The Baby Shift- North Carolina Read online

  “Sampson, just stop,” Naomi sighed. “You need to sleep in your own bed tonight.”

  It didn’t matter how much she spoke to him, though. His hands kept grabbing at her, and fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he screamed. Naomi wanted to tear her hair out and walk away from him, but she couldn’t. She had to stay strong and show her son that this is what was happening, and it was completely fine.

  Naomi felt the frustration building inside of her. She ripped her arms from her son and stood up from the edge of his bed. All he did was cry when she was around. Constant shrieking, and nothing she did helped.

  The only thing she could do was step away and wait for him to calm down. She folded her arms across her chest as she stared down to her bawling child. He was crawling forward on his knees, his hands outstretched to her, trying to grab her attention.

  “You need to sleep in your own bed,” Naomi stated, her voice harsh. “Stop crying and I’ll sit with you.”

  Her words fell on deaf ears, though. Sampson just continued crying, the tears streaking down his face in lines. Naomi’s stomach tied into knots as Sampson’s screams grew louder and louder.

  She knelt down beside his bed just to get him to shut up for a moment. She couldn’t think through all the noise. It was rolling through her body, tensing up her muscles, and clouding her judgment.

  When Sampson calmed down, Naomi heard footsteps in the hallway outside their bedroom.

  “Honey?” Maxine called. “Is everything okay?”

  “Fine,” Naomi sighed as she wrangled Sampson’s hands away from her arms. “Sampson is being a nightmare.”

  Just then, Maxine came into the bedroom. She was wearing a long, cotton nightdress with sleeves that reached down to her elbows. Her hair was fuzzy where she’d gone to bed with wet hair. Her darkly circled eyes looked down to the crying baby.

  She instantly bent down and cuddled him to her body, her hand rubbing up and down his back as her knees bounced up and down. Within a couple of seconds, he was soothed and quiet.

  Naomi leaned onto her ass and let her back lean against the wall behind her. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, shaking her head slowly as she forced herself to stare at a spot of carpet just ahead of her.

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” Maxine said, her voice cooing as she continued to bounce the baby. “You’re new at this.”

  Naomi nodded as her eyes filled with tears. “I know,” she said, her voice strangled. “I know.”

  “I’ve had three babies,” Maxine continued. “I know what they need. When I first had your brother, I was like you.”

  “But you had Dad,” Naomi said, still staring at the patch of dark blue carpet. “There were two of you, going through it together.”

  Maxine knelt down to the carpet and grabbed her daughter’s arm. “You have me,” she said earnestly. “We’re a team. Don’t let him get to you like this. He’s just a baby. He cries because he can’t talk. It’ll get easier.”

  Naomi stared up to her mother as her eyes blurred with stinging tears. “Will it?” She shook her head and refused to blink, not wanting the tears to fall. “I can’t see a way out of this, Mom.”

  Sampson removed his head from Maxine’s neck for a second, long enough to look over at his mother with wide, tired eyes.

  “I can’t do this,” Naomi breathed. “I can’t do it.”

  She wasn’t going to sit around and let her Mom talk her down. Naomi needed a break. She stood up from the floor and stepped past her mother, dodging her body before darting out of the open bedroom door.

  She rushed through the house until she was standing on the porch. The air out there was cold, slicing through her clothes with ease. Naomi wrapped her arms around her body and slumped down onto the steps.

  The tears in her eyes were taking over. She knew they were going to fall, so she allowed herself to blink. The hot tears rolled down her cheeks and slowly cooled down as they sat in the air. Naomi wiped them away from her cheeks and inhaled deeply, hearing her nose rattle.

  Christ, she thought. When did life get so hard?

  Of course, she knew the answer to that. Being a parent wasn’t easy. As soon as she decided to keep the baby and become a mother, her life changed completely. Even her girlfriends couldn’t understand that. They were so immature, rolling through life without a care in the world. There’s no way they could comprehend what Naomi was going through.

