A True Connection

Rose nods and hugs her sister. "Thanks for this; you have been so supportive," Rose says.

"That's my job," Clare replies. "I'll see you later," she adds as she walks to her car.

Rose walks into her house and finds Ryan sitting on the sofa with Sophia, reading Sophia's favourite book. "Got you to read the 'Very Hungry Caterpillar', has she?"

Ryan smiles and nods but continues to read, to the delight of their daughter. Rose lets them continue and goes to make everyone a sandwich and drink.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. As Ryan finishes the book, Rose walks over with plates of food and drinks. She sits them on the dining table. "Come on, you two," Rose calls, not quite believing what scene is being played out in her house. This was something she had dreamed of many times, but it always seemed so impossible. Now, here was the father of her child under the same roof, enjoying time with their daughter. Rose had to pinch herself to check it wasn't a dream.

Ryan carries a giggling Sophia to the table and sits her in her highchair. She's a hungry girl and starts feeding herself. She shows everything to Ryan with a "Dada, Dada, see sandich." Rose notices Ryan's patience each time he looks and says some words of encouragement or acknowledgment. Rose knows Sophia is relentless when she wants attention, and she has found a willing person to give her this in Ryan.

Ryan helps put the lunch dishes in the dishwasher while Rose takes Sophia upstairs to get cleaned up and changed.

Sophia comes running over, and Ryan lifts her onto his lap. "Give Dada a kiss before bedtime, So-so," Rose says.

Sophia jumps up enthusiastically and hugs him before he gets a kiss on the lips this time. "Ta ta, Dada, love you." Sophia says.

"Ta ta, So-So, I love you too, baby girl," Ryan returns, getting overcome with emotions. "I'll see you when you wake up, baby," he adds. Sophia wiggles out of his arms and climbs off the sofa. Rose scoops her up, smiles at Ryan, and takes her back upstairs.

A couple of minutes later, Rose returns with empty arms. "You wore her out. She was out like a light," Rose says. She sits next to Ryan and eyes him up and down. This is the first time she's truly looked at him today. Ryan seems different but the same, and it takes her a moment to realise he has put on mass. Not fat, but muscle and he's not overly done it. Perfect for his stature.

"So what next?" Ryan asks.

"Not sure; I guess we make sure what we think we know is real. I would like you to take a DNA test to make sure everyone else knows Sophia is yours."

"There's no need for that as long as we know," Ryan replies.

"Ryan, I do not want doubt in anyone's mind: your family's or mine." Rose goes and gets the two kits she had ready, and Ryan does his cheek swab and follows the instructions before sealing the envelope.

Rose looked a little uncomfortable. Ryan smiles at her and squeezes her hand. Rose, I already know she's mine, so don't worry," he says.

Rose looks at him. "It's not the paternity test that I'm worried about; it's how much of what you told me is true...... When you left me sleeping that first morning after the night before, you said you wrote me a note?"

"Yes, but I doubt after two years, it's still here."

"Still, satisfy my need to know everything."

"Okay," Ryan says, getting up. "Right, I came down," he starts at the bottom of the stairs and walks over to the door. "I order an Uber," he continues like he's reliving that morning. "The Uber is thirty minutes away, so I turn and walk over to the sideboard. Which isn't here," he says, looking around.

"That's in my office now," Rose says. She gets up and shows him.

"I look through the top three draws," he says, pulling each draw open. "Then, in the last, I find a pencil and a pad." Rose gasps because she knows he's right. She still keeps that pad there. Ryan takes the same pad out. "Yes, this pad, but it is a lot thinner than it was."

"Yeah, I use it to plan or make the odd list of things I need. It's a shame; I would have loved to have read your note, but..."

"But you might be able to if this is the same notepad."

"It is, but I have written on and thrown away a lot of sheets. How is it possible?"

"Because I wrote it in the back, not the front. I didn't want the pages to fall out that you had already written on when I pulled the sheet out. It doesn't look like you have done the same."

Ryan opens the last page and takes a pencil. He rubs the side of the lead tip over the page and slowly reveals the message he wrote two years before. "There you go," he says triumphantly.

Rose looks down and has to steady herself before she falls over from shock. Her eyes look down at the now visible indentations. This note that has sat in front of her but hidden for two years, she reads it out loud.

"Rose, last night was incredible, and I felt there was more between us. If I'm wrong, then the choice is yours whether to contact me or not. Thank you for an incredible night. Ryan 077*****582"

She looks up at him with tears running down her face. "Two years wasted," she says. "If only..."

