“Put me down right now!” I yell and he sets me on the floor.

“What’s going on?” Susan asks, walking around the corner to the living room.

“My water broke and all of your sons, except Trevor, turned comatose at the mention of it. I need to get my bag and get to the hospital.”

“How far apart are your contractions?”

“I just had my first one, so I don’t really know. I haven’t timed them.”

“It was one minute and fifty-six seconds ago,” Trevor says. Asher glares at him.

I walk to the couch and sit when I feel another contraction coming on.

“Well, they’re less than three minutes apart. We really need to get to the hospital,” Trevor says and I'm wondering what the hell is going on.

I look up at him and he shrugs. “That book has been around a lot,” he says, pointing to Asher. “He carries it with him everywhere, even to job sites. When I was bored a few times, I read it.”

“Lord, save me,” I say, looking up to the ceiling then back to Asher, who’s still just standing there.

“Asher, unless you want your brother to take over for you, pull it together,” I tell him, waddling out to the car.

Nine grueling hours later, July Heaven Mayson, came into this world screaming.

I walk into the living room and look at the couch. Asher is lying on his back with July lying in just a diaper against his bare chest. One of his big hands in holding her bottom, the other is on the back of her head. She’s facing me, her hand resting against her chin. Her eyes are the same color as her father’s. His eyes are closed. I walk towards them and Asher’s eyes open and the smile that comes across his face is devastating. It’s a look of pure bliss, the look of someone who is right where they are supposed to be in life and is so overwhelmed with happiness that it comes through every time they smile.

“Hey, baby,” he says. “How was your nap?”

“Good.” I smile. “Was she fussy when you tried to give her the bottle?” I ask, knowing my daughter is picky and only wants the breast.

“No.” He shakes his head, smiling. “Trevor came over for lunch and he got her to drink from it.”

“Wow, super Trevor saves the day again, huh?”

“Yeah, Liz came with him so I think he was showing off.” He laughs and I know he’s right. Liz slipped a few days after July was born and said something happened, but never said what it was. When I tried to press her about it, she closed up and turned as red as a beet. Since then, they had kind of been avoiding each other. A few weeks ago, something else happened, and now there is no Trevor without Liz.

“I'm sure,” I say, rolling my eyes. “But if your brothers are trying to use our daughter to pick up women, I will kick their asses.”

“I’ll kick their asses,” he says, patting her bottom and he’s not lying. He’s one scary daddy bear. The other day, some woman came up to us and started to put her hand near July, and he freaked out about germs and hand sanitizer. The lady stood there in shock the whole time. Then he walked away, shaking his head, like she was the crazy one.

“So, should we get ready to take her to Grandma’s?” I ask, excited about a date with my husband. Since July came home two months ago, we haven’t had any time alone, and I was very much looking forward to it. Not that I wanted to be without my daughter, but I was ready to have mommy and daddy time.

“I already packed everything up,” he says, smirking, and I laugh.

“Well, I'm going to go shower.”

“Shower, huh?” he says, and his eyes turn hungry.

“Yes, shower. You have to watch our daughter so you can’t join me. I bend over and kiss her head of dark hair, and then kiss my husband and whisper against his lips, “Love you.”

“Love you more, baby,” he says back.

“Do you want to go to Nashville and have dinner?” Asher asks from the driver’s seat. We just dropped off July to his mom and dad. We’re kid free for a few hours.

“Have you gone skinny dipping?” I blurt.

I watch as his dimple appears. “You wanna go skinny dipping, baby?”

“Maybe,” I say softly. I have always wanted to try it, but since the pool was finished and July was born, there hasn’t been time or opportunity.

We pull into our driveway fifteen minutes later, and before Asher can even get his door open, I’m in the house, running across the living room and pulling my dress over my head. Then I dive into the pool in my bra and panties. I surface and watch as Asher takes off his shoes then jeans. He’s going kind of slow, so I decided to hurry him along. I unclasp my bra and toss it in his direction. He jumps into the pool with his boxers still on.

When he surfaces, he’s right in front on me, pulling me to him under my arms. “If we’re skinny dipping, these are kind of in the way,” he says, running his hands down my waist to the top of my lacy booty panties.

