Tree Huggers, Children and Broken Decoys

by Ali Vali

  There were two things that pulled Junior out of a sound sleep. One was lying on top of her on the couch and the other one was the small finger that was poking her on the forehead. When she tried to turn her head away, the little finger moved to her ear and that's when she discovered it was wet.

  "Gooba." Gray eyes were right by hers when Junior opened her eyes and it startled her until she could remember where she was.

  "Good morning to you, Emmett. I can see I'll have to go shopping today to buy you some sort of pen." Jillian laughed from her spot turning her head to look at one of the other of Junior's inheritance. "Don't laugh, he broke three of my prized antique duck decoys yesterday."

  "Tell me you didn't threaten to take it out of his allowance?" Jillian picked up the chubby little boy and walked back into the room she had gone to with Bailey the night before. She picked up a diaper and put the little boy on the bed to change him. Below her on the floor, Bailey and her little sister were still sleeping but the sun streaming in from the window would soon change that.

  "You want me to take over?" Junior walked in once everyone's diaper had been changed and Jillian was pulling out something for Bailey to wear. I wonder if my eyes will just roll back into my head permanently if we end up together? Jillian brought her eyes back front and center and looked at Bailey.

  "No, honey, I think we have it under control. Don't we, Bailey?" The little girl smiled up at her and nodded thinking the day was starting out better than the one before it.

  "I brought you some coffee." Junior held up a mug for Jillian to take a sip. I wonder if it's too early in the relationship to ask her to move in? "Don't you have to go to work?"

  "Not unless you need me to go in and do something. My boss said he appreciated the two week offer but wasn't taking me up on it." The answer made all of the Baxters happy.

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  A month later, Junior was sitting with her back to her desk, looking out the windows in her office deep in thought. Nightmares every night after the services for Quinton and Susan had left Bailey a wreck. Their one salvation had been Jillian who sat with the crying child every night until she went to sleep. Junior could see the bond building between not only the oldest but also the other two children and was unsure on how to proceed.

  She had been so quiet around the office that Sally was starting to get worried. "Someone's here to see you." Junior swiveled her chair around to see Sally and Jillian standing in her office.

  "Hey." Once Junior said the greeting, Sally walked out and closed the door.

  Jillian walked in and kneeled next to Junior's chair taking hold of her hand. "You ok?"

  "Yeah, just thinking."

  "About?"

  "I need to go out to Pegasus again and I'm not sure how I'm suppose to do that now. Bailey's a whiz with her siblings but I'm doubting that I can leave her alone with them for a couple of days." Junior played with Jillian's fingers wanting nothing more than to pull her into her lap and kiss her, but not knowing how she would take that at the office.

  Seeing the small pout, Jillian made the decision for her. Taking up the position they watched television in once the kids were asleep every night and before she went home, when she went home, Jillian took a seat. Sitting in Avery's lap had become her favorite time of the day.

  "Plan your trip, workaholic, and I'll take care of the rest." Jillian finished off with a small kiss getting Avery to lose her pout.

  "I can't let you do that, they aren't your responsibility."

  "Honey, don't you want me around?"

  "You can't be serious? I would have gone batty by now just from the lack of sleep. I'm afraid if I don't ask you to marry me soon, Bailey is going to beat me to the punch."

  "Maybe she can give you a brush up course in the romance department, Avery. Now kiss me and let me go, I have a meeting with a man named Possum. That might be a good story for the kids and I one night, how Possum got his name." Avery kissed her one more time before helping her to her feet smiling at how much better the day went when Jillian stopped by.

  "Not until they turn at least twenty." It wasn't until Jillian left that her comment about romance hit Junior. Sally stood just outside the doorway and looked at her boss who had gone back to looking out the window.

  "Something I can help you with?"

  "I've gone from a confirmed bachelor who loved to work, to someone with a house full of kids and a girl that just keeps showing up without me asking in less than five weeks." The assistant couldn't decide if Junior was complaining or giving a report on her personal life so she prodded her a little.

  "Is it the kids or the woman that is making you spend the day looking out the window?"

  "Neither and both of them. I don't handle change very well and this isn't change, it's damn well redefinition."

  "Junior, you're an engineer, of course you don't do well with change. You're just like your father, no wonder I never had any problems coming to work for you. Would you like some advice from an old lady?" Sally cocked her head to the side wanting to draw Junior out of the mood she was in.

