Chapter 38

The rest of the party went smoothly, though for the rest of the party when she wanted a break, Josiah went with her to make sure she didn't get lost on her way back. She didn't mind in the least. Though when the party ended, she said goodbye to all of their guests then when the last left, she had a long sigh of relief. She looked around at their house and felt bad for the housekeeping staff. It would take a day or two for them to restore the estate to the normally tidy state. Josiah led her upstairs to their bedroom for them to take their showers for bed.

"Are all of these parties so.....populated?" Rossalyn asked him as they went up the stairs and she couldn't hide the wariness in her voice.

"Generally the gatherings are smaller, but a party like this happens a couple times a year. This was a special event since it isn't every year their boss gets married." Josiah said.

"Well, I'd assume not." Rossalyn said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry, we won't have another big gathering like this until between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will have a gathering that more or less celebrates both so everyone will be here for that." Josiah said as he opened the door to their bedroom for her to lead the way in.

"Oh, good. We have around five months before that happens." Rossalyn said and internally she calculated that would be a good time to announce the gender of the baby if she was pregnant.

"Yeah, plenty of time to prepare and plan. We wouldn't have it here because it would be too cold for everyone to be outside and we have a large house, but not large enough to support that many people." Josiah said.

"Where do you normally have that kind of gathering?" Rossalyn asked curiously.

"Normally, I reserve a couple ballrooms at a hotel I own in New York. We'll travel there for the occasion a few weeks ahead of time. Then that way there is plenty of rooms for everyone to stay a few days and have plenty of time to visit." Josiah answered casually.

Rossalyn drew up short at that and looked at him shocked. They'd spend at least Thanksgiving in New York if he was talking a few weeks. That meant unless they paid to have her brother and his family brought there, she'd miss the holidays with them for the first time in years. She didn't even know where to begin with that thought.

"What? Something wrong?" Josiah asked with a frown seeing her reaction to his words.

"So I'll have to miss at least Thanksgiving with my family unless we pay to have them brought up there for the occasion, or if they don't want to travel across the country for the holiday." She said, sounding almost indignant. "It just took me off guard. I never even contemplated the thought of what the holidays would mean when I agreed to marry you."

"I don't have a problem with them coming to New York for the celebration. They're family and not completely in the dark about who I am, Rossalyn. You're married now, it is to be expected that your normal holiday traditions might change a little to accomodate your husband." Josiah said, his tone suggesting her tone was uncalled for.

"Well, you could think about being more accomodating to your new wife as well." She said stiffly, but went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her so that the conversation died there.

Josiah watched her walk away, a little flabbergasted at the reaction he received from her on that topic. She didn't often get stubborn with him, or even display temper so he chalked up the reaction to a long day of being overwhelmed and exhaustion. He went out to the balcony and took a seat while he waited for her to return from the bathroom. When he heard her wandering around in the bedroom once again he went back in and took his turn for a quick shower. She was already in the bed and asleep by the time he came back out. He watched her for a moment and smiled to himself. He had to remember that not everyone was used to the things that were ordinary for him. She had been so calm and levelheaded about everything so far. He climbed into bed and pulled her into his arms. He'd grown to really enjoy holding her every night. He knew that there may be times that he has to spend the night away from her and he already dreaded those nights.

The next morning when they woke up, her temper was completely recovered. They went about their normal routine of getting dressed and headed down to the dining room for breakfast. It was waiting for them when they arrived, almost as if the chef had noted what time they got up that morning and knew exactly how long it would be before they arrived because the food was still steaming as if it had just been placed. For all Rossalyn knew, that was exactly the case since the whole estate was equiped with security cameras.

They ate their breakfast in comfortable silence for a while before Josiah decided to broach the topic from the night before that seemed to anger her. "What would you like to do for the holidays, if what I normally do for the whole family displeases you?"

"I'm not saying for us to not do what you normally do, but maybe you could compromise a little. Instead of us spending weeks up there, we go up after Thanksgiving. We'd still get a couple weeks up there, but I don't want to miss the holidays with family, or drag them all the way across the country to celebrate with us. She has two toddlers and even when Roger has his shit together, he isn't the most involved father. You may not realize it, but traveling with children is exhausting." Rossalyn said, though she didn't meet his eyes.

"I'm sure we could make that work. It would mean some of the planning happening over the phone, but that isn't an impossible request. You're absolutely correct, you shouldn't have to be the only one to compromise on things. In this request you're not even asking for a big change, just to spend a little less time away and that isn't unreasonable." Josiah assured her and at her smile he felt sure he made the right decision. If that was all it took to make her happy and avoid a conflict for them, he'd gladly spend a little less time away.

Rossalyn as a little shocked at how easily they reached that compromise. She remembered planning their wedding how often they had butted heads about everything. It took a ridiculously long time to come to any agreements on most of the details. That spoke about how much they'd grown as a couple from the time they met until that point. "Thank you." She responded and felt the atmosphere between them lighten as her tension she didn't even realize she'd felt at the topic being brought back up. She'd prepared herself for a fight, but it never came.

"I've got to do some work for a while before I get ready for the party later this evening. You going to be good?" Josiah asked as he finished his breakfast.

"I promise, I won't start any riots while you're otherwise occupied." Rossalyn assured him as she leaned back in her chair holding on to her coffee cup.

"Good, I do dislike dealing with riots." Josiah responded then got up from the table. He kissed her forehead before leaving her to own devices as he headed to the office where Brad and James were waiting for him.

"Good morning." Josiah called as he entered his office and found Brad and James sat in the arm chairs across from the sofa in the seating area of his office.

"Morning boss." They called in unison, watching him come around and sit on the sofa and cross his right ankle on his left knee.

"What have you guys seen about our new friend?" Josiah asked, referring to George and his men.

"He came into town last night. They're staying at the hotel, as you'd previously suggested. They haven't left the hotel since checking in." Brad said.

"Good. I like knowing where he is when he is here. I still do not believe that he is being completely honest about his intentions." Josiah said.

"We've been digging into his life and motivations as discreetly as we can. So far we haven't came up with anything. From everything we've seen, he seems to be sincere. But we have also learned to trust your instincts." James said, sounding a little frustrated at his inability to find anything helpful.

"We will just keep looking into everything until we are sure or we find out what he is really up to. Until then, we will be nice." Josiah said the last with the deepest sigh of frustration he had ever uttered.