  She inhaled again, hearing her nose rattle even more, and turned her head up to the cloudless sky. Fresh tears were forming in her eyes, blurring her view of the starry night sky.

  Naomi didn’t really care. All she wanted was a moment’s peace to collect her thoughts and calm herself down. Struggling with the baby always got under her skin. She couldn’t understand what Sampson needed from her and trying to reason with him didn’t work.

  It was beyond frustrating, and sometimes she wondered if she was even supposed to be a mother. Her own mother didn’t get so angry with the baby, so why did she?

  The only thing she could do was chalk it up to inexperience, that made her feel better. She was a single parent and, even though she had the support of her mom, she was walking down this road alone. That wasn’t easy for anyone, let alone some kid that barely knew how to live life.

  You’re not a kid, Naomi thought. You’re twenty-seven. You should have your shit together by now.

  Naomi tried not to think about it as she continued to stare up to the sky, her eyes welling with tears. Life had been unfair over the years to her, and she couldn’t help but wonder when it was going to start getting better.

  Not only was she a single parent, but her son’s father had now come back, and he was bad news. How was she going to keep him away and keep her son out of danger?

  There wasn’t a way, really. If Sampson were a Shifter, like his father, then there would be no keeping him on the right side of the law. All of Jeremiah’s family joined the gang. It was what they did, like a deep calling that they couldn’t escape from.

  Naomi let her eyes drift down to the patch of dirt in front of her mother’s home. The grass between the road and the front steps had been worn away over the years. She stared at it, letting her eyes glaze over as she thought about everything wrong in her life.

  “Naomi?” Someone whispered.

  She jerked her head up, searching for the source of the voice, but it was too dark for her to see very far. Eventually, a figure came toward her out of the darkness, walking confidently to her.

  “Who’s there?” Naomi asked, her voice tight from panic.

  She grabbed onto the railing on the steps and gripped it tightly, ready to get up at a moment’s notice.

  The figure came out of the shadows completely, bathed in the light coming from the house. Jeremiah’s brown hair glistened in the yellow light. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, his shoulders raised up to his ears.

  “Jeremiah,” Naomi breathed, letting her body relax back down onto the steps. “It’s you.”

  “What are you doing out here?” He asked, tilting his head down to look at her.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” she said, letting her eyes squint and look him up and down.

  Jeremiah nodded to the space on the steps beside her. “Can I sit?”

  Naomi scooted over to the railing, making space for him. Jeremiah sat down slowly, easing himself down onto the steps beside her, careful not to touch her with the side of his body.

  “So, what are you doing out here?” He asked.

  Naomi sighed. “Taking a breather,” she said slowly. “Things got pretty messy in there.”

  “With Sampson?” Jeremiah asked, the hope in his voice evident.

  “Yes,” Naomi said, sighing heavily. “With your son.”

  “What’s going on?” Jeremiah asked, leaning his head down to look into her eyes. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine,” Naomi said. “It’s just he’s a baby. He can’t communicate what
he wants. He just… cries. It’s all he ever does. I struggle with it, sometimes.”

  “Sounds tough,” Jeremiah said. “You know, if you let me meet him, I could take him sometimes?”

  Naomi spun her head around to stare at him. She could feel the fire in her eyes, burning brightly. “You want to take him?”

  “Not like that,” he sighed. “Just for a couple of hours, so you can have a break.”

  “I have my mom,” Naomi said. “I don’t need you.”

  “But we should be together,” Jeremiah said, gently grabbing onto Naomi’s arm. “We should be a family.”

  Naomi looked up to him, feeling the tears swarming into her eyes again. She wanted to be a family with Jeremiah, but she couldn’t. Her son couldn’t be around all of that. It was too dangerous. She didn’t want Sampson to live in hiding for his life. She wanted him to be normal.

  “We can’t,” Naomi said, trying to hold back her tears. “You made your choice. You can’t drag us into it.”

