by Tammi Lynn
All the guys chipped in making a dish, and Jesse is the last to make something. Cade is lounging on the couch watching Tv with Roman, and Miklo went with Jayson to pick up Emma so they could also grab Andie on the way back.
He has to finish chewing and swallowing before he can comment back. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What’s that?” I say with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, Beautiful.”
“Mmm, hmm, That’s what I thought.”
I smack his hand away as he tries to grab another one, and he pulls his hand back and rubs it as if I’ve really hurt him. “You wound me. What kind of woman doesn’t feed her, man?” I snort at that, shaking my head.
I’m about to grab one and smear it all over his face when the front door opens. I see Jayson, Miklo, and Andie as a streak of blonde hair goes flying by and throws itself into Jesse’s arms. “Uncle J!”
“Hey Em, what are you up to, you little heathen?”
“Dad says I’m not a heathen, I’m a little angel. Where’s my favorite Uncle Ro?” There’s a lot of emphasis on the word favorite, and I have a feeling these two have a fun relationship. She’s picking on him even though I heard that Roman is her favorite.
“Over here, Princess,” Roman says from the couch.
Emma wiggles her way out of Jesse’s arms and runs and jumps in Roman’s lap.
“Uncle Ro! Did you miss me? I bet you missed me tons.”
Roman gives her a big hug. “Of course. I always miss you, princess.”
“What about me?” Cade says to her, holding his arms out for a hug.
“In a minute, Uncle Caca, there’s only so much of me to go around.” she hugs on tighter to Roman, and I try to stifle a laugh. Uncle Caca?
“Emma…”
“What?”
“What did we talk about on the phone earlier?” Cade gives her a stern look.
“Um, not to call you that in front of the pretty lady?”
“Yes, and do you see a pretty lady?”
She looks over at me from under her eyelashes and then back to Cade. “Yeah, I guess, Uncle Cade.” She said his name emphasizing the C and D, and I could just barely see her roll her eyes at him while she said it from my position in the kitchen.
Miklo and Andie go to the couch after each giving me a hug, and Jayson comes and stands next to me. “Emma come here real quick, I want you to meet someone.” Getting off of Roman’s lap, she sticks her tongue out at Caca, sorry that was too funny and comes into the kitchen. “This is Mia, she’s Miklo’s mom.”
“Hi,” she says shyly.
“Hi Emma, it’s so nice to finally meet you, your dad talks about you all the time.”
“Are you his girlfriend?” Dang, she gets right to business.
I look over at Jayson, not sure how he’d like me to respond, and he nods his head yes. “I am, do you think that would be okay?” I want to make sure she likes me, and I don’t want her to ever think I’m trying to take him away from her.
“Maybe, I’ll think about it.” Sassy little thing. Jesse coughs to cover a laugh, and I glare over at him.
He holds his hands up as if in surrender. “Hey, good luck is all I’m saying.”
“Wanna see my barbies?”
“Yeah, I’d love to see them.”
Her little hand grabs mine, and she takes me into her downstairs bedroom that is next to Jayson’s. Her bedroom is done in lilac color with a Daisy, the character not the flower, theme. It’s cute and fits her personality, Daisy always seemed a little sassy herself. She pulls me down next to a huge dollhouse and starts taking barbies out to show me.
“This one’s name is Sunny.”
“I like that name, is it because of her blonde hair?”
“Do you like my dad a lot?”
She caught me off guard with her change in subject so quick, little sneak just wanted to get me away to ask questions. “I do like him a lot.”
“Do you love him?”
Well shit. “Love is a big word, and I always make sure I really do before saying it.”
“Okay… So do you?” She’s not going to give up on this one.
“Can you keep a secret?”
“Oh, yes, yes. I’m very good at keeping secrets.” she starts bouncing on her knees, and she’s just the cutest, her eyes so much like her dad.
Well, we’ll see, I guess. “Okay, well, I think maybe I do love him, but you can’t say anything, okay? I have to be the one to tell him when the time is right.”
