“Zeke!” she cried out as she shattered in his arms. He managed three more thrusts before he joined her, reveling in how she gave herself over to him.
As he held her close while they caught their breath, he kissed her forehead, saying, “I love you, my sweet Cherub.”
“Love you too, Zeke,” she replied, sounding sleepy now that she was sated.
He chuckled lightly and without letting her out of his grasp, pulled the covers up and over them both, saying, “Let’s nap for a bit, yeah? Been a busy few days and I need you rested.”
“Mmmhmm, sounds good.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Once again, he scooped her up and carried her across the threshold, something she had given up telling him he didn’t need to do because he enjoyed it so much, and as he set her back down, she looked around in amazement. She knew the prospects were going to move them and Zeke had mentioned they were taking care of that while they were gone, but she figured she would be puttering and putting things away when they got home. To walk in and find it all done? Priceless and yet another reason she loved this crazy family.
“Where are the girls and Thad?” she asked.
“Not here, at least not until I call Dex,” he replied. “We’ve got a little time, Cherub, so let’s go christen our new bed, yeah?”
She shook her head at him, but followed along willingly. He was insatiable and she was finding that where he was concerned? So was she.
***
She woke slowly to giggles. Opening her eyes, she saw her sweet girls laying on the bed next to her, a grinning Zeke propped against the headboard. “Hey my sweet girls,” she said, her voice raspy.
“Momma!” Cailyn cried, “We missed you!”
“Mmm, I missed you girls as well. Were you good for Uncle Dex and Aunt Renda?”
“Yes. We helped move, Momma,” Melora replied.
“You did?” she asked, sitting up.
“We did, Aunt Renda brought our toys over and we put them away!”
“I’m glad you two helped. Do you want to show me?”
The two little girls got off the bed and as she was attempting to, she felt him lean into her for a kiss. “You okay, Cherub? You sound a little hoarse.”
She looked at him and noted the smug look on his face. “Hmm, don’t know why I would be hoarse, handsome.”
He chuckled as he got off the bed to help her up. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he followed the two little girls while she went to the bathroom. Once in the girls’ room, she praised them for the good job they did by not only unpacking their things, but keeping them picked up when they weren’t playing. “Girls? When Thad gets home, we’re going to go pick up Jonas and do some shopping.”
“Can we have a snack?”
Laughing, she led them into the kitchen and made them a snack. Sitting at the kitchen table, she started a list of things they would need while out shopping. “Zeke? It’s a good thing we’ve got the Suburban.”
He glanced down at her list and started laughing. “Cherub? You want to find a Christmas tree too?”
“Yeah. While I love live trees, I can’t exactly get under it to keep it watered, so I want to get a pre-lit one. And we’ll need ornaments and stuff too. Maybe we should do shopping for Jonas first and then eat and then go get a tree?”
He opened Google on his phone and typed in pre-lit trees. Finding several at a local store, he asked her which one she liked best and when she decided, he called a prospect to the house and sent him to get the tree. “There, Cherub. Now we can shop for Jonas and ornaments, but I’m still taking us all out to eat tonight, yeah?”
“Yeah, Zeke. That works for me. Do you want to go over the reports and stuff tomorrow?”
“That’s soon enough, Cherub. Everything’s in good shape and we have a house full of kids to get in order, yeah?”
She laughed. Another dream realized and he was giving it to her once again. A houseful of kids. She was still laughing when Thad came in from school. “Hey Dad, hey Angel. Why are you laughing?”
“Hey yourself. I’m laughing because your dad is fulfilling dreams again.”
“What dreams, Cherub?”
Looking at him, she smiled softly and said, “Kids, Zeke. We’re going to have a house full of them, something I never dreamed would be possible.”
He leaned down and kissed her before whispering, “Love you Cherub and any dream that’s within my power to make happen, I’ll do it.”
Thad rolled his eyes at their display but after a month or so of living under the same roof, he was getting used to it. If they were in a room together, they were touching in some capacity. He was thrilled that his dad was so happy and prayed that what he thought he had with Amelia would stand the test of time. Shaking his head, he said, “So, we going to get Jonas? I know he’s stoked.”
“Yeah, we were just waiting on you, then we’ll go shopping for anything he needs or wants, and then we have Christmas decorations to get.”
“Will there be food in there at any point?” the teen asked.
“Yeah. Gonna feed my growing tribe,” Zeke replied as he gently cuffed his son.
“Then can we get this show on the road? Oh, and Dad? I think he needs a phone. His grams did the best she could, but he really needs a lot of stuff.”
“We’ll take care of it, Thad. He’s got a home with us as long as he wants one, yeah?”
Thad smiled in relief. While Jonas was a year younger, he had skipped a grade and they had been friends for a long time. His home life was crap until his grandparents stepped in, but they didn’t have the resources to ensure a growing kid always had what he needed. Thad remembered years of others trying to bully Jonas until he got bigger.
***
At the orphanage while Zeke and Angelina filled out the paperwork, Thad helped Jonas pack his belongings. “Hey man, I appreciate your folks doing this for me,” Jonas said.
