Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Thanks to Ghostrider for reviewing 29.
"Mommy! What are you doing?"
She didn't reply. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and aimed for the orange juice carton. In one swift pull of the trigger, a bullet flew through the carton, followed by another and another. By the time she finished, orange juice was pooling onto the dirt.
"Did you have to use the orange juice?" She looked behind her; Jea stood with a year-old baby boy in her arms, watching her mother do target practice with one of her handguns and several cartons of juice. Jo sighed and slipped her handgun back into the holster on her hip.
"Sorry. If you wanted some, you should have told me before hand." She said, going to the girl. She held out her arms for the little boy, who curled into his sister's shoulder, peeking at his mother through a head of dark curls. Jo gave her son a big smile, reaching out to tickle him. He giggled, burying his face in Jea's shoulder. "I thought you were taking a nap." Jo said, scooping her son into her arms.
"He was. But the blast from your practicing must have woken him up." Jea said, reaching up and running circles on her baby brother's back.
"Thank you, Jea." Jo said, wrapping an arm around the teenager and hugging her. The seventeen-year-old looked up at her, giving her mother a big smile.
"Welcome."
"My turn!" The two looked up as a twelve-year-old with long dark hair tied back in a ponytail raced past them and snatched up the handgun. She pulled a couple bullets from her pocket and opened the barrel, sliding them into place. "Put the jar there, Tre." A seven-year-old little boy rushed forward, setting a glass jar of honey on the stool and then rushed away, hiding behind his mother, as his sister clicked the barrel closed. Jenna glanced behind her mother, to see her brother and sister watching from the other side of their mother's legs. She shook her head.
"Ni? Dani? What is that?" Neither answered her. After a moment, Jenna tugged on her mother's sleeve, suddenly realizing what her little sister was aiming at. "Mommy... that's..." Jo turned to her, confused. She glanced back, saw the golden goo shining in the clear glass jar, and quickly handed her youngest son to Jenna.
"Oh god. Eri, no!" She rushed forward, just as the twelve-year-old fired the first shot. She hit the ground hard, snucking in a sharp breath. Thankfully, she wasn't hit by bullet fire. Instead, she was showered with honey as the jar shattered, sending glass and carmelized sugar everywhere. Once everything had settled, Jo raised her head, noticing the gob of honey drop from her forehead to the ground in front of her.
"Mommy, are you all right?" Niall asked, as he and Danielle rushed forward. Slowly, Erica lowered the gun, her mouth open in shock at the mess before her.
"I'm fine, babies. I promise." Jo said, pushing herself to her hands and knees. She turned to Erica. "You, however, will not be."
"Is everything all right? I heard a scream and a gunshot." The whole group looked up to see Jack rushing towards them, gun at the ready. He hurried to his wife and helped her up. "Are you all right, Jojo?" He asked, once she was on her feet. She nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just... covered in honey, thanks to our daughter." She turned to Erica, who dropped the gun and ran, slamming the door behind her. Looking down at herself, she said, "I'm going to go take a shower and get the honey out of my hair. Would you fix lunch for the kids?"
"Of course, love." She kissed him quickly before hurrying into the house.
He watched her dip under the showerhead, saw her fully relax. He took in the curve of her body, noticing how she seemed to get smaller and smaller with each child. Just as he turned to go, she said,
"You aren't going to disappoint me, are you?" He turned back to her, she looked at him through one eye. He thought a moment, before stripping off his clothes and stepping under the showerhead with her. His arms automatically went around her waist, and he kissed her deeply. She pressed her forehead against his, relaxing. "I love you, Jack." He held her close, closing his eyes as the water rained down around them. "I love you so, so much. I wouldn't have been able to have gotten through those four years without you... I can't imagine my life without you now. I never could."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"I love you, Jo. I can't imagine my life without you either, Jojo. And I don't want to."
They stumbled back towards the bed, kicking their bedroom door closed as they made their way to the bed. Her hair tumbled around her face in wet curls, framing her features. He stared at her, seeing Eri's eyes, Dani's dimples, Ni's smile, the way Col wrinkled his nose. He saw all four of his children in her, from their dark hair and olive complexion to their mannerisms and expressions. He still couldn't believe that Eri was twelve going on thirteen, and that Col had just turned one.
"What?" He shook his head, unable to find the correct words. She smiled at him, the dimples in her cheeks making their way towards her eyes as she smiled.
She snuggled close, enjoying the comforting feeling of her husband's fingers tracing circles on her back. He sighed, content to have his wife in his arms. Eventually, she raised her head and stared into his eyes, drinking in the love that shone in them. It still surprised him that in eleven years, he and Jo had had four children- all surprisingly, that had been born when Eureka was in crisis. But then again, it wasn't Eureka if there wasn't some sort of crisis going on.
Erica Samantha, their spitfire- Eri or Sam as she was known by family and friends- had been first, when Jenna was five. She had given Jo that first, full taste of motherhood. Sure, she'd helped Jack raised Jenna, but Jo hadn't concieved, carried, given birth to, and raised a baby until Eri. Jea had been willing and eager to help her mom with her little sister, to which Jo was grateful. Erica had grown into a beautiful little girl since then, though at times, she was bane of her father's existance.
When they'd discussed having another baby, both Jo and Jack had gotten more than they'd bargained for. Danielle Joanna- or Joanna Danielle as Jack called her- and Naill Jackson had caught their parents off guard, despite their sisters' excitement at having twin siblings. Ten minutes apart, the two often ran on the same frame of mind- a constant annoyance to their older sisters. At five, they were quite the handful, and kept their parents on their toes, unless they were trying to help end whatever crisis the town had gotten itself into.
Their last born child was Collin Nathaniel. He, like his siblings had his mother's smarts, but was also beginning to show bits of his father's easy going personality. He possessed Jack's dark eyes and easy smile, and had made it evident that he was going to leave a string of hearts in his wake when he got older. As long as the hearts broken weren't his sisters or his mother's Jack was fine with that.
It was now, as he lay with his Jojo in his arms, that he finally got to think of her and how she'd changed his life. Her body hadn't done any of the things a woman's normally did when they had kids- she was still as trim, small and slender as she'd been when he'd first met her. The kids had asked her to try on her wedding dress a few days ago- the only thing she'd had trouble fitting into was the confidence she'd worn that day. The dress still fit her like a glove- even eleven years and four kids later. She sighed.
"Content, Jojo?" She nodded against his chest before looking up at him.
"Very."
The sound of laughter caused them both to sit up and turn. The twins stood at the door, Jenna and Erica behind them; Col was in Jea's arms.
"What are you all doing?" Jack asked, as Jo curled back into his embrace. He ran a hand up and down her back, kissing the top of her head.
"Are we going to have a little brother or a little sister this time?" Jea asked. "Or both?" Eri shook her head.
"No. Mommy's done having babies. Unfortunately." Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Well, that's the first prediction of yours that I'm actually happy about, Sam." He said, removing his wife from his arms and going to the opposite edge of the bed. Jo sighed, snuggling to the blankets, tucking her arms beneath herself. She went to the bed and sat down beside her mother, bouncing beside her.
"You don't want anymore babies, Mommy?" She asked, as Jo reached out and stroked her dark curls.
"No. I don't. I've had enough babies for one lifetime. I'm perfectly happy with the ones I have."