Vince's Place
Page 30
“Is that everyone?” Santa asked.
“It is, Santa! Thank you so much for coming to pay us this special visit,” Avaleigh said.
“You’re welcome, Ms. Avaleigh. And here, just a special treat — their real gifts will be under the tree tomorrow morning. But I have little gifts for every boy and girl.” He handed out the gifts as he made his way to the door. “But you have to wait ‘til dinner to open them. Okay?”
“Yes, sir,” Remi answered, focused on the small brightly wrapped box in his hands.
“And isn’t it a good thing dinner’s ready?” Ms. Sadie asked.
Everyone cheered and meandered toward the hallway leading to the dining room. Santa stopped beside Jobe. He reached into his bag and took out a large white envelope. “This one is for you, Jobe. But like the little ones, wait until dinner.”
Jobe hugged Santa, and looking around to be sure that none of the children were still in the room, nodded his head and spoke. “You didn’t have to, Mr. Goldy. But thank you.”
“You’re welcome, son. I’ll see you shortly,” Goldy answered, hugging Jobe again and hurrying out of the front door.
Dinner was a feast. They had turkey, Cornish game hens, cornbread dressing, oyster dressing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cauliflower and cheese sauce, slimy peas and crunchy things, seared green beans and almonds, corn on the cob, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, coconut cake, bread pudding, cherry pie, lemon bars, and of course pecan pie. Goldy made it just in time to eat with everyone, yawning as though he’d fallen asleep and had just woken from a nap. After dinner, Kaid finally gave the kids permission to open their gifts. Each child had a small stuffed animal representing their beasts and a sparkling silver Christmas ornament with their name on it to add to their Christmas trees at home. The adults all looked expectantly at Jobe as he opened his envelope. He pulled the papers out of it and sat there, expressionless as he read the words printed on them. He sniffled one time, as he finished the first page and tucked it below the second one and continued reading. When he was done, he looked up and found everyone seated, watching him quietly. His eyes found Ms. Sadie’s, who watched him with tears in hers. Goldy sat beside her, one arm around her shoulders as he wiped his own misty eyes with the back of his other hand.
Jobe’s bottom lip was the only give away. It was trembling slightly as he fought to hold himself together. He sniffled again and swallowed. “You really want to do this? You want…” he looked down at the papers in his hand, then back up at Goldy and Sadie, “me?”
“We do,” Goldy and Sadie both said at the same time. Then Sadie spoke. “I know we aren’t your real parents, and we thought that maybe we could hyphenate our name after theirs so that you can keep their name as well. But, we couldn’t love you any more if we’d made you ourselves. And to us, you’re already ours. If you’ll have us, we’d like to make it legal — adopt you right and proper. You’ve only got a couple years of being a minor left, but you’ve got a lifetime to need your parents.”
Jobe nodded his head, and he lost his battle with his emotions. The tears started streaming down his face, and he looked down at the papers in his hand to try to hide it. Goldy and Sadie got up and went to him, hugging him tightly.
Most of the women were crying right along with them. Remi looked up at Avaleigh. His Mama always cried at happy times. “Is these ones happy ones, too?” he asked.
Avaleigh ruffled his hair. “Yes, they are.”
“I just don’t understand,” he mumbled, reaching for another bite of food.
Avaleigh reached for Daniel’s hand and shared a loving smile with him. She looked around the table, filled with family. Each and every person here meant to be a part of this complicated network of people who’d come together to form a family. This is what life was about. Surrounding yourself with people who loved you, who expected nothing from you but love in return, people who fought for you, and bled for you without question. The same people who would cheer for your successes when you had them, and call you on your crap when you wallowed in it, but always stood beside you no matter what you walked through. This was the definition of happiness and success, and luckily they’d all found it — here together. This was the best possible life she could imagine for herself, her boys and their Mates, and all the new lives being born into it. They were family, strong and firm, forever one unit.
The End
(At least until the next generation is ready to tell their stories.)
Thank you for reading my Avaleigh’s Boys series. I hope you’ve loved, laughed, cried and grown into a family right along with us. While their stories have all been told, there are many more holidays and peeks into their daily lives that they still want to share with you. Keep your eyes opened for novelettes coming your way from time to time. And who knows? Maybe one day the kids may want to grow up and share their stories with you. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Brandt is already trying to do just that.
Thank you for taking this journey with me.
Merry Christmas!
Sandra R Neeley
From The Author
Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope that my stories make you smile and give you a small escape from the daily same ole/same ole. I write for me, simply for the joy of it, but if someone else also smiles as a result, even better. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you liked this story, please remember to leave a review wherever you bought it, so that more people can find my books. Each review is important, no matter how short or long it may be.
See you in the pages of the next one!
Sandra R Neeley
Other books by this author:
Avaleigh’s Boys series
I’m Not A Dragon’s Mate!, Book 1
Bane’s Heart, Book 2
Kaid’s Queen, Book 3
Maverik’s Ashes, Book 4
Bam’s Ever, Book 5
Whispers From the Bayou series
Carnage, Book 1
Destroy, Book 2
Enthrall, Book 3
Lore, Book 4
Haven series
Haven 1: Ascend
Riley’s Pride
Riley’s Pride, Book 1
WINGS(Standalone full-length novel)
Short Stories and Anthology Contributions
CAT
Standalone science fiction short story
Only Fools Walk Free
(currently available in the ‘Voyages of the Heart, With Love from New Orleans’ anthology)
About the Author
My name is Sandra R Neeley. I write Paranormal, Fantasy, and SciFi Romances. Why, you may ask? Because who doesn't love a good romance, and the lack of reality in the story lines — because, well, normal is highly overrated, so Paranormal it is. I’m 55, I have two kids, one 33 and one 13(yes, God does have a sense of humor), one grandchild, one husband and a menagerie of animals. I love to cook and am a voracious reader, though since I started writing I don’t get as much time to read as I once did. I’m a homebody and prefer my writing/reading time to a crowd. I have had stories and fictional characters wandering around in my head for as long as I can remember. I’m a self-published author and I like it that way because I can decide what and when to write. I am by no means a formal, polished, properly structured individual and neither are my stories. But people seem to love the easy emotion and passion that flow from them. A bit of a warning though, there are some “triggers” in them that certain people should avoid. I’m a firm believer that you cannot have light without the dark. You cannot fully embrace the joy and elation that my people eventually find if you do not bear witness to their darkest hours as well. So please read the warnings supplied with each of the synopses about my books before you buy them. I’ve got four series published at this time, Avaleigh’s Boys - PNR, Whispers From the Bayou - Fantasy PNR, Haven - SciFi Romance, and Riley’s Pride - PNR, several short stories, and much, much more to come. I’m always glad to hear from my readers, so feel free to look me up and say hello.
; You can find me at any of these places:
authorsandrarneeley@gmail.com
https://www.sneeleywrites.com
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https://www.facebook.com/authorsandrarneeley/
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