me." You loved whenever his deep Texanian accent made an appearance during sex. It just told you, you were doing everything right.

With one last kiss, you pushed yourself up to fully sit on his cock again. He pushed his knees up slightly to give you a makeshift backrest once you started moving your hips faster. His fingers quickly interlaced with yours, giving you something to hold onto as you yanked them closer to you.

"Joel…" you dragged out his name in a hush, getting a groan from him in response.

"You're doing so good sweetheart, keep doing," he encouraged you.

You sat up straight, "Put your legs down," giving him the directions you needed for your next position, sounding almost out of breath. He did as you asked, giving you the room to lean back and hold onto his thighs, opening up your body as a sight to him.

"So good, baby," he moaned out loud as he put his hand to your pussy, after wetting his fingers with his spit, circling them around your clit, making you shake.

"Fuck," you cursed out, sighing along with it as you started moving your hips faster, now with the encouragement of Joel's touch on your sex.

His groans felt your ear, letting you know he wasn't far from his release, just as much as you. You kept moving, bouncing up and down on his erection that kept brushing your walls, letting you feel every vein on his cock.

"Joel, I'm so close," you moaned, which was all he needed to know before he freed his hands from yours, only to bring them back to your ass, lifting you up to change his position. You kept yourself up, taking a few deep breaths, trying to steady your breathing with the small rest you got.

He sat up on his knees, wrapping his arms around you again to lower you back onto the mattress, this time with your head against the comfort of your pillows.

Joel stayed in this position, making sure to keep you as still as possible in the tight hug, as he started snapping his hips against yours. His cock slid easily in and out of you, the wet sounds ringing through your ears as you felt his balls slapping against your ass.

You lifted your arms, your fingers desperately trying to find the headboard to hold onto as you tried to contain yourself from the noise you wanted to make. All you could let out were high-pitched whimpers and gentle moans when you could've easily screamed into his ears with the pleasure that was rushing through your body.

You could feel Joel's fingers digging into your skin, his groans only getting deeper as he attacked your neck, hoping to keep it as quietly as possible. The second orgasm was approaching you rapidly and you wanted to open your mouth to let him know, but all you could make out was,

"I- Jo-" as he kept on hitting just the sight spots inside of you.

He nodded, "I know, baby," breathing heavily against you, "Ya gonna come with me?" Making you nod hastily, "Yeah?" To which you nodded again, a whimper tumbling from your lips.

Your feet started digging into the mattress as the pressure leading you to your release was getting intensely more.

"I-I'm gonna c- fuck, I'm gonna cum," you managed to get out. Joel kept his lips on your neck, gifting you more encouraging words.

"Yeah baby, come with me," was the last thing you needed to hear before he smashed his lips onto yours just at the right time before you could scream your orgasm out into the world. Your fingers tightened around the wood of the headboard as you felt him shoot his cum into you. His groan against your mouth sent vibrations through your body, which was already shaking from the aftermath of your release.

As soon as he pulled back, the two of you shared your heavy breaths, sweaty foreheads pressed against each other, a smile of pleasure decorating both of your faces.

Joel started peppering your face with kisses again, making you chuckle as you still tried to catch your breath, just as well as he still was doing.

"I love you, darlin'," he whispered against your skin as you brought your fingers back to his hair, brushing them to make him look at you.

After placing a loving kiss against his lips, you breathed out, "I love you, babe. I love you a lot."

"A lot?" He chuckled, raising his eyebrows.

You nodded with a smile, "A lot."

With a deep kiss that let you know just what you needed to know, he was back gazing into your eyes, freeing your face from all the small hairs that had made their way to your sweaty forehead, "Well then, I love you a lot too." But you couldn't let him go yet, yanking him towards you for one last, passion-filled kiss, moaning into his mouth as he smirked.

Joel pushed himself back up, slowly sliding his erection out of you, making you shiver, and him chuckle before he walked over to the basket of clean clothes he had yet to put away.

He searched for the clean cloth he remembered throwing in, and once he had found it, he brought it back to bed with him. He was back to hovering above you, continuing your innocent make-out session while he started cleaning up the mix of his and your cum that was dripping out of you. With every swipe, you buckled your hips up uncontrollably, just enjoying the pleasure washing over your body.

After he got done with that, he threw the cloth into the basket for dirty clothing before starting to look for his boxers, standing up on his two feet to pull them up his legs. You crawled over to the edge of the bed, bending down to gather your underwear before looking up at Joel who was standing closer to the clean clothing than you were.

"Can you give me a shirt, please?" Already knowing that you were asking for one of his, he snatched a dark green one and passed it over to you, who had gotten up from the bed, legs still shaky, but you could make it work.

Once you had thrown that over your body, you felt the familiar strong arms wrap around you again, and Joel lowered his head to get another few kisses from you.

"Happy anniversary," he whispered once again.

You smiled against his lips, "Oh, it is a very happy anniversary, babe." When there didn't seem to be a stop to the make-out session he had initiated, you tried to push him away, but he wasn't budging.

"J-Joel," you giggled, "I need to go."

"Where?" He immediately pulled his head back, gazing at you in surprise, but you quickly calmed him with a soft hand on his chest,

"Downstairs to get our clothes. I don't need to traumatise your daughter on the first day of moving in," you freed yourself from his hug, "And then I have to take a shower."

As you passed him, he couldn't let go of the opportunity to get a hold of your ass, squeezing it, getting a screech from you in response. You were quick to turn around and hit him on the upper arm, making him flinch away with a smirk.

"Joel!" You hissed at him, motioning for him to be quiet.

He raised his arms, "You're the one being so loud," earning himself a death glare from you, but it only made his grin wider.

His eyes followed your form as you left the room before he let himself drop down onto the bed. He ran a hand over his face, not even caring to hide the smile that just didn't seem to go away.

You were officially moved in. From today on, he'd wake up next to you every single day. Sarah and he would have you by their side every afternoon after work. He'd be able to pick you up and bring you both home. Together. He knew now the pressure of the next step in your relationship would be approaching quicker, but he decided to put that thought aside and focus on the present - and on your footsteps that were coming back up.

Joel laughed to himself as he got back up, on his way to join you in the bathroom for round two - after all, he had promised you hours.

joel taglist: @corvusmorte

Joel was late. Again. So late dinner had already been eaten, a portion for Joel set aside. So late that Sarah had already gone to sleep, tired of waiting for his return from work. So late that you had abandoned your hope for the quality time he had promised you that morning. 

“I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together lately darlin’ it’s just, you know how work’s been,” he’d said this morning, full of promises of a dinner with you and Sarah, a movie and what you’d been constantly thinking about for days now; sex. Your busy schedules had never been a problem when it came to intimacy before but with Joel and Tommy’s big new project the last couple of weeks, Joel was reduced to an exhausted, low energy and grumpy version of himself. He came home, kicked off his work boots with a struggle and lazily shuffled to the shower before landing himself on the couch with a grunt. He would eat dinner quickly, a starved expression on his face, followed by a satisfied rub of his stomach and expressing his thanks for the meal. Not long after, he’d kiss you on the forehead, grumble a tired apology, “M’sorry baby but I gotta head to bed, m’exhausted and I’m out early tomorrow, I love you”. His heavy footsteps echoed on the stairs and he was already asleep by the time you had finished your night routine, light snores being carried through the open door of the bedroom. 

This routine was followed almost precisely for the last couple of weeks; work, eat and sleep. Joel worked hard at his business, long days of physical labour to appease his clients and support his family. You worked too, but your hours were not as long as Joel’s and nowhere near as physically demanding as his work either, so in support of him the least you could do was make sure a home cooked meal was ready for him when he arrived home after a long, gruelling day, a massage on the days he didn’t retire to bed almost immediately after eating. 

But your hunger has not subsided over the last week, your cravings have only grown and grown each day he hasn’t touched you, simmering inside of you, threatening to boil over when you see him walking through the front door. His tight, almost too tight, t-shirt displaying his biceps was enough to weaken your knees, but the sheen on his arms, the way the shirt was subtly sticking to his back and chest almost destroyed you. You felt feral upon seeing him again, almost embarrassed at your animalistic reaction to such a simple thing as Joel’s sweat, but the embarrassment was forgotten when he quickly pulled off his boots, straightened his back and wiped the sweat off his brow, showing off his strong arms once more. 

As he walked into the kitchen and towards you, he immediately started apologising, but you struggled to listen as the heat built up inside of you, your body’s reaction to him so strong that your mind was struggling to concentrate on what he was saying. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, baby. We got caught up at the site and then Tommy forgot to do the damn paperwork, it was a whole mess”, he exhaled as he reached to the top shelf of the cupboard for a glass. You were lost for words, a response appearing in your mind and disappearing just as quickly as he reached the top shelf, his shirt riding up and flashing a sliver of his soft tummy, even catching the top of the dark hairs that led to the exact thing you’d been craving. 

“Baby? You ok?” he asked with slight concern, but you only noted how deep his voice sounded, the low baritone going straight to your core as you imagined his voice in you ear while he rutted in and out of you, uttering the most filthy words you could imagine, things only Joel could get away with saying to you, as he played your body the way only he knew how to do, effortlessly coaxing multiple orgasms out of you. 

As you looked at him with your lips slightly parted, as if you were ready to finally break your silence, your mouth was dry but you didn’t bother getting a drink, not caring about water or anything else. You were thirsty for him, hungry for him. You felt feral again as you rushed to him, wrapping your hands around his thick neck and, lips searching for his, kissed him with all the want in your body. His hands wrapped around you, sliding down from your back to grab your bum, squeezing the soft flesh as he let out a groan. 

“I need you to fuck me Joel, missed you so much,” you breathed as you released his lips from yours, staring into his eyes, watching them switch from fatigue to hunger as he lifted you into his arms effortlessly, encouraging you to wrap your legs around his waist, kissing him again as he carried you up the stairs and into the bedroom. He grumbled something about, “I’ll eat later, been neglecting my baby recently”, to which you replied with a whimper, feeling his cock hardening through his pants against your soaking core. 

He threw you on the bed and wasted no time taking off your shorts and spreading your legs, keeping hold of your ankles. His presence was overbearing, the difference between the hurried kisses and short hugs you’d exchanged recently, and now being in such close proximity to him, his face so close to where you needed him most in this moment. You felt him everywhere, his intense gaze on you, switching from the patch of wetness on your underwear to your face, his warm breath on your clothed core, the strong grip he held your ankles in. 

“Please Joel”, you panted desperately, bucking your hips up in search of something, anything to relieve the ache between your thighs. 

His hands moved from your ankles to the backs of your thighs, his big, rough hands gently caressing your skin along the way and pushing your thighs towards your stomach, folding you into place. 

“You missed me baby? Missed me touching you?” he said before teasingly licking a stripe up your folds and circling your clit through your panties, all while looking into your eyes. You whimpered and couldn't help but attempt to roll your hips into his mouth, but his steady grip on your thighs held you still. 

“Please Joel, I need you so bad, been thinking about this all day, all week” you begged, looking into his eyes with a pleading look. You were hungry for him, desperate for him to do something, to feel his fingers or his cock or his tongue if he would just take off your-

“Fuck Joel oh my god”, he pulled your panties to the side, and sucked your clit into his mouth, suddenly frenzied and impatient as he licked and sucked at your clit, groaning at your taste. You couldn’t fight the whimpers and moans that climbed up your throat and escaped your mouth, you couldn’t control your sounds, Joel was forcing them out of you with every lick through your folds, every stroke of his tongue pushing you closer and closer to the edge. 

He pushed two fingers inside you, forcing more animalistic sounds of you, and curled them, reaching deep inside of you and coaxing your first orgasm of the night, of the week, out of you. You came with a loud cry of his name, your hips bucking up to meet his mouth, legs shaking and twitching uncontrollably as you came down, breathing heavily and crying out once more when he removed his fingers. 

“Fuck me Joel, I need you inside” you mumbled deliriously, your orgasm not having fully subsided yet, but the need for him to fuck you stronger than ever. The need to have him inside, close to you, was all you could think of. 

“I will baby, I will,” he said as he hurriedly removed his clothes, using your slick to wet his hard cock and stroking it once, twice, before lining up with your entrance. He looked at your face with dark eyes, “Been neglecting this little pussy haven’t I baby? You’re so fucking wet for me, came so quick too, been waiting for this huh?” he drawled, cockiness oozing from his words, but he wasn’t wrong. You were dripping, a wet spot surely growing on the sheets beneath you as you looked at his thick cock, the pink head almost angry looking and a small bead of pre cum dripping out, enough to make your mouth water with need, 

You were ready to beg for him again, but as soon as you started, you broke out into a broken moan, suddenly feeling full as he thrusted his cock all the way into you in one, smooth stroke. The stretch of him against your walls had your eyes rolling back, desperate whimpers being forced out of you again as he pulled all the way out and back into you with a groan. He set a slow but forceful pace, allowing you to feel every inch of him, hard and thick and overwhelming. His hands were gripping your thighs, pushing them back onto your stomach so you felt him impossibly deep, his tip lightly kissing your cervix, not enough to cause any pain but enough to make you release a whimper everytime it happened. 

“You sound so pretty darlin’, all for me,” he said as he circled your clit with one hand, his other moving up your body to your neck, lightly squeezing your nipple on the way, before wrapping his hand around your neck and giving it a gentle squeeze. 

He chuckled at the way you smiled when he choked you and in his low Texan drawl said, “Dirty little thing, tell me how much you love it, how much you missed it”. His length thrusting in and out of you, slowly but hard and deep, coupled with his fingers rubbing your clit in steady circles rendered you unable to form a coherent thought. All you could muster was unintelligible moans, causing him to break out into a cocky grin before demanding you to answer him. 

“When I tell you to do something, you better do it baby. Wouldn’t want me to stop would you?” he taunted, continuing to fuck you and rubbing your clit quicker than before.

“I love it Joel! Love it so much, missed it-Oh fuck. Can’t live without it Joel please don’t stop-Please,” you cried out quickly, your words all morphing together, worried he would stay true to his word and stop, robbing you of the relief you desperately needed. 

“That’s right baby, my good girl, come for me,” he cooed, aware of how hearing him call you his good girl affected you and you came almost instantly, whimpering his name over and over. His name ran through your mind quicker than you could follow, a continuous chant of Joel Joel Joel Joel, until you came down from your high, relaxing instantly. But Joel didn’t give you any time to relax or adjust as he rolled you on to your front, expertly manoeuvring your body so that you were on your knees, your cheek resting on a pillow, and thrusted into you again from behind. 

