I wake up to Tyler standing over me. "Morning, sunshine."
"Uhhhhh," I groan in response.
"You're just like my brother. The same guy who woke up with your three terrors."
My eyes go wide. "He could've woken me up," I half whine.
"You looked so peaceful, I decided to let you sleep in for an hour," JC informs me with a gorgeous smile on his face, reaching his beautiful medium blue eyes.
"Thank you, but they're my babies."
"I accepted responsibility for them when I asked you to date me and you agreed," he argues.
I sigh, knowing it's pointless to argue about it. "Was I dreaming or is one of my songs actually going on someone's album?"
"It's happening."
"It feels like I'm dreaming."

Demitryus runs into the bedroom with JC's cell in hand, ringing like crazy. "Thanks, Lil Man. Hello? Hold on let me put you on speaker, Shad." He presses a couple buttons and it goes to speaker. "Run the playback you have so far." I hear my song with Shad and Tyrese's voices singing and rapping the words, along with what they've added. 
"What do you and Sam think?" That must be Shad. "We did that last night. I'm flying home in a couple hours and wanted to know."
"I love it, Shad. It's beautiful. A little different from what I heard in my head, but still beautiful."
"You like it?"
"Yeah, it came out great. I, holy shit, amazing."
He laughs. "Good. Sorry for calling at this hour, but I wanted your honest reaction before I went home for the rest of the weekend. I plan on being back in LA Sunday evening."
"Ok. Could we call you on your cell and three way with Tyrese?"
"Sure. When?"
"Sunday, unless you can set up a time with him to meet at JC's."
"I can get Ty to be there Sunday night."
"What time?"
"Nine good?"
"Perfect, we'll be able to focus better and go into his studio. My kids will be asleep by then."
"Cool, see ya then. I'll call you with Ty's answer and he'll call to double confirm to err on the side of caution."
"Thank you, Shad."
"Thank you for writing it."
"You just started making me believe that my dream of being in the music industry isn't unfounded."
"You just made my next album one track closer to possible."
"You're welcome, Shad."
"Later."
"Later." We hang up with him and I shriek, causing the other three occupants to cover their ears and my two older kids to come running in the room. They stop at the door to look at me like I'm insane.

Mikal speaks up first. "What's wrong, Ma?"
"Nothing is wrong, something is right."
"Dad's gone, we're happy, Josh is nice to us, he helps us, he actually cares, what else could be right?"
"One of my songs is being recorded by two well known artists and will be put on their next album." I can hardly contain my excitement.
I pull out my phone and find a picture of them to show the kids. Aaliyah doesn't miss a beat. "Isn't that the guy you and Sasha would kill each other over?"
"Hon, I have my dream man, Sasha can have Tyrese. His real name is Shad, but everyone calls him Bow Wow." They start jumping around excited as I get out of bed and Josh puts Demitryus down to join his brother and sister. I wrap my arms around his neck as his hands hold my hips. "Thank you for being here to see me succeed."
He kisses me. "I've had my time and you're welcome, beautiful mystery."
"What's with the 'beautiful mystery' nickname or pet name thing?"
"It's a nickname I came up for her the day we met."
"I have got to hear this story." JC tells his brother as we head to the kitchen.
"That's how she became my beautiful mystery."
"Wow, I had no idea she knew things like that. The astrology/Chinese zodiac thing, the other language, and knowing all that jazz. She knew exactly how to get out of a bad relationship, on her own nonetheless. Is there anything she can't do?"
"She says everything she tries either pans out or she's meant to pass it onto someone else in life that she comes in contact with."
"She's how much younger than you?"
"About 9 1/2 years, bro."
"She's got more than enough wisdom and knowledge to make up for the age gap and then a whole factory filled with bags of chips."

I look at JC and he points to two cabinets and a drawer. I find the bowl, cereal and spoon I was looking for. "We talk alot. The past couple days has been all about me learning who she is and her learning who I am."
"At least you're doing it early in the relationship."
"Hey, 'Ler, where are you hiding the milk in the over stocked fridge of yours?" I ask, turning around.
JC smiles. "Two shelves lower than we do. Regular jug. He doesn't like the light block container."
I roll my eyes. "Ok. Thanks." I grab the milk and enjoy my bowl of Apple Jacks. I make sure to put the milk back after I take the first bite, to ensure I don't forget. "I'm so excited. I mean, c'mon, one of MY songs that I wrote myself is being recorded for an artist's album for release WORLDWIDE. I put them out there and it's a piece of me being shown to the world. My honest emotions and oh, god..." I wrote that when I realized how much I love JC! Oh, my God! I have to explain the song to them on Sunday. It's too late to retract the approval.
"What's wrong, baby girl?"
"I wrote 'Lovingly' about you."
"What?" he questions as he blinks and shakes his head for a second.
"The song Shad and Tyrese are recording, it's about you."
"Ok, what does it mean?"
I take the last bite of cereal and wash the bowl as I chew. I start to shake a little bit. "Well, I can tell you that it's all good things," I tell him without looking at him.
"Tyler, can you keep an eye on the kids for a few minutes?"
A few silent moments pass before Tyler answers. "Sure, I guess I can tolerate 'Monsters, Inc' for a little bit." 

