Michaela turned over in bed to get a glance at her alarm clock. Green digital numbers flashed at her, reading 2:57 am. It was Christmas morning.
She turned back, looking in the opposite direction of her alarm clock, and gazed at Sully next. Her bedroom was dark, with only a little bit of light from the moon outside, her digital alarm clock, and the hallway nightlight that illuminated the bottom of her closed door. All of which made it light enough for her to make out Sully's form. His chest was rising and falling naturally, and his breathing was even; he was sound asleep. As a side sleeper, Michaela didn't know how someone could sleep so peacefully on their back, but he was. Sully was on his back, with the blankets covering him to his chest. He had one leg out in the open air. Michaela wondered if he'd gotten too hot and kicked his leg out to cool down.
When she'd talked to him on the previous day, explaining that they would have to be discreet and reserved if they had sex while the children were sleeping in the house, she didn't realize she was speaking to a pro. Sully was rather talented at the art of silent lovemaking.
She wore a long night shirt to sleep in. He didn't have on a shirt at all, but he wore his pajama bottoms. When they made love, Sully pulled up her shirt and pulled down his pants so they could join. They were able to have a nice time but were prepared in case one of the children happened to interrupt.
In addition, he kept his mouth on hers for the most part; muffling any moans that escaped from their mouths when either of them was feeling a burst of pleasure. He matched the rhythm of his kisses to the rhythm of his thrusts below the waist.
Michaela found that the sex wasn't better or worse than the passionate afternoon they had on the previous day, it was just more toned down and quiet. She also came to believe that she would likely enjoy any type of lovemaking with Sully.
As she watched him sleep, she moved a stray tendril of hair that had fallen in his face. She tucked it behind his ear and caressed his cheek. She removed her hand from his face rather quickly, as she didn't want to chance waking him, but she couldn't seem to avert her eyes.
If this was what the next fifty years of her life looked like, she was happy. She could get used to sleeping with him every night and waking up with him every morning. She wanted to spend the holidays with him and go on family trips. She wanted to take him to Boston to visit her family.
Now that Boston was on her mind, she thought about the Christmas card that she received from her sister, Rebecca, and her brother-in-law, Robert. Her brother-in-law's name was actually James, but he went by his middle name Robert, and Rebecca called him Bob. Rebecca had somehow managed to talk her husband and young adult children into wearing matching Christmas pajamas. She also got them to pose for a photoshoot while wearing the pajamas. She used one of the family photos from that shoot as her Christmas card.
Michaela called her sister and asked her how she was able to get her family to participate. To her knowledge, Bob was a nice man, but he found certain Christmas trends, like wearing matching family pajama sets, to be cheesy. Rebecca simply told her that she highlighted the fact that they had adult children and none of them were married yet. She was able to talk her husband into the photoshoot citing that this could be the last year that they had to take family pictures without having to worry about young in-laws trying to take over, and she left it to him to get the children to agree.
It was true, Michaela thought, her sister could have young in-laws soon. Rebecca had three children: Jamie, Gardner, and Eliza. Rebecca's oldest, James Jr., whom they all affectionately called Jamie, was twenty-five, and only nine years younger than Michaela. Jamie had texted Michaela recently, sending her a picture of him and his new girlfriend, Kylie. Rebecca's daughter, Eliza, was nineteen and had been seeing her boyfriend, Jack, for about a year now. Michaela had met him just before she made the move to Colorado. Either one of those kids could get engaged at any time. However, of all of Rebecca's children, Michaela actually believed that the second child, her nephew, Gardner, was the most likely to get engaged first. He was twenty-three and had been seeing his girlfriend, Cornelia, since high school.
As Michaela thought about the Christmas card and the matching pajamas, she started to wonder if she could talk Sully into taking family photos like that next year. It was cheesy, but she still wanted to do it. Then she would send a card just like that to Rebecca and the two of them could talk about how she got Sully to agree to it.
While Michaela was busy musing about her future with Sully, as predicted, her bedroom door opened, and Colleen tiptoed inside.
Michaela was expecting this but thought that it may be a good idea to teach the children to knock before entering her bedroom. Especially if Sully was staying the night.