“Hmm.” I smile.

Then his hands fist the sides, ripping them off and tossing them out of the pool. “That’s better.” His mouth meets mine and his hand goes between my legs, his fingers hitting the perfect spot. My legs wrap around his hips, my arms around his neck, and my head falls back from the stimulation of his fingers. His lips run along my neck, licking and biting their way down to the tops of my breast. He stops and his hand fists my hair, pulling my mouth back to him.

“You have too many clothes on,” I tell him, trying to shove down his boxers. I finally get them off him, wrapping my fist around him and stroking. I bite my lip when two fingers fill me.

“Yes.” I moan. My head falls forward into his shoulder then I'm out of the pool, sitting on the edge. His hands are at my inner thighs, spreading my legs wide, then his mouth is attacking me. “Oh my God,” I whisper, holding his head to me. Right when I know I'm going to come, he stops and pulls me back into the water, impaling me on him. “Asher!” I scream in shock. I feel myself convulse around him.

“I love your pussy, baby,” he says against my ear. I whimper as he uses his hands on my ass to slam me down onto him. My hands pull his mouth to mine. The kiss is so hungry that when I feel his teeth bite into my lower lip, I lose it.

“I'm going to come,” I say against his mouth, and just as I feel myself starting to fall apart, he lifts me off him and turns me around so I have to grab onto the side of the pool. He slams into me from behind, holding onto my hips using the weightlessness of the water to lift me effortlessly. His hands slide from my waist to my chest, and his fingers roll and pinch my nipples. His mouth travels from the back of my neck up to my ear.

“You’re gonna make me come, baby. Your tight, wet pussy is squeezing me and going to make me come. And when I come, I want you to come with me, so I need you to touch yourself for me.”

I nod my head. I don’t have the strength to say anything. When my fingers roll over my clit, my head falls back on his shoulder, my mouth finds his, and then I explode. My body is tingling from head to toe. My fingers dig into the wall at the edge of the pool. My orgasm is so huge that I see stars and can’t breathe. I hear Asher groan behind me and I know that he followed me with his own orgasm. “I don’t know how, but I swear your pussy gets sweeter every time I fuck you,” he says in a husky whisper right next to my ear.

We’re out of the pool lying on one of our loungers, me sprawled out on top of Asher, his hand’s running up and down my back.

“I want another, baby,” Asher says softly to the top of my head. His hands slowing move up and down.

“Already?” I ask, not that I’m surprised. He loves our daughter and is amazing with her, but she’s only two months old and I want to enjoy her for a little while longer.

“I want our kids to be close like me and my brothers. And I also miss you being pregnant.”

“You miss me complaining about everything, late night store runs, foot massages and my weight gain?” I ask.

“I never complained, and you already know how I felt about your belly. Something about you waddling around with my baby inside you was fucking sexy.”

“You’re a strange one, Asher James.”

“So, what do you say?”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he says, pulling me up his body. “You’re going to give me another baby?”

“Yes, I'm going to give you another baby.”

“Well, then.” He smiles, giving me the dimple. “Let’s get started,” he says against my mouth and we did get started. It took a few tries, but two months later, I found out I was pregnant. A few months after that, we found out we were having a girl. Five girls later, Asher gave up on his dream of a boy.

Seventeen years later

“You listen to me, young lady,” I hear Asher say. “You are not going on a date. You’re only sixteen.”

“Daddy,” I hear our daughter cry, and I know that she’s giving him the puppy dog eyes. Each of our five girls had perfected the puppy dog eyes by the time they were old enough to talk. I shove my face into my pillow so they can’t hear me laughing through the open door. I keep listening, but all I can hear now is mumbling. This lasts awhile. Then Asher walks into our room, closing the door behind him. His face is blank as he sits down on the bed, takes off his shoes, then stands, and takes his shirt off. After seventeen years, his body is still amazing. He looks at me and I see so much love in his eyes that it makes it hard to breathe. The pillow is still against my face with my eyes peeking out over the top of it.

So, what did you say?” I ask in a muffled voice.

“She’s going on a date on Friday,” he grumbles and I fall back in bed, laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face.

Yes, this is bliss, I think to myself.