Smolder (24 page)

“Oh
my God,” she cried, smiling brighter than I’d ever seen. “Jude they’re so
gorgeous!” I leaned each girl into her so she could kiss their tiny little
faces.

“Of
course they are, they look so much like you. Well, except I think they have my
lips,” I answered, smiling down at them with pride.

“You’re
right, they do. Aw, look at their hair, it looks so soft. Just like snow,” she
grinned. “I can’t wait to hold them. I love them so much.”

“Well
I bet they can’t wait either. They already know how warm and loving you are
just from being their little oven for the last nine months and I bet they miss
you,” I said and Sadie giggled. “Which reminds me…now that you’ve seen them,
what are we naming them Mommy?”

“Well,
how about we each name one? They’re both of our children and we both had names
we loved. I trust you, Daddy.”

“Okay
well, why don’t you name our first little girl and I’ll name the second? Sound
good?”

“Deal,”
Sadie answered before she bit her lip and smiled. After a few moments, she
looked at our first twin and stated, “Haven Isabella.”

I
grinned and said, “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

Haven
yawned and I chuckled before looking down at our daughter and whispering, “You
must love it too, huh angel?”

“Aw,
she’s sleepy already. Poor baby has had a big day being born and all,” Sadie
replied. “Okay, you’re up Jude. What are we calling our other baby girl?”

I
sat holding our girls in our arms and stared at their faces and after a few
quiet moments I answered, “Tru Eden.”

Sadie
grinned brightly and fresh tears glistened in her eyes.

“It’s
perfect.”

“Really?
You don’t think it’s too, I don’t know, unusual?”

“Not
at all. It’s absolutely beautiful.” Sadie sighed happily as the doctor finished
the surgery and stitched Sadie up. As soon as they said it was time to move
Sadie to recovery, I stood up and held our baby girls tightly in both arms as
Sadie was moved to her private recovery suite.

As
we walked down the hall, I looked from Haven’s sleepy little face to Tru’s,
both girls looking blissfully content in their tightly wrapped blankets, and I
almost started to cry. I couldn’t believe I was a father to these two perfect
angels I was holding in my arms. It was so unbelievable that I could have been
any kind of part in bringing them into this world and just when I thought I
couldn’t love Sadie any more than I already did, she gave me these two
beautiful girls and my love for her took me to the point of aching.

As
soon as Sadie was in her room, the nurses helped move her from the gurney to
her bed and I felt so guilty as I saw her wincing in pain as she was moved. She
went through so much pain to have our girls and I already knew that as soon as
she felt up to it, she was being pampered in a spa. Once she was lying in bed
and as comfortable as she could be, she gave me with a pleading look and I knew
she was more than ready to hold her daughters.

“Okay
Haven and Tru, are you ready to see Mommy?” I asked them, kissing their little
foreheads before walking to Sadie’s bedside. They were still sleeping and I
looked at Sadie and said, “I think they’re excited, can’t you tell?” Sadie
giggled was beaming as I placed Haven in her arms, followed by Tru.

As
soon as she looked into their little faces, she immediately started to cry
again. “Oh my God…” she whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. I grabbed a
tissue from the bedside table and dabbed her face as she wept happy tears.
“Jude, they’re perfect. Just so perfect.”

“They
really are, aren’t they? I can’t believe we made them together,” I said softly
and I kissed her forehead. “I love you so much, Sadie.”

“I’m
pretty sure I love you more, big guy,” she replied, and turned her face upwards
and kissed my lips. “Thank you for making me a mother.”

“Thank
you for making me a dad. I never knew how much I wanted to be one until I fell
in love with you.” We kissed softly again before we turned our attention back
to our amazing little girls and spent some time alone with them before Sadie
insisted I go out to the waiting area and tell everyone they could come in and
meet our little family.

I
told her and our girls I’d be right back and I reluctantly left the room and
headed toward the waiting room. As soon as I walked in, everyone’s eyes were on
me and I’d noticed that while we were in the operating room that more of the
family showed up. Jake and Olivia had arrived (and she was sporting a huge rock
on her left ring finger) along with Cash and Logan. I already knew Zayne wasn’t
going to be able to make it because he was in New York dealing with some family
drama involving his brother Vance.

Danni
was the first one to speak and after she gasped, she stood from her seat and
asked, “Did everything go okay? Is Sadie all right? How are the babies? What
are they?”

Beau
smiled and stood up, wrapping his arm around Danni’s waist and pulling her into
him to calm her. After he kissed her cheek, he looked at me and asked, “So?
How’s Sadie? Did everything go okay?”

“Yeah,
bro, everything went great. She did well and she’s in her room holding our
babies right now. She can’t wait to see all of you.”

“So,
do I have nieces, nephews, or one of each?” Beau asked, visibly relaxing after
knowing his sister was out of surgery and doing okay.

I
smiled at him and answered loudly, “We have two girls!”

The
whole room was alive with excitement and Jessie rushed to me and hugged me
tightly. “Jude, I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks,
pretty girl. I can’t wait for you to see them. They’re so gorgeous, just like
their mother.”