Her eyes widen, and a grin lights up her cherubic face. “I promise!” She mimics, zipping her lips, and I smile at her in return.
“Okay, it’ll be our little secret, just ours.”
She makes a small gasp. “Not even Miklo knows?”
“Nope, not even him.” She loves that that she knows something no one else does, I have a feeling she’ll keep my secret for that realization alone.
“Do you like Uncle Caca, I mean Cade too? Or what about Uncle J or my Uncle Ro?”
“I like all of them, they are all really nice.”
“Yeah, but do you love them too?”
Nope not even going there with her. I pick up a brown haired Barbie that she has given a haircut to, the strands of hair sticking up all over the place. “What’s this Barbies name?”
“That’s Katie, she’s a chef and likes to cook.” She takes the doll from me and places her in the kitchen before picking up another one with a unique hairstyle. “This is Molly, she’s the kid and hates school.” Yes! Conversation successfully diverted! She continues to tell me all about her dolls, and we play with them until Jayson comes in to tell us dinner is ready.
The guys had to bring the table from my house over and place it next to theirs to have enough seating for everyone, and I take a seat between Roman and Miklo. Jesse and Cade are across from us with Andie on the other side of Miklo, who is across from Emma. Jayson and my mom at the two ends of the tables that are not pushed together.
Dinner is amazing, the food is great, and the conversation even better. My mom keeps asking the guys all kinds of questions I’ve never thought to ask, and I get to learn even more about them. Emma is having fun jumping in and answering some of the questions for them, and they don’t even mind. You can see the love they have for her. I wouldn’t want to be her when she gets to dating age. I hope I can be around to see their faces when she brings her first boyfriend home.
Roman gets a faraway look when Jesse starts telling a story about a Thanksgiving from when they were younger, and how he was told to put the turkey in the bath full of hot water to thaw it since they forgot to take it out of the freezer the night before. Apparently, Jesse forgot he left the tub running and flooded the bathroom and hall. It was a funny story, but I can tell Roman’s thoughts have gone to past Thanksgivings with his mom. I squeeze his hand from under the table, and he squeezes it back.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Always the tough guy.
“It’s okay if your not.”
He looks at me, a soft affection in his eyes and inhales nodding his head.
“With you here, I’ll always be okay.” No, its fine Roman because if I wasn’t already totally falling for you, that would have done it! I lay my head on his shoulder for a minute and enjoy the warmth and comfort. I was starved of touch for so long I always want to be as close to them as possible.
When dinner is made, Jayson helps me with the dishes while everyone else sits down to watch a game and talk. Jayson took the washing side, so all I have to do is rinse and put the mountain of dishes in the strainer.
“You’re really good with her.”
“Huh?” We had been working in silence for a little while, so he caught me in the middle of a daydream. I’m wearing a certain apron I brought from home, and Roman keeps looking over at me in it. Probably thinking the same thing I am but in reverse.
“Emma, you’re really good with her.”
“She’s adorable Jayson, thank you so much f
or letting me meet her. I have a feeling we’ll be good friends.”
“So I hear. She whispered to me earlier that she knew a secret but that she could never ever tell me.” He looks over at me quizzically. “Any idea what that’s about?”
“Nope, no idea.” I give him a huge cheeser and try not to laugh.
“Yeah, sure you don’t.”
“Hey, us girls have to stick together, no boys allowed with our secrets.”
“You two are going to be trouble.” He plops some bubbles on my nose and laughs.
I grab the spray hose and spray his shirt a little, and he starts splashing me back. I may not have thought this through, we are both almost drenched before we both call a truce. I turn to grab some paper towels and slip, my feet coming out from underneath me, and Jayson grabs me the last second and pulls me close. “That was close.”
He doesn’t say anything for a second, just looks me in the eyes. “Thank you.”
“For what? You caught me I should be thanking you.”