I dry my hands on my fleece pj pants and JC quickly comes to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around me. "Baby, look at me. Please? I promise you I'm not mad, I'm just surprised."
I sigh and turn around, making sure to focus my ocean blue orbs on his medium blue ones. "Promise?"
"Promise," he says before gently kissing my lips with his soft ones to seal the promise. "What does the song mean?"
"The one Tyrese and Shad chose, 'Lovingly', is about a person who's in love with someone and hasn't figured out how to express it. It's the inner dialogue they have about how they see that person and what they do for them. How they do everything. 'I may be in love/how do I say it?/I send thanks to the heavens above/everything is done lovingly, every bit/never turning away/always there for me/slowly loving you more everyday/I watch you do every little thing, my heart beats for you lovingly, in many ways' and that's the first chorus."
He pulls me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. "Baby, thank you."
"For what?"
"For loving me all this time. For writing it. For telling me." He grabs my hips and lifts me onto the counter beside the sink to make our eyes level. "Look at me, Sam. You wrote that hoping I'd find it, you put it out there hoping it'd be grabbed by an artist and made into a song, you let it be made for an album hoping I would hear it. I know the meaning behind it and it sounds phenomenal because it's in the right artists' hands. I'll co-produce it, if you want me to."
I nod, calming down. "Yes. I want you to co-produce it. I want nobody else's hands on this track but ours, Shad's and Tyrese's."
He pulls my face to his as we close our eyes and my forehead rests on his. "I will make that clear when they call, ok?"
"Yeah." I know he's standing flush with the counter and i let my arms fall around his neck, my forearms on his shoulders so I can play with the short hair on the back of his head. My elbows sit near his collarbone and we look into each other's blue orbs. He kisses my forehead before kissing my mouth, reassuringly.

He looks at me as he brushes strands of hair out of my face, smiling to prove that he's proud of me for everything I've done in the 8 long and trying months. It's one of those gentle, reassuring, and comforting kinds of smiles. His cell phone rings and he gives me a quick kiss, one filled with pure emotion. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Shad."
"Hey, man, there's one stip to this song."
"What's that? Her song, her rules."
"Has anyone but your hands or Tyrese's been on it yet?"
"No, why?"
"She only wants four pairs of hands to touch the track till it goes to final copy-yours, Tyrese's, her own and mine."
"That's cool with us. It also helps to keep the track under wraps. We plan on seeing you around 9 Sunday night."
"Ok, we'll meet you at my house and work in my studio."
"We'll bring the track."
"Tyrese is still calling?"
"Yes."
"Ok, see you Sunday."
"Later." 

They hang up and he turns his attention back to a very guarded girlfriend. "Baby, relax. Would I make things worse if I told you that the whole family will be at the local veteran's hall for a Thanksgiving gathering?"
My eyes nearly bug out of my head as my eyes meet his. "Um, just a bit." I'm more scared to meet his whole family than I am of him meeting mine because he's better adapted to dealing with people than I have ever been.
He smiles and rubs the side of my face using his thumbs, following my freckles from my nose to my cheeks. "Love, you've already got my mom and my grandma wrapped around your finger by being yourself. You wouldn't believe me if I told you that you're the first girlfriend I've brought home and my mom and grandma have agreed on."
"How do you know they agreed about me? Or even like me?"
"They nodded at me with a smile at the table. Every one of my female cousins, aunts, my grandma, my mom and my sister did last night. They all love you, they're in love with the kids and believe it or not-my dad really reminded me of the lobotomy he said I'd need if I let go, let you walk out of my life, let you leave me."

My phone plays 'How You Remind Me', signaling Kari sent me a text. "Who's phone is rocking that awesome ringtone?"
I smile and look over JC's shoulder at his brother. "That'd be mine," I reply.
"I'll grab your cell, if you want."
"Please, 'Ler?"
"Manners, good taste in music and dating my brother, maybe we can get along after all," he teases as he brings me my cell. "Who's this?"
"Kari is my little cousin."
JC shakes his head. "She isn't so little anymore."
"She's still younger than me, therefore making her 'little' to me." I read the text and laugh. "Fucking Kari." I continue to laugh and send her a text with a picture of the kids asleep on each other in the car. Demitryus is in the middle with his arms around Mikal and Aaliyah and it was too cute not to take the picture. I write below the picture 'Results of eating Gandma C's Thanksgiving grub... They still have tonight and tomorrow to eat it before we're turkeyd out for a whole year!!!'
My cell rings again and she's calling. "Josh's pool hall, LoveBunny speakin'." 
She's on speaker. She busts out laughing, borderline guffaw kind of laugh. "Are you fucking serious?"
"Kari, kids. I thought it would get you laughing."
"That text was so cute! I had to save the pic," she admits.

