The letters sent from Jason and John Boy were highly anticipated. Jason wrote about how pretty the girls were over here, but none as pretty as Toni Hazelton back home. The family joked about how they hadn't even met this Toni yet. John Boy wrote about how he tried to write the new book in his spare time, but hardly got a chance as he was a journalist in the army now.
They were trying to be as light hearted and fun as possible for the sake of Serena, Elizabeth and Jeffrey, but there was a dark undertone to their words. Emma dreaded the day when Ben would come home and tell her that he had joined the Seebees. He had promised her he wouldn't until Ginny was a little older, but she wasn't so sure he would stick to that.
"Can I hold Ginny?" Serena said softly to Emma as the latter swept the kitchen floor. Ginny was in Elizabeth's arms, Drew sat beside her.
"Yeah, sure. Elizabeth, give her a turn." Emma smiled as Serena took the baby gingerly, her eyes lighting up with excitement. Drew had his arm around Elizabeth, and Emma was almost sure that they would be announcing that they were dating. Maybe they had gotten closer since Aimee left for school again.
Mary Ellen rushed through the door holding John Curtis's hand. She must have just gotten back from work. A strange man in uniform followed her inside. Olivia appeared at the stairs and she moved to stand beside Emma.
"Hello Mary Ellen, who's this?" Olivia asked wearily, smiling.
Mary Ellen glanced at the man. "This man's car broke down. This man," She smirked. "Is named Arlington Wescott Jones the 3d. Otherwise known as Jonesy." After Grandma had a stroke and barely survived while visiting cousins last week, Mary Ellen was slightly more on edge than usual. She had blamed herself for not being there to help.
Jonsey grinned and shook Olivia and Emma's hands. "Lovely to meet you both. I hope you'll forgive me for intruding, but as Mary Ellen said my car broke down and I had nowhere to go."
"Jim Bob can fix your car." Elizabeth called from the couch. "He's basically a mechanic. He's gonna join the Air Force soon."
John Curtis nodded solemnly and stared up at Jonsey. "Are you my daddy?"
Mary Ellen frowned and pulled her son closer as Jonsey stuttered an answer. "No, Johnny, I'm just a friend of your mama's." He said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. Emma guessed that he was about twenty five or twenty six, so about two years older than her sister.
Jonsey stayed for supper, and Olivia decided they would eat outside with John, Ben and Paul, who had been working. Erin got home with Jim Bob and Rose, who had been shopping, and then the family got ready. The girls made chicken sandwiches and potato salad. Reckless joined in with his barking, and started to chase the kids around the yard.
Emma spread two blankets on the grass, and set the food down on a corner. She held Ginny to her chest and closed her eyes, listening the the beautiful sounds of the evening. Birds were chirping, children were laughing, and adults were talking. For now, everything was perfect.
