6
Three weeks later first snows came and Jess woke up with Tim's arms around her. He had come in late the night before and was snoring lightly in her ear. It was also the first night since Tim had left that Junior slept right through the night. Jess snuggled into his chest and sighed contentedly as he kissed the back of her neck and whispered in her ear. "Morning my love, you looked like an angel and I didn't want to wake you up. I'm sorry."
She smiled and rolled over, "Don't be sorry. You must be tired; I'll leave you to sleep. Junior will be up soon anyway so I'll take him out to change him and feed. Sleep, I will come and get you in a couple of hours." She kissed him and rolled back over.
As she stood up, Junior stirred in his cot so she picked him up and carried him out to the lounge room. Jen was sitting on one couch feeding Sophia and Jess sat down on the other to change Junior and then feed him. When Jess felt a hand on her shoulder she jumped slightly and turned to face Erika who then held the phone to her ear as she mouthed 'Ellie'.
"Hey beautiful lady." Ellie called into the phone. "I heard the boys got home last night, did Tim take Junior this morning?" she laughed at her rhetorical question. Tim and Austin were still off with the fairies. "I just wanted to see if it was still ok for Troy and I to visit. Mum's watching Jordan for us so we were thinking we could come for a week or so." She paused to take a breath and Jess told her that was perfectly fine. "So we'll plan to be there on Wednesday next week. We should have a party to celebrate the news. I'll organise things." Ellie never surprised Jess, she was always coming up with harebrained ideas and a party was always the first thing she planned.
Tim came out then and asked what the girls wanted for breakfast. They all laughed and when he questioned them, Jen put Sophia in her bouncer and took Tim to the window. Chris was outside cooking in his boxers and Adam was trying to dress Georgie who just wanted to play with Penny and Satch. Josh sat in his chair and threw food at Rob who was trying desperately to feed him. The men were failing and their wives were reduced to tears and rolling on the floor laughing hysterically.
Austin opened his door and walked out into the lounge room. He was half dressed with his hair in a mop like mess around his face and his eyes puffy and red.
"Who's burning food?" he asked as he joined the group watching the scene outside unfold. "I should have known. Chris can't cook to save himself. Where's my little angel?" He turned and scooped Sophia up, swinging her in a circle and kissing all over her face. She laughed and grabbed hold of his hair pulling hard and smacking his nose with her closed fist. He winced and handed her to Jen as his eyes welled up.
"Man she has a good little punch. I was not expecting to be beaten up by my eight month old daughter." Jen smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose as Sophia grabbed more hair and pulled even harder.
"She tends to beat us all up, she also loves long hair. Make sure your hair is up if you ever go near her." Jess told him as she kissed her niece's rosy cheeks. Tim had picked Junior up and was walking around trying to stop him screaming. "You need to burp him; he'd only just finished feeding when you came out. He likes to sit for a bit before burping." Once he'd burped, Junior was chatting away and reaching to give his daddy kisses every two steps Tim took. Jess smiled and in that moment she had never been happier. The scene outside was just ramping up and she laughed at how their husbands had a lot of catching up to do with parenting lessons.
She looked at Jen and winked, they'd all joked that it was their turn to go on a holiday and let the men raise the kids for the next four months. She shuddered at the image of her child being raised by these five men. Chris couldn't cook, Austin normally slept until three in the afternoon, Rob was still trying to feed Joshua who was now kicking and screaming, Adam and Tim were the only ones to have succeeded in their tasks but Georgie's clothes were inside out and Junior had vomit all down his front.
Yes, they were a dysfunctional family but they got by. The boys got better every time they did anything for their kids. The girls chose to relax and teach their husbands just how demanding parenthood was. When Ellie and Troy arrived; Jess, Jen, Erika, Mel and Kelsie had their houses running like marine bases. Their children were fed, washed and dressed by seven in the morning and the same at night. They barely did anything with their children except play and have fun. Jess and Jen still fed Junior and Sophia as both were still being breastfed as well as bottles. They also made meals for their husbands who were tired and drained by the end of the day.
Luke arrived not long after Troy and Ellie, he was accompanied by a petite blonde woman who looked completely out of place on the Home Free ranch. She wore white leather pants and a cream knit top with suede peep toe boots. They all stood around the corner, peering through the class walls on either side. Jen laughed when she saw the woman walking behind Luke, scowling slightly and complaining about the dirt. The only place you'd be able to tell was dirty were her clothes. Her fake tan was almost as red as the beautiful earth in Tennessee. Satchmo and Penny Lane raced around the corner to greet Luke who allowed the two large dogs to jump all over him. When they tried to jump on the woman, she screamed at him, telling him to get the filthy animals off her. Jess and Tim chose that moment to walk around the corner.
"Hey Big Momma." Luke raced over to hug Jess and then, after shaking Tim's hand, he scooped up Junior and kissed his cheek. "How's my little monster been?" Luke continued to walk around the corner to greet everyone else, leaving the woman to fend off the dogs and follow him. Austin suggested that the men all get the fire and BBQ going ready for dinner while their wives fed and put their children to bed.
Mel picked up Logan and Georgie while Erika raced inside to fill the bathtub. Jen handed Sophia to Jess who took both her son and her niece inside and put them in their playpen. Kelsie put Joshua into the pen while she went out to help Rob feed Penny Lane. Austin and Tim had walked up and fed the horses and Ellie was fighting with Luke over who got to feed Satchmo. Troy and Chris were trying to light the fire while Adam started cooking their dinner.
