“Okay,” Emily breathed, accepting the box from Jen’s outstretched hand with shaking fingers. She glanced at Jack, and he gave her an encouraging smile.
“Go, gorgeous. I’m dying, too.”
When she returned, her family sat around a table, heads lowered, Jack finishing a prayer for health and happiness. Nobody spoke for a long time, and Emily slipped into a seat between Jack and her daughter.
“We’ll know in five minutes,” Emily said, taking a hand on either side. “But it may still be too early to detect a pregnancy.”
“Not with you,” Kimber said. “You knew five seconds after you conceived Jen.”
“And I feel exactly like that now,” Emily said, squeezing Jack’s hand. “You did say you wanted to give Jen a brother or sister, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jack pulled her off her seat and onto his lap, placing a kiss on the side of her neck. He cocooned her in his hold, and pulled Jen’s chair closer with his other hand. “I’ve never had so much good news in such a short amount of time. I can’t believe my good fortune. Thank you, Emily. Thank you. I pray you are pregnant.”
“I wanted to tell you when I was sure,” Emily said, shaking her head at Jen. “But someone doesn’t know what a stealth mission is.”
Laughter erupted and Kimber squeezed Jen’s shoulder. “It’s okay, munchkin. I don’t mind. How many minutes left?”
“Four,” Jack said. “And since we all agree that we belong together—”
“And we’re all stuck with each other for the rest of our lives,” Lawson added.
“Stuck like glue,” Jack confirmed. “We need to arrange a time to meet later this weekend and figure out a way to establish our identities in this era.” Jack looked at Lawson for a response, but it was Kimber who stepped forward.
“No can do, Captain. Lawson and I are heading to Zurich on our honeymoon in the morning.”
Zurich?
“How can it be?” Emily asked, trying hard to follow Kimber’s logic.
“Yeah.” Jen stood, placed her hands on her hips and stared at her aunt. “With what passports?”
“With these.” Kimber produced a manila envelope and pulled out two blue passports. “A very good friend, who owed me and Scott a favor, was able to arrange for the men’s identification. It’s all legit.”
Emily knew the friend well. Her brother’s best friend from childhood. He’d been like a part of the family for so long. “Jason?”
Kimber nodded.
“Uncle Jase?” Jen asked.
“Yes. Jason verified the outlandish tale these men have fed us and was able to obtain legal passports for them.” Kimber then turned to address the men, the agent in her evident in her tone. “You must be aware, Jason said nothing will come to light as of now, but he makes no promises for the future. For the moment, you are free and legitimate Americans to live your lives. Each of you has been issued a new age appropriate social security number and a new passport. Gentlemen, welcome home.”
Emily brought Jack’s hand to her heart and kissed his cheek as he accepted the identification. “My brother would love you.”
“I think he’s looking out for us,” Kimber said, glancing out the window. “Like he had a hand in the serendipity of this moment.”
“We all ended up together,” Lawson said. “We couldn’t want for more.”
“There’s more.” Jack disagreed. “Let’s remain seated while we wait for our guest of honor. I’ll try to explain.”
They sat around the table, backs straight and at attention waiting for Jack to fill them in on the remainder of the situation. He looked at Emily, and she nodded for him to begin.
“We’ve been trained to believe in absolute facts and science. But this mission has taught me about greater forces than those within our control—fate and luck.”
Lawson and Kimber exchanged bewildered looks and shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
Jack tapped his finger on the table. “Lawson, three of us boarded the plane in 1944, but only two of us swam out to the beach in 2015.”
The door chimed. Betty and Pops walked in, arm in arm.
“Pops.” Jen ran up to her great grandfather and gave the old man a big kiss. “Happy Birthday.”
Pops hugged and kissed Jen, then Kimber. “Nice to see you here, miss.” He then turned to the rest of the table. “Good evening, gentlemen.”
Lawson stared at Jones. “Good evening, Mr—”
“Jones,” Jack added.
Silence.
“John Kelsey Jones reporting for duty, sir.” Pops chuckled. “Or you can call me John Mitchell.”
Lawson looked as if he’d seen a ghost and had gone a shade paler than before.
“Grey, wish Jones a happy birthday,” Jack said in a calm voice.
“You’re shitting me, right?” Lawson stared at Jack.
“Nope,” Emily said. “I bought Pops’ Lucky Charm watch from the sale. I guess it found its way to us so that we could all find each other.”
After the greetings and the mutual exchanges of wonder had settled, Jen checked her phone. “Mom, it’s time.”
Kimber jumped from her seat, but Emily caught her hand and shook her head. “Not yet. Let Jen get it.”
Jen clapped her hands together, kicked her feet ahead of her and rocked up from her chair. “On it.”
“And hurry, Jen.” Emily smiled at her family, taking Jack’s hand in hers. “From the way my grandfather looks like he’s about to burst, I believe Pops has something to tell us.”