  "I know you, Sally, you are just going to tell me anyway, so asking you is a waste of breath on my part."

  "Damn straight. The children will give you a reason to come home from here and the girl, well she'll just give you reason. This is a good change, Junior, don't blow it. Avery didn't, and look at you now."

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  "And that one is called the Big Dipper." Junior held Bailey on her lap as Emmett played near her feet. They were sitting in the backyard looking at the sky and talking after having eaten dinner. Jillian hadn't gotten there yet since she had agreed to have dinner with her father so Junior had gone into the battle of getting the three of them to eat alone.

  "How do you know so much about this stuff?" Bailey pulled closer to Junior's body deciding she liked how safe she felt with her and how special she felt when Junior paid this kind of attention to her. Susan had tried but with three of them, in the end Bailey got short changed at times.

  "My father taught me. Would you like to meet him?"

  "Do you think he'll like us?"

  "I'm sure he won't just like you, he's going to love you. Just be prepared, your grandfather is a different kind of person." Junior looked over to the blanket she had put Kristen on to make sure she was still sleeping, and Emmett wasn't trying to put bugs in her ear like he had been earlier. "Come on, it's time for you three to hit the sack."

  "Isn't Jillie coming tonight?"

  "I'm sure she'll try, Bailey, but Jillie doesn't belong to us so you can't expect her to come over and see us every night."

  "I bet if you asked her, we could keep her."

  "She's not a puppy, sweetheart."

  "You aren't trying hard enough, Avery. A girl wants romance. You know, to be swept off her feet."

  "And you know this how?"

  "Miss Sally told me. I saw a movie once with my mom and the guy bought flowers and took the girl dancing. We could take Jillie dancing." Bailey looked up at Junior begging her with her eyes to say yes.

  "Hey, guys, miss me?" Bailey let go of Junior's hand and ran to her new best friend. The blonde led Bailey and Emmett to their room to get them changed for the night while Junior put Kristen in her new crib.

  "Did Avery tell you she's leaving for a couple of days?" Bailey asked Jillian as the woman pulled the covers up from the foot of the bed. It was warm outside, but Junior kept the house so cold you could store meat in the living room.

  "Yes, but Miss Sally and I are coming to stay with you guys so don't worry about it. Do you like Miss Cindy?" Jillian had refused to go to work until they found someone who would come to Junior's house and stay with them while they were at the office. After a solid two days of interviews she had found a nice middle-aged woman that the kids seemed to love.

  "Yes, ma'am, she's nice. Avery's coming back, isn't sh
e?"

  "Oh, sweetheart, of course she is. Now go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

  Jillian left the hall light on and headed toward the kitchen in search of Avery. Her father had grilled her over dinner to find out what Avery's intentions were, enough so that Jillian had told him to call her and ask himself. Shaking her head she entered the kitchen and found it dark except for the night light over the stove. A quick check of the study, den and living room also yielded no Junior.

  "Maybe she's finally flipped and run away from home." Jillian was so busy talking to herself that she almost missed the trail of rose petals on the floor leading out the backdoor. Following them, she opened the screen door and found Avery standing with her back to her, looking up to the skies from the deck. "Want some company?"

  "I was waiting for you." When Avery turned around, Jillian got her first look at the bouquet of roses in her hand. Avery had also brought out the radio and flipped it to a station playing romantic music. "Two very different women told me today that I'm not very romantic. Since between them they seem to know what they're talking about, I should take heed in the lessons they are trying to teach me. Dance with me?"

  "Do you know how to dance?" When Avery's hand went up and played with her glasses, Jillian had her answer. "I know you are my boss and everything, but just follow my lead on this one until you get the hang of it."

  Junior put her hands where Jillian had instructed and was swaying with her in time with the music. "This is nice."

  "Just for the record, I think you are terribly romantic so don't go listening to other women on the subject. But dancing and flowers are nice, so keep that part of the advice. On another subject, my father is thrilled to know you. That must have been one dandy of a contract."

  "Enough pipe to get crude from the Gulf through four different parishes when it gets to land should be enough of a commission for him to retire."

  "Avery, that's huge."

