***A Week Later***
Jennifer was once again, at home, working on the secret event for Jonathan.
She had just hung up with the florist when the phone rang again.
"Hello?"
"Hey beautiful."
"Hi handsome. I'm so glad you called."
"Look, we have to talk. Don't get mad, but we need to postpone our anniversary trip."
"Why?"
"Because, I promised Sadie and her friends that I would get them tickets to that concert. And it's the same weekend that we were going to be leaving. And while I have no doubt that Mrs. Rodriguez can handle things, I think if we ask her to take 12 screaming children to a rock concert she would probably pack up and move to Brazil."
Jennifer chuckled.
"She certainly would. And if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you always keep your word to your children. So, we can postpone it a bit, that's fine."
"I promise we will still go somewhere, even if it's just for a weekend after our anniversary."
"We'll figure it out darling. It's not the end of the world."
"How did drop-off go this morning?"
"Well, Sadie only wanted to listen to music this morning, so she had headphones in the whole time, and only said something when she saw a car she wanted. Jordyn didn't say much, aside from begging me to give her phone back early, and Ryan wanted to know if starting next week, I could bring him to school separately from his sisters."
"That's my boy. I promise to give you a hundred kisses when I get home."
"Well, Sadie doesn't know it but I'm taking her this afternoon to get her license. So, Mrs. Rodriguez might be here when you get home."
"Oh, ok. Well then I'll give her the hundred kisses."
"Jonathan Hart, don't you dare!"
"I love you, baby. And only you. And sometimes the kids, but mostly you."
"I love you too, you rascal."
She blew him a kiss when they hung up and continued working on the plans for the gala until it was time to pick the kids up.
***A Couple of Hours Later***
Jennifer pulled up in front of the house with the kids and they all got out.
Sadie ran as fast as lightning up the stairs.
"Sadie I am NOT kidding! We are leaving here in 15 minutes."
"Ok!"
She was running around like a racehorse trying to figure out what to wear to get her driver's license.
Jennifer quickly got a snack together for Jordyn and Ryan and sighed a sigh of relief when she heard Mrs. Rodriguez come in.
"Hello, Mrs. Hart. Hi Jordyn, Hi Ryan."
The kids ran and hugged her.
"Hi, thank you for coming. I'm not sure what time Sadie and I will be home, but my husband will be home around the normal time, so you can go when he gets home."
"Yes, Mrs. Hart."
"Kids, do your homework, ok? And try not to fight, please."
She gave both of them kisses and then she went to corral Sadie.
"Sadie, it's time to go."
"Almost ready."
She was going through the mail when she found it. It was a plain, white envelope, no return address, no postage. Nothing was written on it at all, besides "Hart".
She went to the office and carefully opened it with the letter opener.
Inside were several newspaper clippings, with various words underlined.
She started to read them, but couldn't figure out what the point was, so she put it down and called Jonathan.
"Hart Industries, how may I help you?"
"Kelly, hi. It's Jennifer. Can I speak to Jonathan, please?"
"Sure."
"HI, everything ok?"
"Well, sort of. I found a funny looking envelope in the mail. So I opened it and I can't make sense of it. I am going to put it under my typewriter, and if you get home before me, will you take a look at it? If you don't get home before me, we can look at it together after dinner."
"Ok, I'll do that. Tell Sadie good luck from Dad."
"I will. I love you."
"I love you too."
They hung up and she went out to the stairs again.
"SADIE!"
"I'm coming."
Sadie bounded down the stairs in a pair of destructed jeans and a purple tank top, and some black sandals.
"Ok do you have your permit, and the letter from school about attendance?"
"Yes, it's right here".
"I have your birth certificate and your social security card. We should be good to go."
Sadie ran and grabbed two bottles of water and her sunglasses and then they left.
For the next 3 hours, Jennifer sat and read a book while she waited for Sadie. She wasn't keen on Sadie being off in a car without her, but she knew it was important for her.
As soon as she got back, Sadie was all smiles.
"I passed!"
"Congratulations!"
Jennifer gave her a hug and kissed her forehead.
"Porsche, here I come!"
"Not so fast. We will discuss that."
Jennifer was a good sport and let Sadie drive them home.
When they finally arrived, she was glad to see Jonathan had made it home.
"Hey there, sweetie pie."
"I got my license!"
"Way to go!"
"Can we go car shopping this weekend?"
"We will talk about it."
She kissed his cheek and bounded in the house.
"Hi darling."
"Hi beautiful.".
He gave her a couple of kisses.
"Did you look at the letter?"
