Free to Love

Chapter 1

Mallory

It was after midnight when we got back to our hotel room in Berlin. My daughter Grace was sound asleep in her daddy's strong arms, and he made damn sure not to wake her as he carefully placed her in the hotel crib.

I went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. As I was brushing my teeth, Shawn joined me and grabbed his toothbrush. We stood there side by side taking care of our oral hygiene. Our eyes met in the mirror, and we gave each other foamy smiles. This was married life, and I loved it.

I put on one of Shawn's t-shirts and crawled under the covers of the king sized bed. We'd had a different bed every couple of days for a month now, but Grace and I were headed back to Toronto tomorrow. I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it would be nice to be home again, especially since traveling with a one year old had been tough. Gracie was completely off her routine. On the other hand, I hated that we'd only see Shawn for a few days every couple of weeks. I knew I was lucky that he'd be able to come home so frequently, but I hated being separated from him. We were so solid these days, and our love had only grown stronger since we'd worked through all the problems of the previous year.

"We really should have hired a nanny for the tour," Shawn said as he pulled me against him.

"You know I don't want to be one of those celebrity wives. It's a little ridiculous to hire a full time nanny just so that you and I can have sex," I said.

"Is it? I think it's more practical than ridiculous. We're supposed to be trying for another baby, and Grace is right here in the room with us. We've only been able to do it a half a dozen times in the last month. One of those times was in my dressing room after the Glasgow show when I convinced Andrew to take Grace on a stroll around the venue."

"I know. And I'm just as bummed, but you know Grace would have balked at a stranger taking care of her at night. There's no way she would have slept in a room without us."

He sighed. "She could have slept in here with us. It's not like we need that much time each day to make a baby. The nanny could have taken her for half an hour. Or less."

"It's so romantic when you say it like that," I said with a quiet laugh.

"I want to put a baby in you," he said as he nuzzled my neck.

Shawn had been great on stage tonight. It was adorable how a strong performance made him especially amorous.

"Okay," I said as I pulled away from him, "quickie in the bathroom."

"I'll take it," he whispered as he hopped out of bed.

                                 ~~~~~~

A couple weeks later, Shawn was on a brief break from tour. It was heavenly to have him home.

I wasn't pregnant yet, and of course I wasn't ovulating while he was here.

And because of how these things work, I wouldn't be ovulating during any of his trips home since there were in two week intervals. No babies would be made this summer, though we could have all the unprotected sex we wanted while he was on break.

I woke up on Shawn's second morning home to an empty bed. I stretched and got up and went to get some coffee. I loved that I could drink it to my heart's content now that Grace was weaned. Giving up coffee again would be the only downside to getting pregnant.

My husband and daughter were in the dining area. He was feeding her breakfast. Actually, she was feeding herself, but he was putting the food on her tray so that she could do this.