Chapter 184 - Christmas Eve
*Well, maybe a tired bunny could sleep in a bed… just this once. – **Just Go To Bed** by Mercer Mayer*
Dean looked at the ring on her left hand and couldn’t help but smile. JD knew her so well. She loved her skull and would not want to replace it. Even if it meant that she was now Mrs. Jonathon Daniel Reese.
Sy had done the wedding ring by himself and to JD’s specifications. Her pearl that was carved into a skull with tiny emeralds in his eyes was now encircled with a silver wreath with tiny white and black diamonds flashing.
It wasn’t big and gawdy like some would expect with who her uncle was. But if anyone truly expected that, they did not know Owen Reese at all.
He was well known for spoiling the women in his life. He took care of his employees. Protected his friends. Supported other local businesses.
Sure, she had heard the rumors about him. And yes, he had a few former employees that were now incarcerated. There were some felons and parolees on his payroll.
Owen Reese believed in giving second chances.
He also believed that you needed to work for what you have.
Which meant that although he probably paid Sy for the ring, JD probably worked his ass off for it. She was thinking about this as she still looked at her ring when strong arms slid around her waist.
“What are you thinking about?” JD asked against her ear. “Mrs. Reese.”
“Well, Mr. Reese,” she smiled as he kissed her neck, “I was wondering how you paid for the ring.”
“Sweat equity.” He admitted before he took her by the hand and walked her through the house and showed her everything that he and his new friends had worked on.
As he walked through the living room to take her to the laundry room, he smiled at his mom as she sat on the couch curled up against her own husband. JD hoped that when they were the same as the other couple, they were still just as in love as they were now.
Helen watched her son and new daughter-in-law through her lashes as she fought off the nap that she had been fighting against all afternoon. Dean still wore her wedding dress and the blue shoes that JD loved so much. Most of the other sailors had already returned to base with the promise to return tomorrow to have Christmas dinner with the family.
“What are you thinking?” Reese asked quietly.
“Are you afraid that they’re too young?”
“No.” he gave a little shake of his head. “It’s still going to be quite some time before they can really start their lives together. But for now, she knows he means it when he says that he’s coming home to her.”
“But what about her school?”
Reese smiled as he tipped Helen’s face up to give her a kiss. “Southern Miss is only about an hour away north from here and they have an art program. There’s also Tulane over in New Orleans, about an hour west, and that’s one of her top choices. Her mom went there for pre-med and her doctorate.”
“But how long will JD be here?” she asked, thinking about all the stories she’d heard about people moving frequently with the military.
He chuckled lightly and tucked some hair behind her ear. “The Seabees are only stationed out of two bases now. Here and southern California. There’s several world renown art schools out there. Between you and me, she has the choice of where she wants to go. Or not go.”
“You don’t think she’ll go to college?”
“I think, as long as she can make a living with a paint brush in her hand, she’ll be happy. And that she can do anywhere.”
“Have you heard anything about the mural contest?”
“She’s one of the finalists, but the decision is not being announced until the January city council meeting.”
“I’m just not ready for my kids to be grown. You know what I mean.”
“I do. I have one that’s planning a wedding and three that haven’t even started crawling. And a grandbaby.”
“Shouldn’t the babies be up by now?”
“They are.” He reached over and grabbed the grabbed the baby monitor screen that was turned away from Helen to keep her from constantly watching it. Turning the dial on the side, the bottom floor was soon filled with Wayne’s voice reading a book about a little boy who did not want to go to bed.
Helen smiled at the small screen. “He said that his mom used to read that to him every night. She read it to all of her kids so much that she can now read it to her grandkids without the book.”
“Did you have one?”
“A is for apple, shiny and red. B is for boy who stands on his head.” Helen laughed as the words from her kids’ story book fell from her mouth.
Reese chuckled. “Cheryl always went *Where the Wild Things Were* every night. I’m pretty sure that she tried to build a ship in her bedroom to float across the river.”
“Oh gosh, I hadn’t even thought of that book in years.”
“Heather kept each one of their favorite books for when they had kids. Grayson was the first of them to have kids and he got his.”
“This is going to sound weird and a little … ummm, strange.”
“How do you read to a deaf baby?” Reese asked with a grin.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not trying to be mean, but yeah?”
Reese gave a little laugh. “At first, they didn’t know he was completely deaf. Then Billy died and that got pushed to the back burner. It was probably a year or so before they figured out he was deaf. He would always lay his head against your chest when you were reading to him. It’s the vibrations, he could feel the vibrations of your voice.”
“I’ve heard about that.”
“You should hear him play the bagpipes.”
“What?” Helen asked in surprise as she turned back to face her husband.
Nodding, he grinned and placed the monitor back on the coffee table. “Again, it’s the vibrations. Bagpipes have a lot of vibrations. He loves Metallica and Rage Against the Machine. He’s been to several concerts for both.”
“That’s cool.” Turning, she settled back between his legs and leaned into his chest.
Wrapping his arms around her, Reese kissed the top of her head.
“Jolene likes the hard metal music like that.”
“I’m trying to picture you in a mosh pit.”
Shaking her head, Helen laughed. “I’ll stick to Enya and Evanescence.”
“I’ve seen Nickleback in your playlist.” He teased her lightly and she shrugged. “At least I missed the boyband and K-Pop phases.”
“Mine skipped both of those and either went to Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline or Powerwolf and Gloryhammer.”
“Those sound like Neo type bands.”
“What does?” Neo asked as he and Jolene walked in after taking a stroll along the beach.
“Powerwolf and Gloryhammer.”
“Hell yeah.” Neo agreed.
Jolene sang one of her favorite songs, *Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend* as she sat on the arm of a chair.
“Where’s the happy couple?” Reese asked.
“They were headed for the guest house, discussing whether JD was going to wear a belt or a necklace.” Neo shook his head. “I probably don’t want to know – never mind. Wedding night. Yeah, he better wear a necklace.”
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