Commander in Chief

by J. A. Armstrong

  Candace covered her eyes.

  “Yeah?” Cooper said.

  “That’s Santa’s invention. He’s got a super big one.”

  “Okay, I think we can all rest now,” Candace said. She needed to end the conversation before she lost all hope of controlling herself. She was sure once she started laughing, she’d never stop. She leaned over and kissed Cooper, then Spencer. “Goodnight.”

  “Night, Nana.”

  “I love you,” Cooper said.

  “I love you too,” Candace promised.

  “Night,” Jameson said.

  “Jay Jay?” Spencer called after her.

  “Yeah, Spence?”

  “Maybe we can leave Nana’s eraser. Just in case,” Spencer suggested.

  Candace had to turn away.

  Jameson felt Candace’s body shake with laughter. “I’ll find it,” she said.

  “Put it with his cookie!” Cooper called out.

  Jameson nodded as Candace pulled her through the door.

  “What’s so funny?” Jameson asked.

  Candace couldn’t speak. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d laughed this hard.

  “What?” Jameson said. “I had to think of something.”

  Candace wrapped her arms around Jameson’s neck and kissed her deeply.

  “Mm… I didn’t know how much you loved those eraser things.”

  “Stop it.” Candace laughed some more. “I love you, you lunatic.”

  “Yeah? Enough to help me put that crazy train set together that you bought Coop?”

  “Enough to get you beers while you do it.”

  Jameson kissed Candace gently. “Sounds like the perfect partnership.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  ***

  Jameson let her head fall back against the sofa and closed her eyes. She’d finished Cooper’s train in record time and opted to sit on the floor against the sofa. Candace had taken up residence between Jameson’s legs. Jameson enjoyed the warmth of Candace’s body pressed against hers. Her hands met in front of Candace’s stomach and she sighed.

  “Tired?” Candace asked.

  “Relaxed.”

  Marianne walked into the room and smiled. “Did all those cookies you ate give you a sugar coma?”

  “I love your mom’s cookies,” Jameson said.

  “There’s tomorrow’s headline,” Michelle said.

  “Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Jameson asked.

  “No. Might be past yours, though. Don’t you get a bedtime again after forty?” Michelle teased.

  Marianne glared at her sister.

  “What? You never said I couldn’t give her shit about her age,” Michelle said.

  Jameson opened one eye. Oh, boy.

  Marianne made no reply.

  “Actually, I’m pretty tired,” Melanie offered.

  “You want to go to bed now?” Michelle asked her wife. “Before we get to watch Scott muddle through the directions for that castle he bought Maddie?”

  “Unless it has a bed that fits my fat ass, I’m going upstairs,” Melanie said.

  “You’re not fat, babe,” Michelle’s eyes sparkled. “Not yet, anyway.”

  Jameson opened both eyes. No way.

  “Shell?” Marianne asked.

  “Yeah, well… See, here’s the thing. We thought it would take, you know, a while…. Like maybe a year or so, if it worked… So, we thought if we wanted the kids to be two years apart, we should start,” Michelle started to explain. “Didn’t expect first-time to be the charm. Guess they’ll be more like a year apart instead.”

  Candace pulled herself from Jameson’s grip and embraced Michelle, then Melanie. “You must be over the moon,” she said to her daughter-in-law.

  “More like terrified,” Melanie confessed.

  Candace smiled compassionately. “I’m sure all will be well.”

  “I hope so,” Melanie said.

  Michelle took her wife’s hand. “It will be. At least, you don’t have to deliver two.”

  “There is that,” Melanie agreed.

  Jameson followed Candace’s lead and hugged Michelle and Melanie. “Congratulations,” she said. “I know how much you hoped this would happen,” she told Melanie.

  “Thanks, JD.”

  Jameson nodded. She felt Candace’s hand slips into hers and give a tender squeeze.

