Lost and Found (40 page)

"I know you are, but you deserve a little spoiling and I'm the
ONLY guy to do it. I also have ulterior motives, because I
want to make sure you are nourished enough for what I
plan to do with you later."

I definitely hadn't forgotten about him saying he planned on
making me scream later, and at the moment I have no desire
to eat breakfast and want more than anything to just get
started with what he has planned. He must have read my
mind.

"Oh no, you will be patient and eat your breakfast. Open up
there blue eyes."

He has a piece of bacon in front of me, waiting for me to
take a bite and I start laughing, because no one has ever fed me before. He arches his eyebrows at me urging me to take
a bite, so I give in and do it. He won't quit staring at me and
he's not eating.

"Why are you staring at me and why are you not eating?"
He gives me a bite of biscuit and gravy and I must say it is
very delicious.

"I already ate and I'm just making sure you eat all of your food. Is there anything that you do that's not beautiful to
watch?" Now he has me blushing and pulling my hair
behind my ears. "Don't be embarrassed. I'm serious, I love
watching you and all of your facial expressions that tell me what you're thinking." He gives me a couple of bites of his
scrambled eggs and my eyes roll to the back of my head, because they are so good. I'm trying to figure out what he put in them.

"Oh my God! I didn't realize what a great cook you were.
Who taught you to cook?"

"My mother taught both Caleb and I to cook. She said she
didn't want us to depend on our wives cooking all of the
time and sometimes they needed breaks from everything, so
she wanted to make sure we knew how to cook for our
wives and kids. Of course I told her I would hire a cook, but
she still made me learn."

"You have an awesome mother I must say. I was beginning to teach Jordan how to cook and he picked up on it rather
quickly. Derek always made fun of him, though, by telling
him that only women belonged in the kitchen. It was our
own little secret during the week while he was away at
work."

It feels good to remember certain things about the kids and
I like that I can talk to him about them without it feeling
weird. He always seems interested in my life before I met
him.

"It sounds like he loved you very much and he probably
loved the extra time that he got to spend with you as well."

While we are talking, he's still feeding me and I realize that
the plate is just about empty. I think it's the most I've eaten in a very long time.

"Yeah, he did. When I would pick them up from school, the
first question he would ask was what was for dinner and he
would ask how we would be cooking it, and sometimes I
think he was more excited about helping me cook than playing outside with his friends." The memory has me laughing just picturing his excitement every day.

"What about Jeremiah and Jenna? What were they like?"

"Jeremiah was a lot like Gideon, but more mischievous, if
you can believe that. He was my little prankster.
He taught me to be wary wherever I walked, because he
would have booby traps all over the house. Water balloons
that would fall when I would open a cabinet, my sink
sprayer glued tight to spray me when I turned the water on,
stuff like that."

Oh, that boy gave me some laughs. I remember how many
times I would have to change my clothes when he was in his mischievous moods.

"He and Gideon would have had a lot of fun together it
sounds like, and would probably have gotten into a lot of trouble too. I imagine it was hard to reprimand him, huh?"

"Haha. Yeah, it was. I had a rule in the house that if it was
funny, then you didn't get into trouble. How could you
laugh at one of his pranks and then punish him? He was definitely our little comedian. We didn't have as much fun when Derek was home, I've come to realize, because he
expected them to be perfect, but it worked for the four of us
while he was at work."

"And Jenna? What was she like?" I realize I've finished my
plate, which was why he had distracted me with talk about
the kids.

"Jenna was my little angel. She had such a sweet soul about
her. Looks wise she looked like she could have been
Claudia's baby instead of mine, with her dark brown hair
and chocolate brown eyes. She had her diva moments like
Claudia as well, if you can believe that. She would wake up
every morning asking me every question under the sun and
go to sleep asking questions about what we were going to do the next day. She adored her brothers and they adored her as well. Eden reminds me of her so much sometimes
that it hurts, but it's a good hurt and not a bad one. When I
hug Eden, it's as if I'm hugging both of them at the same
time. I know that probably sounds weird, but it really feels
like that sometimes. Oh, and where Eden can't pronounce
her L's yet... Jenna couldn't pronounce her J's, so when she would yell at the boys or even say her name, it came out so
cute. I would have to say that she ran the house and had everyone wrapped around her little finger."

He leans over and gives me a hug, kisses my forehead,
picks my plate up, and starts cleaning the kitchen.

"I think I understand more now why you were so hesitant
about taking the job with the kids. I really admire your
strength and it must have been very hard for you, knowing
that you would have constant daily reminders of your
children."

“It really has been, but it's also helped me remember more
of the good and less of the bad, which has turned out to be
the best thing I could have done. Speaking of the job. I
don't think I can be their nanny anymore. It just doesn't
feel right." He stops what he's doing and drops his head.

