by Paula Kay
Gigi smiled, thinking about her earlier discussions with the kids. Any excuse to throw a party and they were all over it. But she had to admit it was a fun thing to do before everyone had to return home. Gigi loved it that Blu and Lia had a chance to see the children happy—the way that Gigi and Douglas had known them to be.
Her attention was brought back to the ceremony as the voices of the children singing “Amazing Grace” rang out. They had insisted that it was the best way to start—that Ms. Silvia would have wanted it that way.
Gigi felt Douglas’s hand reach for her own as they finished singing the hymn and he cleared his throat to make the little speech that he’d prepared.
Originally Gigi had thought that the building should be built in Arianna’s honor, but after everything that had happened—after losing Silvia—the kids’ new dormitory was officially named la Casa de Silvia. Gigi smiled thinking about it. The orphanage would always be Silvia’s home; the kids would always be her children. Her picture hung just inside the doorway; her memory would be kept alive by all the kids who slept here.
And outside, on the porch, sat a single bench made of wood—it was there in honor of Arianna and everything she’d done—everything her gift of money had done—for the children and this beautiful place that Gigi and Douglas would now call their home too.
The clapping and shouting from the children interrupted her thoughts as she focused her attention on Douglas’s speech and the big ribbon across the door.
“You do it, honey,” Douglas whispered to her.
Gigi cut the ribbon and the crowd erupted in more clapping and a sea of smiles from the kids now making their way up the porch steps.
Douglas led the excited children through the doors and inside for their first look at their new home.
Jemma had made her way up the steps to stand next to Gigi, and Gigi took her hand to lead her over to the bench for a chat. She’d hardly had time to speak with her and was dying for a chat with the young girl.
“How’s it going, my lovely girl?”
Jemma grinned. “I like it when you call me that. But I think Mom would argue that I’m not always so lovely.” She laughed.
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that. I happen to know that your mom thinks you’re pretty terrific.”
“What’s that? My ears are burning.” Blu came up beside them with Lia following right after her.
Gigi pulled the resistant Jemma onto her lap to make room for the other two women to sit beside them.
“Gigi, I’m too big to sit on your lap.” Jemma giggled.
“You are never too big for a cuddle, my darling.” Gigi laughed and kissed the young girl on the cheek, Jemma finally becoming still and putting her head back against Gigi’s chest.
Gigi noticed Lia’s fingers gently tracing over the small gold plate along the top of the bench. In loving memory of Arianna, it read.
“I can’t believe it’s been five years,” Blu said and seemed to be watching the expression on Lia’s face.
“I know. It’s hard to believe how much has happened, isn’t it?” Lia smiled when she asked the question.
“Five years since what?” Jemma asked, sitting up a bit in Gigi’s lap.
“Five years since Arianna passed away, honey,” Gigi answered.
“Oh.” Jemma seemed thoughtful. “Mom?”
“Yes.” Blu said.
“Do you think Ari would have liked it here? Do you think she would have liked all the kids?”
Blu grinned. “Well, she sure did like you a whole lot, didn’t she?”
Lia reached across Blu’s lap to grab Jemma’s hand for a quick squeeze. “Ari talked about you all the time. Do you remember—that she always called you J-bean?”
Jemma giggled. “I forgot that she called me that. I still really like jelly beans.” She paused for a second, as she settled her head back against Gigi’s chest. “I think Ari loved me. I think I remember that.”
Gigi felt her eyes tear up as she kissed the top of Jemma’s head. “That she did, my lovely girl. She loved you a whole lot.”
And as Gigi looked over at Blu and Lia sitting beside her smiling, she was reminded once again of how extremely fortunate she’d been to have inherited this little family of hers. And she guessed that Arianna could have never known that it was by far the greatest gift of anything that she’d given to Gigi.
Chapter 37
Gigi stood off to the side of the dance floor, Douglas’s arm around her and Jimena sitting nearby. She couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Rafael showing Jemma his dance moves.
Jemma’s attitude had been surprisingly great the whole time that they’d been there. Gigi really hadn’t known what to expect from the little girl, but she’d joined right in with the kids, playing and helping with the younger children.
Gigi nudged Douglas and gestured out towards the dance floor. “Look at Antonio and Lia. Have you ever seen anything so sweet?”
The couple were dancing to a song with Gabriela in Antonio’s arms and giggling as he swung her around in time to the music.
“Stranger things have happened, alright.” Gigi said under her breath, laughing.
“What’s that, honey?”
“Oh just something Lia had said the other day.”
Douglas laughed, kissing her on the cheek. “There’s no telling what you two ladies are up to while I’m away.”
Gigi grinned back.
“I can’t believe how big Kylie’s gotten.”
Gigi watched Blu’s youngest daughter take a few tentative steps between Chase and one of the older girls, laughing and looking quite proud of her newfound skill.
“What are you two lovebirds whispering about over here?” Blu came up beside them.
