May your walls know joy; may every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility. – Maryanne Radmacher Hershey
“Reese!” Cooper called from the front room of the main house. “Reese!” he called again, moving deeper into the house and heading for the laundry room just off the open concept kitchen. “Damn it, Reese!”“I keep telling you, call me JD. Reese is my dad.” He replied as he screwed in the last anchor for the shelves above where the washer and dryer will go. “I’m not used to answering to it, yet.”“Yet?” Cooper chuckled as he propped his shoulder against the door frame. “You act like you haven’t had the name your whole life.”He was a few inches taller than JD and had short dark blonde hair and pale green eyes. Having been a linebacker in high school, he was bulkier than JD was. The deep tan of his skin and dark lines of his tattoos only seemed to emphasize his muscles. Today he wore jean shorts and a dark gray tight Under Armor T-shirt.“I haUS Navy Seabees – We build, we fight.“That son of a bitch!” The chief muttered with a grin as he looked past the sailors that were cleaning the equipment parked in the large hangar. He gave a small shake of his head as a rare smile crossed his face. “Owen Reese! You sorry fucker! What the hell are you doing here?”Reese laughed as he approached Chief Pollard with an arm lightly slung around Dean’s shoulders. “You salty old bastard, they haven’t kicked you out yet?”“They did, but then they realized that I knew everything and brought me back.” The gray-haired man replied as they shook hands. “This cannot be little Denise.”“Hi, Chief.” She smiled at him as she discreetly looked past him, and her eyes landed on JD.“Damn, girl.” He pulled her in for a hug and she accepted it from the man who she only vaguely remembered. “I’m sorry about your momma.”“Thanks.” She whispered and blinked back tears as he let her go.“So, Chief,” Reese said as he turned them so that their backs were both t
Selecting a wedding dress is more than just a fitting… it’s a process – a memory in the making. - Olivelli Cape TownReese woke up and found himself alone in the large bed. He rolled out of bed and found his sweatpants where he had dropped them before crawling into bed the night before. If his wife was downstairs in the kitchen making more cookies, he was going to haul her deliciously plump ass back to bed.Bypassing the house shoes, he was grateful that the company here agreed to the radiant heating in the floor, he headed to the door and then down the hall. He peeked into the nursery where all four babies were sleeping soundly. Then he continued his way down the hall towards the faint light that was coming from the floor below.Approaching the stairs, he heard the soft voices of the women. “Dad lived in barracks the whole time.” Cheryl laughed. “Drove a god awful old beat-up pick-up and squirreled away the majority of his check.”“But it paid off for him.” Bun
If it wasn’t for each other, I’m sure a lot of us would have gone crazy. That’s where the cohesion comes in. We were brothers. – Clancy LyallThere was a loud pinging noise that preceded the screen of JD’s phone lighting up the dark room with double bunkbeds. There were a few grumbled complaints from his bunkmates as they were drifting back to sleep it did it again. Again, they voiced their complaints, but not too loudly. They had all received messages in the middle of the night from time to time.Cooper was notorious for getting messages from women who had names in his phone such as Gayle – wholesome and Christina – Blonde, tits, waitress, freaky and some were more descriptive. A few even had emoji’s to depict everything the women were willing to do. Or had done.The occasional ping was soon replaced by pings going off back-to-back and the phone screen never going dark. “What the fuck, man?” Cooper asked as JD’s phone dinged with another message. “Tell your gi
Well, maybe a tired bunny could sleep in a bed… just this once. – Just Go To Bed by Mercer MayerDean 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.O
It’s not what’s under the Christmas Tree that matters … it’s who’s around it. – Charlie BrownReese grunted an objection as Helen slid out of bed at an hour that was way too early for him to be awake. A year ago, he would not have thought twice about staying up all night after working at one of his clubs. There were many days that he would close a club in the early hours, go work out and run a half marathon around the park, stop at the job sites, have breakfast with a few of his princesses and check in at the office before finally heading to bed.Now he was quite content to let someone else close his clubs. He still got in a daily workout and runs and had even done the local Jingle Bell Run before they left Morgan City for the holidays. His foremen and site managers still checked in with him daily but were glad that he no longer started the workday on site. Most of his meals were with Helen and the triplets, Dean and Gigi joined them most mornings and evenings. And he s
What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet. – Anne FrankThis New Year’s Eve was completely different from the one a year ago. No one was in the hospital. There were no wives or stepmoms trying to escape an abusive relationship. As far as they knew, Cheryl was the only one that was pregnant. Although they all teased Jolene and Dean. Both took the good-natured ribbing in stride.“Come on,” Bunny grinned as she poured more champagne into her flute. “It seems that we can’t have singles. Even our little princess had to share her birthday with three others.”“It’s going to have to fall to you.” Dean nudged her new sister-in-law with her shoulder. “I’m not even out of high school. O would probably kill me.”“Without a doubt.” Reese agreed with a smile. “Although, I am partial to all of my princesses. I might just make JD disappear.”“Bury him in a concrete foundation?” Jaxon suggested.JD shook his head and
I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source. – Doris DayEarly on Saturday, February fourteenth, Monster was curled up behind Dean. Since JD had left, the dog had not slept in his room. Then his girl and the rest of the family had been gone for a week and a half and Monster had to stay with Gina.Monster loved going to Gina’s. His mom and two of his sisters lived with Gina. And there were always treats. His favorite were the homemade treats from the dog bakery café that also served dog friendly ice cream.But what he loved more than all the treats in the world, more than all seven flavors of ice cream and more than all the ear scratches and belly rubs that his Helen could give him with her nails, was his girl.From the moment that she walked through the door after swim practice until she left for school the next morning, he didn’t let her out of his sight
Society has placed a taboo surrounding periods and menstrual health as if we should be ashamed of this natural and miraculous process that ultimately kept the human species alive. – Tracy LockwoodHelen had agreed to have lunch with Cheryl after her morning lecture. Walking into the lecture hall with stadium seating, she had expected to see a female version of Indiana Jones. Floppy hat, khaki pants and loose fit shirt covered by a dirty brown vest and hiking boots beat all to hell. Maybe even a whip at her hip.The professional woman in a dark purple skirt suit and knee-high black boots was nothing of what she had anticipated. Cheryl sat on the large black table at the front of the room. There were three screens behind her with a mural of caveman life projected on them. Curiously, there were two stationary bikes by the long table. One at either end. A small table sat next to each one.The overhead lights were dim, giving just enough light for the students to see as