"Thought you might. How you holding up?"
"It's boring. Come back home."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I still have quite a bit of his family to meet."
"How much?"
JC smiles. I don't thi- "Three quarters of them, after tonight she has to meet the other half tomorrow."
"WHAT?!?"
"Ow!" Kari and JC respond unanimously and at the same time.
"If you're gonna be with her, get used to it."
"I don't think you want to hear my response."
"Try me."
"She's louder in a particular room when we're involved in our extracurricular activity."
"Awww, that's nasty!"
"I said you didn't want to know."
"Anyway, good luck on meeting his family."
JC kisses me and smiles before answering. "Kari, she has the approval of a good portion of women in my family."
"Did she wear a skirt?"
"No, she wore a pair of jeans and one of my shirts, a vintage tee."
"Wow. You'll fit into his family better than your own."

She and I laugh and hang up. I look at Tyler and shake my head. "She's taken and 18." I shoot him an 'I dare you to try' smile. "I wouldn't touch her, unless you wanna sign your death certificate and warrant. I'll be one of the hunters, I've watched enough crime shows to kill you and nobody will ever find any evidence," I switch my smile to a sweet one, overly sweet.
JC starts laughing like a hyena (YouTube-reel NSYNC part 17, most fans know what I'm referring to and yeah I'd watch it before meeting him), uncontrollably. "Are you sure she's sane, Josh?"
This only makes JC laugh harder, making me get closer to breaking my reserve. Yeah, I'm having my bit of fun. JC stops laughing just long enough to look at me and laugh hard enough to have to put his head on my shoulder, draping his arms around me so that his hands are touching my ass. I can't keep a straight face between JC laughing that contagious laugh and Tyler's face being filled with complete terror, causes me to bust out in endless laughter. After ten minutes of uncontrollable laughter and Tyler pulling him away from me to punch him playfully in the arms, chest and shoulders repeatedly, JC finally answers him. "She's more sane than 99.79% of the girls I've come across."
"Then what was that shit about no evidence?"
"She likes to break the tension by fucking with people, literally or figuratively."
"Which one were you?"
"Literally, we fooled around for the first six months."
"I was figuratively fucked with, I take it."

As our laughs die down to occasional chuckles, we confirm Tyler's assumption. I leave JC to tell him how I pissed off Justin, why Chris called me a damn chihuahua, and why I'm so scared. Their parents already know the whole backstory when it comes to me because he told them once I had said he could. I kiss the kids and tell them to behave for JC and Tyler. I tell them I need a shower and walk back to the room. "At the end of the hall, across from the stairs."
"Thanks, babe!" I call to JC, heading for the bathroom. I do my normal shower routine-shampoo, shave, rinse, condition, wash my body and rinse. I dry off and wrap my hair. I throw on my jeans and black Rocawear shirt (I've had it since 08 and it was a hand me down), pulling it down to cover my stomach and butt because it's long enough to be a mini dress. I place my clothes in the corner of my suitcase I reserve for dirty clothes. Time for me to pick on my man. "Here it comes, millennium and everybody's talkin bout Jerusalem..."
"Enough!"
I giggle coming up behind him. "We don't need all these prophecies tellin us what's in sign.."
"Baby, please."
"Kiss me."
"Why should I?"
"I can sing another one."
His body tenses up, knowing I will. "Give me a break, please?"
"Every time I turn around to find my heart face down..."
"That's not one I did."
Tyler thinks for a few seconds. "No, it's Nickelback. 'Feelin Way Too Damn Good'."
"You got your hand on the land mine ready to blow..."
"Who's that?"
"My Darkest Days."
"Name of that song?"
"It's called 'Move Your Body', 'Ler."
"You listened to his bullshit and Nickelback at the same time?"
I pull my iPod out, unlock it and pull up my song list. "You can judge for yourself," I tell him as I give it to him.
"Jackson 5, Janet, Backstreet Boys, my brother's group, him solo, Justin solo, Nick Carter, Aaron Carter, Ja Rule, Tupac, Lady A, Trace Adkins, Toby Keith, My Darkest Days, Ludacris, your taste in music is oddly self contradicting and very conflicted."
"Just like her."
"Is that why she had to mess with me?"