“After all we’ve been through,” Lawson said, “I can believe just about anything. We traveled decades, ended up together, and in the same family.” He rested his arm over the back of Kimber’s chair and motioned for her to take her seat. “I’d say, we’re all pretty lucky.”
“To say the least,” Pops added. “I have two announcements to make before the party guests arrive. First, I’m considering setting up a private investigating firm in the Keys. Know any good men that might be interested?”
Pops didn’t pause long enough for an answer. They all knew two perfect men for the job—well, after Jen got finished with tutoring them on the Internet. Pops was obviously anxious to relay the second part of his announcements.
Emily leaned forward and pulled Jack’s hand tighter in her lap. She could handle anything now, especially news that could put such a smile on Pops’ face.
“I’m selling my place in Largo and moving to Marathon. I put in an offer on a cottage on the bayside.” Pops looked around then took Betty’s hand in his. “Betty has agreed to be my wife.”
Joy and laughter erupted around the table. Jen walked over to her great-grandfather and threw her hands around his shoulders. “I knew you’d manage to land the best lady, Pops.”
“I sure did. They don’t call me lucky for nothing.”
Betty blushed. “I think I’m the lucky one this time.”
Someone clinked a spoon on a plate, and they all raised their glasses for a toast as a single unit.
“To luck.”
“And love.”
“And a new baby brother or sister.”
“Happy Birthday!”
About the Authors
Born in Athens, Greece and raised in the States, Aleka Nakis has straddled the Atlantic and has had a foot on each continent for many years. An avid reader from a very young age, she always carries a fully loaded e-book reader in her bag. She loves to travel and does so with every excuse available to her. Blending her life passions of storytelling, travel, and exotic cultures, Aleka aims to transport her readers into the magical world of romance.
When Tia Fanning is not lost somewhere in the erotic world of fantasy and romance, she is residing in the Midwest with her husband, Warren, and two dogs, Drew and Jack. Find out more about Tia and her books at www.StiffRainPress.com and www.ResplendencePublishing.com.
Want to read more from Demi Alex and Tia Fanning?
Dante’s Deal by Aleka Nakis
Two months
before her twenty-third birthday, Sapphyra Morelli pumps herself up with confidence and corporate bravado and storms into her husband’s conference room a changed woman. In spite of all her preparations, pride blinds her to the truth about the relationship she shares with Dante Morelli, and she cannot recognize that the life she craves is already her own.
Dante headquarters his business in the shady alleys of Naples, lives in the picturesque seaside of Positano, and keeps his wife on the busy avenues of New York City. Sapphyra is the young wife who he has been responsible for and whom he’s held at arm’s length, waiting for her to mature into a woman who knows her own mind and heart.
As obligated by the contract, Dante accepts her in the boardroom as an equal. Battling between the carnal need for his wife and the promise he’d made to her dying father to take care of her like he would his own sister, he decides he’s entitled to Sapphy—at least for the two months remaining in their marriage contract. Because of his insistence that Sapphy stand beside him as his wife, the plan to be a real business partner expands to winning her husband’s heart and body.
Hottie by Tia Fanning and Demi Alex
Homeless and heartbroken, Phoebe Morris is having a rough day. The old Cadillac she purchased with the last of her money, a vehicle meant to get her two states over to start her new life, is on the fritz and stalling in the sweltering heat. With no cash to pay for the costly repairs, Phoebe would sooner take her chances and keep on driving than become a charity case for the hottie mechanic trying to keep her safe.
A retired Navy SEAL, Dane West refuses to let the weary submissive that’s putt-putted her way into his life leave his garage in that deathtrap she calls a car. It’s too hot and too dangerous for the stubborn beauty to be stranded on the side of a desolate highway, and he’ll be damned if another woman in his care gets hurt by his failure to act. When a small tug on an engine cable ensures her stay — at least temporarily, Dane shows the lovely Miss Morris just how good a little TLC (and BDSM) can feel.
Orianna and the Three Werebears by Tia Fanning
Oriana Ricci has taken over the family business—flying cargo and rich tourists around the barely inhabited Kodiak Archipelago. When her plane malfunctions and she’s forced to make an emergency landing, she finds herself stranded in the middle of a National Wildlife Refuge. With no civilization for miles and no hope of rescue, she thinks all is lost…
Until she stumbles upon the entrance to an underground bunker.
Jack, Jordan, and Jonathan McMathan own and operate a secret security firm contracted by the US Government. Hidden away in an old Cold War spy station located the middle of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, the brothers are not only able to do their top secret jobs safely without fear of discovery, but are better to protect their other, more personal secret: They have the ability to shift into Kodiak bears.
Like a fairy tale gone bad, the brothers return home to find their lunch tasted—or eaten, their computer chairs adjusted—or broken, and a beautiful blond sleeping in one of their beds. This situation poses a big problem for the brothers…
Their location is now compromised, but more importantly, what are they to do with the lady?
