Cassandra liked Jake's sister and her husband. Mike was soft spoken and quiet, an IT professional whose brown eyes shone with intelligence. Inwardly Cassandra shook her head, how could Jake still hide when Annie had chosen a man like this? To the Stones though, the baby had simply married well. Annie was sweet and her blue eyes, identical to her big brother's, spoke of wit and hidden depths. If Annie hadn't been distracted by the impeding birth, Cassandra was certain that a few questions would reveal a second genius in the Stone family.
Cassandra again wondered how Jake had missed this. She knew that Annie was almost a decade younger than her brother, they couldn't have been all that close, even if she was his favorite. Perhaps he'd always been busy thinking of her as a child and had not come to know the woman she became?
Then there was little Rosie. She looked so much like her uncle that Cassandra's heart had clenched at the sight of her. Jake hadn't been able to hide his gasp of shock and possibly awe. He must have forgotten what his niece looked like. Or hadn't realized just how much she looked like him.
"Do you remember your Uncle Jake?" Annie had asked. "This is Mommy's biggest brother."
Jake had chuckled at that. "Biggest brother? Well oldest anyway. You probably don't remember me sweetheart, but I brought you a gift."
Rosie had torn into the package and been very happy with the deluxe set of crayons Jake had given her. But then she'd noticed Cassandra and why she hadn't before, only the child knew.
"Who you?" She asked over the box of crayons.
"I'm Cassandra. I'm your uncle's girlfriend."
"Cass. . ."And then the child struggled with the name.
Cassandra smiled, the bright one that melted many a heart, "I had a hard time saying my own name when I was little. Your uncle calls me Cassie sometimes, so you can too."
"Do you wanna color Cassie?"
"I do." Cassandra smiled, joining Rosie at the coffee table.
Jake had been talking to his sister but trailed off to watch Cassandra's interaction with Rosie, his "fool in love" as he'd dubbed it grin on his face.
"This one's a keeper then?" Annie asked gently. "I know you thought Emma . . . ."
"I did. But it wasn't meant to be with Emma. I think it is with Cassandra. She's well magic." Jake grinned at his own joke, hoping that his sister only took it as a figure of speech.
"So how did you meet someone like Cassandra on an oil rig?"
"Oh, I didn't. I met her in town. She's the town librarian."
Annie lifted an eyebrow at him. "You finally started using the library? Good for you."
Jake looked sheepish, hating the lie. But he also recognized that this sister was different from the others. "I do now, Cassandra has me readin'. But we actually met at my favorite diner. Her friend owns the place and Cassie helps out when she's in a bind. She was working one night when I came in. We couldn't stop talkin' . . ." Jake smiled, lost in the memory of their actual first date when they'd stayed talking in an all night diner until the sun had broke. They'd had months of misunderstandings and dreams and hopes to go over. And if he hadn't already been a little in love with Cassandra from the moment he met her, he would have been by the time morning came.
"You sound like you're happy." Annie smiled, wincing a little.
"I am. For the first time in a long time, perhaps ever. . . ."Jake stopped suddenly. "Annie?"
"That's my back again. Mike?"
"Yeah, honey?"
"I think we need to get my stuff together."
Mike nodded, having been through this all before. Jake, however, went pale.
"You're havin' the baby?"
"Yep. Jake, I hate to do this to you, but could you and Cassandra watch Rosie? At least until Mike's mother can get here? She still works and . . . ."
"Sure. It's fine."
"Hey, sweetheart?" Jake called for Cassandra, "Can I talk to ya a minute?"
"Sure." She smiled at Rosie and got up and crossed the room to her boyfriend.
"What's up?"
"Annie's havin' the baby."
Cassandra's eyes widened. "Like right now? How is she so calm?"
"I don't know. She and Mike are discussing this like they're goin' for groceries and I'm freakin' out."
"I see that. So what does that mean for us?"
"I said we'd stay here and watch Rosie until her granny gets here."
"It'll be fine, Jake. Think of it as practice." Cassandra grinned.
"She does look like me, doesn't she? What one of ours might look like . . . ."
Cassandra smiled gently and went and sat next to Rosie.
Annie and Mike left shortly thereafter with a hug and a promise to their daughter that they'd be back soon with a new baby brother for her.
That got Rosie excited and she babbled on at length to Jake and Cassandra about her new baby brother.
"Do you have any idea what she's saying?" Cassandra whispered to Jake.
"Only kinda. I'm getting about every other word. She is a bit easier to understand then some of my other nieces and nephews were at her age though."
Cassandra whispered, "I think Annie might be like you."
Jake's eyes widened but he nodded slowly. "I was so much older that I didn't really notice but she was the one who got straight As in school." Jake bit his lip and for a minute tears glistened in his eyes. Cassandra felt her heart go out to the boy who so felt that he had to fit in that he actively tried to get Cs. "It was easier for her. Girls could be smart, you know?"
"Plus she had three big brothers to protect her from bullies." Cassandra sighed.
"That too. Hey Rosie, are you hungry?"
"Sketty?"
"Oh, your Aunt Cassie happens to be very good at spaghetti." Jake said with a smile.