I can't miss out on this one. "I did that for shits and giggles."
"Smart ass."
"I'm sorry if I scared you, but I'd walk away before I'd do anything to hurt anyone."
"Now I know that, after the fact."
"Better late than never."
Tyler rolls his eyes and goes to finish getting ready for the second family get together. "Josh, have you told her where we're going for dinner today?"
"Not yet."
"You should tell her."
I look at him concerned. He shakes his head. "Heather's."
I immediately relax. "I like Heather."
"Here's one you might know-'Only the names will change everyday, it seems we're wasting away, another place where the faces are so cold, I drive all night just to get back home, on a steel horse I ride...'"
JC snaps his fingers, knowing this song. Demitryus chimes in with, "I'm wanted dead or aliiiive!" 
JC continues to finish the song after Demitryus' help. I join in once he gets to my favorite verse, "I walk these streets with a loaded six string on my back, I play for keeps cuz I might not make it back, I've been everywhere and yet I'm standing tall, I've seen a million faces and I've ROCKED THEM ALL!!!" JC finishes the last half a minute or so without my voice and we laugh.
"Did I just hear one of your kids finish a classic rock song from when Josh and I were kids?"
"Yes, my youngest knows the chorus to Bon Jovi's 'Wanted Dead Or Alive'. My oldest knows the chorus to Billy Idol's 'White Wedding Part 1'. My baby girl knows Shania Twain's 'Waiter! Bring Me A Water!'."
"Yeah, right!"
Aaliyah always shows off first. "Something seemed to catch his eye ohh ohh ohh over my shohh ohh ohhlder, I turned around to see what's up, she was new and he wanted to know ohh ohh ohh her, waiter! Bring me a water! I have to help him keep his cool, waiter! Bring me a water!, he's acting like a fool, I tried my best to block his view..."
Tyler tells me to play it and I do. "She missed a couple parts, but for being seven and not in the industry, that's damn good. The boys only know the chorus to those songs?"
"By heart, the rest of their songs they can sing along with."
"Not bad."

"I always have music playing."
JC pulls me backward toward his body and holds me close. "Always music, I swear she needs it like air."
"Better than some needs."
"Like what?"
"Drugs."
"True."

My phone plays Matchbox 20's 'Disease'. "What?"
"Sam, I want to see the kids," he slurs.
"No."
"I have visitation."
"Not after the last time you don't."
"Why?"
"The courts ruled you a danger to me and the kids."
"Open the door."
"How?"
"I know you're home."
"I've been on the opposite coast for a few days already."
"Come on."
"No."
"Stop lying to me and open the damn door!"
"No."
"Open the door." 
"No." I look at JC who's on the phone with LAPD. He's informing them that I'm on the phone with him right now and he's slamming on my apartment door, clearly violating the restraining order.
"I love you!"
"I don't love you."
"Open the door so we can fix this, us."
"There is no fixing it. It's over. We're DONE."
"Don't say that."
"It's been over." I hear him get knocked to the floor and wait for an officer to pick up.

"Officer DeSantos."
"Thank you, Officer DeSantos. He was in direct violation, correct?"
"Yes, miss. He will be fined and go before the judge. Are you in the area?"
"Not until Sunday, officer."
"You and the children are together?"
"Yes."
"You'll be able to come back to your apartment knowing he won't disrupt you for a couple weeks at least."
"Thank you. I believe this was the second time."
I hear a car door open and him radio to dispatch. "Jeffrys, j-e-f-f-r-y-s. Yes, that's the one. Thank you, Officer Mitchell. Yes, this is the second time."
"When should I expect the papers?"
"End of next week. Where would you like them sent?"
I look at JC and he nods, consenting for the papers to go to his address. "To my secondary address, to Joshua Chasez's address."
"Yes, miss. You should have the papers within a week from tomorrow."
"Thank you." I hang up, shaking my head at the situation.
"This is ridiculous. Your divorce finalizes in 13 months unless he proves to be a bigger threat."
"You read the whole thing to me."
He chuckles. "Yeah, you signed away everything but the child support. No alimony, you let him have the apartment and took his name off your account. The child support goes right in that account, directly deducted from his pay. He's not going to have that job by the time he gets released."
"I make enough and I've saved quite a bit in the past couple months."
"Always thinking."
"Yeah, the divorce was originally set for thirty months. His first incident proved that sooner finalization is best. Dropped to 15 and now it's probably going to drop down to 9 months."