"If only, will send us both crazy. The important thing is that we have a chance to put a wrong, right."

"Do you think we still have what we had?"

"There's only one way to find out." Ryan steps forward, takes the pad, and puts it down. He takes both Rose's hands and pauses to see her reaction. She swallows hard but puts up no resistance.

As their lips touch, all the locked-away passion they have both stored for two years gets released. They both groan simultaneously. "I think we need to take this somewhere else," Rose says.

"Please tell me you are protected now," Ryan says as he lies there in his post-orgasmic bliss with Rose contentedly lying on his chest.

"Nope, but you should be safe. I finished my cycle on Thursday, so the chances are very small, if not impossible."

Rose starts to feel herself well up, and tears once again fall. "Hey Rose, what's with the tears?"

"Oh, Ryan," Rose says. Then, there's silence while she gathers her thoughts. "Everyone thought I was crazy. The reason I didn't go for the morning-after pill was because I thought our night together was so beautiful. If I got pregnant, our baby would be produced from the most incredible night of my life. I felt we shared our souls, and you were gone. I was so confident that you would come back and find me. Then, I was so sick I ended up in the hospital with dehydration. Still, I was convinced we would be together. Then I started hearing that you had moved on and you were enjoying your University life so much. Everyone said you wouldn't want to be tied down with a child, but I couldn't get rid of her. I couldn't get rid of something born from such an incredible thing." Rose started to cry again as the memories came back. "I'm so sorry, baby. I began to hate you and believe what I was being told. I was told you had said that you didn't want anything to do with our baby and to get rid of it. I cried for weeks and didn't leave the house. Then, our beautiful baby girl was born, and I fell in love with her totally. I knew I had made the right decision the moment I held her. I didn't need you; I had my So-So. I was okay with my choice, and then I saw you in your suit. Two years had passed, and there you were. When our eyes met, and you smiled and acknowledged me, my reaction wasn't toward you. It was me chastising myself for wanting to smile back, because of the hatred that had built up. Then you came over and said what you said, and it didn't make sense. That night, after I spoke to you and was lying here thinking, I decided to see what you told me added up and put you to the test.

"So, did I pass the test?"

Rose hits him. "You know very well that you did, and some." She lifts her head with a sultry smile and comes in for a tender kiss.

They lay there in comfortable silence for a minute before, "Mama," Sophia calls.

"In here, So-So," Rose says. They hear a quiet thud as someone jumps down from her bed and then the sound of small footsteps running toward them.

"Mama, I need peepee," Sophia says as she gets to the door. "Hello Dada," she says when she sees Ryan, but she waits for Rose to get up and take her to her toilet.

"Hey, So-So," Ryan returns.

Ryan listens to the chatter between Rose and Sophia and the flushing of the toilet. Then, the sound of her running back to see Ryan. He lifts her on the bed, "Hello, So-So, did you have a good sleep?" He asks. She nods and then hugs him.

"Ryan, are you heading back to London this evening?" Rose asks.

"Yeah, I hope to get back by eight. Why?"

"Does your place there have room for all three of us?"

"No, I live in a house share. I have a single room that's not big enough to swing a cat," Ryan answers.

"Cat, cat, cat," Sophia says.

Ryan laughs at his daughter's antics. "Why?"

"You are in your last year, yes?"

"Yeah, do you want me not to go back?"

"Oh god, no. You must finish your degree. I have more than enough money to live on. No, if we are to make this work, I think I need to be able to visit. To do that, you need at least a two-bedroom flat."

"Okay, so what's your idea?"

"I'm coming back with you, and we will sleep at a local hotel. Tomorrow, we can sort out a flat that we can both work with." She sees Ryan's worried look. "It's okay; I will go halves. What can you afford?"

He thinks as he gets up. "No, I need to get a place to work away from Uni and MCT. I need to spend more time, and my phone app, although helpful, isn't flexible enough," Ryan says, thinking aloud.

"Ryan, what are you talking about?" They walk downstairs, and Sophia climbs precariously onto the couch.

"carcoons, carcoons," Sophia says.

Ryan looks at Rose, confused. "Cartoons," she says, walking over to the TV and switching Cartoon Network on. "She watches cartoons after bed. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh, since I've been at MCT, I've noticed patterns in the way shares react to certain fluctuations in four different factors. I apply that and make money," Ryan says.

