Lulu and Tori are sleeping, and Gus is off doing his own thing. That means the adults can relax in front of the fireplace. As everyone settles in, Jed gets a gleam in his eye that seems to indicate he's in a story-telling mood.
"Can I get anyone another drink?" Abbey offers to stall a bit more.
But Zoey gives Josh an evil grin and gets things rolling. "You know, Mom, I've been wanting to try a grasshopper for about 8 years now."
"You are truly evil, little girl." Josh fake growls at her.
But Jed grins and picks up the cue. "Ah yes, Josh," Jed chortles, "Lets talk about that little adventure to the Georgetown Pub, shall we? Has your perspective changed any since having a daughter of your own?"
Josh's face goes from joking with Zoey to totally serious in about 3 seconds flat.
"I don't think I've heard this story." Ellie chimes in, looking towards me to see if I will tell it.
"Sorry, I wasn't there, I don't really know it either."
"I told you about it." Josh mumbles to me. "Remember, I told you saving someone's virtue was hungry work and I sent you out for sandwiches and you stole my change."
"Nice try on changing the subject, Buckminster, but I'm sensing there is a lot more to the story than that. Maybe you should tell us what you'd have done different now that we have a daughter."
"Well, first of all, I would have gone out for malteds!" Josh laughs.
Jed laughs along with him. "You see what I'm saying, now."
Zoey looks disgruntled. "Well, I'm glad you weren't Dad-mode then. Big Brother was bad enough."
"What exactly happened?" Ellie asks again. Josh squares his shoulders and dives into the narrative. If he isn't going to be able to avoid having the story told, at least he can control the spin.
"Charlie and I were going out for a beer."
"Because the President suggested it!" Charlie's intervenes. "I know he asked you to take me out. Because I didn't have a life."
"I didn't have a life either, Charlie! I was happy to get out of the building too, until the girls crashed our male bonding." Josh looks back towards Ellie. "Mallory and Zoey decided to join us. Zoey told me it was basically an order from your Dad."
"I wanted to experience some college life!" Zoey is quick to explain under her father's glare.
"You wanted to hang out with Charlie!" Josh accuses her.
"Well, yeah, that too. I mean have you seen how cute he is?" Zoey smirks at Josh, giving Charlie's hand a little squeeze.
"No, I hadn't really noticed." Josh smirks back, causing Charlie to roll his eyes. "But I might remind you that this big brother is the guy that hired him, and the guy that introduced the two of you. So you might show a little gratitude."
Zoey takes over telling the story, turning to Ellie. "Anyway, the waitress forgot to bring CJ's Grasshopper, so I went to the bar to watch them make it and a couple guys started flirting with me. They were giving me a little bit of a vibe, but I was handling it. I didn't give them my real name." Zoey shoots her Dad a look. "Then Charlie came up to "rescue me" and they started hassling him."
"They were corralling you, Zo! They weren't just being friendly. They had you surrounded and they were moving you towards the door!" Charlie sounds exasperated with her even now.
Josh pipes in again. "Sam noticed what was going on, so he and I headed up to the bar too. Charlie was doing a good job of trying to resolve it peacefully, but as soon as I heard an implied threat, I hit Zoey's panic button and the Secret Service took care of the rest."
Jed gives Zoey a look that I interpret as an admonishment for not having her panic button on her person. I recognize it as the same look I got from Josh the one time I accidentally left mine in the office and went out to lunch with my staff. He was not a happy husband that day, even though Jackie was with me the whole time!
I can still hear his lecture ringing in my ears, so try to lighten the mood for Zoey's sake. "Keeping your panic button on you at all times is very important, Zoey." I state in a mechanical robot voice, and Zoey laughs.
Josh gives me a look, then turns back to Zoey. "Yuck it, up squirt. But it saved our butts that day." Josh wags a finger at her, then turns to me again. "I'll deal with you later."
His serious Dad-voice causes everyone in the room to burst into laughter. Except Jed, who just looks proud.
"Oh, Josh, who'd have thought we'd see this day." Abbey chuckles wiping her eyes.
