Young Again Ch. 03

On the way home from the failed dinner, Brenna cried. "I'm so sorry, Jerome. I didn't mean to ruin the night."

"You didn't ruin anything." Jerome put his hand on hers. "My darling daughter did that all by herself. She had no right to speak to you the way she did."

"You could have stayed. I could have taken a bus home or something."

"Not a chance. That's my little boy or girl in your belly, and I won't take any chances. The bus isn't safe this time of night. And why would I have wanted to stay after what Gillian said? She was way out of line and until she apologizes, I'd rather not deal with her, to be honest."

"She just didn't know what to think of me, I guess." Brenna shifted in her seat. "I need to go to the bathroom again, damn it. No one told me I'd have to pee all the time this early in the pregnancy."

"Can you hold on till we get home?" Jerome asked. "We're almost there."

"Yes, I can wait." Brenna pulled her hand away from his. "Jerome, are you sure you really want this? I mean, after the way your kids acted..."

"Gillian acted like a little shit, and I'll be happy to tell her so," Jerome replied. "She's twenty-eight years old, and acting two. Emery and Quinn were thrilled to meet you, and I'm sure they're just as appalled at their sister as I am. Anyway, even though it would be nice for my kids to be happy for us, it isn't necessary. I love you, we're having a baby, and we're getting married. That's what matters."

"But you can't just turn your back on your kids." She paused. "Twenty-eight? Gillian's only seven years younger than I am. No wonder she's upset. She can't like the idea of you marrying a woman as young as me."

"Doesn't matter what she likes. Don't worry about it, honey. She'll come around, or not. Two out of three isn't bad; like I said, Emery and Quinn seemed happy to meet you."

When they got to Jerome's house, Brenna ran for the bathroom. Jerome checked his answering machine. There were three messages, two of them from Gillian. "Dad, I hope you're happy," the first one said. "I went to a lot of trouble to make dinner, and now it's ruined."

Jerome deleted it and played the second. "Dad, I don't know why you went after her," Gillian said. "You can't be serious about choosing her over your children." Jerome deleted that one too.

The third message was from his son Emery. "Dad, thanks for bringing Brenna to meet us. Quinn and I agree, she's very nice, and we're glad you're happy. Don't let Gillian get to you; she's just being Gillian. Love ya, Dad. Talk soon."

That message, Jerome saved. Emery must have called from Gillian's house; there was no way he could have gotten home this quickly. Jerome wondered what kind of discussion his kids had had after he and Brenna left.

Brenna came out of the bathroom. "Much better," she said. "Did anyone call?"

"Yeah. Gillian called and ranted, and Emery called and said he and Quinn were glad to meet you. So you see, you've got a majority vote among my kids."

Brenna laughed. "That's good to know, I guess. What are you going to do about Gillian, though?"

"Not a thing. Wait for her to get over it; there's nothing else I can do." He put his arms around her. "Don't worry about it, honey. Everything's going to be fine. Are you staying here tonight, or should I take you home?"

"You know I always go home at night."

"Yes, but I keep hoping you'll stay one of these times." He kissed her lips, tickling them with his tongue. "If you don't want to sleep over, that's fine. It's the weekend, though; at least you wouldn't have to get up and get ready for work."

"I know. I just like to sleep in my own bed." Brenna reached down and found the growing bulge in Jerome's pants. "Though I guess I can stay a little longer and help you take care of this."

"Oh, really? What are you going to do with it?"

"Come into the bedroom and find out."

Jerome took Brenna's hand and allowed her to lead him into his room, to the bed that until several months ago he'd shared with his wife. The woman who'd left him for a man that she'd cheated on Jerome with for six months before she finally admitted it. Jerome made a mental note to buy new bedding for his new bride, as soon as he and Brenna set a date.

Brenna knelt in front of him and grabbed his belt loops to pull him closer. "What are you doing down there?" Jerome teased.

"I didn't get dinner," Brenna reminded him. "So I'm going to have myself a snack."

She unfastened his pants and pulled them down, then stroked his cock. "Mmm, nice and hard," she said. "I bet I can make it harder."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Like this."

Brenna's mouth engulfed the head of Jerome's cock. She sucked gently until he moaned, then slid her mouth down his shaft. "Oh, baby, that feels so good!" Jerome said. "Keep doing it, honey. Make me nice and hard so I can make love to you."

