Maddie gave me a weak smile. "I've been tested, too. I don't want there to be anything between us, Cale. I'm on the pill."

I pulled back and looked at her. "Maddie, are you sure?"

A look of horror crossed her face. "I mean...if you'd rather not. I didn't mean..."

I quickly moved and placed my hands on her cheeks and kissed her. I spread her legs open wider and teased her entrance with my tip, pushing in a little bit further each time.

"Please don't make me beg, Cale," she said. "Please just take me as yours."

Jesus.

I closed my eyes and moaned as I pushed myself into her. She whimpered and I stopped. "Did I hurt you?" I asked.

She smiled and wrapped her legs around me. "No. Everything feels amazing."

I moved in and out of her. The way we kissed each other was like nothing I'd never experienced. Something was happening between us, and we both felt it. Her fingers traced up and down my back as I pushed deeper into her. I couldn't get deep enough.

"I want to crawl inside your body," I said, "and stay there forever."

I took her hand and intertwined our fingers. I pushed our hands above her head as I pushed deeper into her with each thrust.

She moaned as she arched her back. "Cale, don't stop. I'm going to come."

I placed my lips to her ear as I pushed in as deep as I could and she began to whisper my name. As I felt my own release build, I spoke into her ear, "Maddie, I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you, Cale," she said as she wrapped her legs around me tighter, holding onto me as I poured into her. As I came, I moved my lips to hers and kissed her as we whispered each other's names in this unbelievable moment of passion.

I didn't want to pull out of her. I held her and she held me and we stayed as one.

I moved so that I could look into her eyes. "I love you, Maddie."

A tear rolled down her face and I kissed it away as she blinked slowly. "I love you, too, Cale. I finally feel like I'm home."

My heart dropped and I stared into her eyes. I slowly smiled before kissing her again. "We're both home. Forever."

I WOKE UP to the sun shining through the bedroom window. I didn't even have to move to know that Cale and I were wrapped in a tangled mess of hotness. He had his arms around me and his legs were over mine. It was as if he was afraid I would sneak away while he was sleeping.

I closed my eyes, remembering our night together. My body was going to feel it today. After making love, Cale and I had fallen asleep. But then Lily woke up. I threw on a T-shirt, and fed her while Cale slept. When I crawled back into bed, he climbed onto me and made love to me again. Of course, not before first giving me the most amazing orgasm with his lips.

I opened my eyes as I touched my swollen lips. Closing them again I was taken back to just two hours ago when I'd woken up to hear him breathing. Turning over to watch him sleep, I couldn't take it another second. I'd crawled on top of him and taken my turn at making love to him.

The night was amazing. Magical. Incredibly romantic. I'd never experienced anything like it before.

Cale moaned as he rolled over. I missed his warmth as soon as he let me go. Rolling over, I rested my head on my hand and watched him sleep. Everything about him was perfect. I reached down, pinched my arm, and smiled. Nope. Not a dream.

Lily was making little sounds through the baby monitor, so I crawled out of bed and reached for the T-shirt I'd left on the floor. I slipped it on and made my way upstairs to the nursery. When I walked in and looked down at Lily in her crib, she smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen.

"Good morning, baby girl. How did you sleep last night? You were such a good girl and only woke up once."

I scooped her up and brought her over to the changing table. After a quick diaper change and dressing her in a pretty little new outfit, I picked Lily back up and headed downstairs to heat up a bottle. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a woman standing in the kitchen.

"Um...you startled me," I said as I gave her a polite smile.

She gave Lily and me a once-over before saying, "I could say the same, seorita."

This must be the nanny, I thought. Maria. Shit.

I started to flush, realizing I was wearing only Cale's shirt-with no panties.

She tilted her head and stared. "You um...what do you say...spent the night?"

I felt the heat move through my cheeks. "Ah. Yes I did."

"You sleep in guest room? You're a friend, si?"

The way she was looking at me like she was ready to stomp on me told me Maria had feelings for Cale.

"No, Maria. She's more than a friend. Did you forget that I told you I didn't need you on Saturdays anymore?"

