I pluck our son from her arms and settle into the chair across from Hollis. Astor gives me a thankful smile before dropping into the chair next to me.
“Why do you always rile up Jewel?” she asks, accepting a buttered biscuit from her father.
“‘Cuz it’s fine and she likes it.” He munches on a biscuit.
“Can’t argue with that,” I admit. Adam, the baby, opens his mouth, and I put a tiny bit of biscuit on his tongue. He chortles and claps his pudgy hands together.
“I can’t believe you’re taking Dad’s side. You should be telling him to stop, not egging him on.” She shakes a jam knife at me.
“I can’t. I’ve worked hard to get on Hollis’ good side, and I can’t undo all of it now.”
“Damn straight,” he grunts. “Best take one of these to Jewel so she doesn’t put a spider in my bed.” He gathers up a couple of biscuits and makes his way down the hall toward the playroom where Jewel has gone to cut up more paper hearts. She’s making a Valentine’s Day box for school.
The old man is right. Jewel and he are carved out of the same sharp rock, and I love them both. It took a while for Hollis and me to make peace. Even after he reluctantly accepted that Astor’s pregnancy meant that we needed to marry, he barely spoke a word in my presence. He went from loud hateration to quiet condemnation. The house renovation, his improving health, the impending baby didn’t do anything to lessen his disapproval.
It wasn’t until after Jewel was born that Hollis decided I wasn’t the devil. The devil couldn’t have produced a child as perfect—in Hollis’ eyes—as Jewel. She was a beautiful baby and has grown into a beautiful child. Birdie says she’s going to be prettier than Astor, although I don’t know how that can be true. Astor’s the most beautiful woman in the world, and I’m not just saying that. She was named most beautiful face by some big fashion outlet. I have the cover in my office. Hollis has one in his bedroom. Those are the only places that Astor has allowed the picture to hang. She thinks it’s obnoxious to see images of her own face in her home. “People will say I’m stuck on myself,” she exclaimed, taking down all the photos Hollis and I had hung in the hallway one afternoon.
After a fierce battle, Hollis and I won the right to have a single photo in our private, out-of-the-way rooms. Maybe that’s when we really bonded. Astor’s a formidable foe, and ever since she’s had Jewel, she’s become even more fierce. Hollis won’t admit it, but he’s scared of her. I suppose I should be, too, but it just turns me on. Whenever she gets her hard warrior face on, my dick snaps to attention.
When Astor had Jewel, though, that’s when Hollis’ barriers fell completely. He was smitten from the first day, and whatever grudge he had couldn’t stand in the face of his granddaughter. It’s not like Hollis and I hang out, but when I say we’ve made our peace, I mean I’m not hearing the sound of a shell being chambered in his shotgun every night. It’s all good.
“What’re you smiling about?”
“That you’re my wife.” I lean over and capture her mouth, kissing her hard and long until Adam starts squirming in my lap. I release Astor’s mouth with a regretful sigh.
She swipes her wet lower lip with her thumb and peeks at me beneath a set of long lashes. It’s a good thing I’m sitting down or I’d have fallen. She’s too damned gorgeous for words.
“You happy?” she murmurs, buttering another biscuit.
“Yeah, you?”
“Didn’t know I could be this happy,” she admits.
Adam waves his hands as if to agree, and Astor puts another piece of biscuit in his mouth.
“Same.”
I weave my fingers with hers and look out at the towering oak tree that survived the wilt. A slight breeze pushes the rope swing. Adam giggles and claps his hands together, probably dreaming of being on that swing. This is the life, one I hadn’t ever dared dream could come true. After all the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve got Astor as my wife, our son sitting on my lap, and our daughter cutting out paper hearts with her curmudgeon of a grandfather. The sounds of Astor’s happy hums mix with Adam’s giggles and the sharp sounds of laughter coming from the playroom. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
My Loves:
It feels like it has been a while since we’ve connected. I bring you another entry into the Justice series. It’s been so much fun to write but also a challenge!
I hope you are staying warm during this cold spell. Be safe and merry this year.
Love, Ella