Filed To Story: The Lingering Kiss of Farewell Novel
They matched her eyes perfectly, he thought. Simple and not what he would call expensive at all, but he didn’t want her rejecting the gifts from her boys, even though he’d been the one to pick them out, he would have let the boys do it, if they’d been allowed to go shopping with him. He would hopefully be able to do that for her birthday, take the boy to get her something they chose.
She had three dozen pieces of jewellery upstairs that were worth many thousands more dollars than what he’d purchased for her for this Christmas, but he was trying to show her that he’d thought about today, and that she’d not likely get gifts. But that he’d also toned it down, and thought about what the boys might want to get her as well.
He also didn’t want to buy her something so expensive that she wouldn’t actually accept it, tell him it was too expensive and hand it back to him. Simple but pretty and nothing at all like he would have purchased for her when she’d been Marrin. He’d made sure not to do that, not gone to one of the high-end jewellery stores he would normally do.
He had purchased both of them from the jewellery store in the shopping mall. It had kind of gone against everything in him, and he’d had to fight himself on it a bit, but he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable with what he’d chosen. She smiled at the boys and thanked them, and they’d done exactly what he’d thought they would, insisting on her putting them on. She kind of stared at them for a moment and at the boys’ pouting little faces, before nodding and doing so and both the boys hugged her, and stated “I hope you like it. We asked dad to buy you something from us.”
That surprised him, because it was something he’d mentioned in the movie theater if they had a Christmas present for their mum. They’d shaken their heads at him, then when they’d gone to his car with him the next morning he’d asked them about what they wanted to get her for Christmas, had stated ‘if you could get her anything, what would it be?’
They’d thought about it and stated a bracelet and earrings. He’d just followed through only the choice had been his on what to get her. They were, it seemed happy with the choice he’d chosen as well. It was his mother that smiled at her and told her they matched her eyes. That had gained the boys’ attention once more, and they’d looked right at her and the jewellery and smiled “It does mom.”
She was wearing it. That was all that really mattered to Calvin.
It was a lively morning and once those scooters were charged up, the boys wanted to go and ride them. He offered to take them out to the driveway. It was long and there was plenty of room. There was also that path that went around the house and through the gardens for them to ride on.
Marilyn had called out “Helmets.” And the boys had run off to get them and told him they’d meet him out there. His father had walked with him. “I think your boys like you.”
“Me to.” he answered with a smile. “Just got to take it one day at a time.”
“Slow and steady wins the race,” his father stated.
“Yes, baby steps is what Wil calls it,” Calvin agreed. “Getting Marilyn to spend the day with us though, I had to push hard for that. She wanted to just leave the boys with us, and go to the beach for a few hours to give me time with them, without her. It’s not right for her to spend the day alone.”
“No son, it’s not. Especially when we’re all here, but she doesn’t recall anything, so she is probably trying to be polite and respectful of all of us, could feel like an intruder on our day is all.”
He nodded, “I managed to convince her, but I didn’t think I was going to be able to at one point.”
The boys came running round the side of the house and smiled up at him, and turned the scooters on. “Go easy on the speed, I don’t want you getting injured today of all days. And if your mum is worried about that very thing, then let’s not give her a reason to be hey.”
“Okay dad.” They both answered him and then were off. They took it slowly at first, getting used to it, but within just 10 minutes they were racking up some speed and laughing as they zoomed about, all the way down the driveway to the closed gates and back again, many laps of the driveway before pulling up before him “Can we go round the house and through the garden?” he was asked by Callum. Telling them apart was as easy as looking at the scooter colour right this minute.
“Go on, but no riding it in the house and be extra careful around the pool. They won’t survive being plunged into the pool.”
“Alright.” They nodded and were gone off to play on their own.
“They do like calling you dad, don’t they?” his father chuckled, “I dare say Marilyn has not once vetoed it or even tried to stop them from doing it.”
He nodded. “Honestly, it’s a nice feeling, to not only hear the words, but see how much they want to spend time with me as well.”
“You’re lucky son, that Marilyn allows it at all.”
“I know. It could well stem from them never having a family, from herself deep down inside knowing she was an orphan, so she wants them to have that family she never got to have.”
“Could have if you’d not divorced her,” his father murmured.
“Not could have. Would have.” Calvin sighed. “Come on, I know they’re all inside working on prep for lunch.”
“I’m not getting involved in that. Your mother hates it when I get in the way of her pre-planned things and today is just that: She knows what has to be done, and at what time for everything to come together. I’ll just get in the way,” he chuckled “She also likes being in the kitchen cooking with the girls. Reminds her of when they were little, and they would stand around and bake cookies and cupcakes and other things.”
Marilyn
The morning had gone well, and she was helping to prep for lunch. Both Veronica and Cheryl were setting the table in the formal dinning room, not the table she could see from here. They’d loaded up a serving trolley with all the plates and cutlery, something she knew to be quite expensive and never used in her time of being married to Calvin.
She’d looked at the china as it was being loaded and had to bite down on the words “Not that china.” She didn’t even really know why there was china in this house. Had turned away from what they were doing and tried not to think about it.
“Sweetheart, could you get me the salad bowl please?” Kay asked her.
“Yes, mother.” She’d answered without so much as thinking about it. She seemed to have fallen into the way it had been inside that house of Kay’s when she was there. It also brought her to a standstill, and her eyes had moved right to Kay the moment the words were out of her mouth.
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.