He turns me to face him and rests his forehead on mine to look into my stressed orbs. "Let's just focus on spending time with my family, hmm?"
I nod as he rubs up and down on my back, soothing my obviously frayed nerves. "How do you get her to go from clearly seething to entirely cool and calm, like that?" He snaps his fingers to demonstrate.
"She just needs a reminder of what we're doing, who's involved and she calms down. Sometimes she just needs to cry, to be held, to hear my heart beat, to hear my breathing, to hear me talk for a few minutes, to hear my opinion and then she's fine. It's like Demitryus with this f-u-z-z-y blanket because that's his comfort object and my best guess is that I'm hers."
"You have more patience than I would with that."
"I've seen what she's been through in the past 8 months, she told me about what she's been through and we talk as much as we can. She knows my history and she's been good to me. She's a strong woman, mother and girlfriend."
"She has to be strong to put up with you."
I look up to find JC glaring at Tyler across the kitchen. "Can I have a kiss?"
JC's eyes lock onto mine and his face softens as a smile appears. "Of course, baby." 
He obliges and I look between the two of them. "You two make the kids seem like angels right now. Aaliyah Leilani. Mikal Lawrence. Demitryus Colin. Touch it and no privileges when we get back. Thank you. Takes a strong woman to be a single mom and deal with everything I do."
I focus on Tyler, who's dumbfounded as to how I could tell the kids were about to mess with his extensive DVD collection. "But, how, you didn't even, what, you're creepy."
I rest my forehead on JC's chest between my hands and laugh quietly. "It's a mom thing. Your mom still does it."
"Grandma still does it. Now, you need to get your shoes on so we can get over to Heather's," JC says, directing the latter part at me.

I imitate Peanut (Jeff Dunham's puppet) to the best of my ability, "Ok!" He smiles, gives me another quick kiss before I turn away and he lightly smacks my ass playfully. "I'm going, I'm going, jeeze!" I hear Tyler laugh as I grab my shoes from the bedroom, walk back into the kitchen and put them on.
"Why does she do that?"
"What?"
"You don't realize she doesn't put her shoes on in the bedroom?"
"It's something her grandma enforced when she was a kid and now it's just out of habit. I'm used to it. She does it, but doesn't force the kids to do the same thing."
"It doesn't bother you?"
"No, she carries them out of the room, puts em on the floor and gets them on."
"Doesn't she untie them?"
"No, she has them tied so that she can get her feet in and out comfortably and tightens them as they become loose."
"You've learned all this by watching her?"
"I learned some of it by talking to her." 

I check if the kids have their shoes on. "Haon, dó, trí, brógaí," I tell them, touching their heads as I count. They get up, turn the tv off, grab their shoes and the younger ones ask for help with their shoes.
"What did she just say?"
"Tyler, chill. She speaks some Gaelic, French, Spanish and obviously English. That was 'one, two, three, shoes', in Gaelic. She does it all the time."
"What does she speak the most other than what we speak?"
"Usually Gaelic. She curses in French."
"Was she taught or is she learning on her own?"
"On her own and teaching the kids."
The kids start to bicker over who gets in first. I put my hands up. "Dhóthain, stop sé. Tá a fhios agat níos fearr. Lean ár ghnáthamh, thuiscint?" I look at them, meaning every word I just told them.
"Yes, momma," they reply in unison.
"What did you just tell them, Sam?" I look at Tyler who's eyebrows are knit together in confusion.
I smile softly at him. "I told them 'enough, stop it. You know better. Follow our routine, understand?' Which they answered with 'yes, momma'."
"Oh. You're used to this, Josh?"
"I've gotten used to it. I know if it's not directed at me, I don't have to worry. If she tells the kids something and they come to me, they can translate what she said but can't speak it very well. I know a couple phrases and can pick out some words. When she comes to me and says certain things, I follow her body language and tone."
"Is she Irish?"
"I'm Irish and Scottish, so I made the choice to start learning Gaelic to reinforce my heritage."
"You're proud to be Irish and Scottish?"
"Very much so, thuiscint?"
"All set, let's go," JC informs us, picking up Aaliyah.
"Go raibh maith agat, mo ghrá."
"You're welcome, love," he answers, giving me a quick kiss before we head out the door.

"How do you understand that?" Tyler inquires as we load the kids into the car.
"Like I told you just a little while ago, she speaks Gaelic often. I know 'ghrá' is love and that what she said before that is something along the lines of 'thanks'. I've been listening to her talk to the kids in it for somewhere around six months." Demitryus starts to squirm in his car seat to be difficult. I glare at him and tell him 'stop sé'. He let's me buckle him in and Josh is standing beside me, leaning back against the car. "Are you driving or am I?"
"You are because I have no clue where I'm going," I remind him.
He gives me another kiss. "Valid point," he agrees with a smirk.
"Now, we need to get going," I tell him as I get in the passenger seat and buckle up. I look back and see Mikal is unbuckled. "Bubbie, búcla suas."
JC looks around his seat at him. "We're waiting on you, bud." He buckles his belt and we head out to Heather's house, a 20 minute drive away from Tyler's house. "Heather!" JC yells into the house.