When Maria saw Cale, her eyes lit up. "You need me, Mr. Blackwood, you just don't know it."

I attempted to hide my smile as I glanced over to Cale. He looked shocked.

"Um," he said, "can I speak with you in my office please?"

"After I feed the baby," Maria said as she held out her arms for me to give Lily to her. I held on tighter.

"Maddie will feed her. I'd like to talk to you now, please," Cale said as he turned and walked to his office.

Poor Maria's face dropped as she followed him. I peeked over my shoulder and watched them both walk away.

To Lily, I whispered, "I think Maria is about to have a bad day little one."

Lily smiled and I couldn't help but giggle as I put her in her swing. I took a bottle out of the refrigerator and heated it up. "Shall we have breakfast on the deck, sweet girl?" I headed into the laundry and quickly pulled my pants from the dryer and slipped them on before getting Lily and heading out the deck.

I stared out over the lake as Lily drank her bottle. Every now and then I looked down at her and grinned. My heart filled with so much love for this little girl. I'd never in my life felt so content.

"I love you and your daddy, Lily," I said. "I love you both so much and I've been so stubborn and silly. Not anymore, though! I'm going to shower you both with lots of kisses and hugs. Oh, and long walks. I love long walks. Especially in the fall. Something about fall and the leaves when they change colors-I just love it. When you get older, we'll make those silly little leaf collection things."

She cooed as she grabbed onto my finger. I gently traced a pattern on her cheek as she drank her bottle.

"Oh, God. Please don't let me wake up to find this is all just a dream. I want nothing more than to be here. Right here where I am." Gazing back at Lily, I continued, "Your daddy is an amazing man. I knew from the first moment I spoke to him. He charmed me and, before I knew it, I was in love. But I was so scared. I'd never experienced those feelings before, and the way I felt with him..." I chuckled. "I just didn't know what to do with those feelings. I was starting a new job that was going to have me gone for six months. After meeting your dad, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with him forever and, let me tell you, that scared me. So I did what I did best when faced with something I didn't want to deal with. I ignored it. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, the moment I told your daddy I wasn't interested in a relationship." Lily stopped drinking, as if she was trying to focus on the story. I laughed and set the bottle down, before burping her.

"None of that matters now. It was a very long journey for me and your daddy. But we got you out of the deal, so that's a big positive."

Lily let out a burp that would put any man to shame.

"Good one."

My skin felt like it was on fire. I must have had at least a dozen butterflies dancing in my stomach when Cale touched me on the arm.

I smiled at him. "Just spending some girl time together."

He laughed and sat down across from me. "What a beautiful morning," he said. "Want to take Lily on a walk before it gets too warm?"

I nearly jumped up as I said, "Yes!"

Cale must have known how much I'd missed Lily-he was totally letting me hog his daughter.

"May I give her a good morning kiss?" he asked as he pouted.

I giggled and handed Lily to him as I said, "If you must take her from me."

Cale scooped Lily up into his arms and began walking across the deck. I pulled my legs up and tucked my knees under my chin as I watched the two of them together. I'd never seen a man so in love before. The way he looked at Lily made my heart soar. My eyes burned with tears. I wanted to share that with him-that bond. I looked away when I realized that I couldn't. Lily wasn't mine. As much as I wanted her to be mine, she was Zoey's daughter. Zoey and Cale's. What would I be to her? Would I ever be given the chance to give Cale a child of our own?

I quickly wiped a tear away as I looked out over the water. When I realized that Cale was standing in front of me, I tried to pull myself together. I didn't want him to know I was upset so I jumped up and began to walk back into the house.

"I'll go get her a jacket."

Cale gently took hold of my arm and stopped me. "Maddie, look at me."

I closed my eyes and fought like hell to stop my silly crying. "I...I can't."

Cale turned me around and I stared at my feet.

"Maddie, please look at me," he begged. "Please don't push me away. Tell me what you're thinking. What you're feeling."

I looked into his eyes. "I wish it had been me."

He tilted his head, confused. "What had been you?"

I glanced down at Lily, who was now sleeping peacefully in her father's arms.