He’s relentless now, fucking into you hard and fast, no longer fighting the groans and grunts that leave his mouth as he loses himself in the way you feel around him.

“So fucking good peach, wet and warm,” he interrupts himself with a guttural groan as you clench around him at his words, “so fuckin’ tight, fuckin’ perfect baby”, the words topple from his mouth as he loses his restraint. Your endless whimpers only spur him on as he continues to push his hips into you. 

“Missed this pussy so much baby, never going this long without fuckin’ you again,” the words make you cry out in agreement. You want to speak, to tell him you can’t do it either, that you need this as much as possible but the words fail you. All you can do is take it, take whatever he’s willing to give you and be grateful for it. 

“You can’t even talk can you sweetheart? ‘M’I fuckin’ you so good you can’t think straight? My dumb little girl,” his words go straight to your core, squeezing around him as he continues to spit the filthy words from his mouth.

“Ohmygod Joel” you almost scream as you feel his thumb circling your tight, puckered hole, the sensation sending new waves of pleasure to your core, doubling as he pushes his thumb inside, both you and Joel letting out a groan as he does. 

“My good little slut, lettin’ me do whatever I want huh baby? Hm, bet you’d let me fuck your ass right now if I wanted to wouldn’t ya?” he says through gritted teeth, you know he’s close and so are you. Everything he’s doing has you hurtling towards another peak, his cock fucking you with urgency, his thumb inside your tight hole, his words, him moaning and groaning above you. You’re speeding up to the peak, unable to stop the moans tumbling from your mouth as his thrusts speed up and up until your mouth opens in a silent scream and you come. You come hard. Whole body shaking as he fucks you through it, you barely hear him calling you his good girl, your whole body burning with pleasure, lighting up in flames as your eyes squeeze shut, vision going black and you can do nothing but take it. As you start coming down you hear him again, coming with a groan of your name, stilling inside you and catching his breath. 

Your legs collapse on the bed as he moves away from you. You somewhat hear him saying something along the lines of, “gonna clean you up darlin’”. But when he comes back you don't feel a warm cloth cleaning you, instead you feel his big hands spreading your cheeks apart, groaning at the sight of his come trailing out of your puffy, used sex. Unexpectedly, he licks at your folds, and pushes his tongue inside your entrance, licking up his come, before pulling you up into him so that your back rests against his chest. He cradles your chin softly and turns your head, slotting his lips to yours and pushing his tongue inside your mouth, pushing his spend past your lips. You take it all, moaning at the taste of both of you mixed together. Joel continues to kiss you passionately, as if still trying to make up for lost time. He pulls away to catch his breath and carefully places you on your back. Reaching for the warm cloth, he wipes your folds and your inner thighs before tossing it in the washing basket in the corner of the room. 

“How you feelin’, sweetheart?” he asks as he climbs in bed next to you, pulling you into his warm embrace, tenderly kissing your forehead. He looks at you lovingly, but you can’t miss the guilt filled expression written across his face. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately. I promise after this project is done I’ll have more time for you an’ Sarah. Kills me that I’ve been neglecting you both,” he continued, his voice, usually strong and commanding, was now small and quiet, conveying his guilt and insecurity of his shortcomings when it came to you and his daughter. 

“Joel baby, you haven’t been neglecting us, you’ve been working. You work long and hard hours, you do it for us, so we can live a good life. We both understand baby. Sarah knows you love her more than anything Joel.” 

“And you?” he questions quietly, “Do you know how much I love you?,” his question melts your heart, his brown eyes staring into yours with so much love and appreciation forces you to smile up at him, tears threatening to spill from your eyes at his attempt to reassure you of his love for you. 

“Of course I do, Joel. And I love you too. So much,” you profess, heart constricting at finally having him close after feeling so far away from him. But you know it isn't his fault. 

“I love you and I appreciate all that you do, Joel,” you reassure him, trailing circles into his chest with your nails. He lifts your chin, slotting his lips to yours in a kiss but you’re interrupted by the loud growl of his stomach, a reminder that his dinner was forgotten downstairs. Abandoned in exchange for his hunger for you, your hunger for each other. You laugh as you pull away, telling him to eat and hurry back to bed so you can cuddle. 

“Will you come sit with me while I eat? We can watch that Western we’ve been dyin’ to watch,” he suggests with a sly grin, pulling on his sleep clothes, stomach still angrily rumbling as he throws you a fresh set of pyjamas. 

You heard her say that and immediately felt as though you were intruding. You went to turn around and head back to your house without being noticed when you heard-

“(Y/N) please help me” Joel begged

You sheepishly walked in, not understanding what was going on. You saw Sarah retreat to her bedroom and Joel rubbed his face with his hand. 

“So uh what’s going on” You asked Joel

He started blushing, “Sarah’s having...uh lady troubles and I don’t really know how to help in that department” Joel admitted

“Oh! Well I can help with that. Let me go talk to Sarah” You said as you already started walking towards her room

“Hey Sarah, it’s (Y/N), can I come in?” You asked as you knocked on her door.

Her door opened and you walked in. She looked slightly embarrassed but also relieved she wasn’t still talking with her dad about her problems.

“So what’s going on? Anything I can help with?” You asked, not wanting to push her or make her uncomfortable

“I’ve had my period before, it’s not like I just got it...” She started “But I’ve never tried anything besides pads and I wanted to buy some stuff at the store. When I told my dad I needed money, he kept asking for what and then I finally told him and it got weird. He just got awkward, which made me awkward. Then it turned into a big thing”

“Ahh yeah guys get weirdly awkward about this stuff even though it’s the most natural thing. How about I take you to the store and buy you some stuff and explain how it all works?” You offered

“Really? You’d do that for me?” She asked, shocked you were so okay with it all.

“Of course I would! Someone’s gotta help you and I think I have more experience with periods than your dad” You laughed

You both left her room and went out to the living room where Joel was.

“Hey so we are gonna run to the store and we will be right back” You told him, giving him a look to not say anything dumb

“Oh ok great, I’ll see ya both when you get back” Joel told you both

As you walked out, you turned around and saw him mouth ‘thank you’ to you, and you nodded and gave him a small smile in return.

You are Sarah picked up everything you thought she might need including snacks. You got back to their house and Sarah went to put everything away in her room, leaving you and Joel alone in the living room.

“I cannot thank you enough for that. I have no idea what I’m doin in that department if you couldn’t tell” He said

“Don’t even worry about it, Sarah’s a great girl and I enjoy her company.” You told him.

Sarah poked her head into the living room, “Hey guys, I’m kind of tired so I think I’m going to just lay down for the rest of the night”

“Alright get some rest” Joel spoke softly to her

She came over and gave you a big hug, not letting go for a few seconds.

“Thank you” She whispered into the hug

“Of course” You whispered right back to her, hugging her just as tight.

She turned and gave her dad a hug before she went off to bed.

“Well I’d say she really likes you, damn. Got a bigger hug than I did” He chuckled “Want to stay and hang out?”

“Yeah that sounds nice” You spoke a little too eagerly

He eyed you with a knowing look and gave you a slight smirk. He led you over to the couch where you both sat and started talking. You both talked about anything and everything for hours.

“Hey you gotta let me pay you for whatever you bought Sarah at the store” He said

“Joel please, you don’t have to pay me back, it was nothing” you responded

“That wasn’t nothin’. That meant a lot to Sarah and a heck of a lot to me. I gotta pay you back somehow” He said seriously

“It was only a couple bucks, no need to give me money” You tried to say convincingly 

“Well then there’s gotta be something else I can do for you...or to you” He said lowly

You started blushing, Joel had never come onto you like this before. You always wanted him but never thought he would want you.

“Hmm I think I can think of a few things you could do to me” You said

warnings || fluff/smut ➵ unprotected sex ➵ piv sex ➵ oral (m receiving) ➵ fingering ➵ overstimulation ➵ facial & cum ig (tell me if i miss anything)

austin was hot.

she was sure that was one of her first thoughts as she’d stepped off the plane, quick to push her suddenly-heavy locks out of her face. lugging luggage and a young teen with her certainly didn’t make it better, but the light gust of fresh air when she stepped out of the airport left her sighing deeply in relief.

flagging down a taxi was simple enough, but getting her sister to help place their suitcases in the trunk was not.

“nicole - please get off your ass and help me!” she said it in such a sweet voice, that her harsh choice of words seemed to both mildly bewilder and amuse the driver.

no one called nicole ‘nicole’, except, of course, her big sister - and even then, only to frighten her. to everyone else she was just nicky and, if they were real close, nick.

swallowing sharply at the implied warning - the use of her full name - she did, indeed, get off her ass and help push the last suitcase into the trunk.

they piled into the backseat, the cool of the a.c. soothing the light flush on the sisters’ skin. she’s quick to give the driver the address, and he nods, setting off.

neither of them had imagined ever moving back to austin, but here they were.

it’d been about 13 years, as far as she remembers, and the scenery had changed significantly. more people bustled around the streets than there had been before, more businesses had seemingly popped up, and everything seemed fancier.

nicky wouldn’t have noticed the change, having moved alongside her family at the ripe age of a year old, but her significantly older sister could.

she still remembers how her parents had sat her down - on a pretty summer evening before her freshman year. they’d mentioned many things - how the family was due for a new start, how austin wasn’t so feasible for them anymore, and so on. the only thing she’d heard was change and loss.

and that's what it was for her. her whole life turned upside on its head, as the family of 4 made the move across the country to the cold state of michigan. and that’s where they’d stayed - for the rest of her childhood, and then her adulthood, too.

her parents had been young when they’d had her. very young, and she sometimes sensed the sadness that she caused them because of it. they never tried to be outward about it, and her life had been as happy as she could have realistically wanted it.

and, though she loved her young sister, she knew that she became less important in the eyes of her parents after nicky’s birth, taking the back-burner to make space for the family’s golden child, conceived with careful planning and meticulous care - as opposed to the case that she’d been.

now, though, being much older, she didn’t let that bother her, though she never felt particularly at home in michigan. in fact, the last place she’d felt at ease had been austin, and when her father had stated that he couldn’t continue to find renters for their old property there, and was thinking of selling it, she was quick to discourage him, swaying him by stating she’d be more than happy to stay there, renting under her parents. they’d been excited at the notion of being able to keep the house, she was happy to get out of there, and nicky was… well, she was, frankly, devastated at the thought of her big sister being several states away.

regardless of the tense family dynamic, the both of them had remained steadfastly bonded, with her providing the role of a caretaker as much as she was a sister to nicky when her parents found themselves unable to relate to or understand their young daughter. nicky’d begged for weeks to travel with her sister, and her parents had been - to put it lightly - hesitant, worried that the big change would affect their daughter’s development.

nicky was outgoing, for sure, and she had her friends and her school - but she knew all those came and went. the only rock she’d truly had in her life was her sister, and the notion of losing her had been too much to bear.

she’d gotten ill after that first week it was announced - it was as much a physical sickness as it was a psychological one - and the wallowing she had done at the advent of the news had only spurred the sickness to be harsher.

her parents had had to reprioritize after that, finally grasping the profound effect the separation might have on the two.

and that’s what led them here - just a few blocks away from her childhood home.

nicky wasn’t sure how exactly she felt about the suburban environment after their last few years in an apartment at the heart of the city, but when she looked over, she could see her sister’s happy - nay, giddy - face. that was definitely a big plus.

she had practically fallen out of the car in her excitement, and she spent just a minute marvelling at the fact that building hasn't changed a bit from when she last saw it.

it had transported her back to her teenage self, and, lost in the moment, the taxi driver wondered if he should remind her of her bags and his fare. nicky, who had been less of a help on the ride here, started unloading them herself, and it took until the second suitcase for him to help her.

“just give her a minute,” she mumbles, making him laugh lightly. hearing the conversation, she snaps her head back, realizing that most of the bags were already on the pavement.

“oh! sorry,” she fished into her wallet, producing his fare, which he accepted with a nod and salute. she smiled, the two sisters thanking him and waving him off, before turning back to their place, “excited?” she mumbles it to nicky.

“incredibly,” she said it with a faux-bored expression, but even she could appreciate the extra space this house would provide them.

she walks up the patio steps, slotting the key she’d so delicately carried the entire journey here into the lock, and hearing the distinct click it made when it opened.

the sound of a new beginning.

it'd been a few weeks, and everything was shockingly alright. the house felt more like home to her than anywhere she'd ever been, and though nicky was still adjusting, she felt infinitely better in a somewhat unfamiliar environment with her sister, as opposed to a familiar one without her. the house had three bedrooms, and nicky’d happened to pick her childhood bedroom out of the two offered to her, and, though nicky hadn't realized yet, she could see the love she’d put into the bedroom when she was younger: chipped wallpaper where she’d put her posters, a faint ring of liquid on the windowsill from where she'd kept her potted plant, the creak of the bed whenever someone would sit on it.

hey, she never said it was perfect, and they'd been quick to make their way to the furniture store closer to the city to find some new things for the place. all she was glad about was that there was no need for renovations in the old house.

they'd found a lot of time to spend together; having moved early into the summer, they'd hoped nicky would get acquainted with the change before going to school. that’d also left her to be a somewhat bored teen, so she did what she, as a younger sibling, did best: annoy her sister.

of course, she didn't mind, simply happy they had a chance to hang out, something that had been harder to do for her between work back in michigan, and her school. currently, she was also taking a break, having left her job, and having a new one lined up in another month.

that left ample time for them to catch up on all the movies and t.v. they'd had to watch, and for the older sister to teach nicky a thing or two about good music. she couldn't have her sister entering high school with a bad taste of music - it'd be blasphemous. she'd been brushing up on her housekeeping abilities as well, so the time also consisted of teaching nicky of how to cook, and keep everything in the house in order to minimize the risk of damage.

that time had begun to dwindle as of recent, with nicky being out of the house more often. she'd come into her sister's room sporadically, in order to ask her permission to meet with a friend. she'd tend to say yes, considering her sister was old enough to handle herself, though she was always a little shocked at the speed at which nicky made friends.

on one fine morning, she finally sat her down.

