119: Welcome Home
Easton
“You haven’t told me where we are going?” She says sleepily as we wake up on the plane. Dad booked a private jet as another gift for us so we could leave once the reception was over. It
had been late, with Cole and Barrett both sleeping in chairs.
“How badly do you want to know, Mrs. Reed?” I tilt my head and watch the delighted smile spread across her face.
“I like that.” She whispers.
“Me too. Make you a deal, you tell me where the hell that lingerie under your dress came from
and I’ll tell you where we are going.” Wherever she ordered that is about to get a very large
order.
“It was the store next door to the bridal boutique. Catalina took us there.”
“No wonder why Vince has three kids already.” I run my fingers through her hair. “We are going
to Turtle Island, Fiji.”
Her eyes light up. “We are? That place with the really white beaches and the horses that run
on the sand?”
I chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Yes. We have a private villa right off the water. I’ll take you
snorkeling and we can go horseback riding too.” She caught me looking at pictures of it not
too long ago and I blew it off as just an ad that popped up.
“Really?! Easton that’s…a lot.”
“Hey, look at me.” I grip her chin gently. “Not for you. Sweetness, you’ve been on two vacations
your entire life. You’re only getting married once. Should be more than memorable.” Family
vacations are not a reality for a lot of foster children. The things you take for granted having a
family even if it falls apart later. I learned Janet took them on two vacations, but considering
you had to get permission from the caseworker for each child you foster, it had derailed a few
of her plans. One year, one of the parents raised a fuss about her taking their child out of state
and they had to cancel last minute. I vowed that we’ll take Cole on at least one family
vacation a year, even if it’s only an hour away from home for some reason. We’re taking him to Yellowstone National Park when we return. I wanted to do Disney so he could see the Star Wars theme park but Luci pointed out it will be sweltering and packed. Instead we’re making plans to take him and Barrett over Christmas break. I already plan to take them to Hawaii next
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spring break to see whales and a volcano. He was intrigued when I was looking at honeymoon
destinations. “We have another few hours before we land. Time to talk about a few serious
things.”
I prop myself on my elbow to face her more. “I know Harriet Albers sent you a letter that she’s out of jail. The woman who hit her parents. And she had to send the damn thing the same week as her graduation and our wedding further overwhelming Luci’s brain.
“Yes. I didn’t respond.” Her eyes dart to my chest and she traces her flowers there. “I think I want to send her a note and tell her I forgive her, but I’m not ready to talk to her. I may never be and she should know that. I do want her to know that I don’t hold her past troubles against
her.”
“You never have to see her, Luci. That’s your decision to make.” And Miss Albers will abide by her decision or I’ll get involved.
“I know. What did you do to Umbrella Ambra?”
I grin at the name. “She’ll be finding a new line of work or she’ll be changing countries to find a modeling contract. Hers was canceled and she seems to have lost all her social media influencer work. Totally blacklisted by all those things too. As for the reporter, she lost her job too. Reporting slander can lead to lawsuits and I warned her she might not be able to afford
being tied up in court for years before losing.”
“Fiery flurry.” She teases lightly. “You don’t have to do those things. I can ignore them.”
“If they are brainless enough to insult you after I warned them once, they deserve whatever they get. My family is off limits for stupid s**t like that. You are the sweetest person and should never ever be talked about like that. Now, next thing is the dipshit duo sentencing. Maxton got
five years at his trial, but Marshall gets out in a few weeks. He convinced them he knew nothing about the kidnapping. Vivienne got fifteen years which will have to do. Marshall was… warned that any contact with you will result in possibly a late night visit by some men who like to drag people behind motorcycles down bumpy gravel roads. The first few weeks he’s out, I want you and Cole to have Marco or Vince following you around.”
She simply nods. I know she’ll never put Cole’s safety at risk.
“Last big thing.” I reach over for my phone. “Since she signed all of her rights away, you can adopt Cole. The court will notify her and she can contest it. We’ll deal with that if it happens. You don’t have to do this, but I want you to have the option. You’re his mom no matter whether
you do this or not.”
