She made to open the door.
"Wait!" I said.
She turned her head to glare at me.
"I'm giving you one last chance to do right by Molly. If you tell her you'll be here tomorrow, you damn well better be."
She thrust out her chin. "That sounds like a threat."
I nodded. "Well done for catching on so fast. It is a threat. If you disappoint her one more time, I’ll get my lawyer to work out a new settlement seeing as you won’t need all that extra money I deposit into your account that the judge had felt you would need to take care of Molly, since you claimed you wanted joint custody. I can show the judge two years’ worth of evidence proving that you have no intention of ever taking care of her. I’m sure he’ll have no hesitation in deciding that you have no need for all the extra money I pay into your account for childcare. If you look carefully, that comes to almost half of what you get."
Her eyes widened in shock. Now, we were speaking a language that Penelope understood clearly. Money. "You can't do that!" she cried.
"Try me!" I replied grimly.
She searched my face, and then nodded resentfully. "Okay, but this is not necessary."
"One more time, Penelope. You do it one more time," I warned as I walked behind her to the front door.
It swung open before I inserted my key.
"Mom!" Molly cried and threw herself against her mother.
My chest squeezed painfully. I really hated Penelope sometimes.
Ella stood behind Molly and we exchanged a look.
Penelope took Molly’s hand and they walked into the house. Molly led her up the stairs.
I pulled Ella into my arms and held her close.
"How did you get her to come?" she whispered.
“I forced her," I admitted grimly, and told Ella about going to the hotel.
"She hasn't been coming to see Molly because she has a new man?" Ella asked, her voice coated with disgust.
"Yes," I said. "I could do with a coffee."
"I'll make some," Ella said and left me in the living room.
I did feel pleased that Penelope and I had reached an understanding. With her monthly stipend at risk, she wouldn’t play around with Molly’s heart again. It was a shame that I had to coerce her into seeing her own daughter.
Ella returned moments later with two mugs of coffee.
Staring at her, I couldn’t believe that I could now introduce her as my girlfriend. It felt good to call her my woman.
"You look happy," she said as she sat down next to me on the couch.
I shifted close to her, draped my hand around her shoulder, and pulled her to me. "That's because I am. Have I told you today how beautiful you are?" I asked and slid my other hand under her jaw. I brought my mouth to hers and kissed her soft lips. "I’ve been thinking of doing this all day," I said to her, our eyes boring into each other.
"Me too,” Ella murmured.
I nibbled on her upper lip and then swept my tongue into her mouth. She tasted like she smelled. Vanilla and spice. I cupped her breast and squeezed tenderly.
Ella let out a groan.
Her sounds of arousal turned me into a beast and I pulled her into my lap in one movement, without breaking the kiss. My hands were everywhere. On her ass, breasts and creamy thighs. I stopped short of sliding my hand under her dress to feel her pussy.
Her fingers threaded through my hair as she moaned my name repeatedly. Ella peeled her mouth from mine and we stared at each other as our breaths came out fast.
Ella then slid off my lap just as we heard Penelope's voice coming our way.
She and Molly walked into the living room, a huge smile on my girl’s face.
"I was just telling Molly that I won’t make it tomorrow, but I'll be here the day after," Penelope said, all the while staring at me.
I nodded. That was all I needed. For her to be truthful to Molly about when she would be able to visit and when she couldn't. It wasn’t a lot to ask.
She left shortly after, so Molly and I went out to the back to play with Bean while Ella excused herself to make a call.
"Were you happy to see your mom?" I asked Molly when we were outside.
She nodded happily.
"Good. She loves you very much," I said. "And so do I, and so does Ella." I wanted Molly to know she was loved by everyone.
It felt like my life had a semblance of order now and we were back to our normal routine.
After dinner, I went up with Molly to the playroom. I picked up one of her notebooks and scrolled through it. To my surprise, Molly came to where I was and sat down on my lap. She wasn’t given to impromptu displays of affection. The exception to this had been in the evenings when I came home from work.
We looked at her drawings together.
"You're really good at drawing," I said to her.
"Ella taught me," Molly said.
I smiled. “It’s good she came to live with us, isn’t it?”
Ella nodded happily. “Yeah, it’s very, very good.”
Ella
"Molly is so happy," I said as I scrubbed Luke's wide shoulders and expansive back. "You did well to blackmail Penelope."
Muscles rippled underneath his skin as I spread shower gel all over his back. I made circles on his skin and then dipped my hands to his tight, gorgeous ass. It was pure muscle.
"It was worth it just to see Molly's joy," Luke said.
"Turn around," I said and stood up.
He turned and as I washed his chest and front, his fingers idly played with my nipples. I could feel myself getting thoroughly turned on. I wasn’t the only one. Luke’s cock stood erect and bobbed against my hand when I gripped it.
The idea had been to shower together and then slip into bed for a night of sweet lovemaking. But my pussy throbbed