“so, who's this friend you've been spending all your time with?” it'd been in the middle of breakfast, and nicky'd become frozen, spoonful of cereal sticking out of her mouth. she’s quick to realize the awkward position, pulling the spoon out of her mouth, and hastening her chewing in order to answer the question more quickly.

“you haven't met her? oh my god, you absolutely have to. she's been showing me around the place - apparently she knows all the coolest spots, cause her and her dad - they've been living here for, like, forever, and-” the sudden onslaught of information made the older sister practically recoil, before it was replaced by an amused chuckle.

“well, mom and dad were worried about how well you'd adjust, but it seems like you're doing just fine.” nicky smiled too, though it was a little sheepish, “so, where did you say she stayed?” she was still slightly confused as to how nicky had met her, as she'd never exactly strayed very far from the house.

“oh, she lives next-door. didn't I mention?” the information was jarring for a moment, as it seemed a massive oversight on her part to not even notice her adjacent neighbors, but she suddenly found herself remembering something. there had been a young girl coming out of the house next door with a bag slung over her shoulder, and her hair pulled back and under a visor to protect her from the blinding texan sun. she’d been out to attend to some of the plants she had bought for the porch, and she had looked up when she’d heard the girl’s crunching steps on the somewhat gravelly pavement.

she’d smiled and waved at her, and she’d nodded back, just slightly confused by the encounter. of course, due to the nature of it, she’d promptly forgotten about it by evening, but she was quickly coming to realize that this must be the girl that nicky was talking about.

“wait - she’s the one with the big hair, wears band shirts?” nicky nods enthusiastically, and she smiles approvingly. the young girl seemed sweet enough, and she was more than happy that nicky had already found a friend.

the next week, nicky had been begging that they invite sarah over for dinner. it’d been a chill weekend anyways, so she was definitely not opposed to the idea, but she was quick to extend the invitation.

“okay, okay - invite her over on sunday. tell her to invite her parents too; it’d be nice to meet the neighbors.” nicky was quick to shake her head.

“parent, it’s just her and her dad.” she corrected herself quickly.

“right, ‘f course. invite him over too, then.” nicky nodded excitedly, rushing over to her room to get on the phone with sarah along the street.

that sunday, she did join the sister’s for dinner, but, as she’d been ushered into the house by two friendly smiles, she seemed to putting off a phrase at the tip of her tongue.

“s’everything ‘lright, hun?” she was quick to notice her guest’s guarded appearance, as she’d sat on the couch with nicky.

“hmm? oh, yeah, yeah. it’s just - my dad’s working tonight, so he couldn’t make it.” she waved her off.

“oh, don’t worry about that, we’re just happy you’re here!”

nicky echoed the sentiment, and the two young girls spent their time talking and laughing, a couple miscellaneous snack bowls spread over the coffee table as sarah became more comfortable. they’d migrated to the dining table when they’d been served dinner. she didn’t tend to cook for guests, so she attempted to pull out all her makeshift stops and, considering the end product, she was quite satisfied with the result.

no one was more excited than nicky and sarah, though - the both of them practically scarfing down the delicious meal. the conversation had turned to include all three of them, and sarah was beginning to reacquaint the both of them to austin, while they entertained her with stories of their time in michigan.

though they’d tried their very best, neither girl came all that close to finishing all the food she’d set out, so she was quick to package it up, sending sarah on her way with the food as a nod to her father’s missed opportunity.

“are you sure? i mean, i don’t know if i can take this-”

“yes, you can. unless you don’t think he’ll like it-”

“no! absolutely not, he’ll love it, it’s just-”

“sarah.” the faux-strict tone made sarah’s face crack into a smile, before she nodded, tucking the packet under her arm as she turned to say her goodbyes to nicky.

once she’d left, she pounced on her older sister.

“isn’t she great?” startled, she laughed, before nodding.

“definitely.”

june passed quickly, and, by july, she’d finished the paperwork for the house, for her job, and for nicky’s school. she was glad to know that it was the same one that sarah went to, and, with the added comfort of her sister spending increasing amounts of time exploring austin, she’d sat her cramped joints down in front of the t.v., vying at the chance to enjoy some trashy reality or game show.

though the sun still provided sweltering heat, when she left the kitchen and living room windows slightly ajar, she could feel the hint of a breeze work in place of their energy-consuming a.c. - which she’d turned off for that exact reason.

she turned her head from the t.v., the contestants on the screen continuing to speak with the host, and she let her eyes drift over the sliver of scenery that she could see through the half-obstructed kitchen windows. some of her neighbors had put up american flags. some were old, new, tattered, printed, there was even one that seemed to be homemade. of course, she knew this behavior was really only reserved in this neighborhood during this time of year, as the texans prepared to celebrate the 4th of july.

reminiscing of her own experiences with the holiday: going swimming with friends, eating good meals, and the occasional barbecue at a friend’s place - she was caught off guard when she heard the doorbell ring. it made her jump, but she quickly composed herself, standing up and brushing off her clothes.

she ran her fingers through her hair and, hoping she looked presentable, she opened the door.

it was her neighbor on her other side, a woman by the name of martha. she was a little older - her and her husband - and they were absolute sweethearts. in fact, they were the first to greet the new neighbors, back on their second day here. she was looking up at her with an excited smile.

“martha, hi! what can i do for you!”

“well - i was just wondering if you’d join us: we’re having a little barbecue tomorrow for the 4th, and i’ve invited a few of the neighbors. we’d really love to have you and nicky.”

she was just a bit taken aback by the invitation, but she didn’t hesitate in her response.

“of course, we’d be happy to be there! shall i bring anything?”

“no, of course not, dear. we’re hosting, just bring your little one.” she let out a light laugh, agreeing. martha bid her a quick goodbye, and headed in the next house’s direction - the millers.

perfect, she thought, nicky’ll have some fun too, then.

july the 4th, and a neighborhood barbecue. it’s a nation-wide phenomenon, then.

nicky’d been significantly more excited than her, once again, proving herself to be the more social one. nevertheless, as the younger girl got ready the next morning, her older sister spent her time finishing a tin of muffins. martha’d assured her she didn’t have to bring anything, but it almost hurt her soul to show up empty-handed. if she’d calculated correctly - and she’d hoped she’d done - she’d made just about enough for the whole group.

by 11:30, they were both ready, and she’d placed two boxes of them in nicky’s hand, while she carried the other two. the both of them made their way over, and she noticed the large group mingling in their yard and backyard. she could see martha’s husband, john, commandeering their large grill, a corona in his hand. she looked around for martha, and caught the eye of the woman as she turned away from greeting another guest.

“oh, you two ‘re here, perfect.”

“hey, martha. look, i know what you said, but-” martha gasped in delight at the boxes as she neared and noticed them, lightly taking them off of her.

“they look great; you haven’t stressed making them, have ya?”

“no - no, it’s my pleasure, really.” martha smiled at her, a mix of graciousness and happiness, before turning her attention to nicky.

“hey, nicky. how’re ya holding up?” nicky nodded.

“good, pretty good. thanks for having us.” she waved her hand at the notion, ushering the both of them inside.

for the first hour, she got acquainted with martha’s husband, the smiths from across from them, and marriots from down the road. they were all very curious about michigan and she, in turn, curious about how much exactly austin had changed since she’d last been here. at the same time, nicky was talking to a pair of twins a year younger than her who lived about two houses down. they were pretty cool, and were going to the same school as her, so they were filling her in on some of the school-wide drama: stuff sarah never cared so much about.

speaking of which, by about 12:30, she hears sarah’s voice greeting someone, and she turns her head, waving at her. behind her is her father, two packs of cold ones in his hands, that he sets down as he greets the hosts. sarah’s quick to detach from him, saluting him goodbye, as she instead makes her way over to nicky and the two other girls.

nicky's older sister had been enraptured in a conversation about the new dog the marriots were getting next week, when she felt someone come up to her.

john had brought joel over to the group, and he integrated without interrupting the story, letting mr. marriot express his excitement for the miniature pinscher they were getting. once he was done, he notices the newest member of his audience.

“hey! joel, how’re ya doin’?” his words turned the attention of everyone in the group, and she realized that this was the coveted joel miller: the man she missed for that one dinner. she turned her head to look at him, flashing him a friendly smile, but it almost froze on her face as she drank in his appearance.

good god, was he fine. messy hair that he’d pushed back, a full beard and an intense gaze. jesus, he was piercing straight through her, his eyes boring into hers while his mouth reflected a polite smile. she averted her gaze for a moment, before john is quick to introduce them.

“and this is joel; him and his daughter live right next door to you guys.” she nods, reaching over to shake his outstretched hand.

“nice to meet you; you’re sarah’s dad?” he nods, smiling at the mention of his daughter. she made the mistake of looking up to catch his gaze, and she felt her breath hitch. the moment passed as she released his hand, but, when she looked back up at his face for a half-second, as ms. smith began talking about her daughter, she swore she saw a smirk in the corner of his mouth.

the lunch had been lovely, and the company had been better. she’d heard stories of four neighbor’s dogs, and seven neighbor’s kids, and then stories of john and martha’s holiday the previous winter, and she felt much closer to the entire neighborhood. nicky had been bustling between her and her friends the entire time, as had sarah, but with her father.

speaking of whom - joel was interesting. he seemed just a bit tired, and maybe bit quiet compared to the others, but he had managed to find a keen amusement in making her squirm. and how could she not? this attractive, sweet, hot, funny, hot, gentlemanly, hot single dad was meeting her eyes every few moments with a gaze that made it look like he wanted to make her forget her name.

did she mention he was hot?

as was she, after a few hours of this strange back and forth, where the both of them seemed to be enraptured in the conversations they were in, but couldn’t seem to take their attention off each other.

jesus christ - he’s your neighbor. and he’s 10 years older than you. and he’s got a daughter who is best friends with your sister!

she jumped when nicky had come up to her, shocked by the feeling of practically materializing her sister.

“hey, i was wondering if i could go over to sarah’s place? i’ll be home in the evening.” nicky seemed a little tired of the party, obviously not the absolute best scene for a teenager like her.

“huh? oh, um - is she and her dad okay with that?”

“i’m alright with it,” a deep voice came from behind her, and she whipped her head around. joel had a kind smile on his face, and he was looking over at nicky, nodding.

“oh, thank you mr. miller! i appreciate it.” nicky smiled back up at him, before looking at her sister with practically puppy eyes.

“alright, nicky. be home by 5.”

“by 6, see you!” nicky rushed off before she had a chance to argue, and she opened her mouth, stuck between bemusement and amusement at her gall. joel laughed behind her, a deep, quiet noise. she didn’t realize how close he was to her, feeling the vibrations of his body in her own. she turned to properly face him, taking a half-step back to allow herself a more comfortable angle to look at him.

“nicky’s always so excited to hang out with sarah, and i can see why: she’s really sweet.” he smiled at the compliment for his daughter, his eyes holding a far-away quality that indicated his reminiscing of her.

“yeah - yeah, nicky too. sarah’s always harpin’ me to be able to go out with her.” he took a breath as he snapped back to look at her, “you’re new to the neighborhood then.” she smiled.

“yeah, we just moved in last month.” he nodded, gesturing around.

“it’s not a bad place, when you’re used to it.” there’s a joking twang in his tone.

“it’s not a bad place, even when you aren’t.” a light chuckle fell from him, as he took another swig of his beer. she could feel the proximity heating her up, so she brushed some hair out of her face, “i think i’ll step out for a moment. d’ya wanna join me?” she gestured to the door, and he shrugged.

“why not.”

the yard was more empty now, as people had begun leaving the gathering, or entering the house as the food had dwindled. though, still placed on the table, were a few of the many muffins she had made. she walked over, him in invisible tow, and she took one, handing it over to him.

“do me a favor, tell me what you think.” he seemed a bit confused, but obliged her, eating the muffin with great care. maybe exaggerated, but the expression on his face made her laugh, so she didn’t mind.

“this is great! martha went all out for these.” she nodded at the praise, him oblivious that it should have been directed towards her.

“martha definitely did. those were mine, though.” he looked back at her, in a mixture of impress and awe.

“well - you’re as good a baker as you are a cook, then.” she laughed at the reference to their lost dinner.

“oh, you did get it from sarah. perfect, what’d you think?”

“i thought that i regretted missing the chance to meet you then.”

suddenly, she felt the conversation had veered away from her ability to make food, and more towards - well, her. she went to retort, but heard her phone’s tone go. she snapped her head to her pocket, mumbling an apology as she did so.

it wasn’t anything important, thankfully, but it did give her an opportunity to check the time and, true to belief, it seemed that, very soon, she’d have overstayed her welcome.

“shit, it’s later than i thought.” she looked up at him, almost apologetically.

“you’re heading home?” though she wasn’t a master at reading faces, she could almost swear there was a hint of disappointment on his.

“well, joel, you’re a hard man to get a hold of. so, mind helping me bring these boxes back?” she gestured to the four boxes, and, in her own roundabout manner, made the bold move of inviting him over.

was it even bold? he lived a few meters from the place anyway. he smiled though, and, in his own gentlemanly manner, agreed immediately. he grabbed three of the boxes before she could stop him, and she almost sheepishly took the last box back up the street with him, pausing for only a moment to unlock the door to hers, before ushering him into the place.

he seemed almost hesitant to step too far in, but she waved it off, telling him to make himself comfortable as he set the boxes down.

“want anything? water, beer? something to eat?” he held his hand up, shaking his head, but did indulge in sitting at her dinner table. she ignored his gesture, taking out two cans for the both of them, before sitting in the seat beside him. he didn’t seem to mind, though, taking the cold beverage gratefully. it made her smile: at least the heat was affecting the both of them.

she took a long, almost wincing sip of hers, having almost forgotten how strong the liquid tasted in her mouth.

“sarah mentioned you’re a contractor?” it was a feeble attempt at reigniting their conversation; truly, she just didn’t want him to leave yet. he seemed to notice that notion, as he took a moment to answer, looking up at her between sips.

“yeah, yeah. me and my brother.” it was new info, and she nodded, rubbing at her nose lightly as she concentrated on the tab of the can, “so, how’d you find the place - the people?”

“they’re - uh, they’re really nice, i guess. everyone seems really friendly.” he nods.

“sure, sure. i’m sure it’s a little annoying though - everyone’s a bit older, right?” she looked up at him, and he had an unreadable expression on his face.