Brenna gently handled his balls with one hand while she sucked and licked him. Jerome tried to hold back his orgasm; he wanted to come inside her, not in her mouth. But she was too good at what she was doing. Jerome felt his orgasm building and finally cried out, "Brenna, stop! I'm going to come!"

She looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes and said, "That's the idea."

She returned to what she'd been doing. After another moment, Jerome felt his balls tighten. "Brenna, here it comes!"

The idea of swallowing a mouthful of cum didn't seem to bother Brenna at all. She sucked until Jerome released into her mouth. "God, Brenna, that was amazing!" he exclaimed.

Brenna swallowed, then licked his shaft. "Have to make sure I get it all," she explained with a grin. "So you liked that, did you?"

"I'd be crazy if I didn't. But honey, it's going to be a while before I'm hard again. I'm an old man, remember?"

"You're fifty, not ancient." Brenna shimmied out of her clothes and lay down on the bed. "Like what you see?"

"You're gorgeous."

"Even with this?" She ran her hand over the tiny swelling of her belly.

"Especially with that."

"Then how about you show your appreciation by going down on me while we wait for you to be ready for more?"

"Well, now, I think I can handle that."

Jerome joined Brenna on the bed and lowered his mouth to her pussy. He loved her taste, the sweet moisture that showed her arousal. As he lapped at her, Brenna moaned. "That feels wonderful, Jerome."

Instead of answering, Jerome sucked her clit into his mouth. Brenna gasped. "Jerome!"

He continued his attention to her clit. Hearing her moans and sighs, tasting her, began to bring his cock back to hardness. When he finally heard her cry out, "Jerome, I'm coming!" his cock was fully hard.

Smiling, he looked at her. "Was that good?" he asked.

"Oh, my god, that was wonderful. Come here."

Jerome pulled her against him and kissed her deeply. Their tongues met and played together, and Jerome rolled onto his back, pulling Brenna on top of him. He liked being on top, but now that the baby was beginning to show, he knew that position would soon be off-limits. It was time to practice some others.

Brenna broke the kiss and said, "What am I doing up here?"

"Riding my dick, I hope."

"Oh, you mean this?" Brenna reached between them and fondled Jerome's cock. "You want me to ride this?"

"Hell, yes."

"I guess I can do that."

Slowly, Brenna slid her pussy onto his cock. Jerome caught his breath at the feeling. She was so warm and tight; he loved making love to her. He loved everything about Brenna. She'd brought him out of months of depression; she'd given him a chance to love again after what his ex-wife had done to him. He still couldn't believe he'd been lucky enough to find her.

Eyes closed, Brenna moved up and down on his cock. "Mmm, Jerome, I love how this feels," she said.

"Feels good here too, honey," he replied.

She picked up the pace. "Does this feel better?"

"Yes."

Even faster. "This?"

"Oh, baby, yes!"

"Jerome! Oh, god, this is good. I love you!"

"I love you too, Brenna."

It was only a few moments longer before she came. Jerome felt it; the contractions brought him to the edge as well. "Brenna, I'm coming!"

"Do it, honey. Come in me! Oh, god!"

Jerome allowed his orgasm to sweep him over the brink. His cum filled her, and he relaxed. "That was incredible, honey," he said.

Brenna kissed him and lay against his chest, his cock still inside her. "Yes, it was. I'm so glad I found you, Jerome."

"Same here, honey. Are you still sure you want to go back to your place tonight?"

"Do you mind? If you're too tired to drive me..."

"If you want to be in your own bed, that's where you should be. And don't even mention the bus, or I'll have to spank you."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"Nope. A promise."

Brenna giggled. "Okay. I won't mention it. And yes, I would like to go home tonight, if you're sure you don't mind."

"Not a problem. But in that case, you'd better get off me so I can get dressed."

"I suppose." Brenna stood. "Soon you'll have me here every night."

"I know. We just have to decide when."

"Soon. We'll talk about it."

"Yep." But when would they talk?

* * *

Monday morning, as soon as the work day began, Jerome and Brenna were called into their boss's office. "I feel like a kid getting called to see the principal," Jerome said when he met Brenna at the elevator.

"I know. Me too." Brenna took his hand. "We weren't passing notes in class, though."

"I bet lots of little boys passed you notes in school."

"Oh, there were a few. But none were as cute as you are."

The office door opened and the supervisor said, "Come on in."

Inside, Jerome and Brenna sat next to each other, still holding hands. "I'm sure you're wondering what this is about," their boss said.

