Her Teddy Bear

It was a vigorous and fun session, versus what was more relaxed and tender the night before, but they both enjoyed it. In the shower Pete had no trouble getting hard, but he told her the chances of him coming quickly after the previous night and that morning were low, so Rose enjoyed herself, on him, in the shower and promised him he could have another turn later.

Pete asked, "Something for me to look forward to?"

"I hope so. I know I will be."

The morning workout with each other's bodies set a good mood for breakfast. They texted Lily to let her know that they had a good date, but that they still needed time to figure some things out. Because of that, they requested that the girls plus Donnie stay away from both homes until Sunday night when they were invited to Sunday dinner at a house yet to be determined.

____________

Over breakfast, Pete asked, "So... Shall we start at my house or yours?"

"If you are asking about christening each room, then definitely yours, since you have a few more rooms." She gave him her best Cheshire Cat grin.

Pete returned her smile, in-kind, and said, "I like the way you're thinking, but I was considering more along the lines of skipping the trying to arrange dates or us sleeping in our respective homes most nights, and moving straight onto us picking a house and living there, together, and building our relationship."

She replied, "Do you really mean that?"

"I do. We both know what we want, so let's just go for it. Truly, I don't see how spending time apart is going to help us with that."

"Yours."

"Mine?" he asked.

"Let's start at yours. If for some reason that seems uncomfortable then, we can try mine. If that doesn't work, we'll pick out a new home...or something. But I like the way you think, too. I've wanted to be around you for a long time. Now I get my wish."

"Then let's go to yours and pack some things."

She said, "I'm ready. Let's go."

__________________

They skipped using the limo service because they didn't want the kids to know what they were up to yet since expectations were already very high. They used an Uber to get to Rose's house and pick up some of her things and her car. She had a very nice house in a neighborhood less than ten minutes from Pete's.

After they finished walking around and packing a few things and clothes for the week for Rose to take to Pete's, he said, "You know, over the years, I've only been inside your home about a half dozen times, but I've always liked your house. It's quite nice. If you decide that you prefer here, I could live with that."

"Thank you. Let's see how it goes at yours, which I like, too, plus yours has the pool, the pool house and the pavilion you built.

She continued, "Derrick and I started dating because we were both athletic stars at MTSU, him in football and me in volleyball. He wasn't much of a husband or father, but when he signed his first decent NFL contract, he handed me divorce papers and a nice check, which I saved. When I got my coaching job in this school district, I used that money to get into this home.

"He wasn't a bad guy. He was just too immature to be much of a husband or father at that age. The crew he hung with around here were not a good influence on him, and he struggled his first few years in the league. When he signed with his new team, he got away from his friends and focused on his work and the success followed."

Pete said, "Lily has never told me much about her real dad."

Rose walked over and hugged Pete. She said, "Please don't ever say that again in front of me or her. You are her real dad. You have been since she was eight, and she was happy to have you. I'm happy she had you. If she ever gets married one day, who do you think she's going to ask to walk her down the aisle? That man will be you. What does that tell you about how she feels?"

Pete hadn't thought of that. All those weeks ago when he was describing Carrie and Eva as bridesmaids, he wasn't really envisioning who would be walking Lily down the aisle, but he would be very proud to do that.

"You're right. I just never thought of our relationship from her point of view. I've always thought of her as one of mine. I never thought of me as being hers."

"Well, you are - undeniably."

Pete smiled at the thought.

Rose continued, "Derrick would send her a nice birthday and Christmas present each year, but he never called or came by. After a while, she and I were both fine with that. A few years back, I found out that he remarried and has a couple of kids now. Supposedly he's grown up. I wish them well.

"Before Lily's graduation, he wrote her a nice letter apologizing for not being a better dad. He offered to pay for her college, and she accepted. Her sports scholarship covers most of her costs, but Derrick pays the rest. So at least he did that. Of course, right after she graduated, she went on that trip to Spain with you guys and Carrie. I can promise you that she never thought of him the entire trip. She just enjoyed her time with all of you."

Pete smiled while reminiscing about the trip. He said, "It was a good trip. She helped me plan it. That was the first time anyone offered to help me plan one of our big trips. Usually, it was up to me. We had a lot of fun exploring all the places we were going to go."