“well, i don’t mind older.” she maintained eye contact as she saw his smile twist, lip curling into a smirk, one he tried to hide behind his drink, “in fact, i think it’s better. older guys tend to be more mature - put together, you know?”

“guys?” his face betrayed his shock at her directness, and she suppressed a laugh.

“well, that is what you’re asking, aren’t you?” he held a hand up in surrender.

“and if i was?” she stuck her tongue into the side of her cheek, surveying the space between them.

“well, mr. miller. i’d tell you to stop beating around the bush and just take what you want.” he set his drink down with a light thud, something more desperate swirling in his eyes.

“and what would that be?” he wanted her to iterate exactly what she thought would happen.

“you tell me.” she didn’t give in, hoping the older man would break before she would.

he didn’t need much convincing, though, placing a firm grip on her arm, and pulling her closer to him, leaning forward and taking her cheek in his much larger hand.

“you’re asking too much of me, sweetheart. what’d the neighbors think?” his breath fanned over her face, and the tone of his voice indicated his teasing nature.

“what?” he laughed against her, shaking her body, before he gestured to the window just adjacent to him.

“only been here a few weeks, and already seducing one of your neighbors? it’s bold - i’ll tell you that much.” his cologne - a soft, but distracting smell - was overpowering her, and she couldn’t exactly think clearly as he sat so close to her.

“joel.” it came out as more of a plea than she had maybe wished, and he smiled, his eyes flicking across her face, “should we go upstairs?” she detached from his eyes for just the slightest moment, to look up at the staircase leading to her room.

“if you want to, sweetheart.”

fuck. being called sweetheart? by him? she was done for.

she led him up the stairs, her steps just slightly shaky as she walked up.

what was she doing? him, she supposed.

her bedroom was messier than she’d hoped as they walked in, but she didn’t have time to dwell on that as he pulled her towards him while she shut the door behind her, pressing his lips to her ear as her back hits his thick chest.

“you sure you want to do this?” his voice is huskier than it had been before, and it made her let out a shaky breath.

“please.” he smiles against her soft skin, turning her to face him. she doesn’t waste a moment, leaning closer to his face as he pulled hers closer to him, capturing her lips in his own.

his beard tickled her chin, his breath warm on her face as she closed her eyes against him. he tasted like an interesting mix between the barbecue, her muffins, and the beer he’d been drinking, creating a festive, american aftertaste in her mouth.

the kiss made her moan against him, as her hands finally began exploring the man in front of her. his shirt was flimsy against his torso, and that made her almost more inclined to pull it off of him, as she placed her hands under the thin fabric. he broke the kiss with an amused exhale, pulling her hands out from under it with a smile playing on his lips.

“think you owe me something, first, sweetheart.” she looked back up at him in confusion, but, noticing the fingers at the ends of her own top, she as quick to pull it off of herself. even he seemed a little shocked by her eagerness, but that didn’t stop him, pulling her into him with such force that the both of them fell onto her bed.

he sat back up in a heartbeat, redirecting her thighs so that they straddled his own, pulling her towards him. the angle left her neck at eye level with him, and his nose traced the skin of her collarbone, the ghost of kisses leaving a trail up her neck as she wrapped her fingers in his scruffy hair. she let herself get lost in his touch, the softness of his lips on her chest, the sharp sting of his teeth occasionally grazing her skin, the harshness of his fingers against the skin of her thighs.

before she - or he, for that matter - could get too carried away, she pushed away from him lightly, reaching back down to tug at his shirt.

“you got what you wanted, now come on-” he laughed as he pulled the offending cloth off of him, and she sighed happily at the sight.

god, he was hot. she pushed him further back until he was laying down, and attached herself to his jaw, placing chaste kisses in a similar manner he’d done, tracing the edges on his beard with her lips. he kept his hands firmly on her sides, squeezing gently as she made her way down his body, over his chest, where the hair tickled her nose, making her smile. then, over his stomach, until she’d gotten dangerously close to his rapidly hardening cock.

he gripped her tightly, making her squeak in shock which, surprisingly, did nothing to quell his arousal.

“you’re-”

“let me, c’mon.” she said it as though there was a measure needed to persuade him. that definitely wasn’t the issue; rather he was worried he’d finish far too quickly for the mature older man he’d portrayed himself to be.

but how could he not - this fucking gorgeous woman with her head between his legs looking up at him with those eyes. fuck, those eyes.

“please, joel?” he’d grunted in that moment, releasing his grip, and she had a smug smile on her face as she unbuttoned his jeans. he couldn’t see it though, his head thrown back as he tried to even his breaths.

she wasted not a moment to tease him, tracing the outline of him lightly through the thin fabric of his boxers. he’d groaned her name - almost in warning, and she smiled as she relented, pulling him out from the confines of the cloth.

she hadn’t exactly been proud of her expression in that moment - akin to an actress on a certain screen, if you caught her drift - except hers wasn’t a fake one. older men had always been a hit or miss for her in terms of dick size, but this one seemed to be the fucking hit.

he’d recovered in time to catch that look, leaning on his forearm to be able to reach his hand over and push her hair out of your face.

“shocked, sweetheart?” she didn’t take her eyes off him.

“excited, more like.” she pulled her hand lightly up and down his cock, spitting in her hand before continuing. the added lubrication made him moan through his teeth, and she didn’t give him a moment of reprieve, readjusting so she was at the perfect angle to lightly lick his tip.

he practically shuddered at the contact of the wet muscle on him, a hand going to weave the hair falling over her face away, and gripping her head maybe tightly than he intended to, as she placed feather-light, open-mouthed kisses from the top to the bottom of his cock. he didn’t say anything, his appreciation for the act moreso communicated through the squeezing and releasing of her hair, and his shuddered breaths and quiet, almost broken moans.

deciding she didn’t want to wait any longer, she wrapped her lips completely around him, taking him deeper and practically feeling him twitch as she sunk lower on him. he guided her movements slightly with his grip on her, pushing her down as he let loose to the feeling, and pulling her up lightly as she came too close to unraveling him.

breathing in deeply through her nose, she pushed down further on him, swallowing to suppress her gag as she felt her nose being tickled by the hair at his base.

“fuck, sweetheart.” the curse left his mouth almost aggressively, as he twitched behind her lips. her throat constricted around him, and she resurfaced, breathing heavily to make up for the lost air. he looks down at her, taking in her cock-drunk appearance as she sighed between his thighs. she lazily pulled her hand up and down his cock, as she caught her breath, “come up here, baby.” through both of their pants, she made out his request, getting up so that she was sitting on her knees, as he also rose to rest better against the headboard. he gestured her to some closer, and she placed a knee of either side of him, practically crawling up his legs.

the shorts she was wearing were his biggest obstacle at the moment, and he was quick to pull her up by the front of them, unbuttoning them in the process. a squeak emitted from her, shocked by the manhandling, and he was quick to pull them down her legs. her hands cover his, the both of them almost desperately taking them off and, once he’d finally done so, he focused his eyes to hers, his fingers sliding up her thigh and to her cunt. he traced her lower lips lightly, and she could feel her thighs tense, her breathing hitching.

noticing her reaction, he smiles, pulling her lips to his, and kissing her as he traced up and down her slit, placing the ghost of pressure on her clit. she almost jumps at the sensation, but the firm grip his other hand keeps on her hip stops her.

“don’t run away now, sweetheart.” it’s a whisper into the space between them, and she wordlessly nods, her hand going to his biceps and gripping as he applied more pressure, “tell me what you want.” she looked up at him, a mix of disappointment and frustration at the request.

“i…”

“you?” she cleared her throat, averting her gaze, and he used his free hand to direct her chin to look at him, “what d’you want?”

“i want you to fuck me.” she felt almost ashamed saying it, but he smiled in pride - a smug smile.

“we’ll have to get you ready, first; don’t ya think?” he dips the tip of his finger into her and she shudders again, her hips jumping lightly, causing him to squeeze her. she nods, humming, too focused on the movements of him fingers to properly answer. taking pity on her, he obliges, pushing a finger into her, and curling it up.

“oh, god.” the sensation makes every muscle in her tense, the sexual frustration piquing at the feeling, and simultaneous lack thereof. her head falls into the space between them, and he places an almost comforting kiss to the top of her head, before beginning to move his finger.

initially, he moved it in and out of her almost exploratively, as if he was trying to determine what exactly made her tick. it resulted in soft moans and cut-off breaths, before he heard something akin to a whimper when he’d found a particular spot inside her.

he pushed another finger in, making her noises only grow, gripping him tighter. he started moving in and out of her at a more rapid rate, his fingers curling, to the point where she was moaning so loudly that he was worried the neighbors would hear regardless of their relocation.

he took his lips to hers again, hoping to muffle her noises, and it worked, her mouth focused on feverishly returning his passion that she managed to swallow the majority of her moans. though, it didn’t help when she felt the knot inside her begin to tighten, her hips grinding against his fingers.

“y’gonna cum, sweetheart?” she couldn’t speak, worried she’d be too loud if she opened her mouth, so she nodded frantically, pushing more quickly against him as she chased her high, “that’s it, baby, cum for me, cum for me-” his encouragement almost made it easier, and she did cum, in something akin to a burst: her body fully stilled, as did his movements, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, the hint of a squeal leaving her parched mouth. her voice sounded almost broken because of the intensity of it, and she practically leaped off of his fingers, unable to take the overstimulation as he had begun to move again.

“sorry - fuck, it’s too much, sorry-” he shook his head, assuring her immediately.

“it’s fine, sweetheart, you’re fine. ‘re ya ‘kay?” his accent came out more aggressively as he checked on her. she’d placed her hands over her face in an attempt to cool its warm flush, trying to catch her breath, as she nodded shakily.

“i’m - i’m, fuck, yeah, i’m fine.” she practically stuttered through her gasps, and he found it endearing, giving her a moment to compose herself. he adjusted the way she sat on him for her to be more comfortable, him fingers kneading the flesh of her thigh gently, hoping the contact would ground her.

it worked, with her taking her hands off her face after a few moments. her eyes had a far-away look to them, but she had a sheepish smile on her face.

“that was - uh, it was really good.” he smiled at her reaction, but it dropped after a moment.

“we can - we can stop, if ya want, sweetheart. if it’s too much-”

“no!” her response was so aggressive that it made him look at her in light amusement, “i mean, no. i don’t want to stop.” he surveyed her with an analytical eye.

“are ya sure?”

“joel, please?” she’d moved closer so her cunt sat inches from his cock, her warmth radiating onto him.

“i-” he went to say something, but seeing her flushed skin, her lust-blown eyes and the plea to fuck him, he seceded.

he pulled her up by her thighs, so she hovered over his cock. she used her hand to hold it steady, before he helped her lower onto him. it took a try or two, with his cock bumping against her clit and making her jolt. his tip caught her entrance in just another moment, though, and she took in a deep breath as she sunk onto him.

“fuck-” his response made up for her wordless one, her face contorting in pleasure as she tried to handle the size of him in her.

“joel-” she needed a moment to adjust, and it seemed as though he’d realized even before her.

“take your time, sweetheart.” she took a deep breath, sinking into joel’s arms further as she felt his thumb over her clit, trying to make the process easier for her.

finally, she mustered the strength to grip onto his shoulders, his hand finding a firm place on her waist, as she strained the muscles in her thighs to lift herself up. she felt a moment of aching emptiness, before she sunk back down on him, his cock catching practically every sensitive spot inside of her, making her moan.

it was a bit laborious, but along with his own effort, they came to a working rhythm seamlessly, and her moans began to be matched by his grunts at the feeling of her warm cunt, enveloping and twitching around him. she felt fucking amazing, and the warm breath of her gasps spurred him to push against her with just that bit more force. her eyes widened, her moans breaking as her breath caught in her throat. she felt her muscles turn to jelly with each thrust, practically being held up just by his hands. her head falls against his shoulder, her breath stuttering. his pace didn’t relent, though, with him readjusting just slightly to do the brunt of the work, fucking up into her as she tried not to let the pleasure consume her.

“joel - joel, you’re, oh, fuck-” she became a mess of mumbles as she attempted to just take it, but she felt her second orgasm oncoming, and way too quickly.

“c’mon, c’mon-” even joel wasn’t really registering what he was saying, focusing on feeling her cunt pulse again, like it had around his fingers. she didn’t make him wait too long, as her mouth fell open and her body tensed, clamming up as her orgasm crashed over her. his name came out in a squeak, and he resisted the urge to moan too loudly by attaching his lips to her neck, taking in the feeling of her pulsating cunt.

she slumped against him, desperately trying to catch her breath, before she was reminded her was still inside her. he helped her off of him and, before he could do anything else, she kneeled back in front of him, positioning her face right in front of his cock and stroking him to completion, his warm cum falling over her face in ropes.

“jesus christ, sweetheart.” he had to physically turn away from her, worried he’d get hard again at the sight, and she let out a tired laugh at his reaction. she rose from the bed after a moment of catching her breath, turning into her bathroom in order to clean herself up. it only took a minute or two, and by the time she’d walked back, joel had managed to pull his jeans back over him, and was desperately searching for his shirt. it was just by her feet, and she could give it to him.

but did she want to?

both of their heads snapped up when they heard the sound of the front door opening.

nicky - she’d come back at her sister’s previously preferred time, 5, and that had become increasingly problematic.

“shit-” she threw his shirt at him, and he caught it with one hand, trying to adjust the button of his pants with the other, “what do we-?” she questioned, as she pulled her shorts over her legs and shirt over her own head.

“just say ya were showing me around?” he suggested, and, through a shaky breath, she nodded.

“smart - smart, uh, do we-?” she gestured to herself, hoping she looked presentable, and the both of them gave each other a once over in approval that neither looked too disheveled, before they opened the door.

of course, those post-orgasm should never be told to rationally judge anything, as nicky and sarah could tell something was off from practically the moment their family members stepped out of the room.

“nicky? you didn’t have to be back so early, you know.” she said it quickly, without thinking, and, upon seeing joel’s what the fuck? expression, she realized how bad it sounded. nicky had, too, her brows furrowing as she turned to sarah, who simply shrugged in similar confusion.

“i’m sorry?” she watched as her sister - and then, to her surprise, mr. miller - came down the stairs.

“that’s not what i meant.” her sister mumbled, a sheepish smile on her face.

“dad, what’re you doing here?” sarah looks at her father quizzically, and he opens his mouth to speak, as she does at the same time.

