by Jillian Neal
“I don’t think Lachland had that man ask that, son. Even he looked confused when the guy said it. Peterson’s an extremely intelligent man, and that question was insane. Daniel said that when he was escorted out he appeared to have been making electrical draws from his home. He’s an addict son. That will ultimately eat your brain.” Governor Haydenshire quipped.
Emily pulled Adeline away from Logan and her parents. Rainer heard them whispering in the living room, and he prayed that Emily would let him in on what had happened quickly. When they returned, Emily’s flush had deepened to a crimson red, and Adeline was trying hard not to giggle. Rainer assumed that Emily had confessed why they hadn’t seen much of the debates. Still chuckling heartily, Logan slapped Rainer on the back with a sly grin.
“I really thought you’d be fumed that the entire Realm now thinks you’re impotent.”
“What!” Rainer gasped loudly. Emily’s eyes goggled at him as she shook her head.
“You know because that guy asked if our dad’s had betrothed us so that we’d have an heir. He thinks dad is trying to take over the Realm and then the world. He accused dad of trying to use the Lawson name to gain power, and…uh… then he wanted to know why I’m not pregnant yet.” Her voice lowered with each word as she cringed. Rainer’s mouth fell open in stunned disbelief.
“Didn’t you see it? The entire arena was stunned! They called in Iodex. Garrett and I helped escort the nut job out. He kept screaming shit about how your dad had planned for you and Em to marry to try an create a stronger race or something, and that mom and dad have so many kids cause their building an army. He’s completely loony.”
Logan urged, but then his eyes lit instantly with understanding. He doubled over laughing. Governor Haydenshire shuddered as he glared at Rainer.
“Uh,” Emily grimaced under her father’s glare. “We saw most of the debate. We had to walk the officers around, and we checked on the twins a lot.” Connor caught on immediately and began laughing with Logan.
“Uh, Em, I think you mean you checked on Rainer’s twins... a lot.” He guffawed. Had Rainer not been so thoroughly mortified and worried that Emily was going to burst into tears, he would’ve laughed at Connor’s quick wit.
“I’m going to bed.” Governor Haydenshire fumed. He turned and pulled off his tie as he walked away, but he spun back instantly. His eyes goggled furiously.
“Oh, you better not have!” He demanded. Logan, Connor, Emily, and Rainer all shuddered. They were horrified at the thought of having sex in the Haydenshire’s bed.
“Ugh, daddy, no!” Emily drawled with a noticeable shudder.
When Governor Haydenshire made his hasty retreat with his head shaking in defeat, Connor leapt.
“See, they should’ve had a camera here. Then the Realm would know your sack of surprises is fully loaded.” He chanted. Certain that his face was the color of Emily’s hair Rainer drew a steadying breath.
“Shut up, Connor.” Emily sounded like she was ten years old again.
“So while you two were uh…” Connor paused to try and come up with what he deemed as acceptable phrasing, Logan stepped up to bat.
“Churning butter?” They both cracked up again as Rainer glared at them with his jaw cocked to the side. He narrowed his eyes in on Logan.
“You jealous?” To his horror Logan’s entire expression changed instantly as tears formed in Adeline’s eyes. She turned quickly and whisked to the bathroom.
“Man, Logan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” Rainer tripped over his words in his haste to get them out of his mouth.
“I know.” Logan shook his head with a dejected sigh as he moved to try an extricate Adeline from the bathroom.
“What the hell?” Connor quizzed Rainer and Emily.
“Connor,” Emily shook her head.
“What?” Connor demanded in a huff. Emily made certain neither Logan nor Adeline could hear her.
“She just had surgery. She can’t… you know. She’s convinced Logan’s…” Emily hemmed and settled on, “Wanting to and she can’t yet. You know how she is about disappointing Logan.”
“I have to go apologize.” Rainer felt terrible as he turned and stalked towards Adeline who was emerging from the Haydenshire’s half bathroom with red eyes.
“Adeline, I’m so sorry.” Rainer felt his face flush again. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I was just being stupid. I’m sorry,” Rainer was not certain what else to say as Logan was shooting him warning glares. Adeline gave him a kind smile.
