로그인MICHELA;“M-i-l-e-s,” I drawled, spelling out each letter. It wasn't just my heart doing the flip thing this time. Lower, between my thighs, my cunt had gone wetter and more sensitive. I never thought a man kneeling with a ring in his hand could be as sexy as fuck.And these days, my body has become even more sensitive, with my pussy feeling wet at any slight thought of Miles or merely just by waking up in the morning. I had looked it up and learned the pregnancy had a hand in that too. Seeing Miles Stewart on one knee, holding out that ring, made my clit throb with need, causing me to press my thighs together in a way I could. Or maybe it was simpler than my body reacting to science. I hadn't felt this free in weeks, with all the weight that had been on me disappearing into thin air. All of the heavy things had finally moved off my chest, and all that was left was wanting him close enough to leave me sore where I ached.“Yes, baby,” he answered, softly. But something else sat in
MICHELA;Somehow, everything died down. It was Miranda who spoke next.I hadn't expected her voice to come back so softly. But when she turned to the crowd and spoke about the cameras still hanging in the air, something in her tone had changed. She asked people to put them away. She said some things were not content. She said a child shouldn't have to watch her life get picked apart in public because adults couldn't handle their mess better. I watched the faces of people who were eagerly recording begin to soften, and slowly, they began putting the phones away, with their bodies adjusting restlessly. I stayed still inside Miles’s arms while it happened, my face resting with my cheeks against his thumping chest. I had not thought there was still a part of Miranda that remembered she was a mother first. And when she spoke about having a similar childhood to mine, growing up with separated parents, I was shocked to my bones. She turned now to face me; she continued speaking and talk
MICHELA: “Dad,” I called out. It was more of a confirmation than affection… testing whether the man before me would answer to that. He didn't answer, but he opened his arms right away, like he was demanding a hug. But I wasn't ready for that. I stepped back. Fifteen whole years? That was what it took for him to show up again; it wasn't a small gap to cross with a hug. He had shown up at the mall once looking like a stranger… Unrecognizable. And now, he was here in a suit, at my party, acting like the years would fold if he held me long enough. My body could not agree. I shook my head. Hot tears ran down my cheeks; I couldn't stop them any longer. After all this time? And how did he even know Miles? “Michela, please don’t run from me,” he said. His voice had a break in it. “I came back for you. It took me years to find you again after I was granted freedom from jail.” “Jail?” I stared at him, eyelids heavy with tears and smeared mascara. “What do you mean, Jail?” “Yes.”
MICHELA;Miles moved forward. Face hard, Adam’s apple bobbing hard in his throat. I hated the cameras on my face. I hated the way some of the guests looked at me now… like the word ‘thing’ had stuck to my skin and made me easier to judge. Even then, I didn't expect him to keep trying to clear my name in front of them all.“No, Mom,” he said; his voice was tight, but it did not shake. “You will not refer to Michela in that manner.”The words were not loud. His eyes did the talking, showing how much he meant every one of them.Miranda’s face opened in shock. Maybe some part of her had expected him to stutter, to soften, to choose the room over me. He did not.“What has she done to you?” She shook her head hard. “Cameras are up, son. You need to tell the world that drunk woman was lying. Think about the business. Think about the scandal this will cause.” The veins in her neck stood out sharply.For a second my eyes met Miles’s.My pulse was racing so fast it made my ears ring. I was ca
MICHELA;My eyes met Miranda’s first. All that I wished for at that moment was for the floor to open and swallow me whole. Just when I thought everything would end well, just when I had read Celeste’s face and was happy she had not said anything about the magazine she had taken home. Just when Nathan had said the pictures were gone, and had even apologized. I thought I was about to have a swell time. For a stretch of cake and gifts and singing, I thought I might get a twentieth birthday without the old mess climbing into the room with us. Miranda’s mouth stayed open. The kindness from earlier drained out of her face. Her eyes went dark and crinkled at the corners, like she had wished she had never complimented me. She lifted both hands, covered her ears for a second, then turned fully toward Miles as if my face had become something she could not keep looking at.My eyes wandered off to Celeste. An ugly little smirk had already settled on her mouth. Her fingers twitched together b
MICHELA;Drinks were already in people’s hands when I stepped fully into the noise of the hall. Music played very low, just enough to lighten moods and usher people in.Everything looked like it was working after all. Waiters moved with trays, some guests already seated at the round table while others still stood, exchanging greetings and hugs. The café side was bright, the bookstore side fuller than I had ever seen it for an evening event. For a moment I let myself believe Jemy had been right. Nothing had gone wrong after allI sighted Ma’am Miranda and walked up to her first. She pulled me into a real hug, warmly but firmly, the kind that reassured me of her acceptance.“Happy birthday, dear,” she said against my ear. “My son does have eyes for good things.” We both laughed at the joke. I never thought this was possible… Sharing jokes and hugs with the sophisticated Miranda Stewart? That looked like a birthday miracle.I curtsied a little without thinking, half out of manners, hal