  Jeremiah moved his hands from Naomi’s arm to the sides of her neck, his fingers lightly brushing against the tender skin there. Naomi wanted to push him away, to swear and shout and storm off inside, but she couldn’t. All she could do was stare into his eyes as he leaned forward, ever so slowly.

  Inside her own head, Naomi was screaming. She didn’t want to let this happen. Once they kissed, she knew there was no turning back. She was finding it hard enough to resist him. If she let him steal a kiss, she wouldn’t be able to say no ever again.

  Even though she knew all of this, she couldn’t stop herself. Her eyes slipped closed as Jeremiah’s face came closer. Within a split second, she felt his lips press against hers. They were soft and warm against hers, gently pressing against her as his hands wound all the way to the back of her neck.

  Naomi couldn’t stop herself from letting her hands drift up into his hair, tugging at strands at the back of his head as they kissed. She felt the pressure of Jeremiah’s body leaning into her. Within a second, he had pushed her down onto the steps with his body crushed against hers.

  It was wrong, so very wrong. Ever since she found out she was pregnant, Naomi had sworn that she would never let Jeremiah back into her life. She’d told herself over and over that he was bad news and he didn’t deserve to know his son.

  All it had taken was a couple of days of his presence, and she’d broken down and allowed him back into her life. As she continued to kiss him, the guilt rose up in her chest, eating away at her heart.

  It seemed like there was nothing she could do about it. No matter how much she told herself that she wanted nothing to do with him, her heart knew a different truth—every single day he was gone, she had yearned for him.

  Naomi broke off the kiss and shoved her hands into Jeremiah’s chest, pushing him off as she sat up on the steps. Her fingers wiped at her lips, getting rid of the evidence of their kiss. Her eyes looked up to him, searching his face.

  She wanted to reach out and grab him, drag him down to the ground and have her way with him, but she couldn’t. It was too messy. No matter what she wanted, she had to think of her son. Little Sampson was too young to understand everything that had happened. There was no way they could get involved with each other without confusing him even more.

  “Naomi,” Jeremiah breathed. “We belong together. Please, just think about it.”

  “I have,” Naomi snapped. “Every day since you left. It’s all I’ve thought about while I’ve been raising your son and trying to protect him. But we can’t.”

  “Give me one good reason,” Jeremiah insisted. “One good reason why we should both be miserable.”

  “The gang,” Naomi said, staring up to him as her eyes filled with tears. “My son will not be raised breaking the law and running from cops. He’s going to go to a school, live in a nice house, and have a real life.”

  “None of that means anything,” Jeremiah said. “It’s just bullshit. Who says he can’t have a good life on the road, learning about the world first-hand?”

  Naomi stared at him, unable to believe he could be that stupid. “A child needs routine,” she snapped. “You can’t bring up a child while running from the police. And what would happen when you got caught? When I got caught? Where would Sampson go, then?”

  “I can’t be without you,” Jeremiah breathed.

  He didn’t give Naomi a chance to reply. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her again, this time fiercely. Naomi couldn’t resist him. She opened her mouth and kissed him back, tasting his tongue against hers.

  Jeremiah’s hands wrapped around her back and clutched at her clothes, grabbing fistfuls of them as he drew her body closer to his. Naomi couldn’t stop herself from putting her own arms around his back, digging her fingers into his skin.

  That was all Jeremiah needed. He put his right arm under her legs and lifted her off the steps, bringing her down onto the patch of dirt in front of her house. Naomi felt the damp ground on her back, cooling her skin and causing shivers to run through her body.

  Jeremiah slipped his body between her legs and crushed his pelvis against hers. Naomi instantly felt his hard member pressing against her body, thumping along with the beat of his heart. Gasps and moans erupted out of her mouth as he kissed all over her neck and chest.

  “I love you,” Jeremiah whispered between kisses. “I love you, Naomi.”

  She wanted to stay strong—she wanted to keep her family away from him for their own safety—but there was no way she would be able to. Jeremiah was letting his hands drift down her body, aiming for the spot between her legs. And she was going to let him.

