Текст книги "Surge "

Автор книги: Sloan Storm

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

While he spoke, I released my grip from Dyson’s hand and placed it over my mouth.

Could it be?

“And so,” I began, swallowing hard. “What about my nephew?”

“What do you mean?”

My insides fluttered with nervous energy. I shot to my feet.

“I mean, assuming Gene does this, what does that mean for the state of my temporary custody?”

No sooner had I finished speaking than I heard the familiar rattle of paper through the receiver.

“Well,” Ed began. “I’ve had a chance to examine the paperwork concerning your guardianship. You’ve done an exceptional job in caring for your nephew. Frankly, I see no reason why you wouldn’t be awarded full custody of him as soon as Mr. Philo executes the required signatures. Further, I…”

Without thinking, I shrieked, screaming at the top of my lungs. Dyson jumped up and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. I snapped myself back into reality, apologizing to the attorney.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry I just did that.”

By the time I said those words, Ed was already laughing.

“Very well then,” he began, his chuckle starting to fade away. “I’ll take it by your reaction that you’d like me to proceed with things on my end?”

I nodded, caught between sheer joy and disbelief.

“Yes, absolutely yes!”

“Okay, I’ll get to work on this right away. It will probably take a day or two to put everything into motion. But unless I’ve severely misjudged Mr. Philo, which I don’t think that I have, I’d expect him to accept this offer very soon.”

Shaking, I did my best to piece together a coherent response, “I don’t know how to thank you, Ed. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Ava,” he replied. “I know exactly how important it is, not only for you but also for your nephew. I’m just glad we were able to help.”

A few seconds later, we said our goodbyes.

Ed told me that as soon as he got word, he’d call me and let me know. I hung up, looking in Dyson’s direction, my mouth drifting open. My hand fell away from the side of my head.

The next thing I knew, I’d dropped the phone.

Dyson stood there with his arms out in front of his body, his palms skyward.

“Well, what the hell happened?”

I just stood there. My entire body felt like it was made of rubber. It couldn’t be.

It just couldn’t be real.

“Ava!” Dyson yelled. “Talk to me!”

The sound of his voice riveted my attention on his face. Without thinking, I took off in his direction, jumping at him. We collided, and I hooked my arms and legs around his torso, sending him reeling backwards.

“Ava!” he exclaimed, tumbling down to the ground. I landed on top of him, and he groaned from the impact. “Aaahhhh...”

Lying on top of him, I reached up and wrapped my hands around Dyson’s face.

“Do you have any idea what this means? Any?”

Still trying to catch his breath, Dyson wheezed a reply, “Yeah, it means when you fall… on a guy… you need to be careful where you put your knee.”

I let go of his cheeks.

“Oh my God! Oh no! Dyson, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

Dyson leaned his head back resting it against the floor, moaning.

“Ohhh, the pain. I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life.”

I rolled off of him. “Where does it hurt? Tell me!”

Dyson remained still for a moment or two. At last, he lifted his head and looked at me.

“Ava, it’s serious. I’m afraid I’m going to need medical attention immediately.”

When he finished speaking, a wry smile curled to the corner of his mouth. Soon after, his straight white teeth appeared.

“Medical attention, huh?” I said, arching a brow at him.

Dyson sat up, bracing himself on his elbows. “Oh yeah, it’s bad, Doc.”

“Oh, I’m a doctor now, am I?”

“Doctor… nurse,” he began, reaching towards me and wrapping his hand around my wrist.

He tugged me in his direction.

“Whatever.”

DYSON

Ava straddled me, locking her arms straight and placing her palms flat on the floor next to my head. Smiling, she tilted her face down, moving it in the direction of mine.

Her long, soft hair closed in around me.

I reached down towards her waist, tracing the curve of the arch in her back until at last I cupped her ass in my hands. While I did, she continued to move towards me. The shadow from her hair darkened the distance between our faces when she stopped.

“I like your bedside manner, Doc.”

Ava nodded a bit, and the smile she had on her face moments earlier widened.

“You do, huh?”

I squeezed her ass cheeks, curling my fingertips inward.

“Yeah.”

Over the next moment or so, the expression of happiness on Ava’s face changed.  Her eyes softened and her lips parted. Sitting on top of me, she lifted one of her arms off the floor and moved it towards my head. Reaching down, she slid the tips of her fingers through my hair, stroking it and looking into my eyes while she did.