“I wish we could have done it a long time ago, but it wouldn’t have been right taking you from your grandparents, y’know?”
“Yeah. You’ve been my best friend for years, Thad. Not sure I would have made it without you helping me.”
“It’s what friends are for and maybe someday, if we join Heaven’s Sinners, we’ll be Brothers.”
Zeke, walking up on the conversation, smiled inside. He had a sneaking suspicion his Cherub wouldn’t rest until they had adopted the teen, so they’d be brothers in all ways except blood. “You boys ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, Dad.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jonas? Appreciate the manners, especially since we’re teaching the girls their manners, but you don’t have to be formal, okay?”
“Yes, sir, I mean…okay.”
As they walked back out to the car, Jonas was surprised when one of the twins reached up to hold his hand. He looked down at the little girl and she smiled at him, saying, “Now we have two bubbas!” At her words, the fear he had that things would be awkward melted and he found himself smiling back.
***
Man, she was a helluva shopper he thought as he watched her telling the boys what she wanted them to look for when they hit the department store. When Jonas looked like he would argue, she got a stubborn look on her face and told him that there would be no arguing, she knew he had stuff he needed and if he didn’t go pick it out, she would and her favorite colors were pink and yellow. While the boys were shopping for clothes and stuff for his new room, she and the girls were over in the Christmas section buying ornaments and decorations for the inside of the house. “Cherub? What do you think about this for the fireplace?” he asked, pointing at a manger scene. She went to where he was standing and looked at it carefully, it wasn’t gaudy, which she detested, and the pieces were big enough not to be dwarfed on their mantel in the family room.
“I like it,” she said softly. “It will be perfect on the mantle, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, Cherub. Do we need wrapping paper?”
She started
laughing at his question, causing him to quirk his eyebrows at her. “Why are you laughing?”
“Eva and Marta had the girls grab a bunch of paper on Black Friday, handsome, so all we need to get is tape.”
He went to the bin that held multi-packs of tape and tossed several in the cart. About that time, the boys came back with two shopping carts full of stuff. One held the bedding Jonas had picked out and the other had clothes and stuff for school. Looking at the four carts they had, all filled to the brim, he smiled. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined having a wife again, let along four and a half children!
***
Later that night, Jonas’ room all squared away and the kids down for the night, they sat in the family room with a Christmas movie playing softly in the background. When he noticed her feet were swollen, he got her situated and began rubbing her feet. “Cherub, is this normal?” he asked.
“Sometimes. I was on them a lot today, so I’ll be mindful tomorrow,” she told him.
He continued to rub them until her moans reached his ears. “Cherub? Thinking it’s our bedtime now, yeah?”
Seeing the look on his face, she readily agreed.
Chapter Twenty-four
Christmas Eve
The past several weeks had passed in a whirlwind, with parties at the daycare, more shopping, wrapping, and baking and Angelina was glad that it was nearing the end. She still had a few weeks left before the baby was due and movement had become harder without help. Waddling into the kitchen before everyone got up, she started getting stuff together to make breakfast. As she puttered, Christmas music playing softly in the background, she smiled at how much her life had changed. They had spoken at length with one another, as well as Jonas, and they had a special gift for him tomorrow morning. A slight twinge in her low back gave her pause, but she shrugged it off as nothing. She felt his strong arms go around her as he placed a kiss beneath her ear. “Merry Christmas, Cherub.”
Turning, she placed her hands on his chest and leaned up for a kiss saying, “Merry Christmas, Zeke.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Um, well, the muffins are done, the bacon is almost done, and I’m about to start the French toast,” she replied.
“You sit down, I’ll take care of it,” he told her, leading her to a chair and then raising her legs so they were elevated.
Once he had enough cooked, he went and told the kids to wash up and come eat, then helped her get the girls’ plates ready. Daycare has been so good for them she thought, listening to them giggle and talk about Santa Claus. The teens said little, waiting on Zeke to say the blessing before they started eating.
While they ate, they discussed the plans for the day. It had been snowing steadily so Zeke asked the boys to take the girls outside and build a snowman, which had the little girls all excited. Dex and Renda were due up later in the day, so he helped her get something started in the crockpot for that night’s dinner. The kids now outside, they worked to clean the kitchen in companionable silence. Once done, he led her into the family room where they curled up on the chaise lounge to enjoy the Christmas tree lights and fire he had lit in the fireplace. “Zeke?”
“Hmm, Cherub?”
“Hate we have to wait now, handsome.”
“Angelina, look at me,” he said in that voice. She looked up at him and saw him looking down at her tenderly. “Cherub, I waited a long time for someone like you in my life. A few weeks is nothing. You and the baby are more important to me,” he told her as he kissed her softly.
“I know, was just thinking about you and me naked under the tree,” she said wistfully.
“Well, there’s always next year and if we want that to happen, we’ll be putting one in our room, yeah?”
Realizing that by next year there would be five kids ranging from almost a year old to nearly eighteen, she started giggling. “We are going to become extremely creative, aren’t we, Zeke?”
