Renovations (By Design Book 6) Read online

  “How am I being selfish?” Michelle asked.

  “You want Mom to run for higher office. That’s what this is about. I could be selfish too, you know? Mom and J.D. have Spencer and Maddie a lot right now…”

  “Marianne,” Jameson reached over to Marianne, who was sitting in a chair beside her. “Spencer and Maddie are always welcome. Always. Don’t think that is changing,” she said.

  Marianne smiled at Jameson. “J.D., I know that, but I also know that this little boy will need both you and Mom just like Spencer and Maddie need me. I would hope, well…I hope I can help you sometime too.”

  Candace bit her lip to contain a rising tide of emotion. Loss tended to change people. It brought them to earth. She could see evidence of that in Marianne.

  “Well, I think it’s cool,” Jonah said. “Not that anyone ever asks me.”

  “You think everything is cool,” Michelle laughed.

  “Not true,” Jonah said. “I’m a little peeved they get to skip the diaper phase.” Marianne laughed.

  “Umm? Excuse me?” Candace chimed. “I’ve changed more diapers than everyone in this room put together, thank you very much.”

  Jonah held up his hand in defense. “I’m just being honest,” he said, receiving a slight poke from Laura.

  “Look,” Candace changed the tenor in the room. “Assuming that everything works out, Cooper will need to know that you all accept him. He hasn’t had the kind of support any of us have enjoyed,” Candace said. “And, he looks different than our family. He will need all of you to make him believe and understand that he is part of this family.”

  “I really hope you can all support this,” Jameson said quietly.

  Michelle rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Of course, we support you,” she said. “Don’t be stupid, J.D.”

  Candace laughed. “You sure do have a way with words, Shell.”

  “Learned from the best, Mom.”

  “J.D.,” Marianne turned to Jameson with tears in her eyes. “Cooper is a lucky kid to have someone like you and Mom want to be his parents,” she said honestly. “We all are.”

  Jameson noted the tear rolling over Candace’s cheek. Cooper was wrapped around her legs and Candace was stroking his head. Jameson’s heart warmed and flut­tered at the sight. Each time they had been forced to leave Cooper, it had become increasingly difficult for them both. And, Jameson was sure it had been equally hard on the little boy at their feet.

  “Coop?” Jameson squatted down. Cooper pulled away from Candace slightly and smiled at Jameson. “How would you like to go home with us?” she asked.

  Cooper looked up at Candace, who raised her brow and nodded. “Jay?” he asked Jameson.

  “Yes, Coop?”

  “All night?” he asked.

  Candace knelt down beside Jameson and looked at Cooper. “Every night, Cooper,” she said.

  Cooper seemed to consider her answer. He loved Candace, but he still had not figured out how to address her. Spencer called her Nana and most of the adults called her Mom. It puzzled him. He had taken to calling her Miss C. because Elaine would always announce when Miss Jameson and Miss Candace were coming to see him.”

  “Miss C.?” he asked politely. Candace waited for him to continue. “Eggs too?” he asked her.

  “Yes, Cooper, I will make you eggs for breakfast whenever I can,” she promised.

  “Spen?” he looked at her.

  “Spencer is not there right now, no. He will be over this weekend, though,” Candace promised. “And, so will everyone else you’ve met.”

  “Grandma?” he asked her.

  Candace laughed. “Yes, Grandma Pearl too.”

  Cooper smiled. “Can we go?”

  Jameson laughed. “I thought you’d never ask,” she said. She watched as Cooper grabbed hold of Candace’s hand. Jameson retrieved Cooper’s suitcase and passed him his stuffed frog. She remembered the day Spencer had given it to Cooper. Froggie, as Spencer called him, had been Spencer’s bedmate and playmate ever since Jameson could remember. One afternoon, Jameson had come into the living room at the farmhouse to get Cooper ready to go home. Cooper has started to cry. He made no sound, but the moment that Spencer had seen the tears falling down his friend’s cheeks, he had run to retrieve Froggie.

