Authors: Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
Cash stirs me away from my thoughts and grabs my hand
and kisses it.
"Have I told you that you look even more beautiful since
you cut your hair? I have to admit. I wasn't crazy about you
cutting it at first, but I understand why you had to and it's
still extremely long. But like I said, it's your hair, so don't ever feel like you can't do anything you want with it. No
matter what you do, you'll always be beautiful. Claudia's turned out pretty good, too."
"I can't believe she ended up donating hers too. Especially
after winning her own bet! At least it wasn't up to her eye
balls!" He winced remembering how cruel he was to her
about betting against me.
"Yes, it did turn out great and it’s still pretty long. I'm sorry
I argue with her so much. We used to be worse, believe it or
not. I think she did it to let you know that no matter what
she's got your back and it was a sweet gesture."
I was absolutely shocked when Marie, the hair stylist, got
finished with my hair and Claudia jumped up and said she
wanted to do the same thing. I don't know why she keeps
surprising me, but she does and Cash is right, it really was a
sweet gesture.
"She does surprise me from time to time. Will you please
quit arguing with her? For me? And how come you never
told me you had a brother?" I can tell that he doesn't want to have this conversation by his loud sigh.
"Ok, I'll start being nicer to Claudia, but in my defense, she's
just as mean to me as I am to her. Did that just sound
childish? Haha. Sorry, like I said, she's like a little sister to
me. As far as Caleb goes? Well, let’s just say he's been giving me hell about the kids ever since Vanessa died."
"Why has he been giving you a hard time?" I'm suspecting
why, but I want him to tell me.
"You know why, Liv. I guess you could say he's been
trying to kick me in the ass like you did, except it was way
cuter and hotter when you did it. I know I'm going to hear
an "I told you so" from him at the party about Mrs.
Williamson."
I cringe every time I hear that evil woman's name. I've been
waiting for Gideon to open up to me on how bad she had
treated him, and prayed that she wasn't beating him like I
suspected.
So far it sounds like she just withheld dinner from time to
time and a lot of other things, like swimming and he wasn't
allowed to play any sports. He's never been allowed to
go to any of his friends’ birthday parties. I am very thankful
I showed up when I did.
"I can understand him being upset with you, but you were
grieving, doesn't that account for anything."
He looks over at me shaking his head.
"Liv, let's face it. I was a shit to the kids and my parents, for
having to pull my weight. There's no excuse for it. Yes, I
was grieving, but I know now that I was dealing with it the
wrong way. I should have been grieving along with my
family and the kids. I wasn't the only one that missed
Vanessa."
"I understand that, I do, but they're your family. He'll
forgive you. When was the last time you talked to him?"
"A year ago; when I missed another one of Eden's
birthdays, he came over to my house and found me wasted
and we got into it so bad, I thought I was going to kill him.
He said he was getting a court order to take the kids away
from me, because I was neglecting them by ignoring them
and he knew that the nanny was mistreating them. I
punched him and he punched back and we tried to literally
kill each other. The last thing I told him was that I would
put a stop to funding all of his missionary trips and stop
donating any money to the villages that he helped out, if he
attempted to take them away from me. He knew I had him
by the balls and that I would do it, so he left and I haven't
spoken to him since."
I can tell that he's ashamed of himself and was sorry, so he
needs to make it right with his brother. I reach over and
grab his hand to my heart.
"Cash, you know you have to make it right with your
brother, right? Even apologize to him?"
I look up and realize that we've turned into a private
driveway and I'm so happy that the house looks normal and
isn't another castle. It's a three story colonial styled house
with a big front yard, and I can already picture the back yard
being even bigger than the front.
"Yes Babe, I know I do, but I hope I can do it privately. But
if I know Caleb, he's going to make a big deal out of telling
me that he was right. Thank God there isn’t going to be
very many people here, but family and speaking of family,
Claud just pulled in behind us. Perfect timing. Are you
ready for this?"
"Yes Cash, I am and I can't wait to see the kids, I didn't
realize how much I've missed them since just seeing them
yesterday."
I open my door and reach for some presents from the back
seat and Cash walks back to the trunk to get the rest. By the
time we have all of the presents out, Claudia has caught up
with us and even though her hair is shorter, she's still
absolutely gorgeous!
"Okay, okay. I might have gone overboard, but I forgot
how much fun I used to have shopping for the kids. I hope
you two don't mind, but I got Gideon a few things too."
She does have tons of gifts with her and I can tell that she's just as excited about having the kids in her life just as much
as I am. She was always such an awesome aunt. I hear Cash
chuckling at her.
"Don't worry Claud, we got Gideon a few things too and if
I know my parents, they did as well. It looks like we may be
starting a tradition of spoiling them both on each other’s
birthdays." All three of us are laughing, as we head inside
the house.
I immediately hear Eden giggling when we walk in and she
comes around the corner of what looks like the living room and runs up to me, and I immediately drop the presents and
wait for her to make her usual leap into my arms.
"Owibia! Caudia! Daddy! You all made it! I'm so
happy now!"