"Mommy," Colleen whispered.
"Yes, Sweetheart," Michaela said, sitting up.
Michaela kept a nightlight in the hallway in case one of the children had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She wanted them to be able to see where they were going. Colleen had left Michaela's bedroom door open when she entered. The nightlight brightened the room without Colleen or Michaela having to turn on the bedroom light.
"Is it Christmas yet?" she whispered excitedly.
"It is," Michaela told her in a quiet voice, "Merry Christmas, but I'm afraid it's not time to get up yet, Sweetheart."
"Did Santa come?" Colleen asked.
Michaela thought about that question carefully. As she and Sully were the Santas of the house, yes Santa had arrived, and had filled all five children's Christmas stockings with treats and toys. She and Sully filled the stockings after the kids went to bed. Michaela also adopted one of Sully's Christmas traditions. Every year, Sully picked one gift that went under the tree and signed it as Santa. Michaela thought that was a great idea and decided to do the same. However, if she told Colleen that Santa had arrived, then the little girl would never go back to sleep. She may not go back to sleep regardless, but Michaela had to get her to at least try. After a few Christmases of this, the experienced mother was prepared to handle it.
"You know Santa's rule," Michaela reminded Colleen, "he only delivers gifts to children who are asleep."
"Yes, I know the rule," Colleen pouted momentarily; she didn't like that rule. "I just wanted to ask him for something. Not for this Christmas, but maybe for someday."
"What?" Michaela asked, curious now.
"I was going to ask him for a sister like me," she told her mother, "One that is the same age as me, and she can be my best friend. Like how Matthew has Zachary and how Brian has Hanna."
"Colleen," Michaela sighed. She knew her daughter wanted that, but that wasn't a gift that she was capable of giving, "You know that Santa doesn't give people to other people as presents."
"I know that," Colleen explained, "I already prayed extra hard and asked God for a sister. I just thought it would help to get Santa on the case too."
Michaela smiled at her daughter's sweetness and innocence. She didn't think an actual sister that was her age was something that God could give. It wasn't as if she and Sully could turn back time. She didn't want her child to be broken-hearted either, so she explained what could happen in the best way she knew how, "Sweetheart, do you remember what I told you about prayer? Do you remember me telling you that God listens to all prayers and then makes the best decision possible?"
"I remember, Mommy," Colleen answered softly.
"Good," Michaela replied, "I just want you to remember that sometimes things come in a different way than we think. Mommy has always told you that your aunties, Mommy's sisters, are Mommy's best friends." When Colleen nodded, Michaela continued, "Sisters can be your best friends, but your best friends can be your sisters too. You may be sent a best friend that you grow so close to that you're just like sisters."
"Will I get her for Christmas?" Colleen asked.
"I don't know," Michaela said with a bit of a laugh, "You could have a best friend in the works. Are you ready to go back to sleep now?"
"Yes, Mommy," Colleen said.
"Goodnight, Darling," Michaela said and kissed her daughter on the cheek, "Sweet Dreams."
"Goodnight, Mommy," Colleen whispered and left her mother's room, closing the door behind her.
Sully's eyes fluttered open. The first thing that his eyes focused on was Michaela's sleeping face on the pillow next to him. He could get used to this, he thought to himself. It was nice waking up with someone and not all alone. It was especially wonderful that he got to wake up sharing the bed with his darling Michaela. As he looked at the beauty of her face as she peacefully slumbered, all of the pleasant memories from the previous day and night flooded his brain. It thrilled him that he and Michaela had expressed their love to one another physically. Additionally, he also felt their emotional bond strengthening.
He let out a yawn, stretched his neck, and then sat up a little bit. He wanted to see over her and to her alarm clock that read 6:00 am. It was that early still? That's why the children weren't up yet and bouncing off the walls. He felt like he'd slept in much later than usual but concluded that it wasn't that he slept in later, it was that he was more rested than usual.
Sully hadn't had sex in a long time. It had been over a year…actually… probably closer to two years, and other than a few lonely nights in his shower, he hadn't had much in the way of a release. It wasn't just pent-up sexual energy that he needed to expel. Since he'd become sexually active as a teenager, he came to the realization that even a release from the stressors of everyday life was best found, for him, in bed.