“It’s fine, Rainer. Don’t worry. I don’t know why I’m so sensitive lately.” She dismissed.
“Well, that’s probably all the same thing.” Emily soothed. “And despite being a really great guy, he still says kind of insensitive things without having any idea that he shouldn’t, until it’s too late.” She teased and gave Adeline a hug. This brought a genuine giggle from Adeline. Rainer and Logan both breathed sighs of relief.
“Let’s go home. I’m sure Rainer and Em are tired out.” Logan goaded.
“I’m just not even saying anything else.” Rainer pled sheepishly.
Happy Birthday, Emily
October dawned, cool and crisp, with the leaves turning brilliant colors of reds and orange. It was Emily’s favorite time of year. She’d driven herself to distraction trying to figure out what Rainer was getting her for her birthday, so as the sun began it’s trek across the brilliant, autumnal, Virginia sky on her big day, she woke Rainer by bouncing on the bed. Without opening his eyes, he slid his hands to her waist and pinned her down.
“Hey there,” he drawled. “You excited about something?”
While she giggled and tried to escape his grasp, she wriggled underneath him. “By the way, Happy Birthday, baby.” He clasped her hands in his own as he planted a sweet kiss on her lips.
“Can I have my present now?” She tittered excitedly.
“Uh, no, you may not. You may have it tonight, when everyone else gives you their gifts at your parent’s house.” He drawled thoroughly frustrating her. She poked her lip out in a delicious pout. He chuckled.
“That won’t work this time.”
“But what if I want my present now, before we go to my dinner tonight so that I can show you how much I like it?” She sassed anxiously.
Rainer held her waist in his hands and positioned her seductively over him. She wiggled her hips slightly to illustrate her point. The effect was evident immediately. She giggled as he shook his head at her.
“Well, if you like it, then you can show me when we get back home.” He assured her.
“What if you show me now, and then I’ll take care of that little problem you’ve got there?” She gestured to his crotch with a mischievous smirk.
“Uh, excuse me, Miss Haydenshire, but it’s not little, and trust me baby I’ll have that problem as soon as I see you tonight so you can take care of it then.” He feigned offense and reveled in her laughter.
She leaned forward so that her breasts fell onto his chest and pebbled against the thin t-shirt she’d slept in. He stared at them unabashedly as she grinned.
“Believe me, baby, I’m well aware that you’re Gifted in more than just protective casts.” She assured him.
After rolling his head to the side to take in the clock, Rainer turned back to her.
“You have to go to work, and I have another day of defending the Realm against Keaton and Henry.” He teased.
She giggled and furrowed her brow.
“I thought you were supposed to be defending them against the Realm.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Rainer gave her a wry smile just to hear her laugh again. With an audible huff, she extricated herself from his lap and moved to her dresser. She lifted the small, white, square box that her present was wrapped in and shook it for the hundredth time, in the past two days.
“It’s small like jewelry.” Her eyes sparkled excitedly. Rainer pretended to consider her guess.
“Could definitely be jewelry
.” He hemmed. “Maybe.”
“Ugh you are making me crazy!” She all but stamped her feet. Rainer sat up and laughed at her outright.
“I know, baby.” He took her hand and pulled her back to him. “But trust me, I think it’ll be worth it.”
“Can I have a clue?” She begged.
“Ok, let me get a shower, and I’ll see if I can come up with one clue.” He negotiated.
He emerged from the shower several minutes later. Rainer chuckled as Emily handed him a towel, while waiting expectantly on her clue.
“Ok, I thought of one.”
“Ok, tell me!” She bounced on her tiptoes. Rainer ran the towel through his hair and over his body as he shook his head at her.
“You ready?” He teased.
“Yes, just tell me!” She demanded.
“Ok, your one and only clue, Miss Haydenshire is….” He paused and watched her titter frantically. “Football.” He had to fight hard not to laugh. Her hands immediately went to her hips as she glared at him.
“Football is my clue?” She huffed.
“Yes, football is your clue.” He restated. He knew he shouldn’t enjoy teasing her so much, and he wouldn’t, he reasoned, if she wasn’t so adorable when he got her like this.