After the fourth or fifth pass, she slid her nails along the side of my face, touching my lower lip with her thumb. Ava’s eyes left mine and instead focused on my mouth. For several seconds, she brushed across my lip with light strokes, finally dropping her finger away.

Looking up at her, I watched her mouth move towards mine. I folded my lips inward for a fraction of a second, moistening them. Just after I did, our mouths locked. She lowered her upper body, resting it against mine.

The feel of her curves and ample tits pressing into me caused my dick to engorge. The change didn’t go unnoticed by her. Ava swept her mouth across mine, moaning while she kissed me.

I felt the small of her back arch, giving me an opportunity to slide my fingers inside of her jeans. Reaching in that direction, I inched my fingers beneath the denim, groping at the flesh of her ass while I did. At the same time, Ava increased the intensity of her kisses.

Her lips felt fucking incredible, gliding and suctioning against me. Our tongues twisted and turned in each other’s mouths, increasing the excitement with each passing second.

When my hands couldn’t go any further, I closed my fingers, pulling her hips hard against my cock. As if on command, Ava started to grind against me, moaning and grunting into my mouth at the same time.

Not long after, Ava’s mouth broke free and a heated breath spilled from her lips. She leaned away from me, tossing her head backward and arching her torso away from me. I looked up at her, my vision filling with the magnificence of her tits.

Now in a semi-seated position, Ava’s head fell forward a fraction. Looking down at me, she reached towards the bottom of my shirt and ran her fingers underneath it. Seconds later, she tugged at it, pulling it up and exposing my abs. Wordless, she dropped her head towards my stomach and began to lick and kiss and suck her way up and down. I pulled my hands out of her pants and instead slid them into her hair, twisting them around and between my fingers while she lavished my abdomen with kisses.

After a few seconds, I felt the hardness of her fingernails while they dragged along the edge of my jeans. In the next instant, she reached for the top of them with aggression, unfastening them like she couldn’t do it soon enough.

I felt the vibration of the zipper against my pelvis while she pulled it down. At the same time, Ava peppered me with kisses down the center of my torso, stopping just above my waist. She tugged at my jeans with a firm yank. I shifted my ass from one side to the other and then, before the cool air of the hotel room even brushed against my skin, Ava took my cock into her mouth. I looked up at her for a half a second before slamming my head down on the hotel room floor.

“Ahhhh, fuuuuck,” I groaned. “Jesus.”

With one hand pumping up and down on my shaft, Ava reached up with her other one and rubbed my midsection, squeezing my abs and chest while she sucked me. The sound of her doing it and the slick feel of her talented tongue along the length of my dick almost made me cum immediately.

Instead, I laid back for an instant, easing into her affection. With every second that passed, my cock got harder and grew fuller, raging to get inside of her pussy. I lifted my head up again, delighting in the sight of her mouth traveling up and down my shaft. Streaks of sunlight passed through her hair, causing it to glisten with each pass of her mouth.

Before long, I’d had about all I could stand. I reached down, touched her cheek. She stopped and looked up at me. After a slow withdrawal, she pulled her lips away from the tip of my cock, never stopping her gentle stroking of it.

“Take off your clothes, Ava.”

Without a word, Ava looked at me and nodded. She released my dick, laying it flat against my torso just as she began to strip away her clothing.

“Go slow,” I said, interlocking my fingers behind my head while I looked up at her.

Ava smiled at me and did as I asked. Over the next minute or so my cock twitched, feeling like it was hard enough to split her in two. Ava fucking hypnotized me with her movements. When only her bra and thong remained, I licked my lips.

Although I wasn’t sure, I probably hadn’t blinked for almost a minute.

Swallowing hard, I looked on while she reached around behind her back and unhooked her bra. Afterward, she tossed it aside with a casual flick and her tits appeared in my line of sight. Wanting more than anything to put them in my mouth and touch them with my fingers, I resisted the urge until I’d gotten everything I wanted.

“The rest of it,” I said, gesturing towards her thong.

Ava’s lips curled into a deviant smile. She reached up towards her face, hooking her hair behind her ears. I looked up at her, realizing what a perfect beauty she was. But that only made my desire a thousand times stronger. I allowed my eyes to travel down her curves towards her thong, where I stopped.

I stared, watching while Ava glided her fingertips down the center of her body, at last hooking them around the elastic of her underwear. A second later, I kept my focus while the satiny material fell away, exposing her pussy. Now that she was completely naked, like me, I motioned with my fingers for her to approach.

She knelt next to me.