"Oh, is it legal?"

"Yeah, I just buy and sell shares at the right time using information that's available to everyone. I used it to turn around a lot of losing accounts to return them to profit."

"So, how much are you making?"

"At the moment, I'm building, but it's around ten grand a month from an original investment of five hundred quid."

"You're making over ten grand a month from an original investment of five hundred?" Ryan nods. "Ryan, what are you studying at Uni?"

"Advanced Mathematics and English," he replies.

"Oh, I stand corrected. Sophia gets her brains from you. Christ baby, I didn't know...I never even thought to ask. That explains something, I suppose," Rose says. "So, are we coming with you?"

"I guess, what's the plan? Just to get to know each other better?"

"Yeah, and I want to meet Alicia," Rose says, smiling.

"I think you two will get on well. She's studying politics and media something," Ryan says, wishing he knew. He sits back, and Sophia gets straight up and sits on his lap.

"Carcoons, Dora is on, Dada," she says, pointing at the seventy-inch plus TV.

Ryan sits with Sophia, watching cartoons with her. He's never been a big TV fan but enjoys watching his daughter enjoying and clapping along with some Dora the Explorer.

After an hour, Ryan says. "Hey, So-So, Dada needs to go home and get ready for Dada, Mama, and So-So on a trip."

Rose laughs from the table. "If that's not a tongue twister, nothing is. Ryan baby, I've booked us in the local Travel lodge. It's not fancy, but So-So loves their breakfasts."

"Sounds like you've been to quite a few. Yeah, that's fine, Rose. I'll go home and get my bits together and be back in about an hour. Sounds good?"

"All's good; I'm looking forward to spending time with you." Rose loops her arms around Ryan and kisses him on the lips. "You realise this means we are dating," Rose says.

"Are we exclusive?" Ryan asks.

"I think we have been for two years," Rose hits back with a smirk.

"I'll see you in a bit. I'll ring you if I find it hard to find this place again."

"Don't be too long; Sophia gets grumpy if she's up too late."

Ryan gets back to his mum's house after four, and she's none too happy when he walks into the house. All the relations have left already, and she's not impressed that he didn't spend more time at home.

"I'll be back next weekend, Mum. I want to take you, Dad, Gran, and Gramps, as well as Bella, to dinner," Ryan says, trying to smooth his mother over.

"You can't get around me that easily," she says, trying not to look too happy about it.

"How about if I introduce you to someone very special in my life?" He adds before walking out the door.

"Ryan Daniel Lock. You can't leave your mother hanging like that. Are you bringing Alysia home this time?"

"Mum, you know we are just friends."

"So who?"

"You will find out next week," Ryan says, kissing his mother goodbye.

He managed to find Rose's place (without having to call her) after a couple of wrong turns. She handed him Sophia's car seat and then half her house's contents; well, by the time Ryan had finished packing the car, it felt like half the house's contents. The trip up to London wasn't as bad as Ryan had feared. Rose entertained Sophia, and Ryan chatted away naturally with both ladies in the car.

Rose has a very satisfied smile on her face. When Ryan had told her that he would be returning to London, she feared she would lose any chance she had without getting to know him enough.

Sophia is asleep when they pull into the hotel. They get booked in and get something to eat before settling into the room. Ryan's first class isn't until ten, so he's staying with Rose and Sophia.

As Sophia sleeps, Ryan is sitting and watching the news. As he sits on the bed, Rose comes out of the bathroom in just a towel.

Ryan's eyes scan her from head to toe. When his eyes go back up, he meets her eyes, and Rose is watching him with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Not tonight, Baby. Not with Sophia in the room." Ryan loves being called Baby.

Rose sits down next to Ryan and begins to rub her skin cream in. Ryan is transfixed as she starts with her long legs. They are smooth, and she must have had laser treatment or something.

Rose is putting on a show for Ryan as she moves up. She removes her towel to reveal the skimpiest panties, but it's Rose's bare breasts that catch his eye. Although it's the second time that day he's seen them, he knows he will never grow tired of looking at them.

Rose carries on without acknowledging his attention. When she gets to the top, she raises her hip, slips the tiny panties off, and rubs the cream all around her thighs and her lower tummy. The only place she doesn't cream is her pussy.

Ryan is rock hard as Rose does her stomach and then her ample breasts. Ryan is sure her boobs are bigger than when they first met, and she has managed to stay stretchmark free after the birth of their daughter.