"Josh! Tyler! You're cute! Aren't you handsome? I can tell Josh dressed him. You're so pretty! You must be Sam, I'm Heather," she rants. She stands about 5 foot 7, dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes and slender, with curves.
I smile and nod. "Yes, I am. These are my babies, Mikal is the oldest, Aaliyah is my only girl and the little one I'm holding is Demitryus. You like kids?"
"Yes, I love kids. They are so blonde! Their eyes are so blue!"
"Their father and I were both blonde and are blue eyed, ourselves."
"Makes sense then. Come in, get them settled. Then us girls can leave the babies with the boys so we can cook and talk."
"Do you have any Disney movies?"
"I have them all on DVD," she says opening a cabinet to show me.
"What movie?" I look at the kids. They yell out three different movies. "Haon."
"Aristocats," they agree.
"Thank you, Heather." 
"Thank you, Heather," the kids echo.
I point to her floor behind the coffee table. "Suigh síos." They sit on the floor as Heather puts the movie in and starts it. She gets it set up and tells JC and Tyler to sit on the couch. We head for the kitchen and start prepping food to be cooked. 

"So what did you say to the kids?"
"Hmm? When?"
"A couple minutes ago when they were picking a movie."
"Oh, I told them 'one' and 'sit down' in Gaelic."
"Really? It sounded strange."
I giggle. "It's a pretty much forgotten language. It's hardly used."
"Even by the people that live in the area?"
"Yes, even by the Irish and Scottish."
"It's an Irish and Scottish language?"
"Yes, and it's not something that can be easily learned."

"I want to learn something."
I think for a second. "Ná tús."
"Ná tús," she says, fluidly. "What does it mean?"
"It means 'don't start'." I spend the rest of the time we cook and bake teaching her some basic Gaelic. Before we know it everything is done and we still have five minutes to spare. We have cheesecakes (JC told her), pumpkin pie, apple cinnamon pie, turkey, ham, corn, broccoli, carrots, squash, mashed & baked potatoes, mashed and baked sweet potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, apple crisp, homemade breads, rolls, and everything is on the servers.
"When you cook for a holiday or something like that, you don't take it like a joke."
"Thanks. You don't either."
"When you cook for over 40 people, you can't afford to."
"How many are going to be at the get together tomorrow?"
"Over 350 people, cousins and all from both sides, why?"

My jaw goes slack and I squeak. "Joshua Scott Chasez, faigh do thóin i anseo ceart anois!!!"
Tyler laughs. "She usually yell at you in Gaelic?"
"No. Demitryus, what did mom say?"
"Get your butt in there now."
"Joshua Scott Chasez, faigh do thóin i anseo ceart anois," I repeat through gritted teeth, quickly growing impatient.
"I'm coming, baby." He stands in front of me and pulls me to him.
"Oh, just 'some' family?"
His eyes quickly dart to his sister behind me and settle on mine again. "Yes?"
"Josh, 350!"
"I come from a big family?"
"Uaireanta, N'fheadar conas déileáil mé leat. I love you, but you can't spring things like the number of family members are coming to these functions or get togethers. I have to get used to it by what time tomorrow?"
"4:30 tomorrow afternoon. I'm sorry."
"I'm an introvert in groups that big. 40 people, 60 people, I'm fine until it's more than a hundred. Now I'm going to be so nervous and scared."
"The head count for tonight is near-"
"57, Josh."
"Which means you met around 93 last night. That makes up half of the family. You'll be fine because I'll be right by your side." He pulls me in for a hug, just to calm my nerves. "I'm right here for you and I want you to meet my family."
I listen to his words and let them sink in as I listen to his breathing and heart beating. "Just warn me next time."
"I will," he reassures me.

There's a knock at the door, breaking up the moment. "It's probably mom and dad or grandma," Heather assures me, hoping she's right she answers it herself. 
Karen comes I to the kitchen and sees JC holding me as close as he can, resting his chin on my head. "What's wrong?"
"I didn't tell her exactly how many people are in our whole family and now she's anxious about tomorrow," JC explains.
Karen starts to tear into him about having taught him to forewarn people when it comes to the size of the family. I'm laughing so hard to myself that only Karen and Heather can tell, which just fuels their mom to proceed to continue the lecture. Josh pushes me back enough to see that my face is red, explaining my body's shaking. "It's not funny!"
"You're right-it's absolutely hysterical!" I manage to say between laughing fits.
Tyler comes in the kitchen and laughs with me. JC slugs his brother in the arm and his body tenses, showing his irritation about the situation. "She's right."
"Screw you."
"Níos déanaí."
"Sam!"
I start laughing even harder. "You said it and I answered, honestly at that."

He shakes his head as Heather is greeting people as they arrive and JC introduces me to everyone. My head is a jumbled mess with having to remember so many names. "They will send us pictures with everyone's names attached and I put them in an album at home."
"Good. I hope they don't expect me to remember their names by Christmas."
He looks at me, confused. "Why do you say that?"
"It ain't going to happen that fast. It's going to take till 4th of July, at the very least."
He guffaws and side hugs me. "That's fine."
"I love you, Josh."
"Love you too."
We go around the room, serving the kids in attendance before getting our plates and sitting down to eat. "Josh came into the store with your oldest yesterday."
"He did? You're? I'm sorry, I'm bad with names."

