189 - Chess Game
189 - Chess Game
Fostering is not about us. It never was and never will be. Foster care is about serving, loving on others, and being the one constant in a child’s life when they are going through a really hard time. - Jeremy Garman
Jolene received a text message from Neo telling her that he had a surprise for her and Sam. When they met up with Philips, he had told them that Neo called to arrange for an early breakfast. Assuming that it was because of her husband’s surprise for her and Sam.
After making sure that Sam was settled, Jolene met her mother and the rest of the princess club at the Cowboy Cabaret. She was surprised to be met by Dean’s half sisters and sisters-in-law from England. They had been unable to come when Dean gave birth, but Reese had paid for their airfare and hotel rooms for the wedding.
Helen knew that they had already arrived, and Dean only knew that they would be coming. Her emotions were still all over the place and Dean burst into tears at seeing the other women. The manager took them to a private room for their reunion.
When they came back out to the rest of the large group, Dean’s eyes were red rimmed from tears, but she was happy. In fact, Jolene did not think that her husband’s wife ever stopped smiling all night. Seeing her happy had made Helen happy and that in turn, made the rest of the princesses happy.
Throughout the night, the women had fun and enjoyed the show and company. Near the end of their night, Helen was pulled up on stage for a personal dance. When she stepped off the stage, she was as red as a tomato with a third-degree sunburn.
Jolene was dropped off at her house well after Neo was in bed. She crawled into bed completely naked and thoroughly horny. As expected, her husband took advantage of both of these facts. He whispered in her ear that Victoria had been restless, and they had to be quiet. It was not until the next morning that she remembered that the baby was at her mother’s house.
Sitting up in bed, she discovered that Neo was already up. A dress bag hung on the hook to her walk-in closet. Walking over to it, she saw the sticky note telling her that she was not to open it until that night. Shaking her head, she pulled on the black terry cloth robe and headed out of the room and towards the stairs.
About halfway down the stairs, she heard laughter and she adjusted her robe covering her nudity underneath. Stepping off the bottom stairs, she was grateful for the thick robe. Neo sat in the living room with her chess board and two boys sitting across from each other. Her husband looked up and smiled.
“Thank God!” He held an arm out to her, and she moved to his side. “I think I have talked them into a mess. How do either one of these boys win?”
She laughed as she looked at the board in front of her. After a moment of consideration, she moved a few pieces of both sides until the black bishop was on the opposite side with the white king knocked over. Jolene settled on his knee as the two boys looked at the board.
“Does that mean that I won?” the younger boy asked quietly.
“It does,” Neo answered and pressed a kiss to his wife’s cheek. “With a little assistance.”
“Can you teach me how to win?” the older boy asked.
“That,” Neo chuckled, “will be a task for my lovely wife, her brothers or their mother.”
“JD?” the older one asked.
“Yes,” she smiled. “He’s my younger brother, Jaxon is my older brother, and Jagger is my youngest brother. My younger sisters are Janelle and Jaina. I also have an older sister, Cheryl, and she has two other brothers, Colton and Colby. What is it with this family and same letter names?”
Neo chuckled, “Not sure, but I’m not doing that. I refuse to have a Victor, Victoria.”
“So, I’m guessing that neither one of these boys is named Victor?”
“Gabriel,” Neo pointed to the older boy and then his younger brother, “and Abraham.” He pressed another quick kiss to her cheek. “And this is my beautiful wife, Jolene”
Understanding clicked with Jolene and she let out a soft gasp. “You’re Sam’s brothers.”
Gabriel nodded as Abraham told her, “Our dad doesn’t like her going by Sam. He doesn’t like us shortening our names. He really doesn’t like Samara using Sam. He says that it makes people think that she’s a boy.”
“And what do you think?” Neo asked.
“That they’re stupid,” Abraham replied.
“Abraham!” Gabriel admonished.
“I’m sorry,” Abraham murmured as he looked down at the floor.
Jolene watched as the protective Dom came out in her husband. Neo gently reached over and placed a knuckle under Abraham’s chin and lifted the young face to look at him. Keeping his knuckle under the boy’s chin, he used his thumb to brush away a stray tear.
“You did nothing wrong. You stated your opinion and answered my question honestly. That is all that we will ever ask for from you. And if you have questions, we will be as honest as we can be. There may be times that we cannot give you a full answer, and we will tell you that.”
Turning to look at the older brother, he lowered his hand, palm up and she linked their fingers together. “That goes for both of you. No matter what, you can always come to us.” Both boys nodded and gave soft yeses. “Alright, let’s go get ready, because we’re meeting your sister for breakfast in about thirty minutes.”
Upstairs, Neo handed Jolene a bag from her favorite boutique. She quickly dressed in the denim shorts, dark read tank top and black lace overshirt. Black platform boots with dark red laces finished off the outfit. Neo wore his typical dark jeans, T-shirt and motorcycle boots, even though he did not ride near as much as he used to.
Both boys wore jeans and the T-shirts that they got last night. Neo had decided that while Sam and Jolene were out with Helen and the other women getting their hair and nails done, he was taking the boys to get new clothes. Their clothes had been restricted and were more of what a young professional would wear, rather than two boys.
Walking into Helen’s Café, he nodded at the hostess as she was on the phone taking a reservation. She waved at them and motioned for them to go on to where the family usually gathered. As they approached Mary’s room, Jolene heard Sam laughing and then Reese’s voice as Victoria squealed.
“Sam,” Reese said as he settled his goth girl on his hip. Turning the teen around, he nudged her towards her younger brothers.
Tears slipped out of her eyes as Sam hugged her younger brothers. Phillips moved over and hugged the three of them. Looking at his boss and his wife, he mouthed, ‘Thank you.’