Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance)

by Mariella Starr

  Josh came back out. "We can all go."

  "You haven't had time to see anything," Jenny exclaimed clearing her throat as it was becoming scratchy again.

  "It's collectibles," Josh said. "Stamps and coins from what I saw."

  "More jewelry, but it looks like old stuff and baseball cards," Kevin added as he came out to join them. "Gold pocket watches too! If all these cabinets are full of such collectibles, it could be worth a fortune. You will have to hire professional appraisers. Maybe people from the place always on the news… Sotheby's."

  "We probably will," Josh agreed. "So, the rumors and gossip were correct. Bentley did have hidden treasures. Come on Jen, let's get you out here. Kev, close the door and lock it, will you? We'll come back down later to investigate more thoroughly."

  "Done," said Kevin, kicking out the door stop and closing it."

  "My hero," Josh whispered in Jenny's ear as they began the long climb. "You saved our lives and figured out the mystery combination. I still don't get it, why me?"

  "Why not you," Jenny asked going through the bookcase passage. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and addressed everyone in a gravel voice. "We have to keep this a secret. If word slips out, the crazy stuff could start all over. We don't want trouble again."

  "Agreed," Mila and Kevin chorused together as they linked hands and hurried ahead.

  Josh stopped Jenny at the front door and held her back."

  "What?"

  "This," Josh said, bending his head to kiss her deeply, "is for being so brave, and so beautiful, and so smart."

  He turned her around to face the door and gave her a hard, stinging smack on her ass. "This is for being so damn stubborn and talking yourself out of a voice again!"

  Epilogue

  February, Vail Colorado, the Chalet

  Josh looked around the huge great room. All the couches and chairs and even the floor was full of family. All of his family was here, except Vanessa's husband. Henry Grayson, his father, was holding court sitting in a chair with his mother Camilla at his side, in her wheelchair. It might have been Josh's house, but this was the family's first assembly in a long time. His father and mother wanted the latest news on all their children's' lives.

  By seniority of age, they were to tell everyone their recent good and bad fortunes. Henry and Camilla surprised their children by revealing Henry was not running for office again. He was retiring, although he still had a year of his term to fill.

  "Well, boy, tell us your news," Henry ordered Kevin.

  "I'm not part of your family, sir," Kevin said.

  "By the look of the ring on her finger you will be soon," Henry declared. "Mila is already family so you will be too. Son, we take prisoners. Once you are in, you do not get out. Ask Josh."

  Kevin told them a little bit about himself and his business and gave them a little information on his past year. He admitted that yes, he and Mila would be married soon, but the details were still being worked out. His family alone was well over a hundred people, so it was getting complicated.

  Mila gave the family some insight into her life. She explained her military service and engineering background. Her past year had been full of Little Kevin, during both the pregnancy and now learning how to be a mother. Camilla, Violet, and Rena all said they were only a phone call away if she needed advice.

  Hank, Jr.'s news was nothing new. His law firm was doing well, as it had from its opening nearly twenty years before. Rena his wife, who was also an attorney, but not in her husband's firm, gave them details of some her winning cases, and informed them she was being offered a partnership.

  When it was their daughter's turn, Henry motioned her over to him.

  "Granddad, I'm too old," Kathleen exclaimed.

  "My granddaughters will never be too old to sit on my lap," Henry snorted. "Get over here, Pumpkin."

  Seventeen-year-old Kathleen went over and sat on his knee as she had since the tradition had begun of sharing family announcements. The grandchildren always sat on his knee. She had been saving her news for the Vail family reunion. She had received her acceptance letter to Princeton University. After the major uproar from the family finally died down, Justin, her younger brother was ready to give his announcement.

  "Do you want me to sit on your lap too, Granddad?" Justin teased his grandfather, as at sixteen he was six-foot-four inches and over two hundred pounds.

  "I'll take an exception on the knee, boy, but come and stand by me," Henry ordered.