“What does my birthday present have to do with football?” Rainer shook his head.
“I said one clue, baby.”
Emily pulled on her practice uniform and marched into the kitchen. Logan and Adeline greeted her sweetly with ‘Happy Birthdays.’ She immediately cornered Logan.
“Ok, what does football have to do with whatever it is Rainer got me?” She demanded. Rainer laughed as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. Logan furrowed his brow and studied Rainer. A moment later, he got it. His eyes goggled appreciatively.
“Oh man. That was good.” He complimented.
“Thank you.” Rainer took a mock bow with a wry grin. He handed Emily a cup of coffee. “Here baby, do you want me to put candles in your cereal?” He offered and watched her roll her eyes again.
“No, I want to know what you got me.” She huffed.
He planted a kiss firmly on the top of her head.
“Tonight. Just be patient.”
After dropping Emily and Adeline off, Logan and Rainer returned to the farmhouse. The Haydenshires were getting ready to do a press conference from the Senate. They’d be in town for the next weekend campaigning close to home. Emily texted several times throughout the day to ask for more clues, but Rainer refused her.
“Poor baby, if this wasn’t so good, I think I’d tell her. I’m making her nuts.” He lamented to Logan.
Logan shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Rainer, please, she is not a baby. She can wait two more hours for her birthday present. She needs to chill.”
They taught Keaton and Henry a very rudimentary form of football and even talked the additional security teams on the property into playing a game with the boys.
When the Haydenshires returned, Mrs. Haydenshire immediately began working on Emily’s birthday dinner, spaghetti with meatballs and Nana Haydenshire’s delicious sauce.
Nana and Paps were due at the party as well.
A little after four, Rainer went to the stadium to fetch Emily. The Angels had taken her out to lunch and supplied her with several birthday gifts all of which she gushed about excitedly on the way back to the farmhouse.
Very pleased that she was having such a good day, Rainer escorted her into the kitchen. She was hugged and greeted heartily by all of her brothers and their significant others, along with her parents and grandparents.
Emily seemed thrilled that everyone had turned out, and they had a wonderful family dinner. Mrs. Haydenshire retold the harrowing tale of how many hours she’d been in labor with Emily and how long she’d pushed.
“Sorry mom,” Emily grimaced.
“You were worth it.” Her mother assured her as she served up strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream, another of Emily’s favorites. Brooke looked horrified throughout Mrs. Haydenshire’s tale, and Rainer wondered if it should’ve been retold. Tradition was tradition, he supposed.
“Aww come on mom aren’t you going to tell us the story of Rainer’s first word?” Logan sneered. Rainer rolled his eyes. Mrs. Haydenshire beamed at him adoringly.
“No,” she admonished. “Unless Rainer wants me to.” Her tone was pleading. Rainer nodded. He would never deny his future mother in-law the story.
“It’s fine, Mrs. Haydenshire.”
Emily giggled as Mrs. Haydenshire began her well-rehearsed tale.
“A few days after we brought Emily home from the hospital, Rainer was here. His parents had gone to New York for the day, I believe, but anyway he was sitting beside her little seat, patting her tummy, and he said ‘baby.’ It was so sweet. I almost cried.” All of Emily’s brothers feigned swooning adoration, batted their eyelashes, and then promptly gagged.
“Yes, well, as I recall awhile after he called her ‘baby’ for the first time he tried to sit on her, in her seat. I should have known then what was coming. Not much has changed.” Governor Haydenshire chided. A few minutes later, the guffawing quieted down as everyone dug into their shortcake.
Logan raised his head, and his brow furrowed.
“Hey mom, what was my first word? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you tell anyone.” He quizzed expectantly. Mrs. Haydenshire sighed.
“Yes, well there’s a reason for that, dear.” She huffed as Will and Garrett hooted with laughter.
“What?” Logan studied his brother’s incredulously. Adeline looked very intrigued as she grinned at Mrs. Haydenshire.
“What did he say?” She urged quietly.