  Marianne watched the scene unfold with interest. She wasn’t surprised by Michelle and Melanie’s news. She expected that any baby news from Michelle would occur in a more distant future.

  “Well, this is it for us,” Michelle said. “Three’s company.”

  “And, four’s a crowd?” Jameson asked.

  Marianne looked at Jameson. Cooper made four in their family.

  Michelle shrugged. “I take it back. Maybe when I get to your age, we’ll add another.”

  “What?” Melanie asked.

  “Sure. Space them out like Mom and JD. Why not? This bunch will be in school. Round two?”

  Melanie shook her head. “I wish I could ask for a drink.”

  Candace laughed. “How many months of sobriety do you have left to endure?”

  Melanie grinned. “About seven.”

  “Umm… More than seven,” Michelle said. “You’re not pumping IPA.”

  “I’m not pumping at all,” Melanie said. “That’s your obsession.”

  Michelle grumbled. “We’ll see.”

  Melanie rolled her eyes. “Since I can’t drink, I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

  “Night, Mel,” Marianne said.

  Jameson caught Melanie by the arm. “Hey…”

  Melanie smiled.

  “I’m happy for you, Mel,” Jameson said.

  “Thanks, JD. I’ll feel better about it in another month or so.”

  Jameson nodded.

  “Guess that’s my cue,” Michelle said. “Wait up, Preggers.”

  Candace rolled her eyes. “Does she ever stop?”

  “No,” Marianne offered.

  Scott chose that moment to descend the stairs.

  “Where did you go?” Jameson asked. “Lose the instructions or something?”

  “Or something,” he said.

  Jameson was curious. What is he up to?

  “Are you ready to head up?” Candace asked Jameson.

  “Whenever you are.”

  “I am.”

  “Guess that leaves you two crazy kids,” Jameson said. “We’ll see you in the morning.” She took Candace’s hand and started toward the stairs. “Oh, wait!”

  “What?” Candace startled a bit.

  Jameson held up a finger and jogged out of the room.

  “What is that about?” Marianne asked.

  “I have no idea,” Candace confessed.

  Jameson jogged back into the room and held up the eraser pen Candace’s carried in case of mishaps. She placed it next to the plate of cookies on the mantle.

  “I’m not going to ask,” Marianne commented.

  Candace grinned and held out her hand for Jameson. “Goodnight,” she said. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Night Mom. Night JD,” Marianne replied.

  “Don’t drink all my beer,” Jameson told Scott.

  Scott looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Me? No worries, JD.”

  He is up to something. Jameson nodded and let Candace lead her away.

  Candace looked at Jameson curiously when they reached the top of the stairs. “Are you okay?”

  “Me? Yeah, why?”

  “Just making sure.”

  “Did you think Scott was acting weird?” Jameson asked.

  “Weird? No.”

  Jameson shook her head. “He’s up to something.”

  “Maybe he’s just eager to have a little time alone with Marianne.”

  “It’s something else,” Jameson surmised.

  Candace tugged on Jameson’s hand. “I don’t want to talk about the kids—any of them.”

  “No?”


  “No.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  Candace smirked. “I thought you could show me some of your elf tricks.”

  Jameson wiggled her eyebrows. “Looking for a little magic, Mrs. Reid?”

  Candace pulled Jameson into their bedroom and shut the door.

  “Anything in particular you’d like to see?”

  Candace cupped Jameson’s breast in her palm and placed her lips a whisper from Jameson’s. “I hear elves can close their eyes and transport anywhere.”

  “Mmm.”

  “How does that work?”

  Jameson’s hand found the back of Candace’s neck. “I’ll show you.”

  Candace accepted Jameson’s kiss gratefully. Definitely magic.

  ***

  Marianne watched as Scott shifted nervously in his chair. “What is wrong with you?” She giggled.

  “Nothing; why?”

  “You’re squirming like Maddie does when she has to pee.”

  “I’m not squirming.”