"Yes. It was random newspaper clippings from around the world. I think someone is trying to get under my skin, and threaten me in a round-about way."
"Why?"
"I can't answer that. I have no idea who it is."
"Why don't we move the mailbox inside the gate?"
"We tried that once before, remember? The mailman pitched a fit."
"Fine. Just promise me one thing?"
"What's that?"
"That you'll take care of yourself."
"I promise."
She kissed him a few times and then headed inside.
She decided to make Sadie's favorite dinner, baked chicken tacos, to celebrate her getting her license.
"Kids, dinner! Ryan, go out front and tell your Dad it's dinner time."
"Ok."
The girls made their way downstairs and to the table and everyone started making their plates.
"Sadie, can you get everyone something to drink please? And Jordyn, can you get the sour cream and the shredded cheese out of the fridge, please?"
Ryan and Jonathan came into the kitchen, and Ryan grabbed his tablet and started playing a video.
"No electronics at the table. Put that away, please."
"What if I use headphones?"
"What if we sell you to the Chinese?"
Ryan let out a big belly laugh.
"You can't sell me, I'm the boy."
"That's right. But your mother and I can send you there for 8 weeks without any money."
Ryan finally relented and put his tablet on the counter.
"Dad, I changed my mind".
"About what?"
"I don't want to go car shopping this weekend. That's too far away."
"What do you mean?"
"Can we go to the car dealership after dinner?"
"Why would we do that?"
"To buy a car."
"You can't buy a car at night. It's against the law."
"It is not!"
"Yes, it is. If I were to buy a car at night, I would get arrested and the police would come and take the house from us and we would have to live in a cardboard box."
"Well, then we better go now."
"Now hold on, I can't buy a car without dinner first."
"Can we go? Please?"
"We can talk about it. You don't even know what kind of car you want."
"Yes, I do. I think I want either a Jeep or a convertible. I don't care if my car has a roof, but if it does, I really want it to have a sunroof. And a killer radio. And it has to be silver."
"Well, I guess we can work with all of that. But we need to talk ground rules."
"What kind of ground rules?"
"Well, for starters, I will be putting a device on your car, and you are not allowed to take it off."
"What kind of device?"
"It's a device that will tell me where your car is located, and also where it stands in regards to maintenance. If you need an oil change, I'll know about it. Brake job, things like that."
"Ok."
"No matter what kind of car we get, you are not allowed to let anyone else drive it, except in an emergency."
"Ok."
"And you are not allowed to drive out of the county lines nor out of the state without permission. Nor are you allowed to talk on the phone while you are driving."
"Got it."
"Your father and I will pay the car note and the insurance and the gas. Your job is to keep the car clean, not tear it up, and keep your grades up. Also, if I ask you to go to the grocery store, you will do so without complaint."
"Fine."
"And if you get any speeding tickets, you will be responsible for paying those fines. If you get into an accident, you will pay the deductible at least. Your father and I expect you to drive carefully, and responsibly at all times."
"I understand."
The kids did the dishes and then Jonathan and Sadie left to go to the car dealership.
"Darling, don't let her pick something over the top, ok? Keep it reasonable."
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I promise to keep it reasonable."
They shared a few sweet kisses.
"You know, I never did get those 100 kisses you promised me."
"You will, you will."
"Can we watch a movie in bed tonight? We haven't done that in ages."
"What if we climb into bed and don't watch the movie?"
He started kissing her neck.
"That's my favorite way to watch a movie with you".
Sadie came barreling down the stairs.
"Dad, let's go. Do you two have to do that right now?"
Jonathan turned to Sadie.
"It just so happens that with every kiss I give your mother, the limit on the cost of your car goes up."
"Jonathan! It does not."
"Dad, let's go!"
"We'll be back, darling."
A final kiss goodbye and they headed out the door.
Jennifer headed upstairs to change into some lounging clothes and then went and sat on the couch with Jordyn and Ryan. .
Jordyn was fresh out of the shower and in her pj's.
Jordyn put her head in Jennifer's lap and started telling her about all the things the girls at school were doing while Jennifer brushed her hair.
"And Valerie waited till Lisa wasn't looking and spit in her soda at lunch".
"That's disgusting. You would never do that, right?"
"Nope."
"Good."
"Can we go to the beach this weekend?"
"Maybe. We haven't been to the beach house in a long time. What if we go as a family next weekend?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
"You know, there are two people I know who have a birthday coming up. And they are going to be 11 years old."
"I can't wait to be 11."
"Me either."
"What kind of birthday parties do you guys want?"