“Absolutely. We may have a lot of lunch meetings during the school day that involve our bedroom,” he told her.
They were interrupted by Cailyn coming into the room saying, “Come look, Daddy, Momma! See what we did!”
He helped her up and got a coat on her, then helped her out to the porch where a family of snowmen had been built. The boys had built the bigger ones, but each girl had made a smaller one. “You did a wonderful job!” she praised. “Now, who wants some hot chocolate? Maybe a movie?”
With the girls settled in with a Christmas movie, the boys went down to the game room to play their video games and she and Zeke curled up on the chaise, where she promptly fell asleep.
***
“Sweetie, I don’t think you can get any bigger,” Renda said, giving Angelina a once-over. “Are y’all sure there’s only one baby in there?”
“Yep. The doctor said there’s just one but it’s a big one.”
“Are you feeling okay? You look tired.”
“I’m glad you’re here. I think the baby is going to come sooner rather than later,” she admitted to her friend. “But not before Santa creates some magic for two little girls.”
That afternoon, the girls “helped” make cookies for Santa, which necessitated a kitchen clean-up. Santa’s plate of cookies ready, they spent the rest of the afternoon before dinner building a puzzle. Meanwhile, she tried to hide the occasional twinges she was feeling. Too soon she thought. You’re too soon, sweet baby.
***
Dinner and baths finally done, Zeke read the Christmas Story from the bible before he read “The Night Before Christmas” to the girls. They had talked at length and decided that as long as they gave the girls a good foundation, a little fun was fine. Tucking the girls in was proving challenging as their excitement had them bouncing off the walls. Zeke finally used his president voice which left the girls wide-eyed. He told them that Santa couldn’t come until they were asleep and if they weren’t sleeping when it was time for him to come to their house, he might have to pass by and possibly wouldn’t have time to come back. Within minutes, the two little girls were asleep, their dolls clutched in their arms.
Once the boys headed off to bed, the adults worked to set up the gifts around the Christmas tree. Angelina knew that the dollhouse they had found for the girls for their room was going to be a hit and she couldn’t wait to see their faces the next morning. Knowing the girls would be getting up early, they didn’t stay up late, opting for as much sleep as possible.
***
She woke the next morning and the occasional twinges had become a dull ache. God, just let me get through them opening their Christmas presents she thought. With a little assistance from Zeke, she got up and took care of business and got dressed before heading out to start the coffee and turn the tree on. The girls weren’t up yet, so the adults and teens waited in the kitchen until finally, they heard the footsteps coming down the hall. “HE CAME!” Cailyn screamed. “MELLIE! SANTA CAME! HE ATE ALL OUR COOKIES AND DRANK OUR MILK!”
Hearing the excitement in her daughter’s voice and how clearly she was speaking, Angelina brushed back tears. As the adults and teens headed into the family room, she made her way over to the chaise while Zeke went over to the tree to start handing out presents. Excitement coursed through her at the girls’ reactions. They hadn’t gone too overboard on any of the kids, but got them gifts that they knew they wanted and needed. Once the girls were done and playing, the boys started their opening. When Jonas got to his last gift and saw what it contained, he turned tear-filled eyes to Zeke and Angelina. “You…you want to adopt me?”
“Absolutely. You’re a part of our family now and we want you to know it,” Zeke said.
“I accept, thank you both,” Jonas said, as tears ran down his face.
***
Later that morning, after breakfast, she went to lay down, citing the early morning as the reason for her nap. Zeke could tell something wasn’t right, so he followed her in and caught her doubled up. “Cherub? How long you been in labor?”<
br />
“Um, possibly since last night,” she said as she straightened up from her latest contraction.
He hollered for Dex and Renda, who came running at the tone in his voice as he bundled her up and carried her out to the truck. “We’re headed to the hospital, looks like Baby Morgan is anxious to come today,” he told the couple. “Can you stay with the kids?”
“We’ll get them together and be up there shortly, you go and take care of Angel,” Dex responded.
***
At the hospital, her doctor was paged while she was admitted. Coming into the room, the doctor grinned and said, “Seems he or she wants to give y’all a special Christmas gift, yeah?”
“It’s too soon,” Angelina said as another contraction wracked her body.
“Based on the size of the baby, even if you’re a few weeks early, we’ll be just fine,” the doctor said soothingly as she prepared to check how far along Angelina was in her labor. “Hmm, okay, well, folks, looks like you’re going to have a Christmas baby,” she finally said after sitting back up and disposing of her gloves.
Zeke brushed her hair back from her forehead before he leaned down and kissed it. “It’s going to be fine, Cherub, yeah?”
She panted through the next contraction while the nurses got the room ready for the impending birth. “Mmmhmm, handsome. Will you pray?”
Seeing her distress, he put his hands on her stomach and prayed softly. When the fetal monitor that they had inserted started going off, the doctor and nurses went into immediate action and she was wheeled away from him and toward an operating room, leaving him standing there.
Her Kinsman-Redeemer Page 20