Rose gasps and puts her hand around the pole in his tented shorts. She bites her lip, "Ryan, we can't.....But." Rose looks over at Sophia and then at Ryan's cock that's in her hand. "Okay, but I'm on top this time."

Rose climbs on top; she is already dripping from her little show for Ryan. Rose pulls the duvet up and over and then guides Ryan's cock back inside her. Once again, he slides in and is a perfect fit. Once she has fully impaled herself on his pole, Rose lays down and kisses her boyfriend. "That feels so good," she whispers.

"You're telling me," Ryan says back.

As they start to kiss again, Rose begins to roll her hips as they both get lost in the sensation of being coupled. Every single time they have made love, they both feel like they are melting together as Rose builds to her first orgasm of the evening. She has trouble keeping quiet enough so they don't wake Sophia as her pussy pulsates around Ryan's cock.

He growls as he fights to keep his load inside him. Rose's already snug pussy feels even better, and they are now both pushing against each other as Ryan knows he is going to lose his battle. As he feels his cock harden a little more, and the tip expands, he explodes deep inside, causing Rose to lose control and spray all over his neatly trimmed pubes.

The sex between the two is electric. Both have never felt anything close to what they are experiencing together and quietly get up and go into the bathroom to clean up.

Rose is going flat hunting tomorrow, and Ryan needs to get into University. There is still a while until he graduates, but Rose feels it will give them time to truly bond away from who she thinks is interfering in their lives.

******

Ryan quietly walks into his house share at just after nine. He left Rose after they had breakfast together in the Travel Lodge. As he walks into his room, he hears Alicia burst out of her room down the hall and almost tackle him as she comes into his room to see him.

"Shit, you had me worried you weren't coming back," she said.

"That was an option. Anyway, I thought you were spending the weekend with Brent." Ryan said back as he packed the books he needed for the day.

"Seriously? So you and her?" Alicia says, ignoring her friend, deliberately getting her boyfriend's name wrong.

"Yeah, me and her," Ryan says. Alicia is truly happy for her friend, and a smile breaks out on her face.

"So, can we meet later and catch up?"

"Uh, yeah, meet me at our Cafe at six," he says.

The day passes slowly for Ryan. He's trying to keep his head in the game, but he keeps getting texts with photos of places that seem well out of what he was thinking. Rose and Ryan messaged throughout the afternoon. They are both finding that their compatibility isn't just in the bedroom.

Rose: Hey Ryan, which one do you like best?

Ryan: The second you sent looked good, but what price range are you looking in?

Rose: Baby, it's only for six months until you finish so that we can get one of the short lets for a little more.

Ryan: I guess you know what you are doing, so did you like any of them?"

Rose: The second, and I will phone the lady back in a minute. I will go back and rent it before it goes. The agent did tell me she would hold it until five.

Ryan: Great, where is it from the University?

Rose: It's in Tottenham, a short walk from the seven sisters tube station. I did ask.

Ryan: That can't be far from where I live now; it sounds perfect. I'm meeting Alicia at the Cafe across from the tube station at six. Want to meet us there when you are done?

Rose: That doesn't give me much time, but I will see you there.

Ryan is sitting inside the Cafe with Alicia, and she is trying to get him to tell her about his weekend. Ryan was telling her how he first met Rose after two years and the look she gave him when Rose walks in carrying Sophia.

Alicia sees her, and her eyes go twice their size when she recognizes Rose. "You bugger," she says, hitting Ryan.

"Hey girl, hope you're not hitting on my man," Rose says, but Alicia's eyes are now focused on the squirming bundle in her arms.

"Dada, Dada," Sophia says. Rose finally puts her down when she's close enough, and Sophia runs up to Ryan, happy to see him.

"Hello, So-So," Ryan says, picking her up and getting a kiss.

Alicia is stunned until a pair of arms wraps around her. "Hello, Alicia," Rose says. "It's so good to meet you for real."

Alicia's eyes go from Rose to Ryan. Ryan takes a breath. "Alicia, I would like you to meet our daughter Sophia. So-So, this is my best friend, Alicia."

Alicia's eyes look at Sophia, and Sophia gives her one of her trademark smiles. "Hello, Sophia. It is so nice to meet you. You have your daddy's eyes," Alicia says, recovering a little. Rose sits down, and Alicia looks at the woman that was just hugging her. "Wow, you are more stunning than on YouTube," she blurts out.