“What do you want, Dyson?”

That wasn’t a question she needed to ask.

“I want to taste you, Ava baby.”

She smiled at me for an instant. In the next, Ava swung an arm and leg over my body. Afterward, I reached up and grabbed onto the outside of her thighs, pulling her back on her haunches until her folds were inches from my mouth.

No sooner had I done so than Ava wrapped her hand around the base of my cock and swallowed me once again. I grunted, squeezing my ass cheeks together while she nearly took my entire shaft into her mouth. I exhaled, lifting my head up towards her pussy.

I devoured her.

With my tongue, I glided up and down her folds, flicking and tasting as I went. Using my thumb, I began to stroke at her clit, starting with small, but firm, circles.

No sooner had I done so than Ava let loose with a deep groan. Sensing her excitement, I began to increase my speed, thumbing at her clit with an ever-increasing friction. At the same time, I eased two fingers inside her, and using a come hither motion, I dragged my fingers within, curling them under. Ava’s hips began to shake, almost vibrate, while she struggled to steady herself above me.

Now, with my tongue and fingers assaulting her in nearly every way, I increased the intensity of my efforts, determined to drive her mad with ecstasy. Just then, Ava pulled my cock out of her mouth and while she continued to slide her hand up and down the length of my shaft, she lowered her head between my thighs and started to suck my balls. I moaned, spreading my legs and clenching my jaw, while she devoured me.

We continued this way for several minutes. Ava bounced her hips up and down, keeping pace with the rhythm of my strokes inside. It wasn’t long after that she took my dick between her lips once again, sliding her mouth down the entire length of it.

I inhaled a deep breath at the silken feel of her mouth. Suctioning me the entire time, Ava’s efforts brought me to the brink. At the last instant, I refocused my effort and consumed her as never before. Within seconds, Ava released my dick from her mouth again, crying out.

“Oh fuck, Dyson baby, fuck!”

While she gyrated above me, teetering on the edge of climax, I remained focused. My fingers and tongue moved at a lightning like pace, sending her to uncontrollable peaks of pleasure. For a while she continued to jerk her hand up and down but soon, the impending crash of release overwhelmed her.

Ava thrust her hips downward with a powerful snap, screaming while the moment froze her in place over the top of me. No words came from her mouth, only a long sustained whimper. Her entire body shook and pulsed. Orgasm took her, causing Ava to eventually collapse on top of me, quivering. I pulled away from her, removing my hands and mouth.

But, she wasn’t finished and neither was I.

DYSON

“I need you to fuck me, Dyson,” she gasped, barely able to get herself back on all fours. “Please.”

I leaned back, reaching up and grabbing her at the hips. I moved her in the direction of my dick. Punch drunk with bliss, Ava’s upper body listed a bit from side to side but before long, she straddled me in a reverse cowgirl position.

With one hand on her hip, I grabbed the base of my cock with the other. Within seconds, I guided it between her legs. Looking in her direction, I licked my lips and watched while she lowered her hips. At last, I felt the unmistakable warmth of her folds as they wrapped around me.

Ava moaned while she descended. “Baby, ohhhh, baby…”

Once she’d taken me inside of her, Ava paused for a moment, leaning forward and placing her palms flat against my thighs. I felt her contract, squeezing me inside of her. Just then, I reached out towards her ass and wrapped my hands around it.

Once I had, Ava dropped her head back between her shoulders, reaching up and grabbing her tits. Without any hesitation I began to thrust inside of her. My cock, now fully engorged, raged with each pump of my hips. Ava relaxed herself into my aggression, providing the perfect amount of friction with each crack of my pelvis against her ass.

While I fucked her, I allowed my hands to wander along her curves, making their way of the sides of her torso until at last I reached around and filled my palms with her full breasts. Using my fingertips, I rolled her nipples between them. Ava inhaled a deep breath, reaching up and covering my hands with her own, never breaking her rhythm while she bounced up and down on top of me.

For the next several minutes we continued, but with each second that ticked by, I my felt own need began to grow past my ability to control it. At last, I reached towards Ava’s ass and eased her off of me. She tumbled forward, rolling over on her back, her legs spread and looking up at me with need in her eyes.

After getting to my knees and wrapping my hand around the base of my cock, I looked down at Ava. Sunlight shined in through the window across the room, causing her sweat covered skin to glisten. She looked up at me, the swollen lips of her mouth parted. I moved between her thighs, licking my own lips in return and guiding my shaft towards her folds.