"Ashleigh. Yes, he said you sent him for cheesecake ingredients."
"I did and I made the cheesecake you're about to eat is what he bought last night."
"Well, it looks very good."
"Thank you. Do you have a sweet tooth?"
"Especially right now, I do."
"One, maybe two pieces will take care of it. It's a very sweet and addicting dessert."
She takes a bite and looks like she's loving it and in heaven about it. "Can I have the recipe? You probably have Josh addicted to this because as much as I love my cousin, he's got a really bad sweet tooth."
"I know," I tell her.
"Really?"
"In the 8 months I've known him, he has always had some sort of sweet in his fridge, candy on his counter and tables, he even has some in the nightstand on his side of the bed."
She giggles. "Catch him dipping into his stashes?"
I scoff. "I've snuck a few pieces a couple days a month," I quietly admit.
"That explains why my stash has been dwindling faster than before." I look to my right and see him, prompting me to give him a gentle smile.
"It's me or the kids," I point out. 
He nods, agreeing. "I guess I can deal with that."
"It's either that or I make cheesecakes just for me for a week every month and you can't have any."
His eyes widen at the thought of having to see cheesecake in the fridge and not being allowed to have a single bite. "I'll deal with it as long as you make cheesecakes during that week and we share," he says flashing a cheesy grin.
"I think we can do that." He kisses me and walks off to catch up with some other family members of his. "I think I've created a monster."
"At least you have it tamed."
"No, watch, I bet we'll get home and as soon as we leave the damn airport he's going to ask me to make a couple cheesecakes, I'll tell him if he gets what I need to make em, he's going to stop at the store, get everything and head home."
"Then, I agree, you have created a monster. At least it eats food instead of people."
I laugh at her reasoning. "He starts eating people, he's a zombie."
She laughs at my thought. "You've watched the 'Resident Evil' movies?"
"Yup, and seen the games. I prefer the movies."
"What other movies do you like?"
"Freddy, Chucky, Twilight, Harry Potter, just to name some."
"You're all over the place movie-wise."
"And when it comes to music too," Tyler informs her in passing.

JC pulls me over to his newest baby cousin, Mariana. I spend the rest of the night talking to various members of his family before we head back to Tyler's place. We put the kids to bed as Tyler puts the confiscated cheesecakes in the fridge and we go in our bed room. He pulls me to the bed and he sits on the edge of the bed, pulling me onto his lap before planting a sensuous kiss on my cupid's bow shaped lips. "I think you did wonderfully last night and tonight. I bet you'll do just as well, if not better, tomorrow."
"But.. What... If... I... Offend... Or... Upset... Someone... Or... Fall... Flat... On... My... Face... Or... Fuck... Up?" I ask, he steals kisses between each and every word.
"You'll do fine, relax," he tells me, sure of me.
"You always have more faith in me than I do."
"Somebody has to have enough faith for the both of us in the relationship. I trust you're going to be just fine. We just left my sister's house and it's going on 11, we need to sleep and I know you're just as wound up as I am."

At this point I had dropped more weight. Last time I had checked before I got to my mom's, I was 167 two months ago and I'm surprised to have stepped on the scale to find out that I'm down to 143. I'm toned, eat right and beyond active between my routine, playing with the kids and JC. "Josh, 143."
"I think that's cause for more celebration."
I toss my head back in a fit of giggles as his hand runs down my slightly doughy stomach. It's like Britney's on her 'Oops!' album or like Mariah's in her 'Heartbreaker' video. Looks doughy, but you can feel the muscles underneath. He knows how hard I've worked to get to this point, he encourages me and even helps at times. Hell, even his friends have praised me and asked if I'm the same woman they've seen him with. He always laughs and tells them yes. "Everything that calls for celebration leads to my favorite time and activity with you."
He just grins that dirty 'want you' grin. "Then we're on the same page." He roughly kisses me, endlessly, only breaking it when we pull off each other's shirts and my bra. We kick our shoes off and he rolls so that he's standing between my muscular legs, pinning me with my jean clad ass at the edge of the bed. We allow ourselves to moan into each other and our bodies mesh together, sighing and gasping between moans. His hands go in opposite directions, one to my right hip to keep me pinned in place and one to my breast to pinch and twist my nipple. We're grinding, half dressed from the waist down, letting out low moans, groans and grunts. I'm hot and bothered, I want him to do something, anything and now. He masterfully unbuttons my favorite LEI jeans and slides his hand in under my thong, resting his thumb on my clit and placing his middle finger in me. He slowly massages my clit as his finger slides in and out of my aching center, my legs pulling him closer to my body as chills run down my spine and I quietly moan, expressing my desires without speaking a word. His lips travel over my jaw, tracing it's path to the spot barely above the curve in my neck that leads to my shoulder as his hips keep rubbing and thrusting against the crotch of my jeans. I can feel him getting hard, turning me on more. I pin my bottom lip between my teeth as my hands go in different directions, one scratches down his back just to lightly brush back to the top again, the other grabbing his hair at the top of the back of his head. He pulls his hand out of my pants and brings his hand from my hip to my jeans and removes them, my legs unwinding from his waist just long enough to achieve this motion. I sit up long enough to undo his pants and finish stripping him, wanting him inside me. My hand wraps around his shaft, warm and hard, and I slowly stroke him to match his movement. His hands go back to my hip and my core, the latter being barely touched. He slowly settles his hand so that his middle and forefinger massages inside my folds, allowing his thumb to glide over my nub. I begin to breathe faster and he guides me to the middle of the bed, climbing up on the bed to join me. I want to feel him stretching my walls, thrusting in and out as he drives me wild playing with my clit. We both start fiending after a couple days without making love. You'd have to be with him to understand, but I'll explain it as best as I can-it's like how he is about the cheesecakes I make, kind of like an addiction. His member is rubbing my outer lips, starting to make me arch my back to try to point out my desire and clarify it to him. He nips at the skin on my neck in response. 