At 10pm, Abbey makes Jed go to bed, and the rest of us quickly follow. It sounds like Zoey, Charlie, Annie, Neil and Gus will probably hang out for a while, since they are all in the guest house, but Ellie & Vic look like they have the same idea as Josh and I. Get to bed to have some alone time while the kids are asleep.
As I'm getting ready for bed, Josh is bouncing around the room.
"I know something you don't know!"
"We already did that this trip. I told you on the plane, I already knew about Bram and Karen."
"That's not what I'm talking about!"
He smirks at me in the mirror while I finish washing my face. Hmmm. It has to be new information, or he would have already spilled the beans. He was with the guys during the football game, so it could be any one of them. He was talking to Neil privately for a few minutes. He and Charlie were alone while doing the dishes.
OH! I bet Charlie is going to propose. I turn around ready to burst his bubble, but he looks so eager, so happy, I just can't do it. He had a really bad week last week, and this trip is supposed to be fun and relaxing.
"Well? Are you going to tell me?"
"I don't know. Maybe I should make you wait. . . . Punish you a little bit for teasing me downstairs."
I press myself closer to him. "I thought you liked it when I teased you." I give him a quick kiss and then walk away, swaying my hips. He trots after me and we climb into bed.
"Charlie's going to propose to Zoey and he wants our help!" He blurts out.
"Wow! You held out almost a minute and a half there. Some punishment."
Josh slides closer to me and opens his arms, so I snuggle into him, with my head on his chest.
"I don't really like keeping secrets from you." He's serious now. I guess we're going to have that conversation.
"I know."
"There are times I have to. But sometimes, I just don't want you to be stressed out too. I don't want you to be worried and scared right along with me."
"I'm stronger than you think."
"Oh, baby. I know how strong you are. It's not that I don't think you could handle it. Hell, you'd probably handle it better that me. It's just I remember the bright-eyed optimistic girl that hired herself. I don't want to lay the weight of the world on her shoulders."
"Josh, neither of us are the same people we were a decade ago. And I'm glad. We have to keep growing to make the world a better place. And everything is easier if you have a team. I always want to be on your team. You don't have to carry extra weight to try to protect me."
He leans down, and kisses the top of my head. And his hand is making a soothing circuit over my hair.
"We stopped a major terrorist attack. A sleeper cell in New York. They were building three bombs. They were going to load them in trucks. Initally we thought that the targets might be airports during the holiday travel, but when we took them down we found schematics for Times Square, the National Mall, and Coney Island. Based on the amount of explosives, it would have been large scale destruction."
"It's over, right? We got them."
"I don't think it's really ever going to be over. We have to keep getting them. We have to stay vigilant and not let our guard down."
"So that's what we'll do. We'll stand guard. Someday it'll be someone else's turn to stand guard. But in the meantime, we're not going to stop living, right? Because we aren't going to let them scare us into giving up the good parts."
"Right."
I roll over on top of him. "I love you. Thanks for sharing your burdens with me." Then I give him a long, slow kiss. I can take some of the weight off his shoulders, and replace it with love.
. . . . .
It's barely the crack of dawn when he gets up in the morning.
"Good grief! As early as you get up, you could go Black Friday shopping with my Mother."
The look on Josh's face at my announcement is one of abject horror. He's immediately apologetic.
"I'm sorry I woke you. Please promise you'll never subject me to that particular form of torture. I'll do anything."
"Mmmmm, anything?" I raise an eyebrow at him. I've got something in mind. A continuation of last night. Something he never finds torturous.
"Oh, baby. I do like the way you think."
He crawls back into bed and proves it to me.
. . . . .
When he gets out of bed the second time, he's got a satisfied grin on his face.
"As much fun as that exercise was, I need to go for a run. You good with that? I'll be back in about 45 minutes."
"Sure. Lulu should be up soon. So I'm going to hop in the shower now."
He looks a little disappointed at that, but that's the nature of having kids. It'll be nap time before we'd have a change to shower together anyway, and as much as I like showering with him, I'd rather have one before I go downstairs and face people.