"What do you mean by that? You're quitting? But..."

"No, no, no. I didn't word that right. I just can't take your
money anymore since we've become, well, I don't want
to be your employee anymore is all. I mean we are, well,
what are we exactly?"

I guess talking to my mother has made me wonder what
exactly I am. I don't feel like their nanny anymore and
since we've become involved, I feel more of a parent now
and hopefully future mother to them.

"Oh. Okay, I see. You don't feel that I'm paying you to
sleep with you, do you? Because you do take care of the
children every week and as far as what we are? I thought
we were a couple. As in boyfriend and girlfriend, future
husband and wife, and mother of my children!" I wasn't
intending on making him mad, but I can tell that he is.

"Okay. I’m sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, but would
you please just quit paying me? I don't need the money and
it just feels wrong in getting paid, when I feel like I'm
helping you raise them, ya know. It makes me feel like I'm
getting paid to watch my own children." He nods his head and sighs, as if he was holding his breath. I walk around to
him and hug him from behind and he turns around and
pulls my chin up, so that I could look into his eyes.

"Okay, Liv. I get it. Please don't scare me like that again; I
thought you meant that you were leaving me! But I'm still
going to continue paying you." I start shaking my head at
him. "Yes! Just consider it a weekly allowance, instead of a
paycheck."

"Weekly allowance? Are you kidding me? You do
realize how much you've been paying me, right? That's a
ridiculous amount of money for an allowance and I told
you, I don't need the money." He picks me up and sits me
on the bar so we can be eye level.

"I don't care if you need the money or not, I’m not
changing my mind. As the beautiful, sweet, precious, sexy
woman of my heart, it's the least that I can do. I don't want
you to want for anything and if by chance you see
something that you don't have the money for, no matter how
extravagant it is, you best let me know. Okay?"

How in the world I ended up so lucky, I will never know. Not only did I fall in love with this man, but to be loved by
him as well? He's not letting me have my way on this
topic, so I relent and nod my head.

"I give up. I'll let you win this little argument. For now."
He starts laughing and throws me over his shoulder like a
fireman would carry someone out of a burning building, and
I start laughing and lightly slap him on the back and yell at
him to put me down.

"You will never win this argument, my dear. It's time to make you really scream like I promised earlier before the
kids get home. Ouch! Did you just bite me?" He put me
down and stands over me, while I'm leaning against the
wall.

"Yes, I did. I couldn't help myself; your beautiful ass was
in front of my face, so I got curious." His mouth dropped.

"Oooookay. And what were you so curious about, because
I think I might have puncture wounds because of it." Oh, I
didn't bite him that hard; I can tell that he's teasing me.

"I was just wondering if you tasted as good as you looked.
That's all." I batted my eyes at him and I could see that he
lost all control, because he picked me back up and started
running up the stairs with me over his shoulder.

"Oh, you don't know what it does to me when you talk to
me like that! But you are going to find out. Right now!"

I can't for the life of me figure out why I keep talking to
him the way I have been, but I sure do enjoy how he
continually makes me feel when we are together.

I look at him after he puts me down on the floor in front of
his bed, and I can already tell that whatever he is planning is
going to be fantastic by the smoldering gaze he is giving
me, so I pull my clothes off and crawl up into the bed
and wait for him. I swear I heard a growl, as he was crawling up to join me.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A month and a half has gone by and things couldn't be
greater for all of us. The kids were noticing how much
closer Cash and I seemed to be getting, and just last week
Gideon had finally asked at one of our Sunday dinners in
front of Carmen and Lucas and Amelia and Gideon Sr. if Cash was in love with me. It was quite embarrassing and
comical at the same time, and all of us at the table were
speechless.

"Well Gid, I guess I will have to be honest and say that
yes, yes I am in love with Olivia and she's in love with
me. How do you feel about that, son?"

Cash leaned next to me and grabbed my hand with a look
of relief on his face that our secret was finally out. We both
looked at Gideon and his mouth was wide open and
grinning, and Eden was bouncing in her seat with
excitement.

"How do I feel? Seriously! I think it's awesome! I don't
even want anything for Christmas, because I'm so happy!
So, are you two going to get married? Does that mean I can
call Olivia Mom now? Can I be in the wedding? I can be
your best man, or Uncle Caleb can I guess. Does that mean
Claudia will really be my Aunt Claudia for real now? Can I just tell people Olivia is my mom now, instead of my
nanny?

Oh my goodness he's so excited, he can't quit asking
questions. He had every one of us at the table stunned at
how many questions he asked.

"Oh, boy. One question at a time, Gid. Are we getting
married? We will one day, that's the plan anyway, but
buddy, I haven't even asked her yet. You need to let your
old man ask her first and when that happens I can't think of
anyone I'd rather be my best man than you."