While I approached, Ava spread her legs to their limit. I wasted no time and thrust my dick inside of her with aggression. Ava threw her head backwards, yelping, and after wrapping her hands around my backside, she dug her fingernails into my flesh.

She hooked her legs low, yanking my ass towards her. I grunted, ramming inside of her while my dick hardened to the point of pain. Ava arched her lower back, tilting her hips and raising her head off the floor at the same time.

I looked down at her, droplets of sweat from my chest fell towards her tits. While I continued to thrust, I reached down and smeared the perspiration into her breasts with my thumb. Ava looked up, her eyes met mine. I moved my thumb towards her full lips. She opened her mouth for me and took my finger inside, her cheeks indenting while she suckled me.

After a few moments, I withdrew my finger. Ava glanced towards me for an instant before shifting her focus between her thighs. Locking my arms at the elbow, I braced myself on either side of her torso and began to thrust harder than ever. There was something about watching her watch me that nearly drove me to the brink.

Ava nodded her head.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she whispered, each rhythmic utterance timed with my withdrawal.

It wouldn’t be long now, and there was nothing I could do about it. Around that time, I glanced down between my legs and noticed the pulsing action of my dick. Illuminated in sunlight, I watched as the lips of Ava’s pussy hugged the girth of my shaft tight, expanding and contracting with each pass inside of her.

After a few seconds, I shifted my attention back towards Ava’s face.

She looked up at me, her gaze clouded with lust. With a gentle caress, Ava draped her fingers around my biceps, tracing the outlines of the veins in my arms. For several seconds after, the sound of my hips cracking against her ass echoed in the room while Ava rocked beneath me.

Without warning, Ava hooked her feet at the ankle, yanking me towards her with all of her might. At the same time, her fingers dug in harder than they ever had before. I watched her transform before my eyes. Her entire body went stiff, arching upward in my direction.

Ava screamed and cried.

“Dyson! Dyson! I’m cumming!”

I held there for a fraction of a second before snatching her arms and pinning her to the ground. Her eyes, which had been pinched closed, flipped open at my sudden aggression.

She continued to climax while I held her flat against the ground and fucked her. I felt rawness come to my knees while I thrust inside of her, the friction of the carpet setting my skin on fire. Exhausted, Ava went limp beneath me while every fiber in my body remained focused on only one thing.

I had no idea how long it continued. I lost myself in taking her. I lost myself in owning her.

The next thing I remember, Ava whispered words to me. Unclear at first, she continued to utter them until I noticed.

“Cum in my mouth, baby,” she begged. “I want it… I need it.”

Her words grabbed my attention, focused it and took me to the brink. My dick was beyond hard, aching and in need of release. I thrust harder, faster and deeper, knowing that at any second she’d get exactly what she wanted.

And then, I reached the point of no return. Pulling out, I grabbed the base of my cock and knelt above her. Ava snapped forward, reaching for my shaft. Swallowing it into her mouth, she began to suck it.

“Ahhh!” I cried out. “Fuck!”

The feeling radiated from between my legs, rippling through my pelvis and the rest of my body like a stone in the middle of a pond. Waves of climax washed over me. My cock pulsed inside of Ava’s mouth. She hummed, moaning with satisfaction while my climax peaked. Minutes later, I collapsed on the floor next to her, utterly spent.

For the moment, anyway.

“Oh God,” Ava whispered, sliding one of her legs over mine. “That was… wow.”

I laid there for a few seconds, catching my breath and relaxing. Ava remained silent, the only motion from her was the rhythmic stroking of her hand along my midsection. Eventually, I rolled my head in her direction.

“We’ve got a lot to celebrate today, don’t we?” I asked.

She nodded, still half groggy from her climax and mine. “Mmm hmm.”

Just then, my dick twitched between my legs, hardening again. In a flash, I rolled over on top of Ava, spreading her legs and positioning myself between them once more.

“Well, then,” I began. “We better get started right away. Check out time is at noon.”

Ava giggled, wrapping her arms and legs around me.

“I already got us a late checkout.”

With my cock hard as stone, I slid it inside of her.

Ava gasped.

“Even better,” I growled. “Even better.”

AVA

Later that afternoon, Dyson and I returned to the racetrack.

Dieter wanted the team to get together one last time before the Formula One circuit resumed in Europe. Over the past few months, in spite of the ups and downs, I’d come to enjoy being around all of them. Theirs was a difficult business and one that required teamwork and precision at its highest level. I felt lucky to be part of it, even if only for a short period of time.