"I know. She told me all about it. Remember, I told you that was when she dropped any pretense of calling you anything other than, 'Dad,' and you never objected."

"It is an honor for her to call me that. How could I reject such high praise from someone I love so much?"

Rose squeezed him again. "I love you, Pete. I'm hoping to fall in love with you, but I already love you for loving Lily so much."

He returned her hug. "Thank you."

As they loaded up her car to drive to Pete's she said, "Without Derrick's nice contract, I don't know if I could have afforded to move into this neighborhood. He was really lucky that his wide receivers' coach from college got on staff in Atlanta, and when one of their wide receivers broke his elbow, his old coach called him up and made him an offer. That was what changed the course of his career and life, and our lives too. If he hadn't left for Atlanta, he'd probably still be hanging around Nashville somewhere, coaching high-school football, and I doubt we could have afforded to move into this school district."

Thinking about the timing of Derek's move to Atlanta, he asked, "Did you say the Falcon's wide receiver broke his elbow?"

She replied, "I did. Some freak home accident or something. Why?"

Pete had a very satisfied smirk on his face when he asked, "Did his name just happen to be Bobby Taylor?"

Rose's face had a puzzled look on it when she asked, "How did you know that?"

_____________________

When the girls, along with Donnie, arrived on Sunday afternoon, they were on pins and needles wondering how they would find their parents, hoping against hope that things had gone well.

Walking inside, they found the new couple working mostly seamlessly together in the kitchen preparing the dinner for that evening. A couple of large pitchers of Sangria were sitting on the island, along with their half-empty glasses.

Pete was wearing his "I like big buns & I cannot lie" apron, and Rose had on one the girls bought her, which said, "Chocolate, one taste is all it takes." Rose and Pete were in fine form and having fun together.

As soon as Lily saw them together, she was on Pete like a second skin squeezing him as tightly as she could. "I love you, Daddy." Meanwhile, the other kids were hugging Rose.

It was a very good evening and dinner. Later, it was another very good night for the new couple as well, which began their life together in their home.

Epilogue

Within a year Pete and Rose were married in a small ceremony in Rose's family church. Rose's mother was thrilled for them both. The rest of her family welcomed Pete's with open arms. A few of her brothers would tease him good-naturedly about his height, but that was because Lily did also, and she had shown them the video of what he did to Ricky. They knew he would protect their little sister, and respected him for what he meant to Lily, and now Rose.

They went to Spain for their honeymoon, because Rose wanted to see some of the amazing places that they had taken the kids. When Pete said he should have invited her to come along when they took the kids, she slapped his arm. "I'm glad you didn't because it will be so much better with just the two of us." Pete agreed.

Rose kept her house and rented it out to Donnie, hoping that one day he and Lily would make it a home, which they did the summer after Lily graduated from Vanderbilt.

Carrie enrolled in law school, taking after her father. She's met a nice young man, also in law school, and things look promising.

Eva is enrolled in medical school. She's not in any hurry to find someone because she's too busy. She knows if she does her work, she'll have a good position with one of the practices down near Williamson Medical Center. Knowing the Williamsons has its benefits.

As for Joan, she was happy for Pete and Rose, eventually. Eva, Donnie, Lily and Carrie all spent a lot of time with her, and, with a lot of love and support, and a little counseling, she eventually recovered from her stupidity.

For the girls' college graduation, Brian and Miriam took the girls and the parents to Italy for two weeks. It was a glorious trip for everyone, except at night when Joan had to watch Pete and Rose walk back to their room, together. She missed her lover and teddy bear, but she knew she only had herself to blame. Brian and Miriam suspected that Joan would have some difficulties with that and spent extra time with her, but they were happy for Pete and Rose. They were a good pair.

In the end, everyone got mostly what they deserved, which is unusual. But more importantly, the kids did well, and that is what parenting, even when you aren't the biological parent, is all about.

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Final note - The symphony mentioned in the story is on YouTube. Simply search for Morricone Duel and it will pop. The Ecstasy of Gold is the 2nd half of the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly performed by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra. It's really good. Even my crusty, old (80s) father enjoys it.

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Looking for something else to read? May I suggest Play it Again Sam by kublicon. This author has only posted this one story, but wow, what a story it is.