  Marianne arched an eyebrow exactly as her mother did when she issued a gentle challenge.

  Scott scratched his brow. “Can you come over here?”

  Marianne’s gaze narrowed. “I’m right here.”

  “Yeah, but can you come over here?”

  Marianne shrugged and crossed the room. “I think maybe you and JD ate too many cookies.”

  Scott took a deep breath for courage and dropped to his knee.

  Marianne’s jaw dropped.

  “I’ve never done this, so I hope I do it right,” he said. He took another breath and met Marianne’s watery gaze. “I know that I can never replace what you lost. And, before you stop me; I think that’s important for me to say. I love you, Marianne. I love being with you. I love sleeping beside you. I love Spencer and Maddie. I love what we have together. I don’t want to wake up without you beside me anymore. I want to be the one to take Spencer to soccer and I want to be the one to sit with Maddie when she’s not feeling well. I want to be the person you fall asleep beside every night. I want to spend my life with you and with your family. So...” Scott steadied his breathing and opened the box in his hand. “Will you marry me, Marianne?”

  Marianne dropped to her knees in front of Scott and took his face in her hands. “Yes, I will,” she said, and kissed him tenderly.

  “Thank God.”

  Marianne laughed. “You don’t need to replace anything or anyone,” she said. “I love you for you. Don’t forget that.”

  He nodded.

  “And, Scott?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You are my family.”

  Scott pulled Marianne close and kissed her again. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas, honey.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “I can’t believe Mel is pregnant,” Jonah said.

  Jameson smiled.

  “Holy shit! Is that why you and Mom want to talk to us? Are you two…”

  “No,” Candace put the thought to rest and held Jameson’s hand.

  “Oh.” Jonah’s voice dripped with disappointment.

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” Jameson said.

  “Nah. I just thought maybe… Never mind. What did you want to talk to us about?”

  “How much more thought have you put in to opening an office in DC?” Jameson asked.

  “Some. I don’t know, JD. It’d make sense. The thing is; I thought Shell would jump at moving. With Mel expecting, I don’t see that happening now. Bryan is great as a negotiator, but as an architect… I just don’t know who we would place there to oversee things.”

  “What about you?” Jameson suggested.

  “Me?”

  “Why not you?” Jameson asked.

  “I’m not an architect.”

  “No, but you understand the concepts as an engineer and you know how to select talent.”

  “JD?” Laura looked at Candace and Jameson. “We’d have to find someplace to live and…”

  Candace held up a hand. “We thought you might be interested in taking over the townhouse.”

  “Your townhouse?” Jonah asked.

  “Well, it would be your townhouse if you wanted,” Jameson said.

  “JD, you and Mom have already helped us too much.”

  “You can’t help your kids too much,” Jameson said.

  Candace smiled and let Jameson continue.

  “Listen, you and Mel are in charge at the firm. It’s yours to run. I’ve noticed all the travel you’ve had this year. One of you is always on the road, and most of the time you are in Maryland, Delaware, DC, or Virginia. An office makes sense.” She sighed. “And, to be honest, I’d like it if you were closer to us.”

  Jonah grinned. He missed his mother and Jameson. Laura missed Candace. He knew that too. “I can’t accept a freebie.”

  “No freebies. You rent the townhome. If you want to buy it, whatever you pay in rent will be your down payment,” Jameson said.

  Candace looked at Laura. “I thought you might consider helping with some social outreach projects I have planned.”

  “Me?” Laura was surprised.

  “Why not you?” Candace asked.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Well, you don’t have to decide today. Jameson and I would love it if you accepted. We’ll understand if you don’t.”

  Jonah looked at Laura and immediately knew the answer. “We don’t need to think about it.”

  “Which means?” Jameson asked.

  “I could use your help, JD. Hiring staff, I mean. I know you can’t insert yourself. If you could review the applicants or…”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  “Good, then that’s settled,” Candace said.

  “Mom?” Jonah called for Candace’s attention.