“just - showing me around-”

“i’m giving him a tour!” they spoke over each other, and she glanced to look at him in slight embarrassment. he was trying his absolute hardest to keep from chuckling.

“anyways, sarah, we should get going. you two have fun?” sarah still looked between the both of them inquisitively, as nicky bore a glare at her sister, as if asking a question telepathically.

“lots of fun, dad.” it’s got an awkward delivery, so he coughs in an attempt to dissuade the tension, turning to her once more.

“it was nice meeting you, then - the both of you.” he smiled at nicky as well, before reuniting with his daughter.

“of course! it was great to see you again, too, sarah.” she mentioned, as she opened the front door for the both of them.

“see you around, sarah. good evening, mr. miller.” nicky spoke from behind her, and the millers nodded in goodbye. the front door shut with a click behind them.

there was a moment of silence between her and nicky, as she leaned against the door, before nicky broke into a big smile.

“i can’t believe you did that.” panic flashed over her face, and she whipped her head to face nicky.

“huh?”

“he’s so much older than you. and my friend’s dad, c’mon!” she sounded annoyed, but the exaggerated nature indicated that it was fake. she immediately tried to deny her sister’s completely true assertion, but the younger girl practically laughed in her face. she rolled her eyes at the reaction, brushing her off.

“shut up, nicky. he’s not even that much older than me.”

only a few meters away, sarah was trying very hard to suppress her own laugh.

“she’s really nice, right, dad?” joel, who had a faraway look in his eyes, hummed in response, prompting her to continue, “nicky’s sister. she’s really nice.”

“yeah - yeah, she is.” joel shrugged, unsure of how exactly to respond to his daughter. he looked down at her, and she had this glint of mischievousness in her eyes.

it worried him.

as he ushered her in when he’d unlocked the door, she’d made a beeline for her room. though, before she made her way up the stairs, she turned back for a moment, looking at him.

“and dad? you’re shirt’s on backwards.” she doesn’t wait for his response, walking up the stairs. shocked, joel looks down at his shirt, where the tag was practically looking him in the face. he sighed, closing the door behind him.

As soon as you were free, you threw yourself onto her couch, still panting as if you hadn't been able to breathe normally in the last few hours. You threw your head back against the backrest, closing your eyes to focus. All while Maria was standing still, her eyes trained on you like a hawk, scared to move away.

"Are you gonna throw up?" She asked you. After the call she had received from you merely half an hour ago, she had gotten ready for every emergency possible.

You shook your head, your hand clutching your stomach. "I don't think so."

"I don't think so is not a no," she mumbled to herself, quickly stepping into the open plan kitchen on the other side of the room to get a bucket from underneath the sink. She'd normally use it for cleaning, but it must do for now. As soon as she got back to you, she placed it into your lap, making you sit back up straight.

"Thank you," you breathed out, hugging it tightly to your chest.

A moment of silence washed over the two of you as she just continued to stare at you hovering over the red bucket, ready to hold back your hair the moment you'd start heaving - but it never came. Thankfully.

"Okay," she took a deep breath in, the palm of her hands touching her thighs, letting a slapping sound echo through the room. "So... you know... this could mean a lot of things..." Maria went quiet for a second before continuing carefully, "Two things with the biggest possibility..." watching you carefully, "I mean, for one... you could just have eaten something-"

"It's the second one," you blurred out, still trying to normalise your breathing pattern while dealing with the nauseous feeling that had been haunting you for the past three days, but peaking that day specifically. Right as she started with her theories, you already knew where she was going.

Shortly before getting off work, you had called her in a hurry from the toilet, explaining your sick feeling and the severity of the situation, asking her to answer the door immediately as soon as you'd ring the bell to her apartment. You were terrified of possibly having to throw up on the bus after having to rush to the toilet almost every second hour during your shift in the office. The eyes of nosey co-workers had followed you each time. And her, being the angel of a best friend that she was, kept the door unlocked for the entire 36 minutes that it took you to get to her place, ready to face whatever would happen. What she didn't expect though, was you being already in the clear of your situation.

Her eyes shot open wide. "What? You- why are you so sure about that?"

You lifted your head, a sheepish grin making an appearance on your lips. "Well... we...," you glanced at her, almost giggling at her facial expression if it wasn't for the pressure making its way up your throat. "We haven't really been trying to... prevent something from happening."

"WHAT?!" With a squeal, the woman to your left shot up from the sofa, her hands flying up to cover her mouth after her sudden outburst. "What do you mean? Are you serious?!" You couldn't help but chuckle, holding onto the bucket just a slight bit tighter. "Are you serious, Y/N?!" She repeated her question, slowly sitting down again.

You could only nod.

"GIRL! W- You didn't tell me!" Before even being able to respond, you felt a strike against your upper arm, making you turn to her in surprise, clutching the part she had just hit.

"AH!" You called out, "Hey, I'm trying not to puke all over your couch right now, you can't hit me!"

Maria shook her head, "You- right, I'm sorry- wait, do you really have to throw up?"

"I don't know," you groaned, "I think it's getting better again... but I don't know..."

For a brief moment, she just continued to look at you while you had kept your eyes closed, face forward, just in case something were to escape before you could control it.

"Oh my God...," she whispered quietly. "You really might be pr-"

"We don't know yet," you stopped her quickly. There had been multiple instances in which you had gotten your hopes up (not only during this time), and you were not about to do it again. "Let's not jinx it."

"Y/N...," Maria spoke softly to you, a comforting hand on your back to soothe you. "You stopped taking the pill and have been riding your man like he's the last horse on this planet and-"

Your sudden burst of laughter interrupted her. She was your best friend, of course, she'd remember the multiple times you had talked about your favourite positions.

"What?" She chuckled along with you. Her expression changed within a millisecond as soon as your laughter had turned into a cough, her hands flying up to gather your hair and get it out of your face.

"I'm good," you calmed her down, waving your hand so she'd let go. "I'm good."

"Okay," she nodded, letting your hair back down and scooching over to sit back. "But seriously," her tone made a quick change, but in the next moment, her smirk was back. "You've been going at it like crazy probably," another chuckle came from you. She wasn't wrong, you thought. "And suddenly you start feeling sick and- wait... are you late?"

You turned your head to give her a peak of your shy smirk trying to get hidden by your pressed-together lips. With a scoff, she stood up.

"Alright, that's it, I'm going to the store. I can't stand this-"

"I have three tests in my bag," you remarked making her stop in her tracks on the way into the hallway.

Her eyebrows shot up as her eyes widened, "You- why-" she stopped herself to walk back over to the couch, where your bag was still in the corner. You would've handed it over to her but another wave of nausea hit you.

Maria found all three of them, still standing right in front of you with the boxes in her hands. "Why are you carrying them with you?"

You shrugged. "I don't know... I've been feeling like this for like," you gulped, "a few days, and... I guess it was wishful thinking. A little bit."

"Okay, come on," she was quick to snatch the bucket out of your grip, putting it on the floor before engulfing your hand in hers. "Let's see if you're right."

Carefully, you pushed yourself up with her help, letting her lead you by your hands even though you probably could've done it yourself. But that's just the person she was. 

Each step felt heavier than the one before. The fast speed of your beating heart was only adding to the pressure in your throat and stomach and wasn't doing you any good. Not even closing your eyes was helping you anymore and it was almost enough to make you cry.

Finally, arriving in the bathroom, Maria ushered you to sit down on the closed toilet seat while she was unpacking each one of the tests along with their instructions. The entire apartment was quiet as she read through them, only your heavy breathing filled the tilled room. You gulped with almost every second passing.

"Alright," she turned towards you, "You ready? You need something to drink?"

But you only shook your head, leaving her without a distinct answer.

"No as in you're not ready or in you don't need anything to drink?"

You took a deep breath. "I don't know..."

With slow movements, she lowered herself onto the floor, kneeling right in front of you to place a hand on your knees as you brushed your fingers through your hair and out of your face. "You don't have to be nervous. It's okay," she patted your jeans-covered legs. "If you guys have been trying for one then... it's good if it's positive, right?"

A sigh fell from your lips as you met her gaze. "But... I- if it's negative, I'll cry because I'm disappointed and if it's positive, I'll cry because I'm scared. So... either way, I will cry and I don't know if I'm ready for that. For either of those outcomes and... I... I don't know," you rambled out loud, letting all your thoughts spill while she continued to rub a comforting hand up and down your thighs.

"Either way..." she started, making sure that you were still looking at her, "you'll have me for one, and you'll have a wonderful and loving husband waiting for you at home along with the cutest and kindest, most beautiful daughter anyone could ever ask for. And those two love you so much, no matter what those tests are gonna say. If they're negative? Oh well... you'll just get to keep going at it. That's fun too, right?" You couldn't hold back a chuckle, making her smile as well. "And if they're positive, then... you'll step into this new chapter of life that I just know you'll absolutely ace."

With a groan, you clutched your stomach and threw your head back. After a few deep breaths in and trying to continuously gulp down the sick feeling bubbling in your stomach, you looked back down at the woman you get to call your best friend.

You nodded gently. "Okay."

"Okay," she grinned at you, slapping your thighs gently before standing up and walking back over to the sink. "I unpacked them all and put them down here with the instructions. If you need anything, I'm outside, okay?"

You nodded again.

"You sure you don't want anything to drink?"

A confused shrug was your answer. "I don't know. How much pee do I need?"

"Enough for three tests," she glanced back at you, who had stood up to join her by the sink. Her comment made you smile.

"I think I'm good, we'll see." She let that slide as a confirmation.

After another quick nod, followed by a gentle, "Good luck," she left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving you alone in the bathroom.

-

Right after you were done peeing on all three sticks and lining them up along the counter space of Maria's sink in the bathroom, you let her in again. You went to your designated place on top of the now-closed toilet seat, while she was leaning against the doorframe.

The silence that had washed over you was surprisingly comforting, leaving you to concentrate on your nervous heart and uneven breathing. If you didn't want to talk during the current situation, Maria wasn't going to make you. But there was one more thing you had wanted to get off your chest.

"I also kept the tests in my bag because of Joel," you admitted to her, catching her off-guard.

She scrunched her eyebrows as her head turned towards you. "What do you mean?"

With a swift brush through your hair, you got it out of your face. You sighed. "Ever since we officially decided to, you know, stop with any kind of protection, he- it kinda feels like he's become impatient."

"Impatient? In what way?" She nagged you further, stepping closer towards you.

You shrugged slightly. "I don't know if it's really impatience, but just... like... he wants it to happen so badly."

Maria had turned quiet for a moment, letting your words sink in while your eyes continued to be locked on the sticks on the sink.

She cleared her throat. "Do... do you feel pressured by him to get pregnant?"

"What?!" Your head shot up towards her. "No! No, no, no, it's not like that..." you sighed again, thinking about your next words carefully before they would leave your mouth. "You...," another sigh. "Do you know those people that were just born to be parents? Like, you look at them or- or talk to them, and you think, 'yes, they have to become parents one day, that's what they're made for'?"

"I guess?" She answered.

"Joel's like that," you simply told her. "Joel is the perfect parent. A- And I know that... he wouldn't say that about himself, but he really is. I see it every day with Sarah and even when we talked about having a kid... I could just tell how badly he wanted to have another one. Because he's just perfect for it. And... to think that... maybe, just maybe... I couldn't give him that... absolutely destroyed me." Maria opened her mouth, about to speak again when you stopped her. "Don't get me wrong. I really really want to become a mom too. I mean... again... you know. I have Sarah, of course, and I couldn't ask for a better kid by our side. But I would give anything to be able to have one of my own and... have them in my arms from the very first day that they're born. So, you know, I- I also really want that. But...yeah... I just didn't want him to see the tests and get his hopes up and then suddenly have to be like, 'Oh well, but they're useless because I'm not pregnant, actually'. I'd much rather just have him in the unknown until I, for me, know... that... I'm for sure pregnant."

What you hadn't noticed were the droplets that had escaped your eyes in the middle of your rant, now falling into your lap and forming a small tear stain on your dark jeans. You quickly wiped them away, but since Maria had not been able to take her eyes off of you for the entire time, she had caught on and was already standing in front of you with a piece of toilet paper reaching out for you to take.

"Thanks," you mumbled, taking it from her.

"Listen," she started while you concentrated on not messing up your make-up all too much, wanting to look somewhat decent. "I understand what you mean- I mean... I would probably think differently of the whole kid situation in my current point of life, but I know you, so I get it," she sent a soft smile at you. "But... don't ruin yourself over something like that. The people that were made to become parents will become that. In one way or another. And the way you just described Joel... that's exactly how I, and everyone else, see you." Her comment made you look up at her. "You loved Joel first, and then you accepted his daughter into your life like she was your own. You moved in with them and cared for her like she had just always been there. You are made to be a parent too. And you are the most amazing mom to Sarah, and you'll be the most wonderful mom to a little baby as well. Whether that'll happen in a few months or a few years, doesn't matter."

"I love you," you just simply let those three words fall from your lips as they quivered, gazing at the woman you get to call your best friend. She slyly smiled down at you,

"I love you too, hun."

Before anyone could say anything more, the timer Maria had put on bounced off the walls of the small bathroom, making you hiss in a deep breath. She walked over to the sink to turn it off before glancing back at you.

"Are you ready?" She smirked at you, watching you as you pushed yourself up from the toilet seat, hands tightly secured in front of your stomach.

You nodded. "You look."

"What?" She looked at you with a confused facial expression. "Why me?"

"I'm too nervous," you hastily told her.

"But those are your tests, you do it." She took a step back to make room for you, but you only shook your head.

"No, Maria, please. Please do it."

With a sigh, she went back into her position right in front of the sink while you stayed back. Slowly, her hand reached out to grab the first of the three tests in line. Before she touched it, she flinched back.

"How am I supposed to react?"

You shrugged, tightening your own arms. "I-I don't know... normal?"

Leaving only a sigh between the last word coming from you, and another one dropping from her lips. Without a warning, she reached out and snatched the stick off the surface. Immediately, Maria turned it around to look at it. A poker face was plastered on her face. Too good of a poker face. You couldn't read her. And that only added to the anxiety of the situation.

"What?" All last bits of patience you could've possibly had left in your body vanished right away. Your feet almost carried you over to where she was standing, but the shaking of your legs kept them from it. With the quietness washing over the room, Maria's deep breath felt like the slice of a knife. Sharp.

