Page 92 of For Your Consideration

I dropped the phone on the counter and went to my knees, holding my arms out for her. When Sophie made it to me I picked her up off the floor and tossed her in the air as she squealed. When I caught her again, I pressed a kiss to her cheek and she giggled.

“Good job, sunshine.” I kissed her again and then put her back down. This time she crawled to her mum, who had tears in her eyes. Sophie made it to her and then sat back on her butt, done for the moment, it seemed. Sutton grabbed her off the floor and ran to me.

“She crawled!” She wrapped her free arm around my waist.

“That was incredible.” I pressed a kiss to both of their heads.

She pulled back and looked up at me. “I was so scared when I got pregnant but I have never for a second regretted being her mom. Getting to see her grow is the best part of my life.”

I reached up to wipe a tear from under her eye. “You’re an amazing mother, Sutton. Your daughter is happy and healthy and thriving.” I wiped another tear with my thumb.

“Thanks, Ash,” she whispered with a smile.

“I’m honored that I got to be here to witness this,” I said just as Sophie grabbed my finger.

“I’m really happy you were with us.” She pressed a kiss to Sophie’s cheek and then nuzzled her neck. My smile slipped off my face and I scowled. Sutton caught it and looked at me. “What happened?”

“She’s going to be so much harder to keep safe now.” I didn’t like that idea at all. I might have to call the baby proofer back to double check that everything was safe.

Sophie kicked her legs, proving my point when she got on the ground, crawled back to her mat, and started playing with her toys once again.

“That is so crazy,” Sutton muttered as she shook her head, watching her daughter in awe.

“I got pictures.”

Sutton stayed at my side and rested her head against my chest as we watched Sophie shake a toy.

“I didn’t even think about that! Thank you.” She gave me a little squeeze.

We finally got around to dinner, eating and chatting. I asked her anything I could think of to get her to keep talking so I could keep her around.

I refused to allow Sutton to help me clean up, instead making her sit with Sophie in the other room. She tried arguing that I’d cleaned when she cooked for me but with enough glaring, she finally held her hands up in the air and did as I said.

Once I joined them in my living room, it wasn’t long before Sophie started rubbing her eyes, getting a little grumpier. Sutton decided it was time to head out despite the fact that I asked them to stay.

I helped her get Sophie in the car and then watched them drive away. Going inside, I sat on the couch to send pictures to Sutton while I waited to hear that she was home safe. I scrolled through the ones I’d taken and smiled as I watched Sophie crawl for the first time. The feeling in my chest was intense.

I loved that little girl so much.

Fuck, that’s scary.

I paused on the picture of Sutton on the floor, hugging Sophie to her chest. They both had smiles aimed up at me, the light shining in from the setting sun. It was a perfect moment. So before sending it to Sutton, I made it my lock screen and background photo on my phone.

24

Sutton

The day after Sophie crawled for the first time, I spent a very late night at Iris’s place, baby-proofing with the supplies I’d bought a few weeks ago. The night after that I tackled my apartment. The reason my nights were so late was because after work Sophie and I were at Asher’s for dinner. He’d even insisted I bring Iris with us last night so we could all eat pizza together.

So here Sophie and I were for the fourth night in a row. She was on the floor in the living room, crawling around while Asher kept his hawk eyes on her. I’d assured him that she would be okay, that there was a good chance she’d hurt herself at some point but that happened with kids. He glared at me for a solid five minutes after that.

“How’s the private members club coming along?” I asked as I pulled the blanket off the couch behind me.

He shook his head. “Noah wants to name it The Pleasure Palace.”

I melted as I laughed. He acted annoyed with all of Noah’s antics but he really did love his friend. “I mean…you might get a lot of people signing up. It could be a good marketing strategy.”

“The place will speak for itself. We already have a long waitlist for memberships, from people from all around the world, and not because they think we’re some brothel.”