  "I'm probably crazy, but I figure it will save me a fortune in shipping and unless someone wrecks into the damn thing it will cut down on the chance of spills. Someone once told me that our children deserve to see a tree instead of looking at them in books when they grow up." Avery pulled her dance partner closer and kissed the top of her head.

  Jillian went willing, wanting to melt into Avery. "Stop listening to me when I am complaining about romance, I'm obviously crazy. I'm changing your middle name to Casanova."

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  "Where are you?"

  "I just landed, which means I'll be in town in about an hour if I push it. It's only five in the morning and the traffic should be coming the other way. I'm sorry I've been away so much."

  Jillian rolled over and noticed it was still dark outside but she had made Avery promise she would call as soon as she touched down and got in the car. A string of flukes had driven Avery out to Pegasus eleven times in the last four months and the time apart had been hard for the kids and Jillian.

  "Don't push it. I want you home alive, and if you go to the office before you come here I want a divorce."

  "Jillie, we aren't married."

  Jillian wanted to shout 'Not for my lack of trying' into the phone but thought Avery would drive off the road if she did. "There's something I want to talk to you about when you get here."

  "You want to talk about it now? I got a lot of road ahead of me."

  "No, Avery, I want you somewhere where I can keep close tabs on you while we talk. If I do it while you are driving the beast, I may never see you again."

  "Save my place then, I'll be there in a little while." Jillian looked to the other side of the bed and the empty space looked like part of her heart. "Avery Baxter, I don't ever want to wake up without you again." She said it to an empty room or so she thought until the small voice cut through the silence of the house.

  "You aren't leaving us are you?"

  "No, sweetheart, I'm not. When Avery gets home I want to talk to her about something that's all, but it's something good I promise."

  "Do you think Avery will be upset if I don't want to work for her?" Jillian almost laughed at the question. But the child was so serious, she just patted the mattress as an invitation for Bailey to join her like she sometimes did when Avery was out of town.

  "I'm sure Avery will help you with whatever you want to do. What do you want to do?"

  "I want to be a vet. I mean Avery is great, but when she talks about all that stuff she does, it sounds kinda boring. Promise you won't tell her?"

  "I promise. Want me to walk you back?" When she laid down again, Jillian tried to stay awake to wait for Avery but the tired traveler found the blonde with her hands wrapped around Avery's pillow fast asleep.

  When Jillian woke she found the pillow that she had been hugging had been replaced with a long warm body that was breathing deep and slow under her ear. Finding Avery in bed with her brought a smile to her face and she tightened her hold making the arms wrapped around her tighten as well. Avery took a deep breath and held it before letting it out in one long stream signaling that she was waking up.

  "Good morning." The voice sounded deep and sexy to Jillian but still a little tired.

  "Good morning, honey. I'm sorry I wasn't awake when you got here but this bed is some kind of comfortable." Jillian kissed her to both welcome her home and wish her a good morning leaving Avery fully awake when she was done.

  "Kiss me like that all the time and I won't care when you sleep."

  Jillian patted her on the stomach and smiled. "We need to buy a new house."

  "I like this house, what's wrong with it? And how did we go from talking about kissing to talking about buying a new house?"

  "Avery, this house has three bedrooms and you converted one into an office." Jillian stated the obvious, but she could see Avery was not comprehending.

  "I know that."

  "Honey, you have three little people in the only one that's left. That isn't fair to Bailey, especially when she starts school again."

  Avery looked around the room wondering when she had lost complete control of her life then looked back to the pretty bright blue eyes looking at her and found the answer. "Ok."

  "That was easy but trust me, you'll be much happier when you have a place where you can lock up all those decoys of yours."

  An annoyed look came over Avery's face making Jillian break out in a laugh that she tried to stop since it was making the two dark brows come closer together. "Why?"

  "I don't know why Emmett loves them so much, but another one bit the dust while you were gone." Avery groaned at the news knowing that the house wasn't exactly child proof and what the new one would look like when it was. "Come on, corporate warrior, let's go get something to eat. Being this close to you is making me have nasty thoughts and the troops will be up too soon for me to carry them out."

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  "Junior, is there anything you want changed in the contracts before we finalize them?" Jillian's father pulled the papers out of his briefcase before they got further into their talks.

  "No, I looked them over last night and they look fine."

  "Good, then we can move on to talk about other matters. What exactly are you planning on doing with my daughter?" Ice tea came shooting out of Junior's nose when she choked after his question.