Cassandra looked briefly startled by the sudden use of Aunt but regained herself. "It's the one thing I can make that's not breakfast."
"Oooh, I like breakfast." Rosie said.
"Yes, well, let's stick to spaghetti for now." Cassandra reached out for Jake's hand to get up off the floor. "Let's see what's in the kitchen, huh?"
They placed Rosie on a kitchen stool to supervise while Jake helped Cassandra make dinner. There was some giggling as they tried to find ingredients, pans and utensils in an unfamiliar kitchen but soon things were going fairly smoothly.
"We should probably use short pasta if they have it, otherwise remind me to cut hers up." Jake murmured to Cassandra who was in the pantry.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it helps to have several nieces and nephews, I know little ones can choke sometimes. She may be past that stage but I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Cassandra smiled at him, "I'm glad you kinda know what you're doing here."
"You're a natural Cass. Look at how you've charmed her."
They ate dinner and Rosie managed to make a minimum of mess. They'd just finished loading the dishwasher when Jake's phone rang.
"That might be Mike."
Jake ran into the living room to grab his phone. Cassandra took a paper towel and wiped Rosie's face.
He came back a few minutes later.
"Well, no baby brother yet, though maybe soon. Mike's mama is having car trouble. I said we'd stay, if that's okay?"
Cassandra chuckled. "Well, we have no way of leaving anyway." She addressed Rosie, "Your uncle is silly."
Jake laughed at her. "Okay, you have a point. Wanna watch a movie, squirt?"
"Oooh, Tangled?"
"I love that one." Cassandra said with a laugh.
Jake sighed, but he figured he'd asked for it when he suggested a movie. With a three year old, he was going to get Disney, Sponge Bob or maybe animals. "How about you get your pjs on first?"
The movie ended and Jake had to admit he liked it. He'd laughed at the funny parts, squeezed Cassandra's hand during the boat scene and hugged Rosie when she gasped when Flynn nearly died. He knew the little one had probably seen the movie a dozen times but still. But by the time the credits rolled, Rosie had fallen asleep, her head on Cassandra's shoulder.
His heart was in his throat as he looked over, Cassandra's face was turned toward the sleeping child. It reminded him oddly of how he felt when Cassandra introduced him to Santa Claus. Dumbstruck with awe at meeting the immortal and knocked sideways by the beauty of Cassandra's smile. He had been surprised then that Santa hadn't called him out on it, Jake could tell that the immortal knew about his not very well hidden feelings toward Cassandra.
Her eyes met his as she looked up. "What?" She whispered.
"Just taking in the moment. Like a bit of living art. We should probably get her to bed."
As relatively easy as taking care of Rosie had been, they both felt exhausted by the time they'd carried her in the room. When Mike came home around ten, both Cassandra and Jake were dozing on the couch.
"Hey," Jake said coming awake. "Baby here?"
Mike nodded. "About an hour ago, baby boy, 7 lbs 6oz. Annie was sound asleep when I left, I can bring you guys over in the morning. Let me go get Rosie so I can take you back to your hotel."
"Oh, don't wake her up." Cassandra said drowsily. "We can call a cab."
"If you're sure . . . ."
"Enjoy your sleep, Mike." Jake said to his brother-in-law. "Okay, Cassie, Jones put this Uber app on my phone, did he tell you how to use it?"
The next day, Jake and Cassandra got to meet his newest nephew. The baby was named Shawn Jacob after each of their brothers.
"You're my favorite, Jakey, so . . ."
And despite a valiant effort, Jake had cried as he held his namesake. He'd tried to keep his head down so that neither woman could see but they both did.
That evening, Annie came home with the baby. Rosie was overjoyed to meet her little brother.
"She's going to be a great big sister," Cassandra said to Annie.
Annie smiled. "I wish you too could stay longer."
"It's a long drive back and we both have to be at work tomorrow." Jake kissed his sister's cheek. "But I will try not to be such a stranger."
"I expect a wedding invite," Annie grinned after she hugged Cassandra.
Cassandra stifled a laugh at Jake's face. It was partly stunned and part thoughtful. They'd been talking about a baby but not about marriage. Now she could see that the idea was in his head. And it didn't scare it like she imagined, instead it sort of thrilled her.
"We're going now, baby sis." Jake gave Rosie one more hug and shook Mike's hand. Then they were off.
They'd brought their bags over in the morning and had said the mechanic was coming to pick them up. In reality, they'd had Jenkins open up a door to a supply closet in Annie's building.
Jenkins had given them a quick greeting on their return but then had disappeared into the back. The others didn't seem to be around.
"Cassandra?"
"Yes?"
"I'm glad you talked me into going. I have a lot of things to think about. Actually, do you mind if I just go back to my place after I drop you off?"
"No," Cassandra said softly, taking his hand. "I have some thinking of my own to do tonight. I'll see you in the morning?"
"Of course."
He let go of her hand to pick up his bag. He then put his arm around her shoulders and they left the Annex.
This did not go the way I was expecting it to go. I wanted the reality of the kids to put a damper on Jake and Cassandra's yearnings. But they decided differently. So I hope you enjoyed it!
