The Child

Chapter 5

“Oh! Hi.” I stand there in shock. Brutus huffs and pulls him into the cabin. Joey leans down, unhooking the leash and pats Bru on the head, making his tail wag. Joey looks at me and smiles, “I am sorry, I was headed home and Brutus was running a little close to the main road so I figured I would bring him back home for you so he doesn’t get hurt.”

“Brutus, you know better than to do that.” I give him a reprimanding look. He lowers his head, knowing I am not happy with him. He huffs again and goes to lay near Ollie.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but how did you know where he lives?” I raise my eyebrow at him.

“Well, once I got him on the leash, he kind of dragged me here. I saw your car out front and knew he was home.” He rubs his hand on the back of his neck.

I let out a laugh. Sounds like Brutus. “Thank you so much. I really do appreciate it. He is our best friend so we don’t know what we would do if he got hurt.” I blush at the confession.

“It’s really no problem, he is a good dog. Plus, I don’t mind him dragging me back to a beautiful woman.” Oh God, is it hot in here? I can feel my cheeks heat up. I look away in hopes he doesn’t see.

“Up!” Ollie says in a demanding tone. We look down and see him standing at Joey’s feet, holding his arms up while opening and closing his little hands. Joey laughs and picks Ollie up, “hello, again Oliver.” Ollie giggles in his hands and tries to grab his ear.

“You can call him Ollie, if you want. I only let people he likes call him Ollie,” I say quickly.

“Ollie it is, then.”

Oliver signals to be put down. Once he is down he starts pulling Joey’s hand towards his toys. Joey laughs, following him. “You know, if your too busy I can play with Ollie. I know you probably have a lot going on,” I blush again.

“Oh I have nothing pressing at the moment. But if you want to kick me out, it’s ok.”

“No, you are welcome to stay. It would be nice to have an adult conversation. I am a little worn out on baby talk.”

Joey grins at me, grabbing Ollie’s firetruck, making truck noises. It’s the cutest thing I have seen. I felt at ease with him here. I knew deep down we could trust him. I take a seat next to him on the ground. My arm accidentally brushes his, sending pleasurable tingles through my body. I have sinful thoughts run through my mind.

“So do you like children?” I ask him, trying to break out of my lustful visions.

“I love children. I have lots of nieces and nephews. Maybe one day I’ll find the right woman to have a bunch of babies with,” he says with a wink. I don’t think I have blushed this much in my life, ever.

“So I guess you have lots of brothers and sisters, huh?”

“I have 5 sisters and 7 brothers. It’s always chaos when we all get together. Never a quiet moment. What about you?”

“I am an only child. I dreamed of having brothers and sisters but it never happened for my parents. My mom passed away when I was little and my dad decided to stay single for the rest of his life.”

“I am so sorry to hear that,” he gives me a sad look.

“It’s ok, it happened so long ago, I barely remember it.” He nods his head. “What about your parents?” I ask, trying to get more information on him.

He laughs, “My parents are still alive. They have been happily married for a very long time. My mom is a spitfire and a force to be reckoned with. My dad is the quiet, thoughtful type so they even each other out well. If you ever need anyone to watch Ollie, they are up for the job. They are retired and bored.”

“That’s wonderful to know,” I say with a smile. I can’t help but wonder how his parents would feel knowing that he offered up their services without their consent.

“So if you don’t mind me asking, what about Ollie’s dad? Is he in the picture?”

I sigh, “no, he isn’t in the picture.” I give him the “I don’t really want to talk about it” look.

“So you are single?” He gets a huge smile on flawless his face.

“Yes, I am single,” I let out a laugh. He looks pleased with my answer. He leans over, whispering in my ear, “good. Because you’re mine.” His lips brush over my ear, making my body heat up from the tingles. I jump up, and scurry to the kitchen to get some distance between us. I deeply enjoyed him making claim to me. A little too much. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” I blurt out.

His million dollar smile forms on his face. “I would love to. What are we having?” He gets up and walks over to the kitchen, standing impossibly close. “Uh, I hope you don’t mind chicken Nuggets and French fries. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow.”

“You’re in luck, I love chicken Nuggets. I am going to run home and change. I don’t live too far from here. I’ll be back soon.”

“That sounds great!” I watch him walk to the door and disappear, gently shutting the door behind him. I take a deep breath, trying to get myself under control. I haven’t had a date since Damion.

I put Ollie in his play pen and run around, trying to make myself presentable.