Michaela was more than just an antidote for stress relief, however. She was part of him now, and he hoped that she felt in her heart that he was part of her. He wanted to officially make them one but believed that it was still too soon to propose marriage. However, he didn't think it was a bad idea to start bringing the subject up to her. God knows he'd dreamed about it enough times, and it would be good to know where she stood on the subject.
Sully's eyes shifted up to the ceiling of her bedroom. He was staring at her ceiling fan. It was nothing special, just a basic five blade fan with a light in the middle. It was awfully plain, looking like a standard fan that came with the house when she bought it. He liked plain, functional items like her ceiling fan for himself, but wondered if she would like something more decorative than the plain fan she had up there. He wondered if she ever gave it any thought.
He'd started preliminary sketches of the home he'd seen in his dreams. He kept them in his bedroom and worked on them after the kids went to bed at night. He wondered about adding special touches to the house that she may like. A decorative fan could be one of those special touches.
Another special touch that he thought about, something that was actually a pretty common feature, was a lock for their bedroom door. He knew that a lock wouldn't stop the kids from waking up in the middle of the night and coming to their room. Nevertheless, if they were making love, a lock would stop any child from just bursting in and would give them time to make themselves presentable.
"Merry Christmas," he heard Michaela whisper. She'd awoken while he was letting his mind wander.
Sully turned to his side and scooted toward her in bed. He gently placed a hand on her cheek, and kissed her a few times, "Merry Christmas," he said against her lips.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked, as she scooted closer to him. She rested her head on one of his pecs, and then brought up her hand to rest on the opposite pec. She was content to snuggle with him until it was time for them to get up and greet the day.
"Very well," he answered, accepting her invitation to snuggle by hooking an arm around her and resting his hand on her waist. Then he covered her hand that was on his pec with his, "You?"
"I did wake up once," she said, "Luckily, that was the time that my daughter came in to ask about Santa. After she left, I closed my eyes and slept fine."
"Good," Sully said, "What did Colleen ask you about Santa?"
"She wanted to know if he'd arrived yet," Michaela told him, deciding to forgo telling him that Colleen asked for a sister her age.
Sully chuckled, thinking Colleen was cute. He loved having young children around, especially during Christmas. They got so excited about Santa, "What did ya tell her?"
"I told her that he only delivers gifts to children who are asleep," Michaela replied.
Sully laughed harder, "I could've used that one when Zachary was her age. I'll save it for Hanna," Sully wanted to say Hanna and Brian, because he believed that he would be Brian's father one day, but he left that out for now.
Michaela said nothing and laughed with him. Then she propped herself up on her elbow and leaned down to kiss his collar bone, "Do you think we should get up? We could have our morning coffee before five eager children come rushing down the stairs."
"Sure," Sully said with a smile.
Before going downstairs, Michaela put on some thermal leggings under her long nightshirt and threw a robe on top. Sully just put on a white cotton t-shirt.
Once they were ready, they naturally got into their husband-and-wife/co-parent team mode, despite not actually being married.
Michaela made coffee for the two of them and got out her Christmas coffee mugs to serve it in. Her mother used to serve her, her father and all of her sisters coffee, orange juice, eggnog, etc. in Christmas coffee mugs. It was one of Michaela's favorite traditions growing up and it was something that she liked sharing with her children. She hadn't said anything about it to Sully, but she had a feeling he would be supportive of anything she wanted to do. He'd been that way so far.
Sully went to check on the guinea pigs, making sure they had plenty of food and water. He was impressed by the people that built Michaela's house and wanted to ask her who they were. The house was well insulated including the basement, and the little cavies living down there were nice and warm. Sully knew how to sketch and build houses, small buildings, and other structures, but he always brought out a team of professionals for big projects. If he built a brand-new house on his property for his growing family, he wanted a good team of builders.