"The question had crossed our minds," Jerome replied.

"It's come to our attention that the two of you are engaged. Is that true?"

"We're planning to get married, yes," Jerome said. In his mind, the engagement wasn't official; his idea of a proposal was getting on one knee with a diamond ring. But Brenna had refused to let him buy her a ring, and Jerome was no longer sure he'd be able to get up off his knee.

"Company policy is that family members can't work together. If you're getting married, you're family. I'm sorry, but either one of you will have to leave, or we'll have to terminate you."

"We aren't married yet," Brenna protested.

"That's why we're having this conversation now. If you were already married, you would automatically have been let go. I'm sorry. Both of you are excellent employees, and if it was my choice, you'd both stay. But it isn't up to me. Please get back to me when you decide what you're going to do." He stood, indicating that the discussion was over. "Have a good day."

Brenna and Jerome left the office. "Have a good day?" Brenna spat. "He just told us that one of us has to find a new job because of some stupid policy, and he wants us to have a good day?" She looked down at her belly. "I'm pregnant. No one's going to hire a pregnant woman."

"No one needs to." Jerome kissed her; no need to worry about someone seeing them, since apparently everyone already knew they were together. "I make enough to support us until the baby comes and you're ready to go back to work. And if you don't ever want to go back to work, that's okay too."

"I can't afford my apartment if I'm not working, Jerome."

"Then give up the apartment, honey. I know you wanted to stay till we got married, but maybe this means we should get married sooner."

"I need to think about it. It's tempting, but I've always worked, and I'd feel weird just being a housewife."

"Take your time to decide. If you want, I'll leave my job here and you can stay."

"No. You've been here a lot longer than I have, and you'd have to start from scratch if you changed jobs. That wouldn't be right. I'll make a few calls today and see if anyone would be interested in hiring me. If not, I probably will take your offer."

"You do still want to marry me, right?"

"Yes, of course!" Brenna hugged him. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make it sound like I don't. It's just... I'm scared, Jerome. My first marriage didn't go so well, and I'm just kind of scared of trying again."

"I know what you mean. I feel the same way. But I think we're going to be fine, Brenna. I'm not your ex-husband and you aren't my ex-wife. Everything's going to be great."

"Yeah. Everything will."

Everything wasn't. Not long after lunch, Brenna's friend Nora ran to Jerome's desk. "Jerome, hurry. They're taking Brenna to the hospital."

"What?" Jerome was out of his seat before the word was out of his mouth. "What happened?"

"I found her in the bathroom. She was bleeding."

"No!"

Jerome ran. Brenna couldn't lose their baby. She'd told him how much she wanted a child; this meant a lot to her. She had to be all right.

He reached the reception area restroom at the same time as an ambulance crew. "Stay back," one of them told him.

"That's my fiancée," Jerome replied.

"Stay back," the EMT repeated. "We'll take care of her. What's her name?"

"Brenna Malone." Jerome craned his neck, trying to see past them into the restroom. "Is she okay?"

"We haven't checked her yet." The EMT's voice became more gentle. "Sir, don't worry, okay? We'll take care of her. You can come to the hospital and make sure she's all right."

Nora waited with Jerome until the EMTs wheeled Brenna out on a stretcher. She was pale, but smiled when she saw Jerome. "Nothing like making some excitement around here," she said.

"You're going to be fine, honey," Jerome said. "You and our baby."

He looked at the EMTs for confirmation. The one who'd spoken to him before shrugged. "She hasn't lost the baby. They might be able to stabilize her at the hospital."

"Can I go with her?" Jerome asked.

"No. We don't allow that. You can meet her at the hospital, though."

"Go, Jerome," Nora said. "I'll let everyone know what happened."

"I'll see you at the hospital, sweetheart." Jerome placed a gentle kiss on Brenna's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The ambulance crew wheeled her out. Jerome hurried to the parking lot and got into his car. He hoped someone would think to shut down his computer and take care of other stuff around his desk; he wasn't about to take time to do it. He didn't expect to go back to work that day; he wasn't going anywhere as long as Brenna was in the hospital.

He arrived just after the ambulance, and parked in the emergency parking lot. When he got inside, Brenna was being wheeled into one of the examining areas. A nurse stopped Jerome from joining her. "You can't go in there, sir."

"My fiancée, Brenna Malone, was just brought in," Jerome said, fighting to keep his patience. "She may be having a miscarriage. I need to be with her."