  Justin had been accepted to Juilliard School for the Performing Arts for his senior year of high school. He had just received the news that he was going to be the male lead in what he called an interpretive version of Hamlet. His news elicited another explosion of congratulations.

  Tyrell and Violet shared their news together. Violet was pregnant. Violet apologized to the women because she would not be skiing this trip. However, she informed them with a broad smile that she fully intended to do significant damage to Tyrell's credit cards. Their boys delivered their own news. Dillon's report card was all check marks as his school no longer gave grades. The family all laughed when Tyrell curled his lip because they knew he was competitive to the bone. Violet punched him in the ribs with her elbow. James' news was that he, at five, was now old enough to take karate lessons.

  Vanessa reported her shared medical practice with three other doctors was doing well, and her husband Curtis was considering a Chief Surgeon position at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

  Josh gave an encapsulated account of the last six months in Durango, most of it was a rehash of information everyone already knew.

  "The big news, of course, is Peak Designs," Josh said. "The contracts were signed a week ago, and we have the Richfield Towers Project. Since we have already completed most of the work on the design phase, it is a seven-million-dollar influx of instant cash. As I speak, my partners are busy calling people and setting up job interviews. My partners told me since I had so much of my time invested in the project before they became involved, they owned me this week. They promised not to hassle me too much. Even though this is a vacation, don't be surprised if I'm online quite a bit."

  "Have you heard from Sotheby's yet?" Tyrell asked.

  "Yes, we don't know how much the stuff is worth yet, the appraisals are still coming in. They had to remove it in an armored vehicle, except for the cash. We kept it."

  Tyrell whistled. "Stuff. He calls priceless collectibles stuff. It could be worth millions; some collectors pay millions for a single stamp."

  "It's already past millions," Josh said. "The jewelry has been appraised. The man's watch was a Patek Philippe."

  "Hell," Tyrell exclaimed only to have his wife elbow him and the other women shush him. "Sorry," he said automatically to the women and his mother as he turned to his brother. "You have a Patek Philippe?"

  Josh grinned because he had since done his research, "Yeah, a two-point-five-million-dollar watch."

  "For a watch," Kevin and Henry exclaimed together.

  "For a watch," Josh agreed, smiling at the expression on his brother's face.

  "I'll bet you didn't know what it was, did you," Tyrell snarled.

  "I didn't then, but I do now," Josh taunted.

  "Idiot!"

  "Boys!" Camilla's soft voice cut through their rivalry and both men straightened as their eyes went to their mother.

  "It's our Jenny's turn," Camilla said calmly, turning her attention to her daughter-in-law.

  Jenny took Josh's hand and squeezed it. "Well, you have all heard about the problems I have had with my mother, but those seemed to have been resolved. I have heard from some of my friends in Waterbury that it was quite a scandal in her social set. Her house is on the market, something I never believed she would do. I also heard she is marrying a man named Maurice Clifford and moving to Providence, Rhode Island. She isn't speaking to me, and I'm okay with it. I wish her well. My good news is I have firmly reestablished my art career. My pieces are selling fast,
almost faster than I can create them. I am having a show in September or October in New York City. I'll get the dates to you as soon as they are finalized. I hope that we will all get together again there. That's it for me."

  "My turn," Emmie asked.

  "Your turn," Henry said, opening his arms for her and setting her on his knee. "Now, tell us your news."

  Emmie looked over to her Mommy and Daddy. "Mommy says I have been a good girl and I can have piano lessons, and this year I will go to a real school again. Daddy says I am a chatterbox and he likes it. He also says I can have a puppy for my birthday and that it is my respons… What was the word, Daddy?

  "Responsibility," Josh coached.

  "That," Emmie said. "I have to feed him and play with him, and I am going to name him Fuzzy. Daddy is trying to talk Mommy into getting a puppy for Adam too, but we don't know what his name is yet."

  "That's all good news, sweetheart," Camilla exclaimed. "Especially about being a chatterbox. Anything else?

  Emmie shook her head and got down, but then she turned back and stood between her grandfather's knees. "Mommy and Daddy are pregnant too! I heard them say so."