Finally, they were able to sit together on the couch and enjoy a cup of coffee. Sully glanced at his mug and read the words, Farm Fresh Christmas Trees. There was a picture of a red pick-up truck from the fifties with a Christmas tree in the bed of the truck, "Ya know, my mother, Kathleen, used to have Christmas mugs like this. On Christmas mornin', she used to give Brecken and me hot cocoa in mugs like this. She and my father used mugs with Christmas tree forests on them."
"Really," Michaela commented. She didn't know that using Christmas mugs was one of his family's traditions too, "So you like Christmas mugs?"
"Sure," Sully said with a shrug, wondering who wouldn't like Christmas mugs. He wouldn't have cared if his coffee was in an everyday mug, but he had nothing against Christmas mugs. He thought they were festive.
"I just like learning new things about you," Michaela explained, but quickly changed the subject, "Are the guinea pigs okay?"
"They're doin' just fine," he informed her, "They've eaten, and I gave them a little more food in their bowls. The temperature is comfortable downstairs, and they seem to like their hiding spots."
As the two of them sat there on the couch, and he didn't hear the children stirring yet, Sully figured that now was as good a time as any to start bringing up marriage.
"Ya know, we talked a lot yesterday," Sully started to say, "I mean, after we–"
"Yes," Michaela said, not letting him finish his sentence, but left the conversation open for him to continue.
"Do you ever think about gettin' married again?" he asked her, getting to the point and being straight forward.
Michaela felt a bolt of electricity go down her back and her skin began tingling, "I've thought about it, sure," she said, but didn't say anything else. She wanted to hear what he had to say first.
Attempting to keep the conversation going, he asked, "What about havin' more kids? Do ya think about that?"
"Yes, I've thought about that too," she revealed, but didn't give an opinion about how she actually felt about having more children.
Breaking eye contact with her and taking a sip of his coffee, he probed further, "If you were to have more…how many more do ya want?"
"I think two more would be a good place to start," she answered, dropping a not-so-subtle hint, and earning a smile out of him. She didn't think it was a bad time to drop that hint. She was in love with him, and unless things drastically changed, she wanted to marry him someday.
Sully made eye contact again. He was pleased with her answer and was happy to learn that the two of them getting married was something she could see in her future. As far as her accepting his children, he believed she'd just given him her answer without him having to ask. He wouldn't have had to ask how she felt about that anyhow, he supposed. Her oldest son was adopted, and she loved him very much. He knew already that she didn't have a problem with adopting children, and her heart was capable of loving an adopted child with the same depth as her natural born children. However, that wasn't all he wanted to know. He was still not ready to discuss his visions with her, but he wanted to know where she stood on having more children, particularly where she stood on having them the natural way. Would she want to conceive and get pregnant again?
"That would give ya five kids all together," He pointed out and then asked, "I mean, do ya ever think about maybe more than that?"
"I've never fathomed eight," Michaela said, referencing the conversation they had yesterday. She still hadn't told him about the strange dreams she'd been having, and like him, she wasn't ready to discuss it yet, "If I was married to the right man, well, the right man for me, and he and I were in a loving, stable, and supportive marriage, then I don't think I would mind having more than five."
"So ya wouldn't mind havin' more babies, as long as ya have the right partner by your side?" he questioned for clarity.
"Yes," Michaela confirmed, "If I've learned anything, parenting can be a lot of fun and there are moments of sheer happiness, but there are two sides to that coin. Parenting can be very stressful too, and I don't just mean when it's time for discipline. When it comes time to make life decisions that parents have to make for their children like deciding what school to put them in, for example," She made sure to reference a decision that they both had just struggled with recently, "If I decide to do it again, get married and have more children, I want a real partner by my side this time. Someone that I can talk to about the kids, someone to help me make decisions, someone to help me parent."
"I understand," Sully said with a nod, "Let's talk about the right man for you. What does that mean?"
"I want a real husband," Michaela explained, "Real isn't the best word... I mean, well, I want...I want him to be my partner, my co-parent, my confidante, my best friend…" Michaela sighed and blushed as she continued her list and said, "my lover…I guess the most important thing to me is that I want someone who wants to be with me. I want someone who wants to have a family with me. I'm not expecting perfection, but I want a man that is willing to go all in and build a life with me. Does that sound like too much to ask for? I always thought that was the purpose of marriage, but I have since learned otherwise. I mean, I've learned that some people don't feel that the purpose of marriage is what I feel it is.
