Hashtag Blessed

Of course I didn't have a picture-perfect family. I was spending so much time trying to make them pretend to be picture-perfect that I was wrecking what made us perfect to me. It was beyond trying to capture memories; I had ventured into inventing memories, planting memories of things that weren't really how they were, and didn't that completely miss the point?

Being a mom was hard. I knew that. I had three boys, after all, and I'd known before the first one that it was no cakewalk. Wasn't I just making things harder on myself by trying to have aesthetically pleasing memories? Maybe things would be easier if I wasn't so focused on creating those picture-perfect moments.

Maybe... no, not maybe. Definitely.

I had let myself cry only because I knew Grayson and Aiden weren't coming back. When the tent began to unzip, I wiped my eyes and sat up to see Drew crawling in by himself.

"Let me guess," I said. "They wanted to sleep in their own beds."

"Said they were cold," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"And I'm sorry you had a hard day."

I tried to smile. "It's okay."

"Wanna go back inside?"

"In a bit."

He zipped the tent back up and then turned to me, smiling that playful smile again.

"Well, we spent all that time setting this up," he said, and withdrew his hand from behind his back. "Why don't we enjoy it ourselves?"

I stifled my giggle as he gently shook a half-full bottle at me. "Fireball? Really?"

"Like when we used to camp pre-kids." He uncapped it and took a sip, wrinkling his nose and coughing before he passed it to me. "Oof. That's... cinnamon-y."

I took a sip, the warmth burning down my throat.

"I also brought you this," he continued.

He pulled out the portable USB charger I usually kept in my purse, since my phone didn't usually make it a full day without needing to be charged, and held it out. I stared at it for a moment.

"You said your phone died," he said.

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe it should stay dead for a while."

Drew's eyebrows raised.

"The boys might have a point," I said, then took a longer swig of the Fireball. "Maybe I need to learn to make memories without pictures attached to them."

He looked at me, not saying anything, but a smile started to spread across his face. I watched as he shifted to his knees, his hand going to his other pocket and pulling his own phone out.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He pointed it at me and snapped a photo.

"Drew!" I scolded. "I look like garbage. There's probably mascara all over my face."

"You don't look like garbage. You look real."

I sighed as he took another picture, then flipped him off and lifted the Fireball to my mouth again. He burst out laughing, took another one of me drinking the Fireball, and then crawled forward and pulled me into his lap.

He was a terrible photographer. Most of the photos he took were off-center or taken a moment too early or late. The photo he took of both of us that night was horrible. It was slightly blurry but clear enough to show the redness of my nose and the tears in the corners of my eyes. Drew's eyes were closed, but he was kissing my cheek, and the bottle was between us.

It was the best photo he could have taken.

"I love you," he whispered in my ear, and then he was pulling the bottle away and putting the cap back on.

He pushed it to the side as I turned in his lap, facing him so I could bring him in for a kiss. I was smiling when our lips met; he was laughing softly and stopped only when I captured his mouth.

"The kids are in bed?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm," he replied, tugging me closer to him until I had no choice but to straddle his lap. "Jack's fast asleep, Aiden's under the covers reading a book with his flashlight, and Grayson thinks I don't know he's got his GameBoy but he does."

"It's not a GameBoy," I laughed, kissing him. "It's a DS. They don't make GameBoys anymore."

He nipped my lip. "Well, back in my day, they were GameBoys, and we liked them."

His arms were tight around my waist. Carefully, he bent forward, guiding me onto my back on top of the sleeping bag. His mouth didn't leave mine as he did, and when I was on my back, his tongue slipped between my lips. I sighed softly as he reached up to brush my hair off my face.

"Remember the first time we did it in here?" he whispered.

I snorted. "Did it? What are you, twelve?"

He laughed and slipped his hand beneath my shirt. "Whatever. Did it. Had sex. Made love. Fucked. Remember it?"

His fingers walked up my stomach, tickling along my ribs and making me shiver.

"Yeah," I sighed. "We were at that campsite near... hmm. Near a lake."

"Mm-hmm."

"I don't remember which lake."

"Does it matter?" he whispered, his fingers tracing along the bottom of my bra.

"No," I said. "I remember we were with Brad and Jessica. And Connor and Lisa."

"Mm-hmm."

"And we had Grayson, but not Aiden."

"Not yet."

I giggled as he kissed my neck. We were never quite sure when I got pregnant with Aiden, but there was a pretty good chance it had been in the tent that weekend.

"I was trying so hard to be quiet," I whispered. Drew's fingers slipped into my bra, lazily inching towards my nipple. "And you were trying so hard to make me scream."

"Me?" he said, laughing. "I'm not that diabolical."

"You certainly were," I giggled. "Don't you remember? That was the first time you did that thing with your tongue and—"

"Oh, right," he said. "Yeah, maybe I was trying to make you scream."

My laughter turned to a soft moan as he pinched my nipple, his hands caressing my skin beneath my shirt. His knee nudged my legs further apart, his jeans rough against the thin fabric of my leggings and the unmistakable bulge in his pants begging for attention. I smiled as he kissed me again, slipping my hand between us so I could unbutton his jeans.