  As soon as she felt his fingers wrap around her crotch and start to rub her through her jeans, Naomi knew there was no turning back. She was helpless to his touch.

  Their bodies writhed together as they continued to kiss, breathing heavily with their chests hitching. Jeremiah slipped his hand beneath the waistband of Naomi’s jeans, his fingers gently pushing down to her lower lips.

  Naomi grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his body close to hers, barely able to breathe as his fingers pushed aside her underwear and gently pried their way inside.

  Her stomach was a knotted mess as she stared up to the cloudless sky, her eyes wide as she thought about what was happening here: Jeremiah was on top of her, his fingers inside of her, while their son was in the house, unaware that his father even existed.

  Naomi pulled his body tighter against hers as his fingers went deeper, slowly exploring her body. Both of them were gasping, their throats rasping as their ragged breaths tore through their noses.

  Jeremiah was too impatient to wait. He withdrew his hand from Naomi’s pants before fumbling with her button and fly, ripping her jeans open at the crotch. Naomi barely had enough time to lift her hips before he began to drag her pants off her legs.

  He threw them over his shoulder and sat up onto his knees as he lowered the waistband of his pants to reveal his erection. Naomi raised her head and looked down to their bodies, about to connect. Jeremiah lowered his body against hers, his hand at the base of his cock, and gently eased himself inside.

  Naomi grabbed hold of his arms as he gently started to thrust, edging his cock inside slowly. Her mouth popped open as she felt him enter her, slowly driving himself deeper with every passing second.

  When his cock was as deep as it would go, with Jeremiah’s pelvis smashed against hers, Naomi felt him withdraw slowly. Naomi clutched onto him harder as her whole body started to tingle.

  Their hips ground together, slowly at first, as their bodies joined together. Jeremiah let his elbows dig into the ground, with his back hunched and pelvis rocking forward, as he continued to thrust.

  His speed grew quicker and quicker, causing him to grunt loudly. Naomi tried to keep pace with him, but she was too overcome with emotion. Her eyes were filling with tears as her hands grabbed onto his back and arms, clinging onto him to force their bodies closer together.

  Jeremiah�
��s lips found their way to her neck, kissing the skin gently as he started to pound her, thrusting so hard that their bodies rocked up along the dirt. Naomi bit on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out.

  As she held onto his body, she could feel his muscles clenching as he tried not to cum. Naomi let her hands move to his face and cupped his cheeks. Their eyes locked together for a moment as Jeremiah continued thrusting, pushing so deep into her that Naomi’s legs started to go numb.

  Once their eyes were locked onto each other, Jeremiah didn’t last long. He stared into her eyes as his whole body started to shake. Sweat was pouring off his neck and forehead as he stared down to Naomi, refusing to remove his eyes from hers.

  His mouth opened and a deep, aching groan burst out of his mouth. A second later, Naomi felt his cock pulsing inside of her, followed by a sweet pressure that she hadn’t felt in years. Both of them stayed there, covered in dirt, as their tired bodies panted and heaved.

  Chapter 5

  There were still clumps of dirt in Naomi’s hair, even though she’d brushed it several times since the previous night’s antics. When she thought she’d gotten it all out, another clump seemed to appear out of nowhere.

  Naomi covered the small patch of dirt with her palm, resting her hand on the kitchen counter as she poured herself a cup of coffee. When she walked away, she let her hand drag the piece of dirt with it and moved her thumb up to catch the clump and press it into her palm. As she passed the trashcan, she bent down and dropped the dirt into it.

  Maxine was sat in the living room, reading the paper with her steaming cup of coffee on the table in the middle of the room. So far, she hadn’t noticed anything was wrong. Naomi was glad. She moved through to the living room and sat in the armchair opposite her mother.

  As she sat there, her mind raced. Naomi knew that she couldn’t let herself fall in love with Jeremiah again. It would take her down a path that was dangerous and unforgiving. But she knew that she’d already opened herself up to him—there was no turning back now.