"No, Honey, that's not too much to ask for," Sully said, his heart breaking for her. He felt sad that she had only experienced a pretty bad marriage and he wanted to show her something better, "That's what I want out of a woman."
Michaela and Sully sat on her couch looking into one another's eyes, then they both heard the sound of stirring from the second floor of her house.
"I hear children," Sully joked with a smirk, "Let's go over the plan for today, because we ain't gonna be alone down here for very much longer."
"The way I usually do things is that I let the children have their stockings first thing in the morning," Michaela explained, "Then we eat breakfast and go to church. Afterwards, I usually take them over to my mother's house to open gifts. Since that isn't happening this year, I guess they can open gifts here after church. The point is, I like to stretch out the day as much as possible."
"If that's the case, can we add to that plan? " Sully requested, "I think we need a few extra steps."
"What did you have in mind?" Michaela questioned.
"I like the first part," he said, "Stockings, breakfast, church. Then, I think we should let them open one or two gifts, then we stop them and watch a movie or play a game. Then we have lunch and after that, we let them open a couple more gifts and so on. I like really stretchin' it out too. It's nice to keep the excitement goin' all day."
Michaela smiled and nodded at him, approving of his idea for the day.
At Church, Snowbird and Loren saved a whole pew for Michaela and the five children. The two grandparents decided to put aside their differences for the day because they both wanted to sit near their shared grandchildren that they knew were coming to the Christmas service with Michaela and her children.
Next to Snowbird, sat Olive and her new boyfriend, Patrick O'Connor. He was a fifth-grade teacher at the public school. Snowbird knew him as that one teacher that her grandson had apparently told to "suck his left nut" during the previous school year. From what Snowbird had heard, he was a grinch of a man; however, as far as she could see, Olive was softening him. He cracked a smile a couple of times already.
She still didn't think that Zachary was going to be too thrilled with his aunt when he found out that she was dating his former teacher, so she made sure that he sat on the opposite side of Olive.
In the pew in front of them sat Dorothy and her husband, Marcus. Snowbird knew all about them and their dirty little secret. She looked over Dorothy, and didn't see any bruises, so hopefully her husband wasn't beating her up anymore. She would have to talk to Sully about it.
Snowbird wasn't the only one who was concerned about Dorothy. Loren was watching her like a hawk. As soon as Sully talked to Loren about Dorothy's bruises, he had a conversation with her. She promised him that Marcus was sober and was not raising his hands to her, but Loren more so hoped than believed that what Dorothy was saying was true. Every time he saw her, he scanned her face and any place on her body that was bare for bruises. It was the wintertime, so she was wearing a lot of long sleeves and heavy coats. He kept a watchful eye on her just the same.
Finally, the children walked into church, earning smiles from all of the adults who were waiting for them. First Colleen came in, holding hands with both Brian and Hanna. After them, Matthew and Zachary walked in.
Snowbird could tell by Hanna's beautifully braided hair and the new outfit that she'd never seen before that it was Michaela who had gotten her ready for church that morning and not Sully. Sully typically dressed his daughter in whatever Snowbird gave him, but if left to his own devices, he'd likely put her in sweatpants every day. And if he had to do Hanna's hair… Forget it! The level of Sully's expertise ended at the ponytail.
Snowbird hoped that Sully would marry Michaela. The two of them made a nice couple and all seven of them made such a sweet family. Furthermore, she believed that all of the kids, not just her grandchildren, would benefit from having a co-parenting team.
As soon as Loren saw the children, he got up from the spot he'd been sitting in, so he could save their seats, and then he traveled to the next row up, to sit next to Dorothy. He wanted to make sure there was enough room for all of the children and Michaela to sit with them.
After the children were seated, Michaela walked in, and nobody could have prepared the adults, especially Olive and Snowbird, for what they saw next. Michaela walked into church holding Sully's arm. Somehow, she'd gotten him to return to church after a whole year had gone by.