Joseph

I get in my car and head home to get ready. I feel bad for using Brutus to get close to her, but she seemed to buy my story. In truth, I was walking to her place to get another peek, when Brutus came out of nowhere. He continually barked at me, wagging his tail, almost like he was trying to get me to follow him. Thankfully, I went to the pet store after work and picked up a leash, in case I needed it. Luck would have it, I did need it! I run back to the car, grabbing the leash. I hooked it up to his collar, getting pulled through the trees. When he dragged me to the house, it felt like he was trying to bring us together. I would have to bring him a big bone for his hard work. I smiled as I thought about her saying she was single and there was no dad to worry about. She seemed on edge when I brought it up so I made sure to drop it. She would tell me that story in time.

I rush to shower and change. I go to my kitchen and grab the nicest bottle of red wine I could find. It would be rude to show up empty handed. I go to the garden in my back yard and find several red roses, gathering them up, then head to the car.

I walk up on her porch when I get there, and knock on the door. It opens and she stands there, smiling. My jaw is on the floor. She is wearing a white sundress with a floral pattern that reaches her knees. Her hair was in a side braid and she had on light makeup. She looked ravishing. I didn’t expect her to dress up for me, but I love that she did.

“Are those for me?” She asks as she looks at the roses. I quickly gain my composure, “Uh, yes. I hope you like roses.” Her smile widens.

“I love roses. Come on in.” She grabs them and heads to the kitchen. She grabs a glass and fills it with water. She gently places the roses in the glass, making sure they are arranged just right. I walk up next to her. I place the bottle of wine on the kitchen table and wrap her in my arms, inhaling her scent. I feel tingles throughout my body. I can feel her relax in my arms as she lays her head on my chest. It felt so right. She pulls away and looks at the wine. “How did you know I love wine?” She asked.

“Who doesn’t love wine?”

“True,” she laughs. Oliver shakily walks up to me again, pulling on my pant leg. I pick him up. He giggles as he gives me a hug. I guess he was jealous his mom got one but he didn’t. I laugh, “I missed you too, buddy.”

“Wow, he only hugs my dad, Brutus, and me. You should feel pretty special right now.” She looks surprised.

“I love children, I guess they just sense it.” I wink again. She blushes and turns back to the kitchen to prepare our food. “Do you mind putting Ollie in his high chair for me?”

I pull Oliver off my neck and lift him high in the air, making airplane noises. He laughs, putting his hands out like he is Superman. I fly him to his high chair in buckle him in. Marie brings him a little plate, putting it in front of him. He starts stuffing food in his mouth.

“I really hope you don’t mind paper plates and plastic cups. I really have to get stuff while we are in town tomorrow. If you don’t want to come with us to do boring stuff, I will understand.”

“Of course I am coming with you. You need some muscle to help carry all the heavy boxes.”

“Well aren’t you sweet.” She giggles and grabs two plates off the counter and sets one in front of me. She sits down across from me. I loved every moment of this. I loved the idea of this little family. Even if Ollie wasn’t my child, I would welcome him into my heart with everything I had. I would love Marie with my entire being. My beast purred in agreement.

“Do you mind opening this?” She broke my train of thought. She hands me a bottle opener and two plastic cups.

“No problem, beautiful.” She blushes again, shoving a french fry in her mouth. I pour the wine and place her glass in front of her. She twirled the glass, sniffing it, then taking a little sip. She moaned at the taste. The sound made me instantly hard. I had to control my beast who was trying to claw out. I felt my eyes flash for a second, I hope she didn’t see. I doubt she knew anything about my kind, and I didn’t want to scare her. We enjoyed our dinner in silence until a chicken nugget smacked me in my forehead. I look over at Oliver and see he is launching food at both of us, giggling the entire time. Once his plate was empty, he innocently said, “done,” like he didn’t just assault us with chicken Nuggets and French fries. Brutus was sitting next to him, disappointed he didn’t get any scraps.

“Oh my God! I am so sorry. He has a bad habit of throwing his food when he is full. I have been trying to break the habit for almost 3 months. He is a stubborn kid.” I could tell she was embarrassed. I start giggling, then let out a full belly laugh. “Marie, that is the best sneak attack I have ever seen. He has the heart of a warrior.”

She looks relieved and starts picking up the food all over the table, throwing it on the ground floor for Brutus, who makes quick work of the left overs. She picks up Oliver and places him on the floor. He walks up to me and tries to be sneaky as he grabs a fry off my plate, stuffing it into Brutus’ mouth.

“They make a good team,” I observe.

“Too good of a team. They are constantly outsmarting me. And it doesn’t help that Brutus is as smart as a human. I am pretty sure he was one in another life.”

“You definitely have your hands full. Let me clean up. You deserve a break.”

“Ok, thank you.” She grabs her glass of wine and goes to sit on the couch. Ollie is close behind, sitting on the ground to play with some blocks. I pick up the plates and take them to the trash. I grab my wine. I sit next to her. She doesn’t look at me, like she is thinking about something.

“Is everything alright?” I ask nervously.