Chapter 12 Emmie
EMMIE
“See you tomorrow at basketball pickup?” I reach up, wanting one more kiss before Creed leaves for the day.
“Of course. Thank you again for an amazing night, Emmie. We’ll get our next date planned soon. I’ll text you.”
With that, Creed leans down and kisses me one more time. Soft and sweet. Showing no signs of his previous grinch-like ways. He flashes me one of his rare, genuine smiles as he walks toward his truck.
As I close the door and let out a sigh, I replay the events of last night.
Mind-blowing sex. Ice cream therapy. More great sex.
Falling asleep in Creed’s arms. Him telling me he doesn’t do one-night stands and that he wants to see where this goes.
Asking me to be exclusive. And then getting woke up by his mouth this morning, giving me another orgasm before asking me to ride him to another release of his own.
Amazing.
Now to shower, pick up Rowan, and go back to being Mom again. Thankfully, today is Christmas cookie baking day with my mom, so she said I can come over whenever I want and join her and Rowan in the kitchen.
Time for basketball pickup. It always gets a little extra hectic at work in November and December when everyone is trying to get their hair and nail appointments done in time for their festivities.
But the hecticness also comes with some perks— many gift certificates to show appreciation, bigger tips than normal, and just an overall jolly attitude about the holiday season.
As I pull up to the school, I see Creed sitting in his truck, taking a minute to himself. He told me it’s often one of the only down times he has until the boys go to bed. And, man, can I relate to that!
As I make my way across the parking lot, Creed steps out of his truck and joins me. “Ready to get the crazies?”
I can’t help but giggle. “Speak for yourself. I just have the one.”
This is the last week of school before Christmas break, so the kids are extra wild. Skylar, my friend in charge of the after-school basketball program, has given every kid a candy cane as their Christmas gift.
“Great. Extra sugar. Just what mine need.” Creed tries to grimace, but his face quickly softens as Jim comes bolting for him.
“Dad! We had the best day! We got to watch ourselves from the Christmas concert in music, we played a reindeer game in PE, and everything is Christmas themed all week in our classroom. It’s great!”
“Cool, bud. I can’t wait to hear more about it over supper.”
Bart walks up and Creed jostles his hair.
“Dad, don’t mess up the look.”
Creed rolls his eyes, but still has that same smirk.
They start walking toward the door on their way out, and I figure I’ll text Creed later because that was not enough of a chat for me.
That’s when Rowan bull rushes me. “Mom, today was great! Everything all week is Christmas themed! Can I bring my teacher some of the cookies we made with Grandma?”
“Of course, bud. Later tonight, we’ll make a tray up for any teachers you want. Ready to go?”
“Yep. Thanks for the candy cane, Miss Skylar!” Rowan turns around to yell as we leave.
I’m so grateful to be raising an appreciative little boy.
As we step outside, I am hit square in the stomach by a fluffy snowball. I watch Rowan take another to the knee. As I look up, I see Creed, Jim, and Bart with a stack of snowballs beside them, taking cover by a tree.
“We gave you a small pile over there,” Creed motions with his head, “to get started. Good luck!”
Rowan is immediately on board, dropping his backpack and lobbing snowballs as quickly as he can— mostly at Jim. Creed has hit me with another two. These are perfect snowballs— light enough to not hurt, but still quickly sticking together.
“No face shots, boys.” Creed reminds his two as one hits Rowan in the shoulder.
Rowan has gone into speed mode. “Mom, I’ll make a ton. You fire them off!” I guess he has a competitive side to him!
I catch Creed’s eye and see that huge, genuine smile again.
“How about we switch teams?” I yell, looking in his direction.
“What were you thinking?” he asks, while lobbing another snowball at my feet.
“Parents versus kids!”
Creed smiles and immediately turns on his boys, showering both of them with at least three snowballs before they realize what’s happening.
“No fair. Cheaters! Rowan, help! Get your mom!!”
Creed and I make our way toward the middle, each pelting our own kid with snowballs. Eventually we are back-to-back, but we’ve run out of ammo.
“I surrender! I surrender!” Creed tries to get his boys to back off.
Rowan looks at me, ready to lob another snowball, sidesteps, laughs, and yells, “Parents lose! Let’s find the real winner!”
Creed and I exchange a laugh while the boys continue throwing snowballs at one another.
“I didn’t realize how competitive that would get.”
“That was so much fun! I’m not sure the last time Rowan and I had a snowball fight. Thank you.”
Creed takes my hand, and we watch as the three boys duke it out to see who will win. Bart takes a bigger snowball to the chest, which somehow knocks him off-balance, landing on his butt.
“Ok. Ok. I’m out.” He laughs.
Jim and Rowan continue throwing a few more snowballs at one another before Jim yells out, “Wanna call it a tie?”
“The second grade winners!” Rowan screams, as the two boys grab each other’s hands, raising them in the air.
“Why don’t you three go get in the vehicles? We’ll be right there.”
Creed turns toward me. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure if you would be game for that. But it was fun.”
“It was.” I turn toward Creed, wanting to kiss him, but also knowing our boys are all right there.
“No kissing in public, ok.” Bart says it more like a statement than a question as he makes his way by us toward the truck.
I look at Creed, a bit surprised that Bart assumes we would kiss.
“He told me he can see how I look at you. He said I look happier with you than I ever did with his mom. I guess you have his approval.”
Creed’s words cause me to blush.
“I guess I’ll take it. I’d better get Rowan home. Thanks, Creed. This was really fun.”
Creed grabs my hand and gives it a little squeeze. As much as I want to kiss him, I know now is not the time or place. We can figure out how to make us work, but we also have the boys to consider.
“I’ll text you later, Emmie.”
“Sounds good. Have a good night with the boys!”
And with that, Rowan and I head home so I can hear more about his school day, enjoy supper together, and get him into bed.