“I want to adopt him.” Her answer is swift. “I want him to know that I am really and truly his
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119: Welcome Home
mom in every way I can be. To give him that stability.” I know she understands needing that.
“Sweetness, you’re sure you are good with us just relying on your birth control now that we are married?” I had not used anything last night, but I need to make sure. Nothing is one hundred percent.
“More than ok with it. And I may not want to wait as long to have kids. Not right this minute but maybe in a few months….” She adds. “Unless you aren’t ok with that.”
“If you get pregnant tomorrow, I’ll be thrilled. Not all about me though. I want to be there for
every single minute of your pregnancy too. Every little thing that I missed….” I trail off.
Her hands frame my face gently. “You will be. I’ll make sure I wake you every time I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.” She teases.
“Won’t complain. When our kids are older, if you want us to be foster parents, we can Luci. I would rather us wait until I’m not playing hockey and gone sometimes to be able to help you
more. Give Cole time to recover from Lorelei too.” We started him out in therapy with Tamara
once a month to deal with the fallout from what he learned over Lorelei. Considering what he
asked Luci about being like her, I want to make sure he’s fully grounded and knows he’s
perfect as is. In the meantime, I intend to see what we can do with the foundation that she
doesn’t know about yet. And Luci is still working through some things with Tamara. My girl
needs to be fully healed herself before we take on anyone else’s trauma. Like she reminded
me, you do what you can with what you can handle.
“You really sell yourself short, you know that. You’re pretty damn great.” Her voice breaks a
little. “I love you and your big heart that you try to hide.”
“Nope. I feed off of your greatness and I’m imitating you.” I tell her.
We land and take a small seaplane to Turtle Island. Her excitement is contagious. Once they
take us to Vonu Point Villa, she wanders all around smiling. Our Bure Mama leaves us after
making sure everything is to our satisfaction. “Easton, there’s a jacuzzi in the floor and a bed
outside too.”
“Yes. I thought we’d sleep out there if the weather is nice a few nights. Make love to you under
the stars and listen to the waves when the sun rises. It’s secluded and private here. Tomorrow
night, they have dinner out on the water with floating tables and candles. The romance rascals
would be so proud of me.”
She laughs. “I’ll tell them you learned from the best.”
Logan Olmos
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119: Welcome Home
“Honey, did you order a bunch of baby stuff?” I ask Isabelle over the phone.
“No. Probably dropped the wrong package off. I need to go. Love you.”
“Love you
you too.” I stare down at the four boxes of baby clothes, toys and books. Two boxes worth of books as a matter of fact. I check the label and see Isabelle’s name clear as day. All boy stuff too. As I sit, I hear a truck driving up. Banning is here and right behind him is the delivery truck. I watch the guy step out with two more huge boxes. Banning takes them and hauls them inside.
“Hey Dad. Deliveries for Mom.”
I immediately open them and find Star Wars stuffed animals and a onesie on the top that says “The Force that Awakens You.”
Banning laughs as he sees it. “Who is that for?”
“Not sure. Your mother has gotten six boxes now that are addressed to her with baby stuff. Lots of baby books. All boy stuff.” I tell him.
He freezes. “Dad…..do you still have Alexa in the living room? Is it password protected ordering?”
“Yeah, we use her to reorder our things and no, it’s not password…..oh those little rascals. Barrett and Cole. They were here a few days ago and playing very quietly in there. Laughing a lot. They asked me what baby fever means before the wedding.” I stare at Banning as I begin to laugh.
He shakes his head. “Those two little rascals. They want baby brothers something fierce.”
“Do we deliver this to Luci and Easton?” I ask him as my shoulders shake.
“Oh yeah. Syd can take it and leave it for them. Though I really want to see their faces. I’ll tell her to record it or maybe we do it at the group dinner in two nights when they get back. I can’t think of a better welcome home gift.” He grins wickedly.
”
Ivory Row
Tying up our last few loose ends. Two maybe three more chapters to go including the epilogue. Anything I missed??. The others get their own books so they come later. Also I put pics up of this on my facey book. Ivory Row Writes