"...What..." you repeated, your voice much quieter than before. The pounding of your heart had reached your throat, almost making you choke on nothing but air.

Your best friend pressed her lips to a tight line as she lifted her head to meet your waiting eyes. You could only gulp one last time before a wide smile reaching from ear to ear spread on her face.

Maria turned the stick around to let you see. "Congrats, momma."

-

The situation had calmed down. Somehow. Slightly at least.

After the big news had hit you, you were desperate to look at the other two, only for them to show you the exact same results. Well... three positive pregnancy tests, many tears and a moment of throwing up in her bathroom later, the two of you had found yourself on your friend's couch again. You were clutching onto one of her pillows, gazing into thin air. Maria's voice hit your ear, but your head was anywhere but in the room with you. You couldn't comprehend anything she was saying.

"Hey," a hit to your arm brought you back into the presence.

You snapped your head towards her. "Righ- sorry. Sorry... I...", you cleared your throat.

"Are you okay? Like... mentally right now?"

The nodding of your head, made her sigh in relief. "Y-Yeah... I mean... we've been wanting to do this... for quite a while now, but... it's still a surprise, you know?"

She smiled at you. "I can only imagine."

With a deep breath, you threw the pillow to the side, crouching forward to let your elbows rest on top of your thighs as your head fell into your hands. "Now I need to find an obstetrician... and I need to make an appointment with my gyno. And I have to look for-" The sound of your phone ringing in your bag cut you off.

Maria jumped to her feet to walk over to the dining table, where she had put your stuff to leave more room for you on the sofa. Once she got a hold of your phone, her lips curled up to a sheepish grin.

"Ooh, baby daddy's calling," she chuckled to herself. You shook your head with a smile, reaching out to take the Nokia out of her grip.

"He's more than just the baby daddy, idiot."

You picked up the call. "Hey."

"Hey, darlin', where are you?" Joel's rough voice came through the speaker, warming your heart in an instant.

"I... I'm with Maria. At her place."

"Oh, you- you're meeting up with her today?" He wondered, something rustling in the background.

You cleared your throat, glancing down at your fingers that had subconsciously started to pick at the fabric of the couch, "Yeah... it was... kinda spontaneous. Just a quick get-together after work."

"Okay, okay," you were pretty sure he nodded to himself. "D'you want me to pick you up? If I go now I could be there in 15."

For a quick second, you stopped to think. You could take the bus, technically. It would take longer, but you'd save yourself the anxiety of facing your husband right after you had just found out you were pregnant with his baby and still didn't know how to tell him. Or, you could shut your mouth and stay quiet and enjoy the comfort of Joel's driving skills in his pick-up truck.

"No, it's okay. I'll just- I'm gonna take the next bus in a few minutes."

Before he could say something back, Maria's loud voice echoed through the entire space. "You better come pick up your wife, Miller!"

You were quick to turn around and curse at her, "Shut up!"

Joel's chuckles made you bring your phone back up to your ear. "It's okay, darlin'. I'm on my way. Alright?" You heard a door falling close in the background on his end of the call.

"Joel-"

"I'll be there in a bit. I don't want to get my ass whupped by Maria."

With a whole-hearted chuckle you nodded, "Alright, I love you."

"Love you too, honey," even without seeing his face, you could hear the smile in his voice.

-

After a good five minutes and a short rant from your best friend about how 'sickeningly cute the two of you are with each other', silence washed the room.

"God...," you mumbled under your breath, "How do I even... how do I tell him?" You looked up at Maria as she came back to the couch, putting down one of the glasses of water she was holding on the coffee table right in front of you. You thanked her quietly before reaching out to grab it.

"I mean," she had joined you back on the couch again, sinking into the softness as she gazed at you, letting her head fall back. "You could just tell him?"

With scrunched eyebrows, you turned to her. "But that's not special."

"Do you need it to be special?"

After a second of keeping quiet to yourself, you shrugged. "A little bit at least, yeah..."

Maria joined you in the thinking process while you continued to sip on your water. You were pregnant. The realisation had hit you as soon as you saw the two lines on all three of the pregnancy tests you took, but you could still not stop letting that one sentence run through your mind. A human was growing inside of you and you'd be responsible for letting that being grow healthily. You'd not only become their parent at some point, but for the next few months, you'd be the only thing protecting them from the outside world. You-

"How about telling Sarah first and then Joel?" Your best friend's voice snapped you back into the present. 

You glanced over to her. "I thought about that too... but... I think Joel would want to see her reaction. Same with Tommy."

Maria nodded, "I see."

You could feel your smile widen at the mere thought of getting to share the big news with the entire Miller family. Your husband, for one, but also Tommy and of course the wonderful girl you get to call your step-daughter, or just daughter as Joel had asked you to. After all, she was the reason why you two had even begun the conversation about baby #2.

-Flashback-

"Have you guys ever thought about giving me a sibling?" The surprising question made you stop your fork on the way to your mouth, and with a quick glance over to your partner, you could tell he had stopped mid-chew. His eyebrows were scrunched up in confusion as he eyes his daughter, who was still oblivious about what situation she had just put the two of you into. Sarah continued to eat the food off her plate, but once she noticed the silence between you three, she lifted her head to meet your stunned faces.

"What?" She asked, the food still filling up her mouth.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth," Joel remarked monotonely, forgetting about the potatoes he was still chewing on.

"You're doing the same thing right now," you quietly noted, your eyes only drifting over to him for a millisecond before they were back on Sarah. "W-Why are... why are you wondering... about that?"

The girl shrugged, swallowing her food like her father had told her before she sat up straighter to look at you. "Today in psychology class, we learned that older siblings tend to do better in life and at their workplace. But then I was wondering about how an only child does and... when I looked it up, it said that only children are usually harder to put up with and statistically don't have it as good as people who grew up with younger siblings," she explained, before adding, "They're also less likely to achieve higher positions in their field."

"Jesus Christ, you're 13 years old, you shouldn't be worrying about work already," Joel cursed under his breath, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I'm not worrying about work. Just life in general. My teacher explained it very well to us, and it makes sense that kids who grow up as the oldest sibling would do better in life because of the experiences they gain over their lifetime with a younger sibling," Sarah continued her speech.

There were times were you were truly wondering how she could sound like someone so much older than just 13. Just like right at that moment. The girl you had known for almost six years, who you had gotten to see grow up right before your eyes, watching in awe as you could see little mannerisms of Joel's in her with each year she got older, had suddenly turned into a young adult. While you were hoping she could keep her child-like energy and innocence for as long as possible, you couldn't help but be immensely proud of the woman she was slowly becoming. And it suddenly just hit you.

"Well," you started, gaining her attention. She was old enough for you to hold up an adult conversation with her, you had decided. If she was asking questions, you would be giving her answers.

'More children' was definitely a conversation Joel and you had stumbled across from time to time. It was almost impossible not to. But both of you had decided that you'd realise when the time was right. He wasn't necessarily old, and you had only just turned 25 that year, so why rush into it? Joel had become a father younger than he had expected he would, back then, and yet he enjoyed every second he got to be a dad with a daughter like Sarah. But that didn't mean he would want to put you in the same position and make you a younger mother when that might not even be something you had wanted. You having been in college, and wanting to finish it, had also pushed back all plans of seriously talking about expanding your family. But at some point, you'd have to. And it seemed like that moment had just arrived.

You cleared your throat. "Having kids... is something you really really have to think about. Like... very very carefully, and seriously. You can't just decide from one day to another that you're going to have a baby," Sarah listened closely to every word falling from your lips, "Children, especially young ones, need a lot of attention and time and patience and... you know, just a lot at once. And... your dad and I are both people that work quite a lot, so... there... there hasn't really been the... opportunity for us to... think that there's a good time to have another kid." Your daughter nodded, her eyes falling back on her plate.

"But," you started again, making her head shoot up, almost letting a chuckle escape from your lips. "There's still time. We're in no rush." Telling her the exact same things Joel and you had said to each other. Speaking of, the man opposite of you had decided to stay suspiciously quiet for the entirety of your conversation.

"I guess," Sarah told you, "But you're not getting any younger."

Her comment to you aback. "Excuse me?" You chuckled.

"I mean," she was quick to react, "you're still young. Don't get me wrong." Before turning to her father on her right. "But you-"

"I'm 34," Joel spoke up, not even letting her finish her statement. His eyebrows were still scrunched together in his typical fashion. "That's not old."

Another shrug came from the girl as she sighed. "Maybe not to you, but in Biology we learned that-"

"Alright," your husband raised his hands in defence. "Look, like mom said. It's a difficult topic. It's something that needs to be discussed between adults before deciding-"

"I'm an adult," your daughter interfered.

"Between the adults that would be the parents of the child." Not even commenting on her notice. His argument seemed to have done it for her. Sarah nodded to herself and continued to eat the rest of her food like nothing had happened. Unlike you, who had suddenly lost her appetite, another conversation tickling the tip of your tongue, but you decided to stay quiet. For now.

After the meal, the girl had excused herself from the table, letting you know she'd be upstairs doing the last bits of her homework. Joel and you had started to work on clearing the table of the plates and pots you had used. Your husband had continued to keep his mouth closed, not even daring to open it and talk about something else for the rest of the dinner. Up until now, since you were about to change that.

"Can I ask you something?" You wondered as you made your way into the kitchen, bringing along every plate and piece of cutlery Sarah, Joel, and you had used for dinner. Your husband was busy loading the dishwasher but made sure to look up as you handed everything over to him.

"'Course," he answered, continuing to do his part of the work in the kitchen.

You stopped opposite of him, resting your lower back against the counter behind you, watching him bend down to put everything in the right slot and place it in the dishwasher.

"What did you really think about what Sarah said? About the having a sibling thing..." There was no way to ease him into the conversation, you had realised. But his quietness had not left your worrying mind ever since his last statement at the dinner table.

"Having another kid?" He asked, to which you nodded. Your bottom lip had already started to feel numb, the biting down cutting off any blood from flowing. "With you?"

Your eyebrows scrunched up suddenly, your teeth releasing your lip at the same time. His question hit you like a truck. With your arms crossed in front of your chest, you answered him,

"Preferably... yeah? What kind of question is that? Do you have other ideas?"

Joel simply shrugged, "Not in the near future, no." He closed the dishwasher and raked himself up with a soft groan before slowly scooting closer to you to capture you by wrapping his arm around your waist.

"Good," you told him, not even moving an inch at his touch, letting him know what his question had done to you.

"I was joking," he smiled down at you, leaning in closer to place a kiss on your cheek. "Of course, it would be with you, darlin'."

"It better," you let him know, getting a chuckle out of him. Yet, you didn't uncross your arms, keeping them as a barrier between your bodies. "So?" You followed up.

He suddenly sighed, leaning back again to meet your eyes. His hands were kept on your waist, his thumbs slowly rubbing up and down against your shirt that was covering your skin. "I gotta be honest with you, darlin'. The last person I want to talk about when or if I'm going to sleep with my wife and impregnate her would be my own daughter."

"Joel!" You gasped, freeing your arms to smack his upper arm. "That was NOT what the conversation was about!"

"That was exactly what the conversation was about! Why would she even wonder about stuff like that? She's a kid, she shouldn't-"

"She was just asking about a sibling! And she's a Teenager."

"She's 13, that's a kid."

"Joel-"

"She's in school, so she's a kid."

"And what if she's in her senior year? Or college?"

"Still a kid."

"Honey-"

"Please," he stopped you, placing his hands on your shoulders, "You know I'm not good with that stuff."

You chuckled, shaking your head and patting his right hand, "Yeah, I could tell by how quiet you suddenly got."

With a groan, he took a step back, his backside hiding the counter on your left. He let his palm run over his face, taking a few deep breaths. All you could do was watch him in slight amusement.

"Why d'you think I asked you to give her the talk?"

You couldn't hold back a laugh, covering your mouth to at least hide it slightly, "Oh, I remember." And what a memory that was. Joel calling you in panic after he had taken a glance over his daughter's shoulder while she was deep in thought on her Biology homework. Only to come to sight with the illustrations of reproductive organs in her book.

As amusing as the memory was, his current state made you wonder. "But is this more about you freaking out about Sarah wanting a sibling or her being grown-up enough to talk to us about something like this?"

"But she's not grown-up enough, that's the thing," he tried to argue, confirming your concern.

"But she is, honey," you sent him a sad smile, taking a step forward to touch his arm in comfort.

Another hand of his came up to run through his hair in frustration. His deep breaths hadn't stopped. You reached out to touch his cheek, the short hair of his beard tickling your palm. Before you could say anything, Joel beat you to it.

"You know I'd give you all the children in the world that you could possibly want. Whenever you want them," the desperation in his words made you laugh out loud as you steadied yourself by his arm, letting your forehead fall against his shoulder.

"I'm serious," he added before you felt the soft touch of his lips on the top of your head.

You let go to look back up at him. "And that was what the conversation was about. You just suddenly turned it into a Dad crisis."

"Can you blame me? Our 13-year-old daughter just explained to us the psychological benefits of growing up with younger siblings, basically telling us that if we don't give her one, she ain't gonna do well in her future job. At 13?! How am I supposed to react to this?" His voice was still laced with frustration, making your amusement only harder to hide.

"I know," you chuckled, sighing out in relief. "She's going places."

"Thank God," he breathed out, wrapping his right arm around your shoulder to keep you close. You followed by throwing your arm around his torso, cuddling into his side. His other arm came around you as well, pulling you just a tad bit closer, his lips back against the side of your head.

"I was serious about the kid thing, though," he softly spoke.

"Hm?" You hummed, not wanting to break the comfort you were wrapped in. His hand travalled up to tangle his fingers through your hair, pulling at it just a bit to make you move your head, so he could meet your gaze once again.

"However many you want, whenever you want them."

"Really?"

Joel nodded. "I'm ready. It's all up to you. Because you know," he sighed, "as you just heard from our Miss Professor, I'm not getting any younger and 35 is quite old-" you interrupted him with a chuckle, which was too contagious for him to fight against. His chest vibrated as he joined you. For a moment, the two of you enjoyed your synchronised laughter before Joel turned on his serious voice again. 

