Filed To Story: The Lingering Kiss of Farewell Novel
She sat and went through many of her photos of the twins, which most were just the twins, because she was behind the camera. There were a few selfies of her and them. She knew that his parents wanted one of the three of them together. She’d yet to sort that out, but seeing Calvin with the boys today and the way he was, the way they were.
He’d just accepted them. She’d not really known what to expect on that front. They’d only had a contract marriage, and though she’d loved him, she didn’t get that from him to her, regardless of all she’d seen in the things Wil had given her. She didn’t feel it at all.
She shook her thoughts of Calvin off and focused on the task at hand, and wondered if she should take a new picture of the three of them together for Kay. Marilyn did recall the family mantle in Kay’s house. It had all her children’s wedding pictures and then ones of the grandchildren as well, all there. There had even been one of her and Calvin on it. Kay had insisted on Calvin producing one once she’d found out that her only son had gotten married without telling anyone.
She’d also seen all the pictures come through and printed them out for the boys and had been very happy to see that Calvin’s sister Cheryl had a little girl named Heather. His sister, as far as she could recall, had been. told it was unlikely she’d have a baby of her own. Something she and her husband wanted. It had, it seemed, taken a decade, but there she was a little girl, and she had her mother’s eyes and her father’s curly hair. Was likely to be considered a miracle baby, she thought absently.
She called the boys to her after printing out a few photos on her own and then asked them which one they wanted to send to their grandma. They looked at her questioningly. “Wil told me that’s what she’ll want to be called.” She lied to them. She just recalled that was what Kay went by with Bligh and Brighton was all.
“All of them,” Vin told her with a smile. “Grandma will love them all.”
“Just pick one,” she’d stated, and both boys pouted up at her, to which she chuckled softly. “How about a compromise then, why don’t we go through all the photos on my laptop, of you two growing up and put them in a photo album to give to your grandparents for Christmas. A present from you to them.”
That had made them smile big up at her. “One for dad too?” Cal had asked right away.
She thought about it for only a moment and nodded. “I don’t see why not if that’s what you want.” She told them. “Come on, how about we go out and buy those albums now? We got time before all the stores close.”
She stood and watched the boys um and ah about which albums to buy. They didn’t want them to be the same, and they couldn’t seem to make their minds up, so she stepped in and helped them in the end. Picked a neutral coloured album with the word Family, embossed on it inside a white box with white embossed flowers and leaves around that box. Simple but pretty, and she’d thought Kay would like it.
Calvin was a different matter altogether; she’d never seen a single photo album in his hand that wasn’t at his parents’ place. All his achievements were framed and on the walls in his apartment’s office, or inside the head office at C.R. Technology. She’d never had one either, saved everything to the cloud, but never printed a single one for the house.
She opted for something simple and professional looking, slate grey with a place for a picture to be slipped into the front. She’d put a picture of the twins there. Likely from when they were born as a way of showing whose album it was.
She also picked up more photo paper, and printer ink as well. She had wrapping paper at home and ribbon so that wasn’t needed. She and the boys spent the rest of the afternoon going through photos, printing out which ones they wanted and making sure they were in the oldest to newest order. So that everyone could see them growing up as they flipped the pages.
She laughed at one point. “You can’t fill it completely.”
“Why not?” came the reply.
“Where will new photos of you go if there’s no room?” She’d smiled at them and had seen them think about it and then nod “How about 20 or 30 pictures and then that will leave plenty of room for more photos to be taken in the future.”
They’d agreed and finished working on their grandparents’ photo album first. She’d neatly wrapped it and tied with it. a white bow around it while they were making their own Christmas cards to go
She’d place a picture of the twins co-sleeping in little white and blue knit blankets from when they were just a few days old. In the front of Calvin’s album, and waited for them to come and choose what photo’s they wanted to put in his.
She’d had to stop them from putting pictures of her in that album, because they did try to, wanted to put one of the three of them on that very first page. She’d stopped that only to have Callum stated “But mum, we’re a family.”
“You two and I are a family, and you two and Calvin are a family. He does not need pictures of me,” she’d stated.
“But he might like one of us all together,” Vincent stated, trying to get her to put one in there as well.
“Boys, this is an album about the two of you growing up. Not about me,” she’d countered.
“But mum.” They’d both looked up at her. “Grandma wanted one of all of us, so dad would too.”
“He’s never asked me for that,” she countered once more.
“You didn’t ask him if he did.” Callum replied right back.
“Not going to happen, boys. This is your gift to your father. Let’s just leave it as pictures of the two of you alright.” And they’d frowned but let it go, and she’d told them to make cards for their dad as well. Which had made them happy and distracted them as she’d wrapped that album.
Her boys were happy today. They’d gotten to meet their father, and now were making gifts and cards for him, happy because they were actively being allowed to interact now, and they knew he was going to see them on Christmas Day, something that they both also wanted.
Marilyn got an updated schedule for Calvin later on that afternoon and shook her head at his having penciled in the trip to Virginia for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. She showed it to the boys, it read “Christmas with my sons.” and they were even more happy and excited about him going to be there for three days.
Typical excitement for seven-year-old boys, she thought. Today was the first day of their winter break, and it had been a happy one for them. They also had no more school until the 3rd of January now and were free to stay up late.
She thought about the timing of this new schedule and just how that could work for her. It said his flight would leave at 5am, which would be 6am here, and they’d be up in the air for a solid four hours. That could work for her. She didn’t think he checked that app as often as the boys did. Especially seeing as that he could text them anytime he liked and talk to them at will, the phone also never moved.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.