I didn’t know when, if ever, I’d see them again, so after we arrived, Dyson and I spent time mingling and talking to the crew. Things had been so hectic while the races were going on that I hadn’t gotten to know most of them nearly as well as I would’ve liked to. It was nice to change that, if only a little.

The afternoon turned into evening. One by one, the team members began to disperse. Before long only a small group of us remained. The team garage door was still open. While Dyson talked to Darren and Dieter, I leaned against it, looking out over the racetrack.

From behind, I heard footsteps approaching.

“You’re way better looking than Dr. Luca.”

I glanced over my shoulder to see Marco drawing close to me. I smiled at him and a couple of seconds later we hugged. After kissing me on the cheek, he leaned away.

“So are you going to come on the road with us? Back to Europe?”

The sunset at the far end of the racetrack, filling the interior of the garage with electric hues of red and orange. I hooded my eyes with my hand and looked at him.

“No, this isn’t the life for me. Everything I want is back home in Austin.”

Marco nodded for a moment and glanced in Dyson’s direction before turning back to look at me again. “Everything?”

I shrugged and shook my head. “Maybe you should ask him.”

“Or, maybe,” he began, stepping close to me and draping his arm across my shoulder. “Maybe I should mind my own business.”

I looked at him and smiled.

“So is this goodbye?” he asked. “It feels like goodbye to me. Doesn’t it feel that way to you?”

“A little, yeah.”

He pulled his arm off my shoulder and stepped back. “I think you’re good for him, Ava.”

Marco looked in Dyson’s direction and without facing me, continued, “I love him like a brother, and I know there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for me. When you’re with a driver, it’s never easy, but I can promise you—life will never be dull.”

After he finished his thought, Marco looked at me again.

“Well, I must be going,” he said. “We start testing again in Milan soon.”

Before he turned to walk away, we embraced one more time.

“Take care of yourself, Ava,” he began, winking at me. “Take care of him, too.”

I chuckled. “I’ll do my best. You take care of yourself, Marco. I mean it.”

Marco nodded, turned and disappeared through one of the open bay doors. Just then, my cell phone began to vibrate in the pocket of my jeans.

Reaching inside, I pulled it out and answered.

“Ava?”

I immediately recognized the voice of Ed, the attorney for child protective services. I snapped to attention, completely focused on the next word out of his mouth.

“Yes? I mean, hello Ed. I mean… Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just a wreck.”

Ed’s reassuring laugh echoed through the phones receiver.

“It’s quite all right. Being anxious and excited is completely understandable. Can you talk?”

“Yes, of course!”

I exited the garage and walked out into the warm evening air.

“Well, I won’t keep you,” he began. “I just wanted to call and let you know that we were able to put things in motion faster than we’d hoped. The bottom line is that Mr. Philo has agreed to waive his parental rights. The only thing that remains is for you to handle a bit of paperwork on your end and finalize the adoption of your nephew.”

I spun in place, covering my mouth with my hand. A torrent of tears streamed down my cheeks out of nowhere. Emotion choked me and rendered me unable to speak. Between sobs of joy, I tried to thank him but nothing understandable came out of my mouth for at least ten seconds.

“Ava, I want to tell you how happy I am for not only you, but Simon as well.”

I did my best to wipe away the tears, but it became impossible to keep up. While Ed talked, I happened to glance in the garage and see Dyson looking straight at me.

“W-What d-do I do next?” I stammered.

Ed explained that I needed to return to Austin and pick up the finalized paperwork at the courthouse. Once it was completed, the adoption would sail through and before long, Simon would officially be my son.

“How soon can this happen?”

Ed paused for a moment. “Um, I can have the paperwork filed first thing in the morning. Is that soon enough?”

Ecstatic, I thanked him, and less than a minute later, I hung up. With the remnants of my tears still drying on my cheeks, I hurried back inside of the garage. Dyson saw me approaching and began to walk in my direction.

“Ava,” he began, walking up to me and wrapped his hands around my shoulders. “What’s the matter? Why are you crying?”

I wasted no time and explained everything to him – that Simon would finally be my son. In that moment, as much as I wanted Dyson to be part of it as well, nothing was going to stand between me and the joy of adoption. Dyson smiled wide and swallowed me with a strong embrace. Afterward, we kissed for several seconds before he released me, and we turned to face Darren and Dieter.

