She shrugged. “Okay. Can I wear this blue make up?” she asked hopefully.
I giggled. “Yes, that’s fine.”
“Yay!” She jumped up and down.
“I don’t have slippers or make up.” Nadia frowned.
“Do they have your size?” I asked trying to prevent another melt down as I picked up the purple glittery make up.
I pulled out my phone.
Blake: Would you mind if I picked up matching slippers and make up for Nadia?
Beth: Not at all. We can pay you when you drop them off tomorrow night. Thanks again for watching them tonight and taking them trick or treating.
Blake: Don’t worry about it! Thanks for watching ours tomorrow night :) We’ll send pics!
Beth: Thanks!
“Found them!” Nadia cried happily as she pulled a pair off the shelf.
I put my phone in my back pocket. “Great! Let’s see if the girls are ready so we can figure out what’s for dinner!” I said gathering up all our purchases.
Thankfully by the time we got to We 7, Drake had dinner ready for us. I was surprised to see Will there. He rarely made any meals with us anymore. He seemed more relaxed than I had seen him in some time.
Drake had made an assortment of appetizers, entrées, and desserts. He said he was having us decide what was going to be on the menu tomorrow night. My mouth salivated at the little wontons, eggrolls, chicken wings, stuffed meatballs, chicken cordon bleus, asparagus sweet potato chicken, jambalaya, and many creative desserts. I couldn’t believe Drake and a few chefs had accomplished this in just 3 hours.
“Why can’t you make this all again?” Jemmy asked as she piled her plate up.
Drake gave her a long-suffering look. “If you volunteer to be in the kitchen, start to finish, we can do all the dishes again.”
Jemmy huffed. “You know everyone would get food poisoning if I cook,” she scoffed.
We all laughed because it was true.
“Maybe if you would try to learn,” Jaxson joked.
“Blah, blah, blah.” Jemmy rolled her eyes.
“One of us has to learn,” Gavin gently ribbed her.
Her mouth dropped open in mock outrage as she turned on him. “I’m not. Take out’s always available, or,” she looked over at me slyly. “We can live with Blake and her connections, forever. We’ll never go hungry.”
“No, nope, not going to happen,” Jaxson said with a wicked grin. “We’ve decided to become nudists.”
I looked over at Jaxson and playfully rolled my eyes at him.
“I think that’s a brilliant idea,” Troy whispered in my ear as he squeezed my upper thigh.
My startled gaze met his. I had just been with Noah, but my body still craved Troy’s touch. He must have seen something in my eyes, because his darkened with desire.
“What’s a nudist? Do I have to become a nudist?” Ella asked in confusion.
All the adults busted up in laughter, much to her confusion. Jace plucked Ella from her chair. “No poppet,” he gave Jaxson a pointed look. “We aren’t becoming nudists. Jaxson’s just…making up stories.”
“I don’t get it,” Ella screwed up her face, before shrugging her shoulders and popping a wonton in her mouth. We laughed again, and she gave us an annoyed huff before continuing to eat.
“I love these egg rolls!” Alex was doing a little happy dance in his seat. Everyone laughed once more, happily latching onto the subject change.
“I do too!” Rachel said, and everyone agreed that it was going to be added to the menu.
It was hard to determine what our final menu was going to be, but in the end, we finally made our decisions. Jemmy, Rachel, and Gavin talked Remy into allowing them to spend the night at his house. They wanted to get a head start on the decorating.
I was blissfully contented shortly after we returned home. We had all ran upstairs to change into our pajamas. I chose the button up shirt that the boys placed on me the night they had cleaned me up and put me to bed. That night left a bad taste in my mouth, but I loved wearing their clothing. It heightened our intimacy. I missed Remy’s hoodie he had given me before. I was determined to get it back and several other articles of clothing from them.
I knew it was Jaxson’s shirt they had placed on me. I had seen him wear the mint green top before. I had laundered it, so it no longer smelled like him, unfortunately; but I refused to give it back to him. I pulled on a pair of white boy shorts to go with them and a pair of Jemmy’s knee high socks.
I giggled at my reflection. My image reminding me of Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Jemmy was obsessed with 80’s movies, so I had become familiar with that movie along with several others. All the guys groaned and moaned when it was her turn to pick a movie, but I knew some of them secretly liked them.
Tonight, we were going to let the kids decide what we were watching. We were going to allow the younger children to stay up for one movie, then put them to bed. It was Troy’s turn to pick, so I imagined we were going to be watching a movie with war in it. He had a thing for anything military affiliated. I needed to ask him about that; I wondered why he had never joined.
I made my way downstairs and saw that I was the last one there. Everyone, including William was seated in the living room. Micah and Patrick were sharing the oversized recliner, talking and whispering over comic books. I made a mental note to get some for Micah. It never occurred to me that, other than clothing, he didn’t really get that many things to call his own on his recent shopping trip. I could see where he could be drawn to comic books. Most of them revolved around people with super powers. It wasn’t too far of a stretch than what we did.
I was surprised to see three monster sized bean bag chairs now scattered in the living room. Noah and Chip were sitting in one of them, laying identically with their hands linked behind their heads and their feet crossed. Ella, Nadia, and Alex were cuddled up like little puppies around one another. Drake laid in another one reading. Jace was uncharacteristically sprawled on the other side of the couch. I rarely saw him in relaxed repose.
Troy patted the seat beside him and I sat down between him and Remy. Remy grabbed my feet and was started working his magic on them. I couldn’t help but notice how big his hands were compared to my feet.
“Do you even have anything under that?” Troy whispered in my ear.
I turned and winked at him, leaving him to wonder. He visibly gulped before he pushed play on the Blu Ray player. Ella left her seat on the floor and curled up on me, leaning her head on my shoulders. I didn’t think she was going to last long with her constant yawning and burrowing into me.