“Thank you for being here. Thank you for being so good with Emma. Thank you for bringing us guys back together. Thank you for bringing Miklo into our lives. But most of all, thank you for giving us you.” He places a sweet soft kiss on my lips, and I swear I melt into his arms.
I really do love him, all of them. No one has ever said sweeter words to me, at least not meaning them, and I can see he means it from the way he’s looking at me. Like I hung the moon. “Thank you, I think I needed you guys more than you ever needed me. More than you will probably ever realize.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that Sweetheart, you haven’t seen the changes in the guys that I have. We’ve all been a little broken.”
I’m interrupted in grabbing him and kissing him back when I hear Jesse laugh out loud. It makes me turn my head to see what the rest of everyone is doing. They are all huddled around the coffee table looking at something, and I walk over to take a closer look. Nooooo! On the table is my moms purse and next to it spread around are a whole bunch of pictures of me growing up. You know, the embarrassing kind. I can see one from here where we were on a car trip, and I had tissue stuffed up each nostril copying one of my sisters who had gotten a nose bleed on vacation. Oh shit, and there’s the one where I’m about Emma’s age with one of those half jean, half material skirts everyone used to make and a little pink t-shirt that is showing major midriff because the tennis balls I have shoved under it in one of my mom’s bras is pulling it up.
“Mom! What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? Miklo had called me the night before last and told me you wanted me to grab all your old pictures to bring and show everyone.”
My eyes narrow on my son. Traitor.
“I definitely did not.”
I try to put on my meanest mom glare and look back over at Miklo, and the brat grins back. “Payback? Check!”
“You are so grounded.”
“Hey, no fair! For how long?”
“Till I decide you’ve grovelled at my feet for long enough.”
He leans into Andie and says into her ear in a mock whisper. “Don’t worry, we’re still on for bowling with Killian and Sean on Saturday.”
I’d continue, but he’s right, It’s not like I’d really ground him for that. Although, first time for everything, am I right?
Andie gives me a conspiratory grin. “Don’t worry Mia, I’ll help you get him back.”
“Hey!” Miklo’s look of shock is comical.
“What? Us girls have to stick together.”
“I told you I liked her Miklo,” Andie says primly, loving Miklo’s reddening face.
“Yeah, yeah, just don’t forget there’s more of us guys then there are of you girls.”
He’s got a point and looking around at all of the guys' faces, each of them with their own versions of a smirk on, and I do believe I’m in trouble. Also, while looking around, I see Emma is once again in Roman’s lap, and she’s falling asleep against his chest. The turkey snooze has claimed its first victim. “I think someone is done for the day.”
Jayson follows my nod toward Emma and gets up to pick her up. He starts walking towards her room when her eyes pop open. “Wait! I want Mia to tell me a story.”
Jayson turns to look at me. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” I get up to follow them, and he puts her in her bed and tucks her in. I sit down at the edge and watch him kiss her goodnight before he stands back up.
“Okay you can leave now Daddy, it’s girl time.” Chuckling, he places a kiss to my forehead and walks out of the room.
“So, what kind of story do you want to hear?”
“I don’t care, just make one up.”
Hmm, it’s been a long time since I’ve had to make up stories. “Once upon a time, there was a princess.”
“Named Emma?”
“Yes, named Emma.” she snuggles deeper into her covers, and her eyes start to droop. I have a feeling that my story won’t have to be very long. “So princess Emma lived in a castle, and a mean dragon came by one day and tried to steal her away. She was a brave princess and fought the best she could, even punching the dragon on his snout, but the dragon was just so much bigger. She thought the dragon was for sure going to take her away when four strong knights came to save her. They fought hard and fierce and banished the dragon away. They...” And she’s out. Her cute little snores and calm breathing fill the space. I usually only feel maternal towards my own kid, because duh, he’s my flippin’ kid. But Andie and Emma have both claimed a not so little part of my heart that makes me feel like my family is just growing and growing. I hope my birthday wish comes true. I hope this never ends.