 "Anois, josh, anois," I whimper.
He has memorized one phrase in Gaelic that I tell the kids about toys and junk they don't need-"Gan anois."
"Josh," I whine.
"Gan anois, mo ghrá."
I half moan, half whine. "Is gá dom duit anois."
He starts to tease me by rubbing the head up and down my slit and rubbing my nub. "You sure?"
"Yes, now."
He slides his dick to my entrance, allowing the head to enter before pausing and dragging out my torture. I wrap my arms around him, pulling his body closer to mine and I gently bite his neck to signal that I'm ready. "You don't want to play our game anymore?" he asks, his warm breath causing the skin on my neck to tingle and get goosebumps.
"No game, make love to me."
"Or make love with you."

"Either one will be satisfying." He slowly thrusts himself deeper and deeper into me center, kissing and biting my neck all the while. My legs hitch around his waist tighter, pulling my body closer to his as he sinks his weight into me, practically melting into one another. His hands fly to my hips, gripping them and pinning me in place as he quickens his pace, pushing up to his knees to hit my g-spot. I want to scream from the pleasure and feeling the upcoming wave of euphoric release, knowing he's going to make me want to kill him. If I get close before he does, he WILL stop long enough for my climax to die down just enough to hold it back before beginning to thrust his hips again. When he does this, it drives me up a wall and is completely worth it due to the euphoric multiplying tenfold, it's enough to make my body weak and shake from the strength behind how hard I cum. It's enough force to make every muscle in my body to clench so tight that it's like a vice set to death grip. He reaches for my hand as he sits back and I sit on top, rolling, dipping and grinding my hips against his as he leans back on the wall. My hands go straight for the wall above his shoulders on either side of his neck, my mouth and teeth kissing, sucking and biting at his neck. His voices his approval through grunts, groans, growls and hisses in my ear. "Anois?"
"Yes."
I roll, dip and grind my hips a few more times before he flips me onto my back again, molding our bodies together again as he rapidly brings us both to our euphoric releases. My hands fly around him, one scratching down his back and barely touching to glide over his back up to the top again along his spine, while the other delves into his hair as my nails scratch his scalp lightly. "Oh, fuck, yeeeeesssssssss!" he groans as his release as mine quickly follows suit.
"Taim ag teacht..." I announce as it hits me like the ocean's undertow, pulling me violently into my wave of euphoric release. "Unnnnnnhhhhhhhhhhhhh, aaaaaahhhhhhh, yyyyyyyeeeeeeessssss!" 

The muscles inside my core tighten to death grip vice, causing JC to hold me closer and pushing in deeper as he fills me with his love juice and mine. He thrusts a few more times to finish my climax, causing my center to drain him of all cum. We lay there, soaked and slick with sweat, just holding each other and he doesn't move to withdraw himself from inside my body. I don't have the strength to unlock my legs from his waist. After a few minutes, he reaches back to pull my legs down and kisses me. He helps me get off the bed so he can pull the flooded comforter off the bed and replace it with a clean one, climbing in the bed with me. He lays back, allowing me to cuddle to him-my leg entangles with his, my head on his shoulder on the edge of his chest, my left hand in his hair, his right arm around my body to place his hand in my hair to scratch my head, his left hand and my right intertwined  at our fingers-and we drift of to sleep from exhaustion and with smiles gracing our facial features, sighing our contentment.