  This time when Emmie went back to her parents, all eyes were on them.

  "In addition to being a chatterbox," Josh said. "You are also an eavesdropper."

  "What's that, Daddy?" Emmie demanded.

  "We will discuss it later," Jenny said amid a roomful of laughter. "We weren't going to announce it until I reached twelve weeks, but yes, we are pregnant. I'll go shopping with you, Violet, as I won't be skiing either."

  As family members tossed congratulations around, there was a rustling as they began to rise.

  "No! No!" Emmie yelled and everyone stopped moving.

  "What is it, Emmie?" Henry asked.

  "It's Adam's turn!" Emmie exclaimed. She took her little brother by the hand and led him over to her Grandpa, as everyone sat back down.

  Henry plopped his youngest grandson on his knee as Adam smiled, his eyes bright and happy.

  "Do you want to say something to Grandpa," Henry asked.

  Adam looked around and then shouted, "Ice cream!"

  "Ice cream!" Henry bellowed. "This is the best news of the night. Let's have ice cream!"

  James and Dillon and Emmie chimed in, "Ice cream!" Everyone cheered and Adam clapped his hands because he loved being the center of attention. Henry transferred Adam into Camilla's lap and took the handles of her wheelchair to roll her to the kitchen where arguments were already in progress about who got which flavor.

  * * *

  Mila stood at the balcony door of their bedroom suite, looking at the full moon, so large it made the mountain look small by comparison.

  "There's my full moon," Kevin said, slipping behind and wrapping his hands around her. "Some Native Americans call it a Woman's Moon. Others call it a Wolf or a Hunger Moon. I will always think of it as the moon I didn't get to give you."

  "I loved the falling snow. Who would have thought a bossy, country boy would have gone down on one knee."

  "It is our little secret," Kevin said. "I was raised to believe if something was worth doing, you had to do it right the first time. I screwed up the first one, so I had to make the second one count."

  "You didn't screw up either one," Mila countered. "I was thinking of where I was a year ago. Pregnant with no family and I had left the service. I was alone. Josh's family is like yours… totally accepting. I thought there would be at least a few raised eyebrows at my meeting of the women."

  "Aunt Kelly didn't give you the snooty nose?"

  "No, but she did ask me if Kevin was your baby?"

  "What was your answer?"

  Mila turned around to look him straight in the eye. "I said, yes. David Kevin is our baby!"

  Kevin beamed and his eyes crinkled as they did when he was pleased. "I guess I'll have to adopt him."

  "No," Mila said.

  "You don't want me to adopt him?" Kevin asked, hurt resonating in his voice.

  "You don't have to adopt him. I already sent in the forms to have his birth records and certificate corrected. I did not list a father at the hospital. I wasn't willing to share my baby with him, not even in the records. When the records are changed, you will be listed as his birth father. You are his father in every sense of the word.

  "I want to tell you something else, Kevin. You make me feel beautiful. I have never believed I was pretty. I never saw it in myself before. Everyone always thinks I am strong and tough, but I am a fraud. On the inside, I have always been frightened, ugly, and unwanted. You changed me, and I love you more than I thought I was capable of loving anyone."

  Kevin looked at the moon and tucked her under his chin as his tears fell freely. "Thank you. I am not an elegant man, but I love you and I love our little guppy. You have my promise, it will last forever."

  * * *

  Jenny checked on Emmie and Adam, sleeping in the room ordinarily used as an entertainment or living space in the suite. They were not staying in the same suite as before, having given the ground-level suite to Josh's parents. It was easier for Camilla to get around, and she did not like having to be carried.

  Emmie was sleeping on a small air mattress, and Adam was sleeping on, of all things, a dog bed. They had worried he would roll off a mattress of any height. Mila suggested buying a comfortable dog bed for him, which they could use later for the unknown, but already named, Fuzzy. The playpen was now a thing of the past, or it was until the new baby was old enough to use it. Adam could get out of the playpen as fast as they put him in it.