I get up and turn the light off, leaving the door cracked a little when I go back out into the living room. I head straight to the coffee table and scoop up the pictures and shove them all back into my mom's purse, and they all laugh at me. “So how about we play a game? Cards, maybe?”
“Spoons!” Jesse yells out, throwing in his vote.
“No, Spoons!” Both Jayson and Roman say together after him.
“Oh, come on, guys! Last time was a lot of fun.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, followed by a wink.
“How about Bitchy Rummy instead?” They all agree, and I look over at my mom, whos smiling. She’s going to wipe the floor with them, I never beat her.
We play games and talk for a couple more hours before Andie and Miklo start to nod off as well. We all say our goodbyes and Miklo, and I take Andie home before going to our own. My mom’s waiting up for me when we get back, and Miklo heads straight to bed.
She’s already in her jammies and under the covers in bed as she pats the space next to her. I get in next to her and snuggle close. I don’t care how old I am; there is nothing like snuggles with your mom. ” You know when you first told me last night that you were with all of them, I was kind of shocked. But more than anything, I was wondering how in hell that would even work? Watching you all today, I have no doubts about their affections for you, and it was all so seamless. No one getting jealous or trying to hog you, it surprised me.”
“They are all really great guys, I don’t know what I did to deserve them.”
“More like what did they do to deserve you, my Mia.” she pats my shoulder. “One of these days, I really hope you see how special you really are. They all see it, and anyone who sees what I do and doesn’t try to change you is okay in my book.”
“I love you, mom.”
“I love you too, baby. Now go on back over to their house, you don’t have to sneak out.” I knew she knew!
I give her another hug and grab a pair of pajamas before doing exactly what she told me, too and head back over to my guys.
∞∞∞
Jesse
I’m stuffed. I think I ate some of everything and went back for seconds, my food coma now keeping me plastered to the couch. I don’t even want to walk up the stairs to my room. Going through movies at random on Netflix, I settle on Fast
and The Furious and relax. A few minutes later, I hear the front door open and look over the couch to see Mia walking in. She has a big blanket wrapped around her and fluffy slippers that she takes off and leaves by the door. “Hey, Beautiful.”
“Oh!” I startled her, and she puts a hand to her chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Well, I sure hope not, that could be messy.” I laugh as she walks over to stand in front of me.
“Eew. That’s just nasty, who in the heck responds like that?”
“Come here.” I grab her hand and pull her down to the couch with me, laying her with her back to my front and wrap my arms around her. She feels so good next to me, and I snuggle in closer to her, placing my lips at her neck and kissing there. Shivers crawl up her body, and I unwrap her from her blanket and put it over the both of us so I can have her closer. The heat of her body seeps into mine, and I can smell her fragrance, she smells different than normal, like cotton candy. “Mmm, you smell good enough to eat.” At that thought, my mind takes me in a whole different direction and what else I’d like to taste and eat. I may be full but never, ever full of her.
She laughs, her body bouncing against me, and I wrap my arms tighter around her. “It’s a cotton candy body spray, Miklo gave me for my birthday. He knows I like the smell but stopped buying, thinking I was too old for it now. He said I’d never be too old.”
“You have an amazing kid Mia, and he’s right. You’re never too old to not have and enjoy the things you love.” Like her. I think I’m in love with her. I’ve never felt the way I do for her before with anyone. It scared me at first. I’ve never let myself get too close to anyone, and I’ve seen what Cade went with Nichoal when she disappeared. I think it still affects him a little, just not like before. I swear I heard him tell her I love you. She’s good for him for all of us. I absently start playing with her hair as we watch the movie, and before long, her breathing calms, and I look over to her to see her eyes closed. She’s out, and I continue to hold her close.
I’m just about to fall asleep right there on the couch with her in my arms when Cade comes down the stairs. I know he’s going to take her, and that’s okay, I got a few amazing moments to myself, and I should probably get to my room anyway. Emma wakes up early, and I have no doubt she’d jump on me wake me up.