Sully and Michaela found their seats and situated the children, so Matthew was seated closest to the aisle, then Zachary, then Colleen, Brian and Hanna. Michaela sat next to Sully and Sully sat next to Snowbird.
"Good to see ya, Sully," Olive said from the opposite side of Snowbird, "I wasn't expectin' ya, but Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Olive," Sully said and then he greeted everyone around him.
Snowbird definitely wanted Sully to marry Michaela now and she wanted it to happen as soon as possible. She wanted him to marry her before, but now it was non-negotiable. Snowbird knew it was Michaela she had to thank for getting her son to come to church. Looking around Sully's back, she made eye contact with Michaela, and mouthed the words "Thank You." Michaela nodded and smiled back.
After the Christmas service had ended, Michaela lost count of the number of town's people who greeted Sully, welcoming him back to church. Sully liked to describe himself as a loner, but Michaela could see that there were lots of people who cared for him.
Sully pulled Loren aside, wanting to talk with him in private, and Michaela soon found herself surrounded by Snowbird, Olive and Dorothy. The three older women were all curious to know how she got him to attend church.
Snowbird hugged her first, and whispered, "Thank you," in her ear. It was the second time she'd thanked her, but she was very grateful to see her son in church.
"How the deuce did ya get his butt here?" Olive questioned.
Michaela didn't answer at first. The children were keeping her attention at the moment. They were already excited about the little stocking stuffers that they'd received that morning, and were excited, in general, due to the merriment of the day. Right now, they were playing in the pews and Michaela wanted to make sure things didn't get out of hand.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Michaela asked the three women. She wasn't even sure who it was that asked her the last question.
As the women were talking, Loren gave Sully a bag with Christmas presents in it for the kids. The reverend allowed him to store the bag of gifts in the broom closet of the church.
"I'm starting to trade and sell vintage items in the store. A Holiday Barbie from 1996 came in the other day. It's real pretty. I thought Hanna would like it. I got her a board game that is supposed to be fun for preschoolers too," Loren said to Sully, "I got a bunch of baseball stuff for Zac, um, a backpack, water bottle, a desk lamp, and some other stuff. I threw in a few trinkets for her kids too; I didn't want to leave them out."
"Thank you. Look, do ya wanna come to dinner?" Sully offered his father-in-law. He knew his mother wasn't coming to dinner, and the plan was for Michaela, all of the children, and him to have a quiet family Christmas. Having Loren there wouldn't upset that plan. He'd just been so busy for the last couple of weeks that he hadn't even thought to ask Loren if he wanted to attend. "Michaela won't mind."
"Thanks, Sully," Loren said, pleased to have received the invite, "Olive is hosting a dinner at her place and I'm goin' there."
"Gettin' him here is quite an accomplishment," Dorothy said to Michaela.
Michaela explained that all she did was ask Sully to come to church and he agreed. The three older women seemed to have a hard time believing that.
Before Michaela could answer Dorothy and insist again that all she did was ask him, they were interrupted by Marcus.
"Come on, Dorothy, let's go," Marcus stated. He wasn't demanding, per se, but he was firm. He made it clear to all four of the women with just his attitude alone that what he says goes and he expected his wife to obey him.
His attitude made Michaela feel very uncomfortable; however, her discomfort eased when she saw that Snowbird and Olive gave him a dirty look. When they did that, she knew she wasn't the only one who thought Marcus' behavior was off putting.
Not wanting to cause a problem with her husband or argue with him in front of everyone who was still at church, Dorothy said, "We'll see ya tonight at dinner, Olive." Then Dorothy nodded to everyone, "Merry Christmas," she said, and then she left with her husband right away.
Once they were out of sight, Snowbird and Olive shot each other knowing looks.
"You want to come tonight, Snowbird?" Olive asked. She and Snowbird had talked before Michaela and Sully arrived with the kids and Olive knew that Snowbird didn't want to have dinner with her son that evening.
