***The next morning***
Jennifer heard McKenna wake up around 6:30. She sat up and kissed Jonathan's forehead and then got out of bed.
She went and fed her in the den and changed her, and then she started the coffee and breakfast.
He came in to the kitchen and started kissing her forehead while she poured him a mug of coffee.
"Why aren't you dressed for the office?"
"I figured I would take Luke and Savanna to school today, and then we could go get a Christmas tree or get a crib for her nursery, whatever you want. I'm the boss, I can take off if I need to".
"What if we get a video monitor and get that set up, and just move the bassinette into the nursery? If Abby and Mike are going to move the kids to their house, there's no point in buying a crib right now. And if they are going to move in here, then they can buy one".
"Ok."
"And, I think we should ask the kids what kind of Christmas they want. We need to be sensitive to their needs about that".
"Yeah, that's true".
"But you still have to drive them to school. Or stay here with McKenna while I do".
"Why?"
"We never unloaded the car last night, remember?"
"Oh yeah".
He grinned at her and kissed her a few times.
They stopped when they heard feet coming down the stairs.
Savanna was crying, so Jonathan took the baby and Jennifer picked Savanna up.
"What's the matter?"
"I don't know". She was extra sniffly.
"Do you want some breakfast?"
"No. I want you to sing the song".
"What song?"
"The song that mommy used to sing to make me feel better".
"How does it go?"
"I don't remember".
"Well, lovebug, I can't sing it if I don't know what song it is".
Savanna started to cry harder.
Jennifer just leaned against the counter and held her.
"Is it You are My Sunshine?"
"No".
"Twinkle Twinkle?"
"No".
Jonathan and McKenna went to get Luke up, and Jennifer popped some frozen waffles into the toaster.
"How about Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
"No".
Jonathan came back downstairs.
"Luke had no idea either".
"We'll figure it out".
She set her on the counter.
"What do you want to do first, eat, or go get dressed?"
Savanna just shook her head.
"Are you feeling ok? Do you feel yucky?"
She shook her head.
Jennifer took her upstairs to get her dressed, while Jonathan took over with breakfast.
By the time they got back downstairs, Savanna had calmed down some.
Jennifer managed to get her to sit at the table and eat.
"Guys, you get to vote. Do you want a real live Christmas tree, or a fake one?"
"Real one".
"Do you want us to go pick it out or do you want to pick it out?"
"You pick it".
"Do you guys like to decorate it?"
"We've never done that before. Usually we are at Aunt Abby's and Uncle Mike's for Christmas".
"Well, then I guess we are going to get a Christmas tree and we can decorate it tonight, with you guys".
They both nodded.
After they were done with their breakfast, Jonathan took them to school and Jennifer cleaned up the kitchen.
She got McKenna back to sleep just before he got home.
She was in the bathroom about to take a shower when she heard him come in the bedroom.
"Hey".
"Hey".
He came over and gave her a proper good morning kiss.
She hugged him for a few minutes and then went and started the shower.
He went and unloaded the car while she took her shower, and then she came and joined him in the garage.
"Where are we going to hide these things?"
"How about the closet in the nursery? The kids never go in there".
"Great idea".
She made a general to-do list, and he went and picked out a Christmas tree and brought it back.
"Oh, that's gorgeous".
"Yeah, it was the prettiest one on the lot".
She helped him get it into the stand, and set up.
"I checked it thoroughly for critters. I think we are good".
"So, I guess we need to go into the attic and get lights and ornaments."
"Let's not. Why don't we start fresh? I'll go get a bunch of lights and generic ornaments from the store, and if the kids want their ornaments on the tree, then we can go get them".
She nodded.
It was time for McKenna's bottle and nap, so she made her a bottle and Jonathan fed it to her and then put her in the bassinette.
Abby called the house phone and she and Jennifer talked for a good bit.
They decided on Christmas plans, and whether or not Abby and Mike were going to move into the house, and a few other things.
"Do you have any idea what the feel better song is? Savanna was crying for it this morning, but I don't know what it is and she cannot tell me".
"I have no idea. My sister though, she had tons of songs for all things, so there's no telling".
"I'm trying to make you a book as I go along about Savanna's likes and dislikes. She's pretty quirky, but it's all cute quirks."
"I think we are going to sell our house and build on to theirs. We talked about it last night- our boys have always shared a room, so they can still do that. We will probably put them in the formal living room, until we can get the construction finished."
They chatted a little longer, and then hung up.
She filled Jonathan in on what the Christmas plans were.
"She said they would be here Christmas afternoon, and they wanted to take the kids to their house for a few days to give us some time alone. McKenna too. So, we could do Christmas morning and Santa with them ourselves before they get here".
"That's a good idea".
"What do you think about us getting a sitter this weekend and going into the city for dinner?"
"Yes, please".
She went and picked up the kids and brought them back. He told her he was going to run an errand and he would be back.
He kissed her cheek and quickly left.
She made lasagna for dinner that night, and had just popped it into the oven when he got back.
He had several bags of lights and ornaments and ornament hooks.
"Ok guys. We are going to decorate the tree after dinner".
"How?"
"Well, first we put the lights on. Then we put the ornaments on. And then we put the tree topper on top".
Savanna was so excited. Luke was too, but not as much as Savanna.
"Well, we can start right now with the lights if you want, since we have 45 minutes till dinner".
"Perfect".
Jennifer put McKenna in her jumperoo, and they started on the lights.
Jonathan put Savanna on his shoulders and she got to help with the top of the tree.
By the time their lasagna was ready, they were almost done with the lights.
After dinner, Jonathan did the dishes while Jennifer finished the lights.
He had gotten all red and clear ornaments, so she put them on hooks and the kids got to put them on.