She gives me the tightest squeeze and I look at her and she
looks like a little princess in the dress her grandmother had
her wear. She even has a tiara on top of her head, which
makes her look even more beautiful with her dark brown curly hair surrounding her face.
I'm so glad I decided to buy her some princess dresses for
her birthday, because I know she's going to love them. She
reaches for her daddy and he takes her from my arms and
she hugs him just as tight around the neck.
"I wove you, Daddy. Did you know that Uncle Caweb
came aw the way here from Afica just for my birthday? He
said he woves me that much! He said Afica was aw the
way across the word. Is it rewy that far, Daddy?" He's
beaming from ear to ear and gives her a little kiss on the tip
of her nose.
"I love you too, Princess and he's right. It is very far and
you should know that everyone loves you, Sweetheart." He
gives her tons of kisses while she's giggles.
"Come on Daddy, today is my birthday party!"
He looks at me and Claudia and we follow him into the
living room. I'm a little nervous about meeting his brother
after what he told me about him in the car, and I still haven't
met his dad, because he's never been with Amelia when she
would pick up and drop off the kids on the weekends. When we walk in, all eyes are on us and Gideon's eyes
about pop out of his head. He runs across the living room
and hugs all of us and sees all of the presents.
"Are all of those presents for Eden?" He's looking at all of
us and I'm sure he's hoping that some of them are his. I can
tell by the arch of his brow that is identical to Cash's what
he's thinking. Claudia answers for us.
"Of course they're for Eden; it is HER birthday after all.
Here, will you put them with the rest of the presents
please?" He drops his head, shrugs his shoulders,
mutters something under his breath, and then he looks at
some of the bags and turns around and looks at us.
"Hey! I see my name on some of these!" He looks at
Claudia and grins. "You got me, but I'll pay you back, Aunt
Claudia!"
"Oh, I'll be ready, Mr. Gideon!"
Oh, those two together are going to get into so much trouble
together. I can already picture it like she and Jeremiah used to be with each other. He walks off pilfering through the
rest of the bags and yells "yes" every time he sees one with
his name.
A blonde headed man about mine and Claudia's age that
has the same blue eyes as Gideon and Cash walks up to me
and extends his hand out to me, while Claudia whispers
"OH MY GODDDD" behind me.
This must be Caleb and what I'm seeing is not a scrawny
little geek in front of me. He is just as buff as Cash and looks a lot like him, but a blonde headed version. I reach
out and shake his hand.
"You must be, as Eden calls you, Owibia. I'm Caleb, Cash's
little brother and I must say, I've been excited to meet you, but I had no idea how beautiful you were. I think you're working for the wrong brother!"
He winks at me and raises my hand up to his lips and kisses
my hand right in front of Cash, and I saw him tense up and
start coming to my defense, but I shake my head at him not
to.
"Nice to meet you, Caleb and I believe you remember my best friend Claudia here from college." He shakes his head at Claudia and gives her a very tense hug.
"Hello Claudia, or didn't I call you Cruella a time or two?
Have you been pulverizing men's hearts lately? I remember
that was your favorite hobby back then." I see ten different
thoughts run through her mind and thank God she went
with the nicest response.
"Oh Caleb, you know me, I'm down to breaking hearts once a month now, instead of the same one every day." She
walks around him, as if he was invisible and goes and talks to Cash's parents. Caleb turns back to me grinning.
"She sure hasn't changed. Still only beautiful on the outside
I see. So, I hear I have you to thank for coming to my niece
and nephew's rescue and for opening my brother's selfish
eyes. I don't know whether to hug or kiss you." Cash was
closer than I thought, because he's in Caleb's ear quicker
than a heartbeat.
"A thank you will suffice little brother. You're lucky I let
you get away with the kiss on her hand."
Caleb grins at me, while Cash looks like he's ready for a
fight. Jealousy. I never had to deal with it with Derek,
because he knew I never looked at anyone but him, but
seeing it on Cash has me rather turned on. Caleb can't seem
to keep his mouth shut.
"Oh, so THAT’S how you got his eyes to open. I'm impressed, very impressed." He turns around and he and
Cash are at eye level. "Nice to see you big brother, looks
like you're doing well for yourself. Oh, and I told you so!
About that bitch you called a nanny, that is." He walks off
and leaves Cash standing in front of me seething with rage.
"Don't do it, Cash. This is Eden's birthday party and he's
just goading you. Let it go and talk to him later away from
everyone, okay?" He nods at me and starts calming down.
His father comes up to us with a grin on his face.
"I've been waiting for these yahoos to finish their
conversation, so that I could introduce myself. I'm Gideon
Kingston and I'm so happy to welcome you to the family."
Where Cash looks more like his mother, Caleb favors their
father, who is blonde headed like him with the same blue
eyes and a little bit of grey in his hair. I see where the boys
get their height from, because he's maybe an inch shorter
than they are. He reaches out to shake my hand, but instead
picks me up into a great big bear hug, which has me
giggling and trying to get down.