“You guys!” he called to them, gesturing for the two of them to walk over. “Come quick!”

Since I was far too overcome with emotion, Dyson stepped in and did it for me, explaining everything to the two men.

He’d hardly finished when Dieter raised his hand towards us. “Did you say that the paperwork would be ready tomorrow morning?”

I nodded, finally swallowing down enough of the emotion I’d been experiencing to respond.

“Yes, that’s what I was told.”

Dieter clapped his hands together, rubbing them with a vigorous motion.

“That settles it,” he began, reaching inside of his suit coat for his cell phone. “You and Dyson can use my private jet. It will be ready for you within the hour.”

AVA

Dyson and I arrived home after a late-night flight from New York.

Not only had Dieter arranged for his private jet to fly us back, but when we arrived, a limousine awaited. The driver took Dyson and me to my apartment and informed us he had specific instructions to spend the night in the parking lot, if necessary.

We managed to sneak in undetected.

When the first hint of morning sunlight shined in my room, I slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Dyson. Tiptoeing out of the room, I made my way towards Simon’s bedroom. Although it was a school day, I wanted him to be with me more than anything. However, my nephew hated to miss school for any reason.

I hoped this would be the exception to the rule.

After I entered, I walked across the room and sat down on the edge of his bed.

“Simon,” I began, reaching over and jostling him on the shoulder. “It’s time to get up.”

He whimpered and rolled around a bit before looking up at me through one half open eye.

“Aunt Ava?” he muttered. “When did you get here?”

I smiled, leaning over and hugging him close. Afterward, I sat up and looked down at him.

“Late last night.”

He reached towards his face and made tiny balls with his hands, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Simon, honey,” I began, reaching down and rubbing his chest. “You’re not going to be going to school today.”

It took a few seconds for my statement to register. Eventually, however, it did, and he frowned while he looked up at me.

“But, I have to,” he said. “I’ve got a perfect attendance record.”

I smiled down at him. “You don’t have to worry, I’ll talk to your teachers. I’m sure that after today, they’ll look the other way. You just have to trust me. Can you do that?”

His tiny face held an expression of uncertainty.

I smiled at him again. “Simon, you know that I love you more than anything in this world. I would never let anything happen to you, or your perfect attendance record.”

Without speaking, he nodded at me and returned my smile with one of his own.

“Okay,” I began, standing from his bed. “Even though you aren’t going to school, you need to get up and get ready.”

“Why? Where are we going?”

Channeling Dyson, I winked at him. “You’ll see.”

Shortly after, I left Simon’s room and called the school to speak to Mrs. Marberry. I told her what was happening. She couldn’t have been more understanding, not to mention thrilled.

Of course, I mentioned Simon’s concern about his unblemished attendance. She informed me that for some strange reason, Simon’s attendance records seemed to be missing that morning. She wasn’t expecting them to show up again until the following day, and to the best of her knowledge, she wasn’t expecting to mark him absent.

After having a good laugh with her, I thanked Mrs. Marberry for everything, promising her the proof of adoption she needed to keep Simon enrolled at the school. Mrs. Marberry congratulated me and promised Simon would have his place there next fall.

By midmorning, Dyson, Simon, Jillian and I arrived at the courthouse. Overnight, Ed had texted me with instructions to meet him when we got there.

It’s a strange thing when a person’s voice doesn’t match their appearance. When speaking to Ed over the phone, my mind conjured images of a narrow-shouldered man with wire framed glasses and a receding hairline. However, when we approached him after arriving, Jillian walked up behind me and whispered in my ear, “Is that him?”

The broad-shouldered man with a sharp, chiseled jaw line and dark, intense eyes waved at us. I glanced towards her.

“Looks like it.”

“Yum,” she purred.

I looked back at Jillian. “What about Dan?”

“Who?” she joked.

Within seconds, the four of us walked up to him. He looked straight at me.

“You…” the man said, sticking his hand inside of his briefcase. “You must be Ava.”

I nodded and smiled at him. “Ed?”

“That’s me,” he said. Glancing past my shoulder, he continued, “It looks like you have some company.”

I turned in place and introduced all of them, leaving Simon for last.

“That has to be Simon,” Ed began, pointing at my nephew. “You’re a very lucky young man. Your Aunt Ava loves you very much. You know that, don’t you?”

I looked down at Simon and he nodded. “Yes,” he replied.

Ed smiled for a couple of moments and then produced the paperwork he’d reached for in his briefcase moments earlier.