Winter Awakening by Elizabeth Lennox
Epilogue
“No, you can’t have more hot chocolate,” Mack replied, ignoring the pleading eyes of his dark haired daughter.
“But Momma said–”
“Momma isn’t here,” Mack interrupted Lucy. “And you know good and well that Momma wouldn’t let you have more hot chocolate either. Especially since you didn’t eat your peas last night.”
Lucy squinched up her nose in disgust. “I hate peas.”
Mack leaned closer, kissing Lucy’s chubby cheek. “I do to!” he whispered. “I threw out the bag of peas.”
Lucy looked excited for a moment, then sighed. “She’ll just buy more.”
He squeezed her slightly. “The only reason she got the peas last time is because I wasn’t able to do the shopping, honey. I was working that big case, remember?”
Lucy leaned her head against her daddy’s shoulder. “I don’t like it when you work late, Daddy.”
Mack looked around, searching the crowds for Kate. She shouldn’t be hard to find. All he needed to do was look for a waddling energizer bunny. Kate was six month’s pregnant with their second child, but refused to give up the running of the monthly festivals. Eventually, she’d have to allow one of her two assistants to step in, but Kate loved her job and was going to hold onto control of these weekend festivals until the last possible moment! Even after Lucy was born, she still checked in with her staff every other day until Lucy started day care.
“Do you see your Momma?” he asked.
Lucy looked around, keeping her chubby arm wrapped around Mack’s neck
“She’s over there!” Lucy said, pointing towards the fried pickle stand. “She’s doing that gross ketchup thing again.”
“Oh no,” Mack groaned.
“Yeah,” Lucy sighed, putting her hands on each of his cheeks and looking into his eyes. “Be nice!” she said, mimicking her mother.
Mack chuckled, because it was a refrain that Kate used several times a week. “I’ll be nice,” he promised, carrying her over to where Kate stood, clipboard tucked under her arm while she ate fried pickles with ketchup.
“Aren’t you being just a little bit cliché?” he asked, leaning forward to kiss her.
Kate paused long enough on her salty-sweet binge to return his kiss, then snuggled with Lucy. “How are you, sweetie?”
“Daddy won’t let me have any hot chocolate,” she said in a long-suffering voice. Lucy knew better than to use a whiny tone with her parents. That tone didn’t get her anywhere.
Kate didn’t even look at Mack as she cooed, “What a horrible, mean Daddy!” she laughed, wiping away the remnants of the last cup of hot chocolate from Lucy’s mouth. “He’s still pretty cute though, isn’t he?”
“I am not cute!” he growled, looking around to make sure no one else overheard his wife maligning his masculinity.
“I think you’re cute,” Dean announced, slapping his partner on the back. “Hey Lucy. You think your Daddy is cute, don’t you?’
Mack turned to glare at his partner, who was holding both of his sons in his arms. They must have been doing something naughty since both of them were upside down at the moment.
“Yes. Daddy is cute!” Lucy chimed in. “And you’re cute too,” she added to Michael and Martin, or Mayhem and Manic, as Sylvie and Dean called their two boys.
Both of them stopped their squirming to stare at Lucy with horror. Then the boys began the gagging sounds they always made whenever a girl said something nice to them. Or if they saw their parents kissing. Or just because they enjoyed barfing sounds. That recently happened at two thirty in the morning. For some reason, the boys woke up and decided to have a barfing-noise contest. Freaked Dean and Sylvie right out of their beds, thinking that their children were sick only to discover them laughing.
“Who’s cute?” Sage asked, joining the group. She bent over to tickle Michael and Martin, both of whom stopped fake barfing and started giggling again.
“Where’s Arik?” Dean asked, shifting his hold on his sons’ ankles for a better grip.
Sage turned slowly, her eight month pregnant body not as spry as it was prior to pregnancy. “I think he ran back to the truck to get a chair for me.” She sighed, resting her hands on her enormous belly. “He’s always trying to get me to sit down, when walking is actually better for me at this point.”
The men looked dubious. Kate turned and offered her pregnant friend a fried pickle with ketchup. “They’re delicious!” she said around a mouthful of the foul concoction.
“Oh yeah!” Sage said, taking a fried pickle but shaking her head at the offer of ketchup. “Just plain works for me.”
“Sage!” Arik admonished, carrying one of the camp chairs over his shoulder. “You need to sit down, honey,” he said. “Tell me where you want to be and I’ll get you something to eat and drink.”
Sage turned, beaming up at her worried husband. “I’m fine, Arik.”
He leaned against her lightly. “Just…sit down for me, then, okay?” he asked softly.
Sage cupped his cheek gently. “Fine. Let’s find a place in the shade and I’ll sit with you.”
“I’ll join you,” Kate announced.
Mack glanced down at Lucy. She’d stopped wiggling and he realized that she was sound asleep. Amazing how kids could fall asleep literally anywhere, he thought.
Mack looked at Kate and said, “I set up a chair next to our cooler. There are bottles of water in it, iced down with fruit and snacks.”
“You’re awesome,” Sage said, waddling along the sidewalk next to Kate. They sat under the tree and sighed with relief. “Okay, I might have walked a bit too much,” she admitted.
Suddenly, a woman that looked astonishingly similar to Sage sprinted by the group. Jade raced after Peter, her son. He might be only two years old with tiny legs, but that little guy could run. And he loved running. Or more specifically, he loved being chased!
Simon knew his son. While Jade had taken Peter into the festival, Simon had circled back for chairs and a sleeping pad. Because they knew from experience that Peter would crash into sleep and would just tip over wherever he happened to be. It was best to have a soft spot for him to sleep in those situations. But that also meant that Simon came around from the other side of the line of tents. Seeing his son sprinting on his wobbly legs, Simon scooped him up. “Gotcha!” he announced, standing up as Peter laughed, enjoying his game.
Jade stopped, taking in a deep breath with her hands on her hips. “Thanks,” she gasped, shaking her head. “You’re a little devil, you know that?” she told her son.
“Come on,” Simon said soothingly. “The others are over there.”
Moments later, water and soft drinks were handed around. Kate looked around, thinking about that first night when she’d driven up to her mother’s house after her stroke. Coming back had felt right. Now, sitting here with her friends, her daughter, and Mack, the world felt…perfect!
A message from Elizabeth:
If you haven’t noticed yet, my novellas are all starting to lean towards the law enforcement/military genre. This was completely unintentional. I don’t know how it evolved – but there’s just something sexy about a man who is big and buff and protective, right? Not that women can’t protect ourselves – just saying that a protective man is pretty hot!
Anyway, I rely almost completely on word of mouth for my book sales. If possible, would you mind passing a word to like minded readers about my stories? Or share my book releases on your social media pages? That would be truly wonderful!
AND….! I know I’m asking for a lot here – but would you mind leaving a review? Here’s a QUICK LINK to the review page – and I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Reviews are the life-blood of any book’s success. Plus – I read all of the reviews and use your words to improve my stories. Believe me when I say that even the good reviews give me ways to improve my plots!
(If you don’t want to leave feedback in a public forum, feel free to e-mail me directly at [email protected]. I answer all e-mails personally, although it sometimes takes me a while. Please don’t be offended if I don’t respond immediately. I tend to lose myself in writing stories and have a hard time pulling my head out of the book.)
Thank you! Seriously – a big, huge hug for your help in making this book, and all of my stories, a success! I can’t do it without you!
Elizabeth
(Keep scrolling for another buff, protective guy’s story!)
