Chapter Thirty Seven
September Twenty Third
Juniper
“Happy birthday.”
Wolfie made his way to her side of the bed to set her cup of coffee down and crawled over her to get to the middle.
She groaned as he kissed her, “It’s too early.”
“Well you don’t have to work today, we could go see how the groundbreaking is going for our home. The Council approved our floor plan and the extra bedroom in the family cabin was a nice addition.”
He kissed her bare shoulder, “Come on, you don’t have to work today. Let's get up.”
He swatted her butt and left the bed, headed for the bathroom.
Her phone beeped and she stretched out to pick it up.
Brittanya, ‘Happy birthday! Can we do something today? Maybe dinner over here?’
“Brittanya wants to know if we can have dinner over at their place tonight?”
He closed the door behind him, “That sounds good to me.”
Juniper ‘Sounds good.’
She had a few other messages from Marilyn, Whitney and Golden wishing her a happy birthday. Marilyn had also sent her fifty credits to buy herself something nice as well. Brittanya’s response popped on her screen.
Brittanya ‘Great! I’ll get everything and everyone ready. You just show up at six. Bring Wolfie.’
Her heart stopped at the sound of an airplane flying in. “It’s Placement Day.”
Wolfgang entered the room shutting Zeppelin out, “Do you need a distraction from that?”
His arms slid to her, feeling her bare stomach under the sheets.
“Yes.”
She rolled into him.
*****
Before heading over they took a detour to see the progress on their build. Things had just started, so it was just dirt moved around, but that was still exciting for them. Juniper had suggested an island version of the family cabin, making it a little bigger downstairs and adding another bedroom upstairs for a full time family home. Their view was beautiful inside and out.
He opened the passenger door to the Jeep letting June and Zeppelin out at her old place. Wolfie stopped to kiss her on the doorstep, some habits never die. “Let’s get this started.”
June knocked.
The door swung open and Brittanya jumped out hugging June as if she hadn’t seen her in months. “You’re here!”
Zeppelin joined the commotion by jumping on them as well.
“Wolfie.”
She gave him a generous side hug. “Come in. We decided to do a little cooking on the grill.”
Wolfie closed the door, “Who’s grilling?”
“Fade, Max is back there supervising if you want to join them.”
The sliding door opened and Zeppelin was joining the guys as Wolfie stepped out.
A door down the hall had closed, “Ugh.”
Shianne appeared, “Don’t get pregnant, you’ll have to pee every ten minutes.”
She waddled. “I also have heartburn up to my eyeballs.”
She slowly plopped on the couch.
“Is Whitney outside?”
June was surprised she hadn’t seen or heard her yet.
“Uh, Margaret actually called her up to her office today. Fade came alone but I think she should be here soon.”
“Oh okay, is it work related?”
Brittanya shrugged with wide eyes. Juniper headed towards the back and squeezed past the door. “Hey.”
She smiled at Fade and Max. Wolfie was in the back of the yard playing with Zeppelin and she wandered over. “Hi.”
She stood next to him.
“Hey.”
He kissed her and put his arm over her shoulder, “I was just thinking, we should have brought pie.”
He smiled at her, “This yard reminds me of a good pie. Actually two good pies.”
June rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help reminiscing on what happened back there, really any happy thoughts before she left made her smile.
“Hey babe.”
Fade answered his phone. “Really? Alright, see you soon.”
He dropped his phone back into his pocket. “Whitney says she will be here soon, the food is about done so let’s head inside, she said she has something to tell us.”
June followed them inside as Fade repeated his message, “I wonder what it is.”
Shianne announced after and held Max’s hand while still seated on the couch.
After an awkward moment, everyone quieted down to hear the car door close, three times. The front door beeped and opened and Whitney stepped inside, following behind her were two tall, identical men, “Hi guys.”
She removed her cat eye sunglasses revealing red puffy eyes, “They found my brothers.”
She gestured to the dark haired, clean shaven men, “Aldous and Orion.”
Ten Years Later
December Twenty Fifth
Wolfgang
“Dad.”
A voice hissed over their bed. “Dad!”
He continued.
Wolfie shuffled under the sheets, “Yes son?”
“It’s Christmas. Mom said we could get up when the sun was rising, and I can see a little bit of it. Come on dad, there’s presents.”
“Really?”
He popped his head up acting surprised. “Where did they come from?”
“Dad!”
Patrick happily wailed. “Come on.”
He pulled on his arm.
June laid there, pretending to be in deep sleep so Wolfie would take care of him. Bridgette hadn’t cried yet either, letting June think he could take one child on by himself.
“Dad!”
He climbed onto the comforter, “Get up.”
Wolfie shot up from under the blanket with a roar, encapsulating their son while he squealed a high pitch noise followed by giggles.
“Alright.”
Wolfgang set him on the ground, “Let’s go check on your sister and make coffee and see if that wakes mom up.”
“Then presents?”
“We’ll see.”
Juniper
“The ham is almost finished.”
June vocalizes over Wolfgang playing with Patricks new toys. “Please come take Zeppelin out and get him comfortable in the laundry room before guests start to arrive.”
She had spent the better half of the afternoon cleaning, cooking and perfecting the dining room table for a hosted christmas dinner, her new favorite pastime, hosting. She started enjoying Placement Days and still joined Whitney at Community Day for the free food and to watch people.
Amy had retired and Golden had taken her place. She couldn’t think of anyone more perfect because Golden was better at her job more than Amy. Juniper became the manager at the Sixth Street Clothing Company and was still stressed right before the annual ball.
She pulled out the ham to check the temperature and Wolfie walked behind her, sticking his finger along the whipped topping of one of her pies for dessert that lined the counter. “Stop that!”
He wrapped his arms around her and under her apron, “Save me a slice of the cherry for later.”
She giggled at his request before letting her go. The front door banged, “They’re here, please take care of Zep.”
She dropped her hands under the faucet for a quick rinse before drying them on her apron on the way to the entry and opened the door, “Whitney!”