He groaned, squeezing my breast again before taking his hand out of my bra so he could unhook it. I succeeded in getting his jeans unbuttoned, pushing them down his hips slightly so I could withdraw his cock. He sighed as my fingers wrapped around him, and again when I moved my hand into the waistband of his boxers so I could feel the heat of his shaft as I stroked him.

He let me play with his cock for a while before kissing my neck and pulling away reluctantly. His eyes were warm and needy as he looked at me, his mouth twisting up into a teasing smile.

"Can I get you totally naked or is this one of those 'be quick about it' times?"

I burst out laughing again. "When have I ever told you to be quick about it?"

He grinned and started lifting my shirt over my head. "Never. That's why I'm always so sure it'll be the next time."

"I never want you to be quick about it," I said, pulling my bra off as soon as he'd removed my shirt. "I always want more of you."

As soon as I removed my bra, Drew took his shirt off and then leaned down to kiss me. I inhaled sharply as his skin touched mine, his warm chest pressing delightfully against my breasts. He pushed his hips forward again and I moaned, warmth flooding my body and dampening my panties. His fingers moved up to my breasts again, cupping one while his mouth left mine to kiss and lick the other.

I made a soft noise as he played with my nipples, craning my neck so I could watch him in the yellow light of the lantern. Only a thin layer of nylon separated us from the outside world, yet there was nothing that could have convinced me of its existence. All that mattered for a moment was me and Drew, his lips and his mouth, and the way he was grinding his cock against me.

He flicked his tongue against my nipple before kissing between my breasts. A moment later, his lips were pressed to mine again. I ran a hand through his hair, trailing my fingers along the back of his neck and smiling when he shivered.

Drew and I had been married for ten years. We'd been together for thirteen. Some people said after a while, sex became a routine chore, but that had never been the case for us. It wasn't the same as when we had first been together, of course, but I still got as excited as I used to whenever he trailed his fingers along my ribs, and I loved the way he shivered when I touched the base of his neck. The excitement didn't come from discovering those new things; now it came from using them, from making him feel good by doing the things he loved.

I could only assume he felt the same way, but I was quite sure I was correct. Drew made his way to the waistband of my leggings, his fingers touching every spot he knew would make me tremble, caressing every nerve he knew would make my pussy ache, and kissing me all the while. When he finally pushed his fingers into the waistband, I sighed in relief, my legs trembling in anticipation.

He knew I loved it when he teased me, though, and his fingers traced the longest path they could to my pussy. He touched my hip bone and my thigh; his fingernails lightly scraped along the spot where my leg met my hips.

He knew I loved being teased, and I knew he loved being begged.

"Please," I finally whispered. "Drew, please..."

He moaned against my mouth. "You sure, babe? I mean, I can stop if you want me to."

"No," I gasped, as though the thought horrified me. It did, but I knew he wouldn't stop. "Please don't stop."

"Mmm. Only because you ask so nicely," he growled, nipping my lip. "And because you're so wonderfully wet."

His fingers shoved my panties to the side and plunged inside me. I hissed in pleasure and clutched at him as he began to finger me, moving his hand agonizingly slow and making me beg again, and again, and again.

I could feel myself building up to an orgasm, but it was infuriatingly out of reach. I strained up against Drew's hand, but he kept the same aggravating pace. He wasn't trying to make me come; he was teasing it out of me, bringing it to the surface bit by bit, like he was preying on my pleasure and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

He found it eventually, that moment where I was so close, so ready to fall over the edge that my body was tensing in preparation. That was the moment he pulled his hand out of my panties.

"No!" I gasped, as he knew I would.

"Patience, Sierra," he replied, just as I expected.

Patience wasn't the word for it. It was torture, waiting for him to casually pull his jeans and boxers down, the head of his swollen cock dripping with precum. It was even worse as he nudged my hands out of the way so he could peel my leggings and panties off slowly, dipping his head down to kiss my thighs and knees and calves as he did. When he finally pulled them off, a final kiss was pressed to my ankle, and then he was wrenching my legs apart so he could nestle between them.

I bit my lip in anticipation as the tip of his cock nudged my needy entrance. My hips seemed to rise of their own accord, but Drew placed a hand on one and pushed it back down on the sleeping bag. He wanted me—God knew he wanted me, I could tell he wanted me, his cock was practically seeking out my pussy—but as long as he had the capacity to tease me, he would.

My pussy lips brushed against him as he rubbed his cock up and down my slit, dipping his head down to kiss me. The head of his cock brushed against my clit and made me jump, his precum pooling against me as I whined softly.

"Please, Drew," I whimpered. "Please stick it inside me."

"'It'?" he repeated, his lips flicking up as he mocked me. "What's 'it,' babe?"

"Your cock," I hissed. "Stick your big fat cock in my pussy right now or I'll—"

In all the times I'd made that threat, I'd never actually finished it, and I had no idea what I would say if he didn't interrupt me. I didn't find out that day, either. Before the final syllable had left my lips, Drew groaned and shoved his cock inside me.

