Chapter 41
“Mom, can we stay here tonight?” JT asked.
“You boys never have to ask to stay here. Of course, you can.”
The men all fussed over her, brought chairs into the bedroom, and sat around talking. Joci nodded in and out of sleep, loving the sound of her men’s voices.
At one point, she woke up, and the room was dark. Jeremiah was next to her, sleeping soundly. Joci looked at the clock on the dresser—it was two eighteen a.m. She slept so much that she didn’t have a schedule anymore. And she had to pee.
It took her forever to maneuver herself around so she could get out of bed. She had started slowly walking to the bathroom when Jeremiah jumped out of bed, “What are you doing, Joci?”
“I have to pee. Go back to sleep. I’ll be fine.” She continued on.
When she finished, she opened the bathroom door, and Jeremiah was standing there, waiting for her.
She chuckled. “Did you listen the whole time? There’s something wrong with that.”
“No, but I heard you washing your hands, and I got up to help you. There’s nothing wrong with me.
I just wanted to make sure you were okay.
” He kissed her temple and held her left hand as she hobbled to her side of the bed and wrestled herself back under the covers.
Once she was situated, she lay back against the soft pillows and let out a big sigh.
He walked around and slid into the bed behind her. Very gently, he pulled her to him so her back was pressed against his stomach. She sighed when she felt his arms slowly coming around her. “I missed this. I missed you holding me. I missed sleeping with you.”
Jeremiah kissed the back of her head. “I missed this, too, and you so much. I’m so sorry I let this happen.”
She let out a breath. “You didn’t cause it to happen, Jeremiah. You didn’t allow it to happen. LuAnn is the only one to blame there.”
“Stop it. A long time ago, you asked me to take care of the LuAnn situation, and I only went so far as to talk to her. I should have fired her and removed her from our lives. That’s on me. Because I didn’t, you’re suffering.”
She sighed. “Well, we could beat each other and ourselves up, and it won’t change anything. So, we need to move on. Okay?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kissed Joci’s temple and pulled her in tighter.
“Will we have to sit through a trial, Jeremiah?” Her voice was small and soft.
“I’m afraid so, honey. But I’ll be with you every step of the way. I want her in jail. I want her away from us. I want her punished for what she’s caused you.”
Joci was quiet. She wanted LuAnn punished, too. But she was nervous about the trial and what she would have to hear throughout that process. LuAnn no doubt would make herself seem pathetic. She loved Jeremiah, and she lost her mind over him. Poor thing.
“Tonight, the boys called me Mom and told me they loved me.” Joci smiled.
“I know. My chest has been tight all night, watching them with you. Did that make you feel good?”
“Yes. I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that they never had anyone to call Mom before. It makes it even more special to me that they think of me that way. If anything good is coming out of all of this mess, it’s just that it brought us all closer together.”
“How typical of you to look at the silver lining. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
Joci smiled.
“Get some sleep, baby. Tomorrow, everyone is coming over to plan a wedding. You won’t be doing anything but answering questions. You’re going to marry me in three and a half weeks. I won’t postpone it, not for anything. I don’t even want to wait that long.”
She drifted off to sleep, thanking God for giving her Jeremiah, the boys, and this little baby she was carrying.
They had had a little scare, but it turned out to be just cramps.
Dr. Wan talked them through it and said it was probably from all the trauma.
Joci was to try and relax and keep tabs on herself.
If the cramps started again, she was to call Dr. Wan.