“Oh, we’re just so happy that you guys were able to make it.” Gigi reached out to give her friend a big hug. “It really means a lot to us.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it—none of us would.” Blu leaned in to give Gigi a quick kiss on the cheek. “You two are our family. And that’s not going to change just because you’re now halfway across the world.”
Douglas laughed. “Okay, so that’s a very big exaggeration, but it’s probably a slightly longer flight than between San Francisco and San Diego.”
“Oh, I’m only joking.” Blu grinned. “I do hope that you’ll still come back to visit and make the annual trip to Italy.”
Gigi laughed. “Oh, are we doing an annual trip to Lia’s now?”
“Indeed.” Blu laughed. “I’ve been working too hard. Chase has insisted that I put our yearly vacation plans on the calendar—in marker.”
Gigi and Douglas looked at one another and laughed.
“That’s a good man you’ve got there.” Douglas winked.
“Yep, he’s a keeper alright.”
“Well, you’re more than welcome to come here to stay any time, although I can’t really promise that it will be a vacation—at least not one that doesn’t include some work.” Gigi winked.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Gigi followed Blu’s gaze to where Jemma was dancing with a few of the older kids.
“I must admit that Jemma seems to fit right in here, which is a bit of a shock.” Blu laughed.
“Yes, Douglas and I were commenting on that as well. You know, if it ever worked out—” Gigi glanced at Douglas, who was nodding his head and smiling—his permission for her to continue. “—we could keep Jemma here for a summer.”
Blu grinned. “That we might have to consider. I’d miss her terribly, but maybe it would be good for her.” Blu leaned over to give Gigi another quick hug. “And on that note, I better go see if Jemma’s had anything to eat. I haven’t seen her stop dancing all night.”
Gigi felt Douglas’s arm around her waist once again, and she thought maybe she’d never felt so content in all her life. The only thing that could have possibly made the occasion that much sweeter would have been having Arianna here with them all, but even as she had
the thought, there was a small voice in the back of her mind, reminding her that just maybe everything was as it was meant to be…just the way it was.
She noticed the big smile on Douglas’s face as he watched all of the kids on the dance floor; they laughed and stopped to wave whenever they saw that they had his attention.
Carlos and Jimena, hand-in-hand, ran up to where they stood.
“Come dance with us, Papa Doug, Ms. Gi.” Carlos was grinning widely at Gigi, who laughed in response.
Jimena was tugging on Douglas’s pants leg, looking a bit more shy than was normal. “Papa Doug, will you pick me up?”
Gigi and Douglas looked at one another and grinned. Douglas scooped the little girl up with one arm and took Gigi by the hand with the other as they made their way out onto the dance floor, to the delight and cheers of all the children dancing around them.
Douglas leaned over to whisper in Gigi’s ear. “Honey, I think it’s fitting to say that by some miracle we have our children after all.”
Gigi nodded, wiping away the tears that she couldn’t hold back—tears of pure joy—for this new family that somehow they’d found and now had the privilege to be a part of.
Yes, everything was just as it should be.
Legacy Series
(Book 5)
Just in Time
By
Paula Kay
Copyright © 2015 Paula Kay
Cover design by Beetiful Book Covers
All rights reserved.
PaulaKayBooks.com
Chapter 1
Jemma Foster woke up to the annoying sound of her phone ringing and a splitting headache. God, how much had she had to drink last night anyway? It was all a bit of a blur—as were most of the evenings that she’d been spending with Dex lately—but she vaguely remembered coming in around two, careful not to wake Chase and somewhat surprised that he hadn’t been waiting up for her—what with her mom being out of town and all.
She finally reached for her phone, noticing that it was eleven o’clock and that the call was from her mother. She debating ignoring it to go back to sleep, but she needed to get up to use the bathroom anyway.
“Hello.”
Her voice was low and horrid-sounding, even to her own ear.
“Are you just waking up? Geez, Jemma, it’s eleven o’clock.”
“Yeah, well, it’s also Saturday.”
She was still annoyed at her mom because of the argument they’d had about Jemma not going to New York with her. It was some big fashion show, but Jemma had had a party that she didn’t want to miss. She used to enjoy traveling with her mom, grandma, and Kylie, but lately it seemed like all she and her mom did was fight about what Jemma could and couldn’t do.
She heard her mom sigh on the other end of the phone. “Well, I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. Can you please do me a favor and find a paper in the office for me?”
Now it was Jemma’s turn to sigh. “Yeah, okay. Just give me a minute to use the bathroom.”
She was quick about it, by this time wanting to get off the phone with her mom to get a cup of coffee.
She grabbed the phone off the bed as she made her way downstairs to the office.
“Okay, I’m in your office.”
She walked over to the window to raise the blind, noticing what a gorgeous day it was outside. Maybe she really did take where they lived for granted—that was what her mom and Chase were always telling her. She did love San Diego, and she knew that she was lucky to have spent most of her youth in the massive La Jolla beach home that her mom’s best friend had left her—that Arianna had left the both of them when she’d passed away.
She turned her attention back to her mom on the other end of the phone.