"But, I mean it. I already did all of the... no sleep 'cause of constant crying, diaper changes, throw up and poop everywhere," he continued to list off all things you could possibly relate to having a baby. All while you couldn't even dare to take your eyes off the pretty brown-eyed man in your arms. He didn't even meet your eyes until his last comment, "And I'm ready to do it all over again. With you." Joel smiled down at you. "We're financially stable enough to have a little one. We have an extra room." He shrugged, "I don't see why not." A kiss on your forehead ended his ment. "It's all up to you, darlin'. Whenever you're ready."

-Flashback End-

You had started working on baby #2 that night, even if you were still on the pill. 'Practice makes perfect' as Joel said.

"But I think I have an idea," you told her with a smile, which Maria could only copy as she watched you almost daydreaming about telling them.

"Well then," she grinned at you, scootching closer to sit right next to you. "How are you gonna do it?"

-

Two weeks had already passed since you found out you were pregnant. Way too quickly for your liking. Ever since the two lines of each of the three pregnancy tests had looked at you, there was hardly anything else that was occupying your mind as much as this. The drive away from Maria's place back to your shared house with Joel was torture already. You were able to dispose of the tests at your best friend's apartment, too scared that your partner might accidentally find them in your bag or later on in the trash. But you couldn't throw away the knowledge of his baby growing inside of you while he sat next to you in complete oblivion. And it haunted you. Hiding it became harder every single day. Whether it was because of your sudden emotional outbursts that you had to try to hold back as best as you could, or the sick feeling that kept you up at night or would wake you up early in the morning. Thankfully, the actual throwing up had kept itself to a limit, not raising any suspicion, as far as you knew, but the paleness of your skin that would show how you were truly feeling, was most definitely something Joel had caught up to. Each night, he'd ask when you'd go to see a doctor, almost taking a day off work to drive you to one personally, but you had been able to keep him from doing so, faking a doctor's appointment and coming back with the news of 'it's only the flu, apparently something's going around right now'.

Therefore, you would've thought the day of telling him coming near would make you happy and feel fulfilled, but the anxiety came back and hit you like a wall.

Because suddenly it was Friday, the 23rd of December, and you were on your way home from work. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, the day you had decided you'd want to tell Joel the news. And right after that Christmas Day, on which you had planned to let the future big sister know. As Tommy was out of state for the weekend, you'd be surprising him with the pregnancy news once he was back, which gave you a bit more time to think about how you'd go about it.

But your plan for telling the two other Millers was already in the works. The cake for Joel was tightly in your grip, having to balance it with one arm as you tried to unlock the front door to your house. It was only 2PM, which meant that Sarah was still at school for at least another two hours, and your husband wouldn't be home until around 7PM, just as usual.

The young girl's present was in your bag that you had put down on one of the chairs by the dining table before you placed the carton box holding the cake on top of the kitchen counter. When you finally freed yourself from everything you had been holding onto, you let a big sigh fall from your lips.

For a short moment, you let yourself enjoy the quiet peace. You still had enough time to do everything on your imaginary list. Put on the dishwasher, do the laundry that was supposed to be done yesterday, hide Joel's cake in the extra fridge in the garage, as well as Sarah's present, and then you'd get to finish looking through the documents you'd have to send to your boss before you could let yourself get fully immersed in the Christmas holiday.

Turning on the dishwasher was easy, almost everything was inside, you only added the two cups of coffee you and Joel had left in the sink that morning.

The wrapping paper you had chosen for Sarah's gifts that year peaked out of your bag, reminding you to hide the present - the book you had bought her. During your shift on the day before, you used the computer at work to look for books that would fit a 13-year-old sister-to-be and found one called 'The Diary Of An Older Sister', which was a type of autobiography talking about the ups and downs of being the oldest sister in a family. You had found it fitting for the teenager as you knew she would be more than excited to finally have a sibling, but she was also old enough to be met with the possible downsides and just reality checks of not being an only child anymore. You had picked it up from your local bookstore downtown before you made your way home. 

Next, the laundry. After walking up the stairs, you first decided to rid yourself of the business casual clothing you had to wear for your job, optioning for some sweatpants and a simple black long-sleeved shirt. As it was on the tighter side, you dared to take a quick look in the mirror in your shared bedroom. You turned to the side. If somebody didn't know you, they wouldn't even know a baby was growing inside of you because there was no bump yet to be seen. Or at least not one that you couldn't still blame on bloating. Well, there was still time. And you didn't yet know how far even you were into your pregnancy.

You had called your gynaecologist the day after you had found out. But, much to your dismay but not surprise, the were barely any available spots left in the very near future. They had given you the option of booking an appointment with another doctor, but you had opted to just wait out the three weeks and come in then. So, you'd find out more details in the upcoming week, when Joel would be able to join you.

In your bedroom, you threw the clothes you had worn into the hamper before taking it downstairs with you and into the garage, where your washing machine and dryer were. You threw everything into the machine before you opened the cabinet above it, where you'd usually keep your laundry detergent, only to be met with emptiness.

...How could you have forgotten about running out of detergent? You through to yourself. An annoyed sigh fell from your lips. You let your eyes glide over each cabinet that you opened but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. You cursed under your breath.

You could go to the store after hiding the presents neatly, but the perfectionist in you was desperate to check off each thing as it was listed. One after the other. So, there was only one other option you had.

Back in your kitchen, you started to look for a measuring cup, thankful that after Joel had unloaded the dishwasher only a few days earlier, he had put it exactly where it was supposed to be, making you find it quickly. Then, with your coat and shoes back on, you made your way outside into the cold, rushing over to the house on the left. To your neighbours, the Adlers. A wonderful older couple, who had moved in with the woman's mother due to her old age and worsening health. They had always been kind and generous to you and your family, even if slightly weird, but what older couple wasn't just a tad bit strange. You found them endearing.

After a knock on the door and only a few seconds of waiting, their front door opened to reveal the woman you were looking for.

"Oh, Y/N, dear! Come in, come in," Mrs. Adler ushered you inside, not even asking for the reason for your visit. "It's so cold outside, my God," she commented with a smile as you nodded.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing you, Misses Adler-" you started but she stopped you, making her way into the kitchen and telling you to follow her.

"Oh please, stop it. You know we're always happy to see you."

Even at their age, the couple impressed you with the Christmas decorations they put up each year. A big pine tree was placed in the living room, similar to yours, only that they had optioned for a traditional red, white, and gold theme. Through the hallway, they had put up garlands on the walls as well as candles and little wooden reindeer figures on their accent tables.

In the kitchen, you were met with the woman's husband and her mother at their breakfast corner.

"Look, Connie, Y/N decided to come over." Mr. Adler welcomed you in his typical Texanian accent, "How are you, sweetheart?"

"Hi everyone," you greeted them kind smile. "I've been good, thank you. And you?"

"As good and thankful as one can be," he told you.

"Sorry for the mess right now, we're doing some last-minute baking," the older woman spoke as she took her place behind the kitchen island. Only then, you noticed the flower stains on her apron.

You chuckled, "Don't worry, I get it. Our kitchen looked so much worse after we did our baking." And it wasn't even a lie.

"So, what brings you here, dear?" Mrs. Adler wondered, getting back to using her cookie cutters and pressing them into the dough she had rolled out.

"Right," you cleared your throat, "I'm really sorry for asking you like this, but I- ehm... I just realised that we don't have any laundry detergent anymore, and- I really don't know how I could forget buying new one because-"

"Oh, you can just borrow ours, hold on a second," the elderly woman didn't even let you finish your sentence before she was already rushing out of the room. You heard some shuffling around as you followed her and got closer to their small laundry room. Suddenly, she popped back out, a full bottle of fresh detergent in her hand.

"You can just take this, we haven't used it yet."

But you stopped her, "Oh no no no, I don't need the entire thing, I'd only need like-"

"Honey, take the bottle, it's fine, we have enough."

"Mrs. Adler, it's okay, I'll go to the store tomorrow and get-"

"Tomorrow? On Christmas Eve? Are you insane? Only crazy people go shopping tomorrow. Please, just take it," she interrupted you once again, pushing the full container into your hands and brushing past you to walk back into the kitchen.

"But I-"

She stopped to turn around, placing both of her hands on your upper arms, "Joel and you have done so much for us, and you guys never let us repay you, please just take it, love. It's just detergent."

You sighed and gave in, "Alright," you chuckled with a shake of your head. "Thank you, Misses. Adler."

"Of course," she smiled at you, making her way back again. You joined her, stopping in the doorframe to say your goodbye.

"Merry Christmas. And thank you again."

Mister Adler stopped helping his mother-in-law with her food to turn to you, "Merry Christmas, Y/N."

"Tell Joel and Sarah a Merry Christmas from us too!" The older woman called out as you made your way out again.

"I will!" Was the last thing you said to them before closing the door and walking down the steps, when you stopped in your tracks. Your eyes fell on the familiar pickup truck in your driveway. 

Confused, you got back to your place, opening the front door before you spoke up, "Joel?" Your voice echoed through the living space when his head suddenly showed up from the walk-through into the kitchen.

"Oh, there you are. Where were you?"

You took off your shoes and jacket, putting them into their right place before joining him. "We didn't have any laundry detergent. I asked the Adlers for some." Showing him the bottle you were carrying.

"Some?" He chuckled as he saw the entire container.

You shook your head in amusement, "I asked for a bit. Misses Adler gave me the entire thing."

"'Course she did," Joel mumbled under his breath with a smile, already used to her style. "By the way," he walked over to the counter, making you stop as you were on your way to the garage to continue the laundry journey. "I didn't know you were gonna pick up a cake for Christmas, but I think you got the wrong one, darlin'."

Every last drop of colour immediately evaporated from your face.

Oh no.

"I mean it's funny. But it ain't a Christmas cake." With a chuckle, he opened the box, "'Congrats on Number 2, Dad'," he read out the icing letters on top of the baked good.

"No, no, no," you rushed over into the kitchen, repeating the word over and over again, putting the detergent and measuring cup on the counter before pushing Joel out of the way. You closed your eyes to take a deep breath, your hands coming up to hide your face. A huff of frustration escaped your lips. All while your husband continued to stand there in confusion. "No, you weren't supposed to see this. Well, not until tomorrow at least- UGH," Running a hand hastily through your hair as your eyes were locked on the cake. You had been so proud of yourself for coming up with an idea like that, especially when the bakery accepted your request and promised you to make it as pretty as they possibly could. And they most definitely kept their word.

"It's okay," he chuckled, his warm hand coming up to brush over your back. "It's the wrong one, anyway. We can go pick up the right one."

"No, this is the right one!" You called out in frustration. 

With a confused look on his face, he looked down at you as you placed your forehead against his chest, dreading to look up at him.

This was not how you had planned it. It was supposed to be sweet and romantic. At night. With candles. When it would be just the two of you sitting in the living room, wrapping up Sarah's presents together just like you did every year. You'd bring him the cake to open as an 'early Christmas gift'. He'd see it and be happy. Hopefully.

But all of that just fell into the toilet in an instant.

"Can you just pretend you didn't see it?" Your sudden sobs against his chest, made Joel pull you back to look up at him. His concerning eyes met yours that were filled with tears, daring to spill and ruin your cheeks any second.

"See what, darlin'? I don't even know what you mean," he spoke softly to you, his thumbs coming up to catch the first tear that rolled down your cheek. "Number 2 in what? Did Sarah say you're her Number 1 and I'm Number 2? I already know that." His comment made you chuckle just slightly, making his lips curl up at his somewhat successful try at making you laugh. "You got me a cake for that?"

"No," you whined out with a hurtful laugh. Your sniffling only made his adoring eyes look deeper into yours as his hands cradled your face, trying to look for the reason for your tears.

"Then what is it?"

You gulped. "They... I'm congratulating you on Number 2, Dad." You didn't want to just spill the news onto him, but would much rather have him figure it out. It was only now that you realised, the wording you had chosen was clearly not as good as you had found it at first.   

"But number 2 of what?" He wondered again. Joel was anything but an innocent soul. He had proven that multiple times already. But good God, you could've kissed the living heck out of him for his wonderful pure oblivion at that very moment.

With one last deep breath, you wrapped your arms around his waist, gazing up into those sweet and warm brown eyes that have given you so much comfort over the past few years. You knew you had found the one. Of course, you had already married him and had been living with him and Sarah for multiple years now, but this man was the only one you'd want to wake up next to forever. And forever was quite a while. The only man you could ever love that much. The only man you could ever imagine having a baby with. And now you'd get to finally tell him.

"A baby, Joel," you gently whispered, knowing he'd hear you clearly as no other sounds were disturbing you two. 

You could see the very moment your words had registered in his mind. When his big eyes suddenly widened even more, his eyebrows shooting up, the lines on his forehead now more visible than before, and his mouth parting just slightly. A breath hissed through his lips as he gasped quietly. Trying to hold back your smile was long forgotten and as soon as you could see his eyes turning glassier than before, it was over for you.

"W-What?" He whispered back at you. "A... a baby... you mean-" Joel stopped himself, clearly unsure of even letting the words come through his own lips.

"I'm pregnant," you smiled up at him, your arms tightening around his torso, pulling yourself closer to him. Not only could you see his breathing immediately speeding up, but you could also feel it. Feel the way his fingers stopped gliding over your cheeks, and his entire body almost melting into your embrace.

Never would he have dared to take his eyes off of you for even just a short second at that moment. Not even blinking.

He gulped. "Are you serious?"

With a tight smile, trying to hold back your own tears, just like you could tell he was doing, you nodded. "Baby number 2 for you."

"You're not fucking with me?" Still, in clear disbelief, he continued to question you.

You shook your head.

"You're really pregnant?" 

Another nod followed as an answer.

Before you could even say anything more, Joel surprised you with the strength of his arms that wrapped around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest as tightly as he possibly could. You could feel the deep breath he took, only to release a shaky one, letting you know, he had given in to the emotions, breaking your damm finally as well. Instantly, a wet patch formed on his dark sweatshirt, soaking up the tears that were spilling from your eyes. 

Your partner didn't even try to hold back his own. Hiding his face in your hair, you could hear his soft sniffles right by your ear.

"You're really not messin' with me right now, are ya?" He spoke, his voice rough with emotion as he continued to hold you as tightly as his most prized possession.

You chuckled with a sniffle, "No, I'm serious."

The sudden kiss on your cheek made you giggle, the feeling of his beard tickling your skin.