"What goes on top?"
"Well, we can put a star, or we can put an angel, or a big bow."
They all voted for a star. Jonathan put Savanna on his shoulders again and she put the star on.
He turned on some kids music channel on the tv, and they were all sitting around looking at the tree.
All of a sudden, the song on the tv switched.
"That's it! That's the feel better song".
Jennifer listened to the words.
"I love you, a bushel and a peck…"
Savanna climbed into her lap and Jennifer started to sing it to her.
"I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck…"
She scratched Savanna's back while she sang to her.
Jonathan got McKenna out of her jumperoo and brought her to the couch. She was fascinated by the tree.
A few minutes later, Jennifer turned on a movie for the kids and started cleaning up from the lights and ornaments.
She gave McKenna a bath in the sink, and made some bottles for her while she sat there and played.
For some reason, Savanna insisted on watching the movie from Jonathan's shoulders. He was a good sport and let her climb up on him.
After McKenna was all fresh and clean, Jennifer got her a fresh diaper and got her pajamas on her, and gave her a bottle.
She went to sleep almost instantly.
After the movie was over, Jennifer took the kids upstairs to tuck them in and then came back downstairs.
Jonathan was in the bedroom, and had just changed into his pajamas.
She put her nightgown on and got in bed with him.
"Want to watch Tv?"
"Sure".
She handed him the remote, and then grabbed some lotion out of the nightstand and started putting it on.
He was rubbing his neck, so she got behind him and started massaging his shoulders.
It took her about 20 minutes, but she worked his shoulder knots out, and then put some deep heat lotion on him.
"Darling, who do you normally spend Christmas with?"
"My father. But this year, he will be abroad, so I won't see him. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?"
"Max sometimes. Other times, I spend it alone".
"You don't see your family?"
"I don't have any, besides Max".
"I'm sorry, I didn't know".
"It's ok. I was an orphan, and Max is really my only family".
"Who is Max?"
He rolled over and embraced her.
"Well, when I was about 10, I started to realize that I wasn't going to get adopted, and that my real family wasn't coming back. Since I was too old to be adopted, according to the orphanage, I was put into the life skills program. They taught me how to do dishes, although I was a pro at that by then, because they frequently handed out dish duty as punishments. I was a weekly dishwasher by the time I was 9. And when I was 12, I got a paper route. I found a street corner, and I was allowed to sell papers every morning before school, and all day on weekends. Max bought a paper from me almost every day, and took me under his wing. When I got in trouble as a teenager, I didn't call the nuns, I called Max. When I graduated high school, I went to the Navy. And after I was discharged, Max paid for me to get an education at USC, and then he financed the startup of Hart Industries. So, after I paid him back, and Hart Industries got off the ground, he moved in with me, and now he works for me. It's my way of paying him back for taking care of me all those years."
"What does he do for you?"
"Cooks, cleans, chauffeur. He's there for the dad advice, and the friend advice. He's one of a kind. He loves fast women, fast horses, and hot poker tables".
She snuggled down onto his chest.
"He sounds amazing".
"He gave me some good advice about you. Wish I had followed it".
"Oh? What was that?"
"It was when you were in London. He told me that I should move my business meetings to London so that we could spend time together. But, I was mad at you over the article so I didn't".
"If you had, you might not have gotten anywhere. I was a little mad at you for not testifying. That's why I didn't take you up on the dinner invite outside of Churchill's".
"Yeah, I figured".
"You know, 6 months ago, I never would have thought we would end up here".
"Me either."
She ran her fingernails along his chest, and kissed his neck a few times.
"Do you want to go back to California and spend Christmas with Max?"
"He's going to Canada this year, to see his nephew."
"Oh".
"We could spend it together, if you want".
"Of course, I want to spend it with you".
"I think I know exactly how we can spend it too".
He rolled on top of her and made love to her, before they both fell asleep.
***A few hours later***
McKenna woke up crying, and Jennifer got up and got her a bottle and got her back to sleep.
No sooner had she climbed back in bed, Savanna and Luke both came downstairs.
Savanna was crying and Luke was saying he didn't feel well.
"I think I'm going to be sick".
She ushered Luke to the bathroom where he promptly started throwing up.
Savanna was still crying and despite Jonathan's best efforts, she only wanted Jennifer.
Jennifer ran and got him a cold washcloth, some throw up medicine, and the pink bucket from the laundry room that she knew Caroline used to use as a puke bucket.
A few minutes later, Savanna started puking into the puke bucket.
Jennifer quickly ran to the kitchen and got out a glass and some grape juice. She drank two glasses as fast as she could.
She came back to the bedroom and found Jonathan laying in the bed.
"You might want to go drink some grape juice. It's supposed to ward off the stomach bug".
She went into the bathroom, and gave both of them some Emetrol.
Luke retreated to the couch, and Jonathan got him all set up with pillows and blankets.
Savanna was still throwing up, but it was slowing down.
By 5 a.m., they were all exhausted.
Jennifer gave Savanna a bath, and let her go to sleep in their bed, and Luke was passed out on the couch.
Jonathan had fed McKenna her first bottle.
"Ok, I'm heading to the office. I will be home after my meeting is over".
"Jonathan, you cannot leave me here with two puking kids and a baby!"
"I promise, I'll make it up to you. I cannot get out of this meeting. Want me to call the babysitter and see if she can come help out?"
"It wouldn't really be fair to expose her to the stomach bug".
"I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."
She wasn't happy with him, but she couldn't force him to stay.
She nodded.
He leaned down and gave her a kiss and then headed out.
About 45 minutes later, round 2 started.
Jennifer sat down on the bathroom floor and blinked back the tears.