Also Available from Resplendence Publishing
Darkest Night by Kris Norris
Time is running out…
McKinley Baker’s job is simple—fly her client to the remote research station an hour north of here on the edge of the Arctic Circle before the lack of available daylight and extreme weather conditions isolate the facility for the foreseeable future. Just her luck, the guy's late.
One day of complete darkness…
|Beckett Foster hadn't planned on running into McKinley when he’d agreed to take the job. But he has to admit—the possibility of getting trapped at the station with the woman he’s been crazy about since the day they met, just made the Arctic conditions a little less harsh. And if he has to share his body heat to help keep her warm, he’s willing to man up.
There’s no escape…
But the fire sizzling between them in the cockpit might not be enough to keep them alive when an unexpected encounter turns deadly. And if the sub-zero temperatures don't kill them, their new enemy just might as the sun finally sets on this year's darkest night.
Just the Messenger by Ninnette Swann
When Graciela Merced fumbles a package she’s delivering for her mysterious and sexy boss, Gene Hardy, she finds out he’s more than just a wealthy photographer. Prepared to lose her job, she confronts him…and ends up embroiled in the tricky takedown of a powerful drug cartel pushing cocaine into the heart of New York City.
Marco Valencia is an undercover agent, working against time—and against Gene Hardy—to crack Angel’s Drug Cartel before the story makes it to the press. When Hardy’s luscious Venezuelan messenger literally falls at his feet, he has no idea just how well he’ll get to know the beauty or how difficult it will be to drop her.
Hardened by experience, Gene Hardy takes his undercover work seriously and charges a hefty price. When Grace makes a careless mistake and hurls him back into the path of Marco Valencia, he must either fire her or involve her in a twisted plot that could kill them all.
As the two men battle over their feelings for Graciela—and their attraction to each other—one thing becomes perfectly clear.
Grace is much more than just the messenger.
An American Submissive in Britain by Laney Rogers
Gina Ramsey is on her way to England to claim an inheritance from a dad she never knew. When she meets Guy Anderson, the British solicitor who is in charge of her deceased father’s estate, all her preconceived ideas about British men are blown right out of the water.
Guy Anderson has decided that a personal, long-term relationship is just not on the agenda. But when he meets Gina, the funny, brave and down to earth girl whose estate he is handling, he is surprised by the instant attraction he feels.
With only a couple of weeks until Gina returns to the United States, the two of them embark on a journey of dominance and submission where the only rule is not to fall in love.
Witches of Three: Philomena by Temple Hogan
Witches of Three Series, Book One
Philomena, or Phil as she’s known to most, is the oldest of three sisters who just happen to be witches. Phil is the one who always attracts the worst sort of man until the day Beck Crawford walks up on her porch. To say Phil had the hots for him was like saying Old Faithful let off steam occasionally. She was sorely tempted to use her witchy powers to get him into her bed, but that wouldn’t have been fair, would it?
At any rate, the problem is solved much to her satisfaction and now the only thing Phil has to worry about is proving Beck didn’t kill his wife.
Waking the Beast by Lacey Thorn
Awakening Pride Series, Book One
The legend of the Paka Watu...
Ever since she was a young girl, Abby Lane can’t resist the allure of a catshifter tribe forced to repress their beasts. On a trip to Africa, she discovers a coveted piece of information—the name the pride leader assumed when he left his home—and she traces his lineage to his descendent.
The sleeping lion...
Utah Pearce can’t keep his gaze off the woman who slips into the bar every night. Though not his usual type, she brings out the possessive instinct in him, making him battle with himself as he tries to stay away.
Mine...
Abby’s research never prepared her for the reality in front of her. The beast is waking, and Utah is changing in ways both exciting and terrifying. He is possessive and dominant, and when he finally claims her, neither of them will ever be the same.
After Dark by Kris Norris
Between the Veils Series, Book One
Temperance Dunnigan can’t believe she’s agreed to travel to New Orleans to be part of Avery Smith’s special ghost hunting squad—and in the midst of Mardi Gras no less. There isn’t a sane reason to be there…other than Avery. Though she considers
him a spoiled, rich kid, his money is her ticket to finally getting some concrete evidence to lay the eternal question of spirits to rest.
Avery didn’t think twice about inviting one of the foremost paranormal investigators to his retreat. After all, Temperance is smart, daring and totally not his type. He’s more than aware of her feelings toward him and embraces the chance to work with someone he has absolutely no interest in…that is until she becomes entrenched in a deadly summoning. Saving her life wasn’t part of the plan, and now he can’t stop his heart from racing every time she looks at him. They’ve got one week to figure it out before all hell breaks loose, and Avery loses more than just his reputation.
Secrets and Spells by Jessica Jarman
Northern Circle Series, Book One
Anxious for a change and wanting to learn more about her late mother and where she came from, Thalia Wells accepts a job in the small town of Parrish. As she settles into her new life, she begins to notice unsettling oddities about her new home.
Gray is used to secrets. Being a witch and living in a town of people with magical abilities means living with secrets. But keeping Thalia in the dark kills him especially when it brings her pain.
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