"I love you so much," each word was followed by a kiss to your face, going from your cheek to your temple, down to your jawline, and your nose until he finally reached your lips. The smile you couldn't wipe off your lips made it hard for you to kiss him back, but it only made him grin even wider.

With a deep breath in, he freed your lips, his hands still holding onto your cheeks, making your eyes meet immediately. Just smiling at each other with the biggest grins on your faces made you already giggle again. God, this man was truly able to just make you feel as loved as anybody possibly could. 

Joel leaned forward, resting his forehead against yours to let his eyes fall close for just a second. He took a second to enjoy the moment.

"God," he sighed out loud, "I love you." Going back to attacking your cheeks and lips with kisses, making you giggle once again.

"Just because I'm pregnant?" You teased him, laughing at his antics as your hands came up to hold onto his wrists that were still close to your face.

Your partner raised his head to meet your gaze. His lips curled up before the next words even came from his mouth. "Say that again," he whispered, leaning back in closer.

"What?" You wondered, "That I'm pregnant?"

He nodded. "Hell yeah, you are." A smug smile now decorated his face before he let your lips touch once again. This time, you were able to give in, letting your mouths move against each other as neither one of you wanted to break the kiss. But all good things must come to an end. You were the first to lean back, the last smack echoing through the quiet room.

Once Joel got to look at you again, his thumbs found their way back to brushing away the last few tears that were escaping the corners of your eyes. You copied him, letting your right hand come up to his face, wiping away the tear stains that were left on his cheeks. Oh, how thankful you were to have a man like him by your side.

More or less subconsciously, his palms ran down your body, stopping right at your stomach as he looked down. He chuckled to himself before sniffling one last time.

"Is that why you've been feeling so sick the past few days?" Joel's head came up again to look at you, but your eyes had never left him.

You nodded with a chuckle, now having to brush away your own last tears. "Yeah..."

"When did you find out?" He wondered.

"The evening when I went over to Maria's. When you picked me up," you explained.

Joel straightened his back. "That was weeks ago."

"Two, yeah..." You started to look around for some tissues you may have had left in the kitchen, desperately wanting to blow your nose after the emotional session the two of you had just shared.

"God..." he sighed, running a hand over his face. His eyes continued to just gaze at you, almost making you shy with the way he kept on looking at you. "You've kept it a secret for that long?"

You couldn't help but chuckle at the truth you had kept from him. "Well... technically, I had the feeling for a bit before I did the tests at Maria's place. But I wasn't sure and that day, I just... I felt so disgusting and I couldn't stop throwing up at work, so I-"

"You should've called me," he told you, going back to cradling your cheek in his palm. You held onto his wrist, leaning into his touch with a smile.

"But I already kinda knew what was going on and I wanted to surprise you with it." You sighed, "And well," looking to your left, his hand fell in the action as your eyes found the cake on the counter. "That fell through."

"No, darlin'," his chuckle warmed your heart as he got closer again, his fingers reaching to touch your cheek, making you turn your head straight again. He leaned down to kiss you softly, only leaning back enough to be able to talk while your lips continued to touch. "It's still the most incredible surprise I could ever ask for." Ending his comment with a hard, yet loving full kiss that you reciprocated, when he decided he had one more thing to add. "But I gotta be honest with you, sweetheart," making you look up at him. "If you were expecting me to get the 'Congrats on number 2, dad'...," he shook his head with a tight grin, "you're thinking too highly of me. You're the smart one in the relationship."

A smack to his chest made him only chuckle more as he captured your hand into his. "Stop that," you admonished him. "I realised too late that... that was not how you deliver that message. So not really smart of me either." Making him laugh and pull you into another tight hug, swaying from side to side in glee.

You grinned into the loving embrace, "I love you." Your voice was muffled by his sweatshirt, but he had heard you clearly.

Joel smiled down at you, "I love you too," giving you another peck. "So much." And another.

After a few more kisses were exchanged, as well as just grinning and smiling at each other like the biggest two idiots in love, you had found yourself in a comfortable conversation again. With his arms still around you and yours tightly holding onto him, just standing in the kitchen.

"How are we gonna tell, Sarah?" Joel threw the question into the room before sighing with a chuckle. "Jesus... that girl has been waiting for that moment for months, hasn't she?"

"Yeah," you laughed along with him, nodding your head, and brushing it against his chest. "I already have an idea though."

"Oh yeah?" He let you lean back to meet his awaiting eyes. "What?"

-

That night was spent wrapping Sarah's gifts for the 25th, you showing Joel what you had bought for her and him tearing up once again at the realisation that not only would he be becoming a father for a second time, but also his little daughter would finally become an older sister. And, most importantly, you had started your journey into motherhood from zero on. You got a taste of it when you joined the Miller household, but as pregnancy was the usual first step into becoming a parent, it was a big and exciting time, and your partner was ecstatic about being able to share this with you.

After you had managed to hide your daughter's presents in the same place you'd usually put them, you still managed to surprise Joel with what you had originally planned. Candles and the cake. Even though he already knew about what it said and the news wasn't new to him anymore, you better bet he played into the role and acted out his excitement almost as well as if it was the first time he had heard you say it. His over-exaggeration earned him a few gentle hits to his chest, that quickly turned into a make-out session on the couch, both of you having to remind yourself of the teenager one floor above you that could literally walk out of her room at any point.

-

Within a blink of an eye, Wednesdsy had arrived and the sun shining into your bedroom, hitting your face, woke you up on the 25th. One look at your nightstand let you know that it was already past 9am, and confusion washed over you as you were surprised by the lack of a loud teen, banging on your door, telling you to get up and get downstairs. With a groan you turned around, only to be more confused. Your husband's side of the bed was empty. It wasn't totally out of the ordinary for him to wake up before you, but it was unusual for it to happen on a Saturday. And you not waking up in the process was even weirder.

As it was already late enough, you decided to start your day and get out of bed. The unknown of where your partner was and why you hadn't gotten woken up yet was also tickling your fingertips, impatiently wanting to know the reasoning behind it.

As soon as you stood up, you were hit with your full bladder hurting your stomach, making you waddle over to the door of your bedroom and opening it, ready to head over to the bathroom, when laughter from downstairs stopped you. It was the familiar high-pitched laughter of your daughter, followed by the warm voice of your husband echoing from the kitchen. So that's where they were, you smiled to yourself before turning left to go to the toilet first.

With your business finished and a cardigan you took out of the closet to cover your bare arms with, you walked down the stairs to join the two Millers who already seemed busy in the kitchen.

"Hey Mom," Sarah stopped to look at you as she had just put down the last plate on the dining table.

"Good morning," the moment you noticed your voice still laced with sleep, you cleared your throat.

"Mornin', honey," your husband greeted you, smiling at your dishevelled form. With slow steps, you walked over to the kitchen, stopping right next to Joel, who was filling up three glasses of orange juice as per your daughter's request.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" You asked him, taking two of the glasses that were already filled to bring them over to the table.

"You were pretty deep into your sleep, didn't want to wake you," he explained, taking the third glass with him to join you and Sarah, who had already taken a seat. "Plus," he continued, nodding towards the teenager on his right. "This one woke me up."

A tight smile formed on her face as she pressed her lips together. "Sorry. I dropped something."

"Scared the shit out of me," Joel commented, putting his fork into the pancakes on his plate.

"It was only a mug," Sarah explained, almost rolling her eyes at the exaggeration of her dad.

With scrunched eyebrows, you looked down at your plate. "How did that not wake me up?" You wondered out loud, making your partner chuckle.

He placed his hand on your thigh, "Guess you really need your sleep right now, huh?" Winking at you, unbeknownst to your daughter, who had gotten up again to get the maple syrup her father had forgotten to put on the table. You nudged his knee with a chuckle and a shake of her head, hoping Sarah didn't catch anything of the not-so-subtle hint he had thrown at you.

The rest of breakfast was spent rather peacefully. The teenager wondered about when Tommy would be back to celebrate the next round of Christmas with him, as well as when you'd be making your way to the grandparents in the next few days. You had almost forgotten about that. And the thought of walking into such a family get-together in the state that you were currently in, whether you'd decide to tell them right away or wait for at least the first ultrasound, would be absolutely nerve-wracking for you. But you decided to let future-you worry about that, or at least push the thought back for another day, because there were more important tasks to get through on this very day.

You could already feel your heart beating harder with each step you took closer into the living room where the presents, neatly wrapped by you and Joel were already waiting for Sarah. 

While she had found her usual spot on the floor, right next to the tree, you and your partner cuddled up on the sofa, your gazes already on the girl, who was looking down at the small pile with big eyes. Joel, if needed, was ready to spoil his little girl rotten. Truly, as much as he could possibly give her, he would. But he also knew what kind of person he'd be raising if he were to actually do that. 

Therefore, from an early age on, he decided for himself to give her just enough. Enough presents to make her happy, but never an abnormous amount to let her be ungrateful for the little things in the future. It was one of the things you had admired about him back then and continued to do so even now.

The teenager went through one after the other, opening all of them carefully. With each package, her smile only got wider and wider. Even at the age of 13, Joel and you let her write a letter for Christmas and leave it on the coffee table. Only now, that she was older, it was no longer addressed to Santa Claus but ended with a

'I'll be grateful for whatever you get me. Thank you, love you guys <3'

handwritten by the girl. You knew she'd be thankful for everything you could get her, but her lists were never astronomically long, so fulfilling each one of her wishes wasn't hard for Joel and you. You knew how grateful you had to be to have such a kind-hearted blessing of a child right by your side.

Only that this year, she'd get one more extra present that she hadn't mentioned in her letter.

Just as she was about to get up from the floor, ready to give each one of you a hug and say 'thank you' for the hundredth time, you stopped her and pointed to the last present, you had hidden slightly behind the tree.

"There's one more."

Her eyes followed your fingers before finding the small package you had mentioned. She crouched down to get it from the back, straightening her back with the confused look on her face that she most definitely inherited from her father.

"But I already got everything off the list," she looked back at the two of you.

You smiled at her. "It's something extra. Just a little something."

"What is it?" She wondered, shaking it and bringing it up to her ear, noticing that nothing was moving.

"How are we supposed to know. Santa got you that," Joel commented with a straight face, getting a chuckle from you in return. Sarah, on the other end, glanced at him with a roll of her eyes.

"Ha ha," she mimicked a fake laugh, making Joel sigh.

"I tried."

His hand started brushing up and down your arm in comfort as soon as he saw your fingers playing with a loose string on your cardigan. He knew you were nervous. God, he was too, but he was much better at hiding it.

Sarah ripped the wrapping paper off, putting it to the side where she had collected all of the rest. As she was holding her present upside down, she turned it around.

"Oh, a book!" She called out, her lips curling up into a smile.

"What's the title?" Joel nagged, making you grin.

The girl's eyes glided over the front page. "'The Diary Of An Older Sister'," she read out loud, "Sounds interesting. Thank you!" She looked back at you with a big smile on her lips.

You could only copy her expression, intertwining your fingers tightly with each other. "I thought it might be helpful," you mentioned.

"Helpful?" Sarah wondered, turning her full body around to look straight ahead at the two of you. "For what? I'm not a big sister."

If you weren't as anxiety-ridden as you were right at that moment, you would've been grateful for her catching up on the hint much faster than her father did with his.

"Well," Joel stared, not able to hold back a grin himself, "In a few months you will be."

The girl scoffed with scrunched eyebrows, "But mom's not pregnant," she simply said, before a different thought hit her right the next second. Her gaze switched sharply towards you. "Or are you?" Before you could even answer her, she shot up to her feet. "ARE YOU?!" She called out.

You couldn't help but giggle at her reaction as she kept on repeating the question in her high-pitched voice.

"ARE YOU?! ARE YOU REALLY?!" 

Biting down on your lip to stop yourself from continuing your laughter, you nodded at her.

"OH MY GOD!" She shouted out, now also getting a chuckle out of Joel. "REALLY?!" Her mind was still not settling on whether your answer was true or not.

"Yeah," you nodded, "I'm pregnant," and finally announced, getting a sudden squeal from the teenager in return as she ran up to you. Her hand quickly found yours, pulling you to stand up as well, her squealing continuing as she engulfed you in a tight hug. With a warm smile on your lips, you wrapped your arms around her as she started to sway you. But she broke the sweet moment when she took a step back all of a sudden.

"Are you really not messing with me?" She continued to ask, her hands balled into fists in excitement. "Are you serious?" Her gazes switched between you and Joel, waiting for each one of you to confirm it yet again.

"Why do both of you think I'd be lying about this," you chuckled at the situation you had with your husband merely two days ago repeating itself again.

"So you're really pregnant?" Sarah wondered, her eyes already as big as they could possibly be. The familiar glass film covering her lenses, just like they did with you and her dad as well.

"Yeah," you told her quietly, nodding excitedly when another squeal of hers echoed through the room. She rushed back over to you, making you stumble back slightly when she threw her arms around you again. With your arm looping around her, you pulled her in closer, if that was even possible, kissing the side of her head as you teared up. It felt like only yesterday when you had to kiss the top of her head as she was still smaller than you. Way too quickly had she grown up into a beautiful girl, you couldn't be any happier to let your little one have as an older sister.

While the two of you continued to just stand still, clinging onto each other, your husband clearing his throat from next to you, made you look back. He had gotten up from the couch with a soft groan - his back wasn't getting any better. "Well, I guess my job's done here."

Sarah loosened her grip around you, only to roll her eyes with a dramatic sigh. With a smile, she stepped closer to her dad, who was already waiting for her with open arms. His lips curled up as soon as she was in his embrace. Lowering his head, he placed a few soft kisses on her hair before he reached one arm out, ushering for you to get closer. He had noticed the tears you were wiping away, smiling sweetly at you.

Joel pulled you in swiftly. Your arms immediately went around the girl's body while your husband kept his hand on your back, going back to rubbing circles on it as you gazed up at him, the smile never even daring to leave your lips.

"Thank you," Sarah suddenly spoke up. "I promise, I'll be the best big sister ever."

You and your partner chuckled at each other, Joel taking a deep breath as he saw more tears falling from your eyes.

"We know that, baby girl," he quietly told her, his free hand brushing over her hair, pulling her in just a bit closer to let his cheek rest upon her head.

Let the journey of 'baby on the way' officially start.

joel taglist: @corvusmorte @aniia-x3 @skysmiller