For a second, it looks like he's thinking about skipping his run, but I'm glad when he laces up his sneakers. Working out several days a week is one of the ways that he shows us he loves us.
"Okay. See you when I get back. And unfortunately, we really do need to venture into town. I promised Charlie we'd get some supplies. I hope it's not too nutsy-bananas."
"We'll go after lunch. We'll be fine. In fact, I'll ask Zoey to watch Lulu so that we can have alone time. That way there's no danger of her finding out what we're up to."
"You're a mastermind! Love you!" He gives me a quick kiss and heads out the door.
As soon as I'm done with my shower, I check in on Lulu. I'm relieved to see her still asleep. I'm glad I have time to do my hair and make-up.
I'm just finishing up when I hear her call for Josh and I. Da-dee is first, as always. The bond they have is really special, and he usually is the one who gets her first thing in the morning.
At least she's not disappointed when I'm the one who shows up.
"Hi, Mama! Hi!" She greets me with glee. I'm so lucky to have a mostly happy baby.
"Hi Dolly. You ready to get up?"
"Up, up!"
As I lift her out of the crib, I snuggle her close and give her a good morning kiss on her cheek. I'm rewarded with some pats on the back and a loud smacking kiss of my own.
"Let's get you dressed. I'm sure Grandma Abbey can't wait to see you."
I made it a point to pack both the outfits that Abbey sent for Lulu's birthday. They spoil her, and they don't get to see her that often. I want Abbey to see that I appreciate the clothes. Then tomorrow's outfit will be something Zoey gave us.
This one has a light pink turtleneck onesie to go under chocolate colored velour overalls that have tiny pink dots and a little pink ribbon at the waist. It's sweetly understated. It also came with little matching cupcake barrettes. I'm glad Lulu has enough hair to keep them in.
"All right. Let's go find some food."
When we walk into the kitchen we are greeted by the appropriate oooos and aaaaahs from Jed and Abbey, who are sitting at the table sipping coffee.
"Oh, she's darling! I just love Gymboree, don't you?"
"Yes, Abbey, you've got great taste. You've got me hooked. And don't tell Josh that I told you, but I found him on the website the other day too. He picked out her whole Christmas outfit. I can't wait to get pictures!"
I settle Lulu into the high chair while Abbey and I are chatting. Then get Lulu some milk and cereal.
"There's yogurt in the fridge." Abbey offers, so I help myself. I hope she doesn't mind.
Lulu lets me feed her spoonfuls of yogurt in between popping cheerios in her mouth. Normally I'd encourage her to practice with a spoon, but I don't want her to make a mess of her outfit or Abbey's kitchen.
I hear the front door open and close and a few minutes later Josh comes into the kitchen sweaty and gross and beautiful. I'm sure he stinks. And when he comes over and hugs me I'll protest, but I'm glad he's mine.
He grabs a glass of water and quickly drinks it before pouring himself another. Then he takes a banana off the bunch and starts in on it. Abbey is nodding her head in approval, clearly pleased at what she sees.
Josh gives her a quick grin in acknowledgement and nothing more is said.
"Da-dee, nana!"
Josh pauses before he finishes it off. "Lulu, do you want some banana?"
"Yes, nana."
"Ba-na-na, Lulu." He tries again to get her to say it correctly. He's always very gentle and loving, but he spends a lot of time trying to teach her things.
"Ba-na-na." She repeats and holds out her hand.
He gives her a small piece, and as she chews her reward, Jed and Abbey look on with pride.
"Alright. I'm going to take a shower. I'll be back down in a bit." Josh remarks as he heads out of the kitchen.
Once he's gone, Jed turns to me and grasps my hand. "I don't know, Donna. Sometimes I hardly recognize him for the man he's become. But then I see you like this and I realizes that really the two of you have just brought out the best parts of him. They were there all along, he just needed someone to share them with."
I lean over and give Jed a kiss on the cheek. I can't think of a nicer compliment. But it's more for Josh, than me. I can't take credit for the man Josh has become, any more that he can take credit for who I am. But I am profoundly thankful that we've become us.