Chapter 10
Emmie loved coming home from work, and Cullen was there.
He would have homework done and the kids ready for dinner when she got there.
The best part was that he loved making her day his central focus.
She loved him so much that there were times when she had to pinch herself to believe how lucky she was.
“I’ve been talking to my brothers, and they’re all saying that they’ll vote for me when the time comes.
I’ve already been doing some research online about grants, and I think I can get enough that it will put a large dent in what will need to be used for the new buildings.
” She told him she was proud of him. “You don’t mind me being mayor?
It’ll take away from me being home at night with the kids. ”
“Honey, all of our kids are nearly grown now, and the six of them can fend for themselves for a change. It might be good for them anyway. You’ve taught them to make sure they clean up after themselves and to do their homework first thing when they get home from school.
I think that they could run this household better than I can.
” The two of them laughed. She knew she was right, and she had a feeling that he thought she was joking.
She wasn’t. “I’ve been thinking of cutting back on my job with the charities around town anyway.
I work too hard when I look forward to a cancellation of something to think I’ve gotten a free day off. ”
“I know. You’re barely home before you’re too tired to come up to bed with me.
I think that might be a good idea too. Mom has cut back, too.
I think she has enough going on with her work that she misses Dad.
And Dad isn’t working at all anymore unless he wants to.
” She thought about his dad being a lawyer and wondered how he kept up with everything going on around him.
“I think they’re planning a long vacation, just the two of them, for the summer of next year.
I’m betting that they’ll be gone for six months.
Mom wants to see Europe again, and they’ll do it and have fun. I’m happy for them both.”
“She’s been hinting around about getting new summer clothing for next year.
I didn’t understand why she had to wait until next year, but now I do.
I hope they do it. It will be fun for them, and they deserve it more than most people I know.
” He agreed with her. “You think they’ll be gone that long?
I mean, they really love the kids, and I don’t see them being gone that long without really missing them.
I hope they do it, but I don’t see them taking more than a month or two. They’ll need their grandparents’ time.”
“I guess so.” She thought about this weekend, when they were planning on having the grandkids at the house. “She’ll have so many gifts for them when she returns that they’ll need extra luggage to bring them all back. Or we’ll be getting packages from all around the world.”
“She’ll send them to them. I’m betting right now she’s planning on sending them with stamps, too, so that they can collect them.
I can see her doing that.” They both laughed, and she asked him what he’d do without them being around all the time.
“I can still reach out to them. I think that’s the best part about being a shifter.
Is the ability to talk to anyone in the family when I want. ”
“I love that too. When I have a question for your mom, I just reach out to her, and there she is. It’s like having my own phone system so that I can talk to them.
” She sat back on the couch and thought about her day.
“I’m exhausted. This, more than anything, makes me want to take some time off.
I think that I’ve been going for too long. ”
“I agree with you. You need time off for yourself. There is no point in doing all of this if you’re going to be killing yourself over it.
” She thought about going down to half of what she did now.
“I think I could do it easily. Just tell them I need time for myself and assign someone else to do the job. It might be fun just to see their faces when I tell them.”
“It’ll be all right. I just know it.” She hoped he was right.
But even if he wasn’t, she was going to do it.
It had been too long in coming, and she wanted a break.
Perhaps she and Cullen could see some of the world before they were too old to enjoy it.
Hell, they might even take the kids with them so they can have fun too.
“As soon as you cut back on what you want to do, then you and I will take a week-long cruise and enjoy all the food and entertainment. I think it would be perfect for the kids, too. They’ve never been on a vacation before, and this might be as good for them as it will be for us. ”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” She kissed him on the mouth and decided that she couldn’t love him any more than she did at this moment.
“We should book it soon so we can take it during the summer months. That way, the kids won’t miss any school, and we can enjoy the warm weather.
The staff can take care of the house, and your parents will be getting gifts from us for a change. ”
“Brilliant.” As soon as he pulled up his computer, she knew that they were going to be planning the cruise over the next few weeks.
He’d get everything organized, too, so that all they had to do was pack and show up.
She couldn’t wait. It was going to be epic for them all.
“We just have to decide what sort of places we want to visit, and it’ll be easy from there.
I think we can book six rooms for us on the ship, no problem. The twins can share.”
By the time they told the kids what was going on, they were ready to go tomorrow.
Not really, but they were excited about it as much as they were.
It was almost too much excitement to go to sleep that night, but she was going to be writing some letters tomorrow about stepping down.
She might not quit them all, but a good portion of them would have to find someone else to be the patron of their charities.
She and Cullen hadn’t even had a honeymoon, so this was going to be the first of many, as far as she was concerned.
Getting into bed when the kids finally settled, she was happy that they’d told them tonight.
It would be good for them to have something to look forward to, and she was glad that she’d be able to share it with them.
Even Marshall and Beth were excited to be going on the trip with them, even though they were both in their twenties now and away from home.
The next morning, she realized that everyone was going to need passports and set to work on that before she left for work.
She knew that it would be hard to get them all what they needed, but she had faith in the fact that they could buy what they didn’t bring with them when they left something behind.
As soon as she pulled out a pad of paper, she was making notes on everything that they’d need and would have to buy before they left.
They had only a month to get things ready, and she was almost too excited to remember to calm down so she’d not overwhelm herself.
Writing the letters to the charity foundations was easier than she thought it would be.
All of them said basically the same thing, and she had them ready to be mailed off by noon.
Taking the morning off to do it had made her feel somewhat guilty, but she knew it was going to be good for her in the end. And her family.
Dropping them off at the mailbox on the way into her office, she felt lighter than she had in some time.
Knowing that she had to do this for her own well-being, she knew that once they started to receive their notices, they’d be calling her.
She had that ready to tell them, too. It was a simple thing of her health and well-being, or keep doing it and be burnt out.
She didn’t want to be burnt out over a charity job, and she thought, well, hoped they’d understand that.
Working through the pile of files on her desk, she was ready to go home by five o’clock.
Usually, she wasn’t finished until six or seven, so she was proud of herself for getting done so early.
Even as she was leaving, she thought about what she’d gotten done today and thought that if she could work like that for the rest of the time with them, she’d be all right.
But she knew that today was a special day and that it wouldn’t be like that forever.
Something would pop up and throw her off her game.
That was something else that she was looking forward to: getting things that cropped up off her list of things to deal with.
The kids were doing their homework when she arrived.
It was unusual for her to be home in time to help them out with their homework, so she was excited to be able to show them some things that she’d learned in school.
Just as the six of them were sitting down to dinner, Booth called.
He needed Cullen to help with a student who only spoke Vietnamese, and he didn’t speak it yet.
He said he’d be right there after dinner, and Booth was all right with that.
As soon as dinner was over, he took off to help his brother out.
She’d not realized that Cullen could speak a few languages either, and they’d been married for eighteen years now.