"What's your name?"

"Jerome McClennon."

"Please wait out here, Mr. McClennon. The doctor has to examine your fiancée, and it would make it harder if you were in there."

"You don't understand. She might lose our baby. Please let me in. You really think the doctor's going to be in there right away?"

The nurse relented. "All right. You can go in until the doctor needs to see her, but I'm sure you won't be allowed to stay."

"Thank you."

Jerome went down to the curtained cubicle where Brenna lay, still on the ambulance stretcher. The EMTs were with her. "You must have broken the speed limit," one of them greeted Jerome.

"Yeah, it was important." He went to the side of the stretcher and took Brenna's hand. "How are you doing, honey?"

"I'd be better if I wasn't here." Tears filled her eyes. "Jerome, what if I lose the baby? I don't even know what happened! I was fine this morning, and then I started feeling sick and crampy, and I went to the bathroom and there was blood. What if I lose him?"

"Or her." Jerome smoothed her hair back from her forehead. "They said you haven't lost the baby yet, and hopefully the doc will be able to make sure it doesn't happen."

"But what if it does?"

"Then we get married and try again."

"You'd still marry me?"

It took Jerome a second to understand. Brenna was afraid that losing the baby would mean losing him. She thought he was only marrying her because he'd gotten her pregnant. No wonder she'd argued with him about buying a ring. "Of course I'd still marry you, Brenna. I love you. Nothing's going to change that. I'm praying that you don't lose this baby, but if you do, when you're ready we'll make another one. And until you're ready, we can keep practicing for making one."

Brenna managed a shaky laugh. "I thought you only wanted me because of the baby."

"Hell no. I want you because you're the best thing that's come into my life in a long time. Is this why you didn't want a ring?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you're getting one now. Best one I can find. I love you, Brenna, no matter what else happens."

The nurse who had stopped Jerome bustled into the area, and the EMTs left. "Just need to get your blood pressure and pulse, honey," the nurse said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a tetherball hit me in the stomach," Brenna said.

The nurse wheeled a machine closer to the stretcher and wrapped a blood pressure cuff that was attached to it around Brenna's arm. She fastened a small plastic clip onto the middle finger on Brenna's other hand and turned on the machine. While she waited for it to take Brenna's blood pressure and pulse, the nurse lifted the blanket that the EMTs had put over her. "Are you still bleeding?"

"I don't know," Brenna said. "I can't tell."

"Mr. McClennon, I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a minute," the nurse said. "I need to get her into a johnny."

"I want him to stay," Brenna said. "He's my fiancé. He's seen me naked before."

"I'm not worried about that, honey. It might bother him to see-"

"I want him to stay."

"Fine."

The machine beeped, and the nurse recorded the readings, then took a gown out of a cupboard. She helped Brenna out of her clothes and into the johnny. When he saw the blood in Brenna's pants, Jerome gasped. She'd lost a lot, it looked like; no wonder she was so pale. The nurse laid a pad under Brenna and covered her back up with the blanket. "The doctor will be with you in a minute." She noticed the look on Jerome's face. "Don't worry, it isn't as bad as it looks."

"How bad does it look?" Brenna wanted to know.

"Just like if you forgot to wear a pad or tampon during your period, honey," the nurse said soothingly. "Nothing to worry about. The doctor will be here in a minute." She left.

Jerome stayed beside Brenna, holding her hand, until a female doctor came in. "Hello, I'm Doctor Thurlow," she said. She looked at the chart she carried. "How are you feeling, Miss Malone?"

"I've been better."

"Well, let's check you out, and I'm going to have you get an ultrasound to see if everything's okay with the baby."

The doctor removed the blanket and lifted the hospital gown. Jerome had to turn away. He kept hold of Brenna's hand, but he didn't look at her until the doctor said, "You did lose some blood, but it looks like it might be the placenta, not a miscarriage. We'll see what the ultrasound shows, but I think the baby's okay." She placed her stethoscope against Brenna's belly. "It would be easier to tell with a fetal monitor, but that will have to wait. You sound okay. I'm going to order the ultrasound, and we'll take you up there when it's time."

It felt like forever while they waited to hear. Brenna fell asleep; she was exhausted from everything that had happened and the blood loss. Jerome sat with her patiently until finally they were taken to have the ultrasound done. When the baby's beating heart appeared on the screen, Brenna started to cry. "She's okay!"

"Or he," Jerome said.