  “Hum?”

  “There’s something that I wanted to talk to you about too.”

  “We’re listening,” Candace said.

  Jonah took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to say anything at all, okay? Just listen before you say anything.”

  Candace and Jameson both nodded.

  “Okay… We’ve been talking. I know… Well, I know that you and JD don’t want kids—I mean besides us and Coop.”

  Candace’s brow furrowed. Where is this going?

  “And, I get that. I just… Well, Coop said something the other day when you got home and…”

  “What did Cooper say?” Jameson asked.

  “Just that he heard you crying in the kitchen with Grandma.”

  Candace felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. She had no idea that Jameson was hurting that much.

  “Crying?” Jameson asked.

  “He said he heard you say something about never having kids with Mom.”

  Jameson groaned. “I wasn’t crying,” she explained. She looked at Candace. “I wasn’t. I was sneezing.” She laughed. “I swear.”

  Candace let out a sigh of relief.

  “I was talking to Pearl,” she explained. “Before she left to visit Jeffrey. Was Cooper upset?”

  “No, I don’t think so. He heard Grandma tell you that you still had time for babies.”

  Jameson massaged her brow. This conversation made her uncomfortable. She’d never intended to tell anyone about her feelings. All of a sudden, the entire world seemed to know? It left her feeling vulnerable and embarrassed. “We were just talking,” she said.

  Jonah nodded. “Yeah… Well, listen... As weird as this might sound; if you did—if you and Mom wanted to; I would be happy to try and help.”

  Jameson’s jaw dropped. “Jonah…”

  “Hey, I’m not offering anything old-fashioned.”

  Candace couldn’t help herself. She laughed. She was shocked by the turn their conversation had taken, and the look on Jameson’s face relieved her tension.

  “Okay. I have had enough baby talk,” Jameson said.

  “JD,” Jonah grew serious again. “I mean it. I get it. You don’t
want to talk to us about it. And, I get that you’ll probably never ask. I just want you to know that you can.”

  Jameson forced herself not to cry. “Thanks.”

  Jonah found his feet and took Laura’s hand. “Do you care if I raid your beer?”

  Jameson shook her head.

  Candace waited for her son and daughter-in-law to leave. “Are you okay?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  “He loves you, Jameson.”

  “Yeah…”

  “Jameson.” Candace turned Jameson to face her. “Maybe we should talk about this subject a little more.”

  “What subject?”

  “You talked to Pearl.”

  “I made a comment in passing and Pearl lectured me.”

  “And, you talked to Cassidy.”

  “It came up in context, Candace.”

  Candace nodded. “I didn’t say we should have a baby, Jameson. I said that maybe we need to talk about how you feel about it more.”

  “I don’t know how I feel about it. I know how you feel about it. And, I don’t have time to figure it all out.”

  “You know how I feel about it?” Candace asked.

  “I think so.”

  Candace shook her head. “Jameson, the idea of babies scares the hell out of me. I’m almost sixty-two. That is not an age people generally start families. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of what I’m about to walk into.”

  “I told you; this is my issue to stare down. I don’t know why it’s even on my mind so much. I told you that.”

  “But it is,” Candace said. “For the record? There is a big part of me that wishes you would tell me you want that.”

  Jameson sat shell-shocked.

  Candace grinned. “I love you. I love raising Cooper with you. Don’t you think I wonder about it too? We’ve been through this, honey. I was thrilled for Shell last night. I felt that little tug too, the one that reminds me how much I wish we had shared that—all of it.”

  Jameson let her head fall onto Candace’s shoulder. “I never expected to feel like this.”

  “I know. It’s okay.”

  “You said something to Shell; didn’t you?”

  “No. I just told her to lay off on her teasing.”

  Jameson sighed. “I don’t want people walking on eggshells with me.”

  Candace placed a kiss on Jameson’s cheek. “I have something for you.”

  “What? We already exchanged gifts.”