"I wish I had been the one to give you...to..." A sob escaped me as I tried to control my emotions.

Cale placed his hand on my cheek. "Tell me. Please."

"I wish Lily was mine. I wish I'd been the one to give you your first child. I want so much to be...to be..." I finally just let it go and started crying. "I'm so sorry I pushed you away. I wanted it to be me. Oh, God, how I wanted it to be me."

Cale gently pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. "Baby, please don't cry. It tears my heart out to see you cry. You and Lily are my whole life now. It's just the three of us."

I pulled back and met his eyes. "How can you forgive me? How can you just let me walk back into your life?"

He smiled. "Because I love you. And Lily loves you. Because I need you and she..." he looked down at Lily and smiled bigger. "She needs you, Maddie. When I think of my future, I can only imagine it with you. Don't you know by now? You're my everything."

I sucked in a breath. "I think I'd better go home and pack a suitcase."

Cale laughed. "I think you'd better pack more than a suitcase. I just got you back-I have no intentions of letting you go.

THE MINUTE I opened the door and walked into the house, I smiled. Maddie was in the kitchen singing to Lily. I'd been coming home from the office to this same scene for the last month.

I set down my briefcase and inhaled what smelled like lasagna...and cake. "Maddie? I'm home, baby."

Maddie peeked around the corner and smiled. "Welcome home, Daddy. We have big plans for Miss Lily's three-month birthday party this evening."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Oh yeah?"

When she stepped around the corner I about dropped to my knees. "Oh, yeah. Daddy gets his gift first though."

My eyes took in every inch of her body. She was dressed in a red corset, thigh-high stockings, and white heels. I moved my eyes back up to her beautiful face. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun.

"Um...I wasn't aware that it was my birthday today, too," I said as I discarded my jacket and began loosening my tie.

Maddie bit her lip and shook her head. "It isn't."

"Why the gift then?" I stood in front of her, immediately drawn to her emerald eyes.

"Because both our parents are coming over this evening for the party, and with your parents staying the night, I thought we might...play before everyone gets here."

I closed my eyes and moaned before opening them again. "Have I told you today how much I love you?"

The smile that played across her face had my dick rock hard. She put a chocolate-covered spatula in her mouth and moaned before pulling it out and pouting. "Not in at least six hours, but you should probably give Lily some loving before I ask you to make love to me in the kitchen."

I swallowed hard and looked over to Lily sitting in her swing with a huge smile on her face. My mother said Lily could sense the love between Maddie and me. I was starting to think my mother was right.

I cupped Maddie's face in my hands as I leaned down to kiss her. "I love you," I whispered against her lips.

I winked at her and made my way over to my princess. Lily was kicking as fast as she could. "Hello there, princess. Daddy missed you so much today."

I unbuckled her and scooped her up into my arms. She laughed when I kissed her on the cheek. "I love that she is laughing now," I said.

"Oh my gosh," Maddie said. "You have to see what she does when you put the plastic mirror in her crib. I swear she was talking to herself. Oh! Then, I swear, she tried to pull herself up. I mean, wait until you see how strong she is, Cale."

I turned to Maddie. My heart soared and I couldn't believe how incredibly lucky I was to have her.

She crinkled up her nose in that cute way she does and asked, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

I let out a soft laugh. "Because you're standing there, looking sexy as hell, with a spatula in one hand, and you're talking about our daughter. It's a dream come true."

Her eyes filled with tears and I knew it was because I'd said our daughter. "Cale," she whispered.

I gave Lily another kiss. "Princess, your mommy has me all kinds of crazy right now. Daddy-daughter time will be in a few minutes." I placed her back into the swing and buckled her in. When I stood up, Maddie had tears running down her face. I'd never unbuttoned my shirt so fast in my life. I threw it to the floor and unbuckled my belt as Maddie stared.

She dropped the spatula when I pulled her close. I ran my hand up her backside to her neck and grabbed a handful of hair as I pressed my lips against hers.

"I'm going to need that gift now, Maddie."

I kissed her as she ran her hands through my hair.