He sighed in relief; I was beyond noises. My mouth dropped open and my breath caught in my throat. Immediately my head tilted back, exposing my neck to him, and moments later his lips pressed against it.

There was no more slow teasing once we got to this point. He fucked me hard, our bodies slapping together and high-pitched puffs of breath squealing out of my throat as he moved inside me. His hand traced along my collarbone and caressed my neck, hinting at one of those few things left we hadn't tried, and one I was still too nervous to do. I knew he wouldn't, not without me expressly telling him to, so I let him drag the tips of his fingers along my neck as he buried his cock inside me.

"I love you," he whispered suddenly, bringing his lips to my ear. "God, I love you so much, Sierra."

I whimpered. "I love you."

I was close to bliss again and this time he wasn't going to stop me from coming. My hands were on his back, holding him close as he whispered in my ear about how good I felt and how much he loved my pussy and how much he wanted to put another baby there. There wouldn't be a baby there, not that night, not for at least another year when the age gap wouldn't be quite so close, but that didn't matter. He loved the thought of it and I loved the thought of it, and my body started to shake as I neared the edge.

His timing was perfect like it usually was. As soon as I tipped over that edge, my back arching and my legs trembling as I came, he finished. He stilled for a moment as I felt that first spurt of cum, then thrust into me again deeply with each subsequent one. His grunts echoed in my ears, distant as my own bliss distracted me, but there, and I loved the sound.

As we finished, we gasped for breath, and I opened my eyes to see him grinning at me.

"See, this is a picture I'd love to take," he said.

I laughed and shook my head. "No way. Not happening."

"I know." He kissed me as his cock started to soften. "Luckily I can see it for real almost anytime I want."

I smiled sleepily as he pulled out and cuddled up beside me, his arm reaching across me to tug the sleeping bag over us.

"We should go back inside," I yawned.

"In a bit," he murmured. "The boys are fine and we've got the monitor."

"True," I said, and my eyes closed as I snuggled into his arms.

Neither of us meant to fall asleep, of course, but we did, and we probably would have slept straight through until morning when one of the boys stumbled outside, confused, and asked for cereal. It wouldn't have been the worst thing; I always slept well in the tent, with the fresh air and the comforting sounds of the night surrounding us.

It didn't happen, though; a while later, I was roused by a dripping sound.

"Drew," I mumbled. "I think it's raining."

He grunted something in response, but seconds later both our eyes flew open as thunder crashed above us.

"Again?" I gasped.

"Aiden'll be freaking out," Drew said, searching frantically for his shirt.

We dressed as quickly as we could, but by the time we unzipped the tent, it was already pouring. I yelped as cold water splashed down my back and face, sprinting to the backdoor as Drew stayed behind to zip up the tent. Seconds later, lightning flashed, thunder cracked again, and I heard Aiden yell from upstairs.

The power was still out and I'd left all the flashlights with Drew, so I stumbled a few times as I made my way up to Aiden's bedroom. When I got there, he had his reading flashlight on and was crying.

"It's okay," I said soothingly.

As soon as I spoke, he extended his arms towards me. My heart felt like it was swelling as I went to his bed. I hated seeing my sons upset. I didn't want them to be afraid or sad or in pain. But I couldn't deny the joy of having Aiden curl up in my arms or the surge of protective strength I felt when he said he was scared.

"It's okay," I said again.

From the other room, Jack began to wail, but Drew's footsteps were on the stairs and I saw his dark shadow burst past Aiden's door. I continued hugging Aiden until Jack's cries grew louder, and looked up to see a struggling toddler in Drew's arms.

"Mama!" he shrieked, and Drew came into the room, shrugging helplessly.

"He wants you," he said.

I unwrapped one arm from around Aiden. Drew put Jack down on the bed so he could scoot under my other arm.

Thunder rumbled for the third time as Drew sat on the bed beside us. Moments after that, Grayson shyly appeared in the doorway.

"Mom, can I have a hug too?"

I didn't have enough arms, but he crawled into Drew's lap and cuddled up behind Jack so I could embrace them both with one arm. I glanced over at Drew, pressing my lips together to keep my smile hidden.

"Mom?" Aiden asked, sniffling. "Why's your shirt wet?"

"Dad and I were having a campout," I said smoothly.

"Without us?" Grayson asked.

"Next time, buddy," Drew said. "It started raining anyway."

Thunder clapped and Drew jumped, jostling Grayson, who glanced over at him.

"Dad, are you scared of storms?" he asked, shocked.

"Of course I am!" Drew said. "And you guys are hogging all the hugs from Mom so I got nothing over here."

Aiden giggled and gripped me tighter, Grayson hugged his dad, and Jack's eyes were closed and his breathing steady. I smiled at my boys, holding them close, and in my mind, took a picture of my perfect family.

**

Special thanks to Bebop3, chasten, norafares, and OneAuthor for proofreading and providing feedback. Thank you to the awesomely amazing people who beta read. Paul M, Kevin Matheny, centralsquareguy, KW, AG, PM, N, K, ED, AS, and KJ - thank you all for your support.