Page 100 of Jonny’s Redemption

Silver Beil—two years later

“Mom!” Dylan shouted.

I glanced over at the couch and just as I feared, hearing her brother’s shout Haley woke up. At four, it was a rare blessing if my daughter slept during the day. So rare, it was shocking when it occurred, especially on a weekend when Dylan was home.

“Dude, your sister was sleeping,” Weston said.

“Sorry. But Sally’s in the front yard,” Dylan explained.

“Is Goat with her?” I asked, praying he wasn’t but knowing he was.

“Yep. And he was eating your flowers but Ayden and Noah got him away,” my son proudly informed me.

“I’ll call Micky.”

“Don’t bother. Me and the boys will take them back. You know they're getting ready for the wedding.”

Yes, the wedding. That was why Holly and Wyatt, McKenna and Nix’s two kids, were not over playing with Chasin and Jameson’s boys. Tomorrow was the big day—Mandy was getting married.

“I’ll come with you. Haley’s awake now and I want to check on Micky.”

“I wanna ride Goat back,” Haley said and jumped off the couch.

“Okay, baby.” Weston scooped up his princess when she got close and my heart melted.

If I was Weston’s treasure, Dylan was his father’s heart, and Haley was her daddy’s soul. We all gave something special to Weston and the best part was he not only gave it back but in my opinion he did it better. A day hadn’t gone by that Weston didn’t show me how much he loved me. He’d vowed to make me see what he saw in me and he succeeded. And he gave that to our children, too—they knew without a doubt they were loved.

Genevieve Murray—five years later

“I want a sister,” Lyric announced and I startled.

“Bite your tongue.”

“Why would I do that?”

My six-year-old looked at me like I was crazy, when the reality was she was the crazy one and if she said that in front of her daddy he’d start talking about having another baby. Three kids were plenty—two wild boys and an even wilder daughter more than enough.

“Because your mama’s done having kids,” Bobby helpfully explained.

“But I don’t have a sister,” Lyric complained.

“Rory, Joss, Holly, Paisley, Haley, Lola, pick one and pretend,” I offered.

“Rory’s leaving,” Lyric pouted.

“Don’t remind me,” Macy groaned.

I looked over at my friend sitting on the next bench over, then I glanced around the yard.

A big family celebration for Rory. Her eighteenth birthday party—everyone was home, even Zack, Mandy, and Caleb. Though it was an easy drive for Mandy who only lived a few hours away in Virginia with her husband and son. Caleb was a little farther in Georgia. He was finishing up his engineering degree and would be moving back to Kent County soon, making the commute into DC for work. He wasn’t married; as the guys had explained he wasn’t ready to settle down. Translation: he had a slew of girlfriends, something that drove his mother, Macy, insane. But Caleb was being smart; Alec had shown him the way, and Caleb wouldn’t settle for anything less than his dream girl.

That thought led me to think about how Alec had reacted to his baby girl Jocelyn’s first date. She was thirteen, which was too young for real dating but the boy she liked had been allowed to come over to watch movies. Joss called it a date. Alec called it two friends watching TV. Macy called it cute. I agreed, Joss growing up and liking boys was cute, and would be until Lyric noticed the opposite sex; then it would be a pain in my ass. To say Chasin was a tad bit overprotective was an understatement.

Though in this family that was par for the course. Holden acted as if Faith and Paisley were the two most delicate creatures on earth. Nixon felt the same about Holly. Weston about Haley. Jameson about Lola.

Bobby was lucky she and Jonny only had boys—Daxton and Jett.

Not that the others didn’t have boys, too, they did. Weston had Dylan, Holden had Ian, Nix had Wyatt, Alec had Oliver, and Caleb of course.