"Yes, thank you," Snowbird accepted, happy to have a place to go. As she explained to Olive, Sully invited her, but she didn't want to have Christmas dinner with him. There were plenty of Christmases for that. She wanted to give Sully a chance to make a family night of it with Michaela. She felt in her heart that the more they acted like a family, the more Sully and Michaela would want to make it official and get married.
"Good, Loren doesn't have a date," Olive joked and chuckled.
Snowbird scoffed and laughed, shaking her head. Turning back to Michaela, she said, "You were saying… How did you get my son here?"
"Loren, wait!" Sully exclaimed, following his angry father-in-law into the parking lot. Looking around, he was grateful that nobody appeared to be paying any attention to the two of them. Sully caught up to him before he was able to climb into his old Station Wagon.
"I've got a nine-millimeter luger and a shovel!" Loren insisted, getting into his car and slamming the door. He started the vehicle and was about to drive off but could hear Sully's muffled voice pleading with him to stay through his closed car door. He rolled down the driver's side window and told Sully, "No one's gonna miss that low-life."
Sully had just informed Loren that Hank was out of jail. He also told him about the interaction they had at the cemetery, "Loren, ya can't just shoot him."
"He ain't got no business disturbin' Abagail after what he did," Loren hissed angrily.
"He was leavin' her flowers," Sully explained. He wasn't trying to defend Hank, but he did want Loren to calm down.
"If he thinks he's gettin' Zac, he's gonna hafta climb over my dead body to do it," the older man argued.
"I don't blame ya for that thought," Sully said, now second guessing his choice to tell Loren about Hank, "but I don't want ya goin' after him."
"All you did was ask him?" Snowbird questioned Michaela suspiciously. The women were inside the church with the children still. All of them were oblivious to what was going on with Sully and Loren outside.
"Yes," Michaela confirmed again. She tried to keep her voice even so she wouldn't reveal how frustrated she was getting with their line of questioning. Michaela felt like she confirmed that all she did was ask him, one-hundred times, in the last five minutes. She did leave out the part that she'd asked him after they'd just made love for the first time, so he was obviously in a good mood, but it wasn't like she cast a spell on him.
"It's just that we've been asking him for months," Olive informed her, "and he always tells us no."
"Or he ignores us," Snowbird added.
"I had a heart to heart with him about it first," Michaela explained, "He does have a lot of bitterness inside of him. Much of it came to a head after the loss of his wife. I just made it as clear as possible that God still has a plan for him. I asked him if he could please come today with the children and I, and he agreed."
"I'm glad to hear it," Snowbird said. She wanted to know more but didn't want to pry anymore. She felt like there was more to know, but Michaela wasn't spilling. Snowbird would likely pry later, but she would bug Sully for the information. She couldn't pester Michaela, the person that she believed was her daughter-in-law to be, the way she knew how to pester her son to get information out of him.
After talking with the two older women about her and Sully's plans for Christmas dinner that night, Michaela said her goodbyes, and started to get the children's attention, warning them to quiet down, because it was almost time to go.
As Michaela was gathering the children, with Snowbird and Olive watching, Olive whispered to Snowbird, "Your boy is in love with that one. He ain't got a problem blowin' us off, but he can't blow her off."
"I think you're right," Snowbird whispered back.
"ALRIGHT!" Loren yelled at Sully. "I will give ya a chance to figure this nonsense out with Hank. But if you can't and he steps out of line…If he goes anywhere near my grandson…I WILL put a bullet between his eyes, I don't care what happens to me!"
"Fine," Sully reluctantly agreed, "but you have to give me some time, more than just a few days, Loren. Promise me!"
Loren sighed and growled, "I promise. Now get away from my car so I don't run you over!" When Sully took a few steps back, Loren hit the gas angrily and sped out of the church parking lot.
Sully stood there, watching him drive off. He shook his head and let out a loud sigh.
To be continued. Please review =)
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This is a long one, so I decided to split it into two parts.
I decided to change O'Connor's name to Patrick. The character's name was Brian on the show. I didn't want to use the name Brian twice.
Sorry for the delay. I'm a schoolteacher, and I just finished finals season, final grades, and on top of that, I am the chair of the holiday decorating and planning committee at work. It's been a busy few weeks.