“Okay, so go over to the gray file cabinet in the corner—the one next to the bookshelf.”
Blu gave Jemma the rest of the instructions that enabled her to read the information off the particular paperwork that she needed.
“Thanks, kiddo.”
“Mom. Stop. I hate when you call me that.”
“Well, I hate it that you’re mad at me all of the time.”
Jemma felt a slight pang of something but it didn’t last long.
“I’m not mad at you all the time—just some of the time—when you’re being a pain.”
“You mean when I’m not so quick to give you what you want.”
“Anyway, I gotta go.”
“What are you going to do today?”
“I dunno. I might go to the beach, I guess.”
“With who?”
“Mom, please. I don’t know.”
Her mom hated her boyfriend and pretty much had forbidden Jemma from seeing Dex. There was no way his name was even coming up in this conversation right now.
“Jemma, it’s normal for a mom to want to know what her seventeen-year-old kid is doing while they’re away.”
“Well, Chase is here.”
Jemma did like her mom’s husband—and well, after being in her life for so many years he was her father, really. But he’d definitely been taking her mom’s side lately. They were just both always on her case about something.
“Jemma. I know Chase is working today. You need to be sure to text him, please, to let him know what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, okay, Mom. I will. Now I gotta go.”
“Why don’t you call Claire to do something?”
Claire used to be Jemma’s best friend, but they hadn’t even talked for at least the past six months—not since Jemma had started hanging out with Dex and—well, Claire had her friends that Jemma didn’t really like any more than Claire had liked Jemma’s new boyfriend.
“Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? Claire and I really aren’t good friends any more.”
Her mom sighed on the other end of the line. Jemma was sure that she and Claire’s mom had probably been talking about how the pair of them hadn’t had much to do with one another lately. It used to be nice that their moms were also best friends; now Jemma just found it completely annoying.
“Mom, I gotta go—”
“Okay, wait—”
“—Mom.” Jemma was getting seriously irritated.
“Kylie wants to talk to you.”
Jemma relaxed for second and walked over to the chaise lounge in the office.
“Hi, Jemma.”
Jemma smiled as soon as she heard her sister’s voice on the other end of the line. Kylie was seven and one of the few people whom Jemma adored these days.
“Hi, Ky. Are you having fun in New York?”
“Yeah, Grandma took me to the big toy store yesterday—you know, that one with the giant keyboard you can step on.”
Jemma smiled. “FAO Schwarz?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Anyway, I got you something and it’s a surprise so don’t ask me to tell you, okay?”
Jemma laughed. “Okay, I won’t. You do realize that I’m getting a bit old for toys, don’t you?”
“Well, Grandma said that you would like this one. Well, it’s not really a toy. It’s kinda like a project that Grandma and I are gonna do together.”
“Ky? Are you trying to give me some hints?” God, this kid did crack her up sometimes.
“No, I’m not. I’m not saying one other word about it.”
Jemma imagine Kylie crossing her slight arms in front of her, her lovely blond curls springing as she shook her head.
“Okay, then. Listen, I gotta get going.”
“Okay. Jemma?”
“Yeah?”
“I miss you. I wish you came with us. I always have more fun when you’re here too.”
Jemma smiled, realizing that her complete irritation of the morning had melted away.
“I know. I miss you too. But you have fun and get all of your homework done with Grandma so that we can do something when you come home tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, Jemma.”
“I love you too. Bye.”
She crossed t
he room to kneel down to shut the file cabinet door that she’d left open, and then something caught her eye. She reached under the small space of the bookshelf she was kneeling next to and pulled out a thin metal box. The box was locked, and immediately Jemma wanted to know what was inside.
She wasn’t really one to snoop through her mom’s things, but then again she really felt like her mom hadn’t been giving her the most privacy lately either. And besides, how could she resist? What could possibly be inside?
She didn’t really think her mom was all that interesting, even though she knew that Blu Foster’s “black-n-blu” clothing line had become very famous in the world of fashion. All of Jemma’s friends had always thought that she’d had the coolest mom of them all, and Jemma definitely always had the nicest clothing. That was one thing she could really appreciate about her mom even though these days Jemma didn’t care too much about her clothes. She was quite happy to wear her ripped jean shorts, T-shirts, and sneakers, which she knew drove her mom slightly crazy at times.
Jemma was trying to think of any place where her mom might have put the key for the metal box she was holding in her hand. She checked the obvious drawers in her mom’s desk. A glance back in the file cabinet didn’t seem to turn anything up. Something from her memory—probably something she’d seen in a movie once—caused her to swipe her hand underneath first the shelf of the bookshelf, then the underside of her mom’s desk. Bingo. Her fingers moved over something taped underneath the desk.
Her morning had possibly just gotten a bit more interesting.
Chapter 2
Jemma sat on the floor of her mom’s office looking at the thin envelope that had held the birth certificate which was now lying beside her on the floor. She didn’t know whether to scream or cry. Quite possibly she was in shock. Quite possibly everything in her world had just completely shifted and she was about to go insane.