"I want the party that Dustin Graves had. His mom had the video game truck come and park outside his house and we got to play video games for like 5 hours and then she took us midnight bowling and then for donuts at 2 am. And then we got home and she gave us glow sticks and we got to run up and down the golf course behind their house till the sun came up and then we went swimming."
"We can maybe do the video game truck, but the other stuff will not be taking place after midnight."
"Well, I want a different kind of party."
"You do?"
"Yes. First, I want Daddy and Ryan and Sadie to go to the beach house and stay there. And you and me get to stay here with my friends. And we are going to dress up and go somewhere fancy for dinner."
"Like where?"
"Well, I was thinking we could take daddy's plane to San Francisco and go to that place that is at the top of the hotel you and daddy like to stay in."
"The Capulet Grill?"
"Yeah, that place."
"Sweetheart, that place is over $2000 for two people and that's not counting drinks or side dishes. Your father and I haven't even been there and we have jobs."
"Well, after we go, we are going to fly back here and have dessert and then we are going to go in the backyard and release some sky lanterns."
"I have a better idea."
"I'm listening."
"What if you and I spend the weekend at the beach house with your friends and you can have a slumber party there? We can order pizza, we can rent some movies, we can lay on the beach all day and then you kids can stay up all night if you want. And in the morning, I'll make you some special pancakes and bacon".
"I like that. But I still want to go to the restaurant in San Francisco."
"Me too, sweetheart. Me too."
Jennifer scratched Jordyn's back till she fell asleep in her lap.
"Ryan, honey, it's bath time."
"Will you keep her down here till I'm done?"
"Yes, I will."
Jennifer laid on the couch, enjoying the snuggles with Jordyn. She was her youngest baby and her last baby and the snuggles were few and far between these days.
She heard Jonathan and Sadie come in the front door.
"That was fast."
"She saw what she wanted, we did a test drive, I negotiated and we purchased it."
"What did she get?"
"Come look at it."
"Darling, can you take her?"
"Sure."
She gave Jordyn several kisses and told her she loved her and then Jonathan took her upstairs while Sadie took her mom to see her car.
It was a silver Jeep Wrangler with a hard top.
"We got the soft top too, and Daddy is going to show me how to put it on and all that. And it has a backup camera and a huge radio and luckily, they had an automatic one, and not a stick shift one."
"Looks nice. Glad you love it."
"I absolutely love it."
They went back inside and Jennifer turned out all the lights and locked the doors.
"Sadie, your father and I are going to bed. If you take a shower tonight, please do so quietly."
"I promise, I will."
She gave her a goodnight kiss in the hallway and then headed into their bedroom.
She quickly changed for bed and then climbed in bed with Jonathan.
She snuggled up to his chest as he wrapped an arm around her.
"So, I talked to the twins tonight about their birthday. They have very extravagant ideas about what kinds of birthday parties they want."
"Like what?"
"Well, Ryan wants the party that Dustin had. Apparently Dustin's mom rented a video game truck and they got to play in that for several hours and then they went midnight bowling followed by 2 a.m. donuts and then they went back to the house and ran around the golf course with glow sticks and then when the sun came up, they went swimming".
"I'm tired just thinking about all that."
"Me too."
"Although the video game truck does sound kind of cool."
"And Jordyn apparently thinks she is royalty. She wants you and Sadie and Ryan to stay behind while she and I and all her friends get dressed up, fly to San Francisco in your plane, eat at the Capulet Café, and then come home, have dessert and release Japanese lanterns into the night sky."
Jonathan chuckled.
"I countered with me, her, and all of her friends having a slumber party at the beach house. I think she'll go for it."
"Let's hope."
"Darling, can we spend next weekend as a family at the beach house? Jordyn asked if we can go there and we haven't been there in so long."
"Yes, I think that would be a marvelous idea."
"Yay! Jordyn will be thrilled."
"You would have been so proud of Sadie at the dealership. She knew exactly what she wanted and she knew all the questions to ask."
"She's growing up."
"Yeah, she is. I love her at this age, just like I've loved her at every age, but seeing how grown up she is really makes me miss how she was when she came here."
"You know what I miss?"
"What?"
He rolled on top of her.
"All the alone time we used to have."
"That's what makes our alone time now so special."
He leaned down and kissed her neck before making love to her for the next couple of hours.
As she fell asleep in his arms, he kissed her tenderly.
"Goodnight, I love you."
As he fell asleep, he had thoughts of how all those years ago, he would have never been able to predict that their lives would have turned out like this.