“Well,” Mrs. Haydenshire seemed uncertain about sharing the story. Governor Haydenshire laughed and shook his head.
“Panties,” he informed the table as everyone cracked up.
“We gave him a cookie every time we got him to say it. So, he said it constantly.” Garrett confessed. He was still guffawing. Logan was crimson in his embarrassment as Adeline tried hard not to laugh but couldn’t quite manage it.
“And Emily’s first word…” her father gave her a wink as he goaded Rainer.
“Was daddy.” Mrs. Haydenshire supplied. She shook her head at her husband’s adoring pride.
After dessert, Emily was buzzing as she anxiously awaited her presents. Rainer had the small box tucked in his pocket. He was well aware that the gifts would be placed on the table, and that if he put it there, she would pick his first.
“I don’t see yours on the table, Mr. Lawson.” She sassed. Rainer grinned at her adoringly.
“I think you should open those first, Miss Haydenshire.” Rainer urged. She got perfume from her grandparents. Will and Brooke went in with Garrett and Patrick and Lucy to get her a nice luggage set, which she was thrilled over since she traveled a fair amount with the Angels. Logan and Adeline got her a scarf and bracelet that Emily had admired when she’d gone shopping with Adeline recently. Levi and Sarah gave her an iTunes gift card, and Connor gave her one to Sephora, so she was thrilled.
Her parent’s gift had her eyes dancing excitedly. More than any of the gifts so far Rainer noted. She pulled the paper off several rather extensive cookbooks that were her mother and grandmother’s favorites that they were handing down and a large, very expensive cookware set.
“Thank you!” She threw her arms around her father as he lifted her up in the exuberance of his embrace.
“I think there’s one more, Em.” Will winked at his baby sister. Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth as she nodded and turned expectantly towards Rainer. He was overwhelmed momentarily by the magnitude of his love for her. She was absolute perfection. Rainer grinned unabashedly as he pulled the small box from his pocket, while her family watched with baited breath. Emily pulled the tiny purple ribbon off as Rainer watched her nervously.
She opened the box slowly, and Rainer realized he was holding his breath
. She lifted the small pewter model of the Eiffel tower out of the box and studied him quizzically.
“Thank you.” She offered politely, but she was thoroughly confused. Rainer chuckled and kissed her cheek.
“You’re welcome.” He offered wryly. After stepping back from her, he reached for the model. “See, I thought that we might eat here Friday night.” He pointed to the center of the tower watching as her eyes goggled. “And then I thought we’d hang out all around here…” he spun his finger around the tower “…until next Tuesday.” She gasped as her mouth fell open in disbelief.
“Are you serious?” She squealed and threw her arms around him tightly.
“I’m serious, and Logan and Adeline are coming with us, but they have to leave Sunday so you have to find a dress either Friday or Saturday.” She was beaming and bouncing up and down making him chuckle.
“Oh my gosh! I cannot believe this!”
Brooke stepped forward.
“Jere I made jou a packing list, and my mom’s expecting you for dinner Monday night.” Brooke’s mother had fallen head over heels for a Frenchman named Claude and had moved to Paris a few years before Brooke and Will had married.
They’d honeymooned in Paris for two full weeks and had been an excellent resource for Rainer in planning the trip.
“Wait, what does Paris have to do with football?” Emily quizzed. Rainer and Logan cracked up.
“Notre Dame, Notre Dame, get it?” Rainer laughed as she rolled her eyes dramatically. Still chuckling, he pulled Emily to him and kissed her forehead. “The night Logan picked you up from work I was at Will and Brooke’s. They helped me plan the whole trip.” Emily beamed at her big brother and sister in law and wrapped her arms, as best as she could, around Brooke’s large stomach.
“Thank you so much!”
Brooked beamed.
“Jou’re velcome. Now pack everyzang on zee list. Rainer got you excelente reservations.” Brooke announced excitedly. Emily turned back to Rainer and grinned broadly.
“Yeah, he’s pretty much the best.” She vowed as he wrapped her back up in his arms. After giving Rainer another hug, she wrapped her arms tightly around Will. He leaned his head down and kissed the top of Emily’s head.