Later on that night, they lay in bed, wrapped up in each other. After coming in from the cold, they'd both taken showers, called to check on Walker, and eaten a dinner of frozen pizza and ice cream while watching a stupid reality show on TV. Mandy relaxed against Dalton's chest and he was content to play with the hair spread out against his pectoral muscles."Do you think we should go pick him up?" she worried, as she grabbed Dalton's fingers one by one, tapping them with the tips of her fingers."Walker?" His voice was deep with the relaxation neither one had been able to have in so long, and maybe a little sleepiness as well.She pushed herself up on her elbow, jostling his eyelids from where they had been almost closed. "Yeah, I mean I feel bad that we've just kind of pawned him off."He closed the gap between them, pulling her back down onto his chest. "We didn't pawn him off. He's with his grandparents, where I'm sure he's having the time of his life," he forced her chin u
Dalton did his best to calm the motion of his knee as it jiggled up and down. The heel of his foot wouldn't rest on the floor as he waited for Mandy to make an appearance. Reaching inside his suit pocket, he grabbed out the flask she'd given him as a gift and took a liberal drink of the Pappy Van Winkle she'd filled it with. It burned going down but it did wonders to calm his nerves.They had decided the first time they saw each other would be before anyone else saw them. She'd been worried about being able to control her emotions and truth be told, he'd been kinda worried about his. Now, he sat in the back hallway of the clubhouse, waiting for her to appear.His mind wandered as he tried to wait patiently. Everyone they knew and loved had congregated outside under tents with plenty of heaters inside to keep everyone comfortable. Thankfully there had been no freezing rain, although the temp had dipped down into the thirties. They were going to be able to pull this off; he knew it d
TYLER & MEREDITHTyler Blackfoot paused as his palm made contact with the metal knob of his front door. Sometimes before walking in, he would take a minute to compose himself and prepare for the craziness that often greeted him.If anyone had told him ten years ago this would be his life, he would have laughed in their faces. Not for the first time, he realized how different his life had turned out, compared to how it began. He'd been a John Doe. Hell, the name Tyler Blackfoot didn't mean a whole lot to him as far as history went, but he'd serve the name proudly, no matter what.But that was neither here nor there tonight. Behind the door were two little kids who made his world go 'round. He was used to dealing with chaos in his life but as the father of a four-year-old daughter and almost two-year-old son, he knew that his kids brought chaos to a whole new level. It had been a rough day at work but he knew that as soon as he entered the house, he'd put all that behind him and fo
Meredith breathed a sigh of relief when she looked at the clock. Nine PM. This time of night was hers and Tyler's alone. Dinner, bath time, and bedtime were done and they could just be with each other.Towel-drying her hair, she had a seat on their bed, exhaling deeply. It'd been a long day, one of the longest she could remember in the past couple of years. Probably since she first started working at CRISIS. With Christmas only weeks away, CRISIS was filling up. They'd taken in more women and children in the last two weeks than they had the previous six months combined. Something about the holidays brought out the worst in some people, and relationships that were on the brink through most of the year hit their breaking point come December first. It was almost as if a switch flipped and there were no more compromises in marriages or dating couples, instead they spoke words meant to get a rise and acted on things meant to hurt.She could understand it. Too many families lived paychec
The first fingers of light were curling in around the edges of the curtains in Tyler and Meredith's bedroom. The soft light was just enough to wake him up. He'd always been an early riser and hadn't had an alarm clock since he was a teenager. He realized that he and Meredith hadn't moved once they'd fallen asleep. His arm had gone numb and he cautiously flexed his fingers, hoping to get the circulation going. Seeing that they hadn't even moved the covers, he chuckled softly. Both of them must have been carrying a lot of tension to be so exhausted they hadn't even rolled over.Reaching behind him, he grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table and quickly scrolled through his contacts, looking for one name in particular. Without disturbing his wife, he sent a text to Drew, telling him they were taking the day off from working out. What Tyler didn't tell Drew was he'd be getting his cardio in, but it'd be by burying himself balls deep inside his woman. They both needed it more than th
The moan she released when Tyler slid home caused Meredith to open her eyes wide and giggle. "I hope I didn't wake the kids up," she tried to whisper, but it didn't come out that way.He smiled tightly, hoping like hell she hadn't woken them up. He wasn't sure he could stop, even if one of them came through the door. "If you did, they might have to wait a few minutes before they come barging in here. I don't see myself stopping, you feel way too good right now."Giving him a saucy grin, Meredith threw down the gauntlet. "A few minutes?""You were the one saying I was an old man last night. Better hope I can keep it up longer than that," he shoved extra deep inside her, causing her to put her hand over her own mouth to hide an even louder moan this time.Sex with Tyler was usually so all-consuming, so loud, so animalistic, that they tried to do it only when the kids weren't around. Neither one of them liked to censor themselves, but today, they both needed to feel one another mo
Tyler enjoyed the quiet of his home for the full five minutes he would get it today. Mer had just packed up the kids and headed to Jagger's to hang with B, while Jagger was on his way to their house, so he could help put together toys. Mountains and mountains of toys.Toys.Something he'd never thought he'd have to deal with in his life. After they'd gotten together, he'd had his five-year or ten-year plans but he'd never believed that he and Meredith would be lucky enough to have children. It still freaked him out slightly. More than slightly. But looking around the living room, he knew he wouldn't trade them for anything. He'd watched as his family drove down their driveway out onto the road, and then waited a few minutes to make sure they weren't coming back before he started dragging out boxes of toys that needed to be put together.They'd gone overboard and they knew it, but at the same time, they both knew Meredith would be able to take the toys the kids didn't play with mu
Meredith rubbed herself up against his side, pushing onto her tiptoes to speak in his ear. He was so tall that she had to grip his shoulders and hold herself up there long enough so she could speak. "We've gotta get them to bed, otherwise we won't have enough time to set out the Santa gifts."Tyler glanced at the clock just over Meredith's head and was surprised at the time. She was right, it was much later than he'd thought it was. "When did it get to be almost ten o'clock?"She laughed affectionately, wondering the same thing. "I have no idea! Between making cookies for Santa, Addie dragging you outside to put out reindeer food, and Caelin coloring a picture for the elves, it's been a busy night."She felt every one of those activities tonight, too. Her eyes were dry and she wanted nothing more than to go lay in bed and take a power nap. She knew they wouldn't be able too, though, because as soon as her head hit the pillow… without a doubt, she'd be fast asleep. Being a parent