  They had the room for a dedicated playroom again but had not yet decided which room to use for it or even if they wanted one. They were in the process of moving into the main house. It was nearly complete, although they still had not selected all the furniture. The strange thing was neither she nor Josh was in any hurry to leave the guesthouse. They were still floating between the two houses as they had done from the beginning, but they still sleeping in the guest house.

  Mila would not be working for a while so she was around to help. However, she was already spending every evening and night at Kevin's place.

  Jenny was still opposed in theory to a nanny. She was not giving her children over to someone else's care. She and Josh both were leaning more towards a housekeeper, someone to do the cleaning and laundry, and help with the cooking and childcare. Someone who could live on the premises and be there when they were needed.

  She headed to the bedroom, heard music playing, and went directly to the bathroom. Josh opened his eyes from where he was lounging in the Jacuzzi.

  "What took you so long?"

  "This and that," Jenny said as she peeled out of her clothes to join him.

  "I've missed you."

  "I'm here," Jenny whispered as she sat in his lap. "I wanted to make sure everyone was down for the night. Vanessa and Kathleen are riding herd on Tyrell's boys. They plan to stay awake all night and ski all day tomorrow."

  Josh chuckled. "I remember trying to do that, we seldom made it past eleven o'clock."

  "That's what the girls are hoping. I love your family."

  "They love you too. Dad and I were talking. After he retires, he is going to buy one of those big motor homes. Mom wants to travel."

  "Won't it be hard for her?" Jenny asked concerned.

  "Are you kidding? By the time Dad outfits a motor home for her, it will be fit for a queen. They won't be traveling around in a used bread truck with a mattress thrown in the back like we used to do."

  Jenny made a humming sound. "I haven't thought of our old truck in a long time. We had good times in it."

  "Indeed we did," Josh admitted. "We have come a long way in a very short while."

  "You earned it," Jenny said.

  "No, actually I didn't, but we are keeping it. It was a fluke of birth and a crazy old man," Josh admitted. "Part of me doesn't want to be grateful to him because part of me still hates that he left me floundering in the system. Yet
if I had not been in foster care, I wouldn't have my family, a family who is probably a thousand times better than what he could have offered me. After all, he did disown his only daughter because she was pregnant with me.

  "We have to stay grounded for us and our kids. Love has to be nurtured. It has to be fed to stay alive. We almost lost us, and I don't ever want that to happen again."

  "I know," Jenny agreed as she turned and straddled him. "I have so much, a husband and children I love. I adore living in Colorado. I wouldn't have believed it was possible this time last year. I have my art again. We have family and friends that are as close as family. I am also pregnant, and hormonal."

  Josh smiled. "Oh, yeah, I remember. About now in your pregnancy you want a lot of sex."

  "For the next three months, lots and lots," Jenny agreed. "What are you going to do about it?"

  "I like this part of you being pregnant," Josh teased as he repositioned her and entered her with a long, hard thrust.

  "Mmm…" Jenny mumbled. "It's nice to know. As it so happens, I have a bet with the boys that I can stay awake longer than they can. I have a double chocolate shake riding on it."

  "Also, good to know," Josh groaned.

  It was only the beginning of a long, slow race of pure pleasure. Over the course of the night, Jenny surrendered as Josh brought her to heights and tortured her on the brink before he took her over the edge and allowed her the release she needed. Sometimes he was demanding of her, sometimes she was demanding of him. They knew each other's bodies, needs, and desires. Sometime near dawn, they collapsed too tired to think, too sated to care.

  "I love you," Josh said, as Jenny's voice collided with his and their words overlapped as much as their bodies had.

  Hours later, Josh dragged himself awake and stumbled into the room the kids' room. Their beds were empty, and there was a note taped to the back of the door.

  "I have the kids. Sleep late – Violet."

  As Josh crawled back in bed, Jenny stirred, "Kids?"

  "Violet is watching them. Rest easy sweetheart, I'll buy you a chocolate shake, later."

  THE END