While they waited for their wives to finish caring for the children the men sat outside and talked about business and the upcoming tour. They were finally going to Europe and Austin was elated. Tim nudged Luke and after looking at the other members of Home Free asked, "Where on earth did you find that one Lukey?" They all nodded in agreement.
"She works in the office, she latched onto me like a damn leech and I can't get rid of her. I mean she is a stunner but she's way off being my type. You know my perfect woman is Jess' doppelganger." Tim fake slapped Luke's arm at that comment. Jess was exactly Tim's type and they all knew she wasn't going anywhere.
"She is beautiful though. You can't fault him for feeling as though she'd be his type." Troy added as Jess walked past the window, carrying her son with a smile that used to be reserved for Tim. her eyes creased at the side and she had dimples on both cheeks, Tim felt his heart skip a beat as he watched his wife dance with their son. She turned to face them at that moment and blushed when she noticed they were all staring at her. Her eyes naturally searched for those of her husband as she smiled at him before walking away and putting Junior into his cot.
Once the salads were made and the children were tucked into bed, the girls joined their husbands outside. Luke formally introduced the woman who had accompanied him as Kristy. She was a secretary in his office building and she was a part time model. Jen laughed again and sat down on Austin's lap. Jess was sitting next to Tim and he held her close as she put her head on his chest. She inhaled deeply as she revelled in the smell of his cologne, he had been home for nearly two months but she was still soaking everything in. The boys would be leaving again in just three short weeks. The start of their spring tour and Christmas tour was approaching quickly and Jess used every opportunity to spend time as close to Tim as humanly possible. She was five weeks pregnant and no one knew yet. She would once again give birth while her husband was on tour.
The next three weeks flew by in a blur. Austin had found out that Jess was pregnant and called Dena. Jess and Tim had told her but asked her to keep it quiet until they were ready to tell the others. Tim was stewing over the idea that they should take a break from touring, but Jess convinced him that the European tour was more important, she would still be able to travel when they left and she would come with him, that was the compromise they came to. They decided it was time to tell their family the good news as Jess was starting to show symptoms of her second pregnancy. The whole family were thrilled and excited about having another little Foust running around the farm.
Luke was overjoyed but Tim noticed the bittersweet look on his face. He knew that Luke was thrilled that his friends were having another baby but also understood that he desperately wanted to find his 'Jess'.
Kristy was a little disgusted that Jess was ruining her body, "One baby does enough damage to your body, forget about a second, you won't be pretty anymore. You'll be fatter and you'll always be worn out. And be realistic, your looks are about the only thing you have going for you. You could do so much better. You're like a 9 and he's like a 5," she looked at Tim and scrunched her face.
"How dare you talk about them like that! Tim's a thousand times better looking than you and he is talented, He loves her and she loves him." Jen defended her sister and brother-in-law
"Jess will always be the most beautiful thing on this planet and she has the voice of an angel, she makes you cry every time she sings." Luke was glaring at Kristy at that point and Jess smirked and shrugged when she turned to her and scowled.
"You just don't fit in here Kristy; I think it's best you go back to California. Like tomorrow." Adam had been desperate to tell the stuck up princess to leave for the last two weeks. Tim and Jess being attacked like that was the final straw for him and he let the woman know exactly how he felt about her and the way she had been treating everyone, especially seeing as she was a guest in THEIR home. Tim put one hand on Jess' tummy and the other on her cheek as he kissed her passionately to drive home the fact that he didn't care about Miss Fake Tan's opinion. That was Austin's name for the evil woman. Neither he, Jen, Chris or Melissa called her anything else.
Kristy stood up and huffed inside. Jess had to follow her to make sure she didn't disturb the five sleeping children. They were curled up in balls in the lounge room having their afternoon nap. Penny and Satch lay on the top of the steps down into the lounge room, one on either side of the room. Both dogs growled and stood up as Kristy walked past and Jess was instantly wary about returning outside until she knew the other woman was outside as well.
She called Tim and Austin into the kitchen and told them what had just happened, both men agreed with her and they all picked up the children and put them into the porta-cots in the studio. Satch and Penny moved to sit outside the door and only when she was certain her son was well protected, she returned outside. Kristy followed close behind them with her suitcase packed and informed everyone that she was staying in town that night and leaving for LA the next morning.
Tim and Adam were thrilled but no one more so than Luke as Jess turned to look at him he was smiling and it looked like this was the best day of his life. When Kristy got into the car she and Luke had arrived in, Jess smiled and turned to her family, "Well now that the trash is gone, who wants to start the fire? I'll go in and get the potatoes and the meat and we'll have an early dinner so that we can actually have some fun tonight."
Adam, who was always in charge of the BBQ went over and started preparing it while Troy and Tim lit the fire. Chris, Mel, Rob and Elli went to get more wood for the fire. Erika, Jen, Jess and Kelsie went inside to get everything ready. Marshmallow and chocolate with biscuits and the meat and veggies for dinner. Jess and Jen then prepared dinner for the children while Erika and Kelsie took platters outside to the table.
The children wouldn't be awake for another hour but if their dinner was ready and simply needed to be heated then it would take less time to have them bathed and ready for bed. Joshua and Georgina were starting to be able feed themselves while Logan, Sophia and Junior were still learning the art of using a spoon. While Jess set up the highchairs and plates, Jen went into the spare room to get clothes for after bath time. It really came in handy to have a few items of clothing for each child in the big house because the children spent most of their time there.