  “Take Froggie,” Spencer told Cooper. Cooper accepted the frog with wide eyes. “He knows the way back,” Spencer said.

  Cooper looked up at Jameson and Candace as they approached the stairs. “Chicken fingers?”

  Jameson laughed. “I give up,” she said. “Between you and Spencer I will never get to have pizza.” Cooper looked puzzled. Jameson laughed harder. “Chicken fingers it is,” she said.

  “And, mac and cheese,” Cooper declared.

  “Well, at least, that’s a little variety,” Jameson commented. “And, something I can actually handle. Okay, chicken fingers and mac and cheese for you,” she said. “And, fortune cookies for you,” Jameson whispered in Candace’s ear.

  “Why?” Candace whispered back. “Hoping to get lucky?”

  “Nah, I think I already got the best fortune.”

  ***

  “Goodnight, Cooper,” Candace said, placing a kiss on his head. Cooper looked up at her. “What is it, sweetheart?” she asked.

  “Will Jay take me home tomorrow?”

  Candace smiled. “No, Cooper. This is home now. Jay and I will be here when you wake up and when you go to sleep again,” she told him.

  “Two sleeps?” he asked excitedly.

  “Every sleep, Cooper. This is your bed now. Your room.”

  “Ten sleeps?” he asked with a smile.

  “A thousand sleeps,” Candace promised.

  “A million?” he bounced under the covers.

  “A million, Cooper,” Candace said. Cooper’s smile brought another round of tears to Candace’s eyes.

  “Hey, you two,” Jameson popped her head in. “I wanted to say goodnight.”

  “Jay! I get a million sleeps here.”

  Jameson chuckled. “That’s a lot of sleeps, huh?”

  “Yeah. More than a thousand,” Cooper said.

  “It is more than a thousand,” Jameson agreed. She made her way to Cooper and kissed him on the head.

  “Spen was right.”

  “Spencer was right about what?” Candace wondered.

  “Froggie knows the way,” Cooper said. He cuddled the stuffed frog and closed his eyes.

  “Froggie knows the way?” Candace whispered to Jameson as they left the room.

  “Spencer told him that Froggie knew the way home,” Jameson explained. “That’s why he gave Froggie to Coop.”

  Candace nodded. “They really are something, those two.”

  “Yep.”

  Jameson led Candace into their bedroom and watched as Candace shed her clothing and replaced it with a long T-shirt before hopping into bed. Jameson followed her normal routine and slipped on a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. She was emotionally and physically drained in the best of ways. Jameson could tell Candace was in the same place. Candace’s eyes twinkled amid the circles beneath them. Jameson grabbed something from inside her nightstand and climbed into bed beside her wife. She handed the small slip of paper to Candace.

  “What’s this?” Candace asked.

  “You won’t remember. I told you a while back I got an interesting fortune about Cooper.”

  Candace unfurled the paper and read it: A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share.

  Candace chuckled. “Are you adding in bed to that one?” she joked.

  “Might as well, if he is anything like Spence we’ll need a bigger bed.”

  Candace laughed and settled herself into Jameson’s arms. “I love you, Jameson.”

  Jameson held Candace close. She breathed in Candace’s scent and sighed. So many things had changed for both of them since they had met. Jameson thought about Cooper’s excitement over a million sleeps. She understood. There was somethin
g indescribable in finding home, in knowing that a million sleeps would never be enough because you were finally home.

  “I love you,” Jameson said. “I had another fortune tonight you know?”

  Candace pried one eye open. “Oh?”

  “Yeah, it said: Now is the time to try something new…In bed.”

  Candace grinned. “Right on the money again. It’s called sleep.”

  Jameson laughed. “Goodnight, Candace.”

  “Goodnight, Lunatic.”

  “I really do love you,” Jameson said.

  “That’s why I married a lunatic. Only chance I had,” Candace joked. “And, I love you too.”

  Jameson closed her eyes. “Holy shit,” she thought and her eyes opened. “I’m somebody’s mom!”

  THE END

  To Be Continued in

  BUILDING BLOCKS