Everyone
took turns embracing and congratulating me and when the line moved down to
Beau, he smiled at me with pride and pulled me into a tight hug. “Jude…I’m so
happy for you and my sister. Seriously.”

“Thank
you brother,” I replied, hugging him back. I was already on an emotional high
from watching my daughters being born but being embraced by Beau was something
that still made me happy.

“Two
girls, boy do you have your work cut out for you,” he laughed.

“I
knew the karma stick would fucking hit me,” I said, smiling as we broke apart.

“Well,
let’s go!” Everleigh exclaimed as she handed Stone to Ryder after giving him a
kiss. “It’s about time we had some more girls in the family.”

“Amen
to that,” Danni replied as she took Harlowe’s hand and led her out of the room.
“You ready to meet your new cousins, baby doll?”

Harlowe
nodded her head and her honey blonde curls bounced in her little pony tail.
“I’m ready, Mommy. I bet they’re cute.”

“I
bet they are too,” she replied as everyone walked down the hallway.

As
soon as we reached Sadie’s room and everyone entered, the gasps of excitement
from Everleigh, Danni, and Jessie were almost deafening. They immediately
rushed to Sadie’s bedside and they everyone “aww’d” in approval as we revealed
their names. As I took my place next to Sadie and wrapped my arm around her as
she cradled our daughters to her chest, I felt incredibly lucky to be alive.

I’d
gone from a lonely, hungry, unwanted, and abused little boy to one of rock’s
biggest musicians and a husband and father. No matter what bad or good things
had ever happened to me, I knew that nothing I would ever do would be as
important as being the best father and husband I could be.

never
knew that walking in on a beautiful blonde toweling off after a shower would be
the best thing that ever happened to me. Walking through her bedroom door led
me to my fate and I’d spend the rest of my life thanking her for that. Our
paths were meant to cross in every way…we both just had to let them collide.

Sadie

“Tru,
are you ready yet?” I called from the foyer. “We need to be on the road by six
if we want to get to campus on time for orientation!”

“Relax,
Mom, I’m coming,” she yelled back and I could hear rumbling and shuffling coming
from her bedroom and down the hallway. As she stumbled into the living room
carrying her last duffle bag full of clothes, she groaned as she plopped it
onto the floor. She blew her perfectly styled blonde hair out of her face and
whined, “You know, we do have money. Why couldn’t we have hired someone to move
our stuff to the dorms? Or, better yet, why couldn’t me and Haven have gotten
our own apartment?”

“Because,
Tru, even though we’re rich that doesn’t mean you and your sister shouldn’t
have every single experience in life, including living in a dorm like normal
college freshmen. Just because we have money doesn’t mean we have to show it
off,” Jude replied sternly as he walked into the room carrying a large plastic
tote that looked heavy. Knowing our girls and how much they packed just for
vacations, it probably was.

“I
know, Daddy. I guess just this once it would’ve been nice to not have to lug my
crap around by myself,” answered Tru, who had now turned and was checking her
makeup in the large mirror by our front door.

“What
do you mean, ‘by myself’? I’m carrying your shit while you’re looking to make
sure you didn’t smear that crap caked on your face. Get your little ass over
here and help carry the rest of you and your sister’s stuff to the car,” Jude
commanded and by the tone of his voice made her stop and turn.

“What
about Haven? Where is she? Why doesn’t she have to help? I mean, this is her
stuff too, you know.”

“She
is helping, Tru. She just took two big boxes to the car and is probably on her
way back in for more,” I answered.

“Okay,
I’m helping. Sorry,” Tru answered as she smiled at me before she wrapped her
arms around his neck and smacked a glossy kiss on his scruffy cheek.

Jude
rubbed his cheek against his shoulder, wiping Tru’s lip gloss off of his face
and stated, “You know, you don’t need to wear all that shit on your face. You’re
beautiful without it.”

Haven
walked back through the front door, her snowy blonde hair in a messy pile on
top of her head, and was chuckling as she picked up a duffel bag and tossed it
over her shoulder.

“Good
luck convincing her of that, Daddy. She looks pre-pubescent without it,” she
laughed as she headed back toward the door. In a sing-song tone, she said, “It
makes her look older for all the boys she’s trying to attract.”

“Shut
up Haven,” Tru snapped playfully. “I don’t need to attract boys, they always
follow me around. I can’t help it if I’m a fox. Maybe if we didn’t have hot
parents the struggle wouldn’t be so real.”

I
had to hold in my laughter because in that moment, it was like hearing Jude
from twenty years ago coming out of her mouth.

“Well
you better not even be thinking about boys looking at you because for one,
you’re only seventeen and already starting college so the only thing you need
to worry about getting an education. And secondly, if anyone with even a hint
of a penis comes anywhere near either of you I’ll break his fucking neck,” Jude
barked protectively. “I’ll have to make sure the boys keep their eyes on you
while you’re there.”

I
decided to try and distract the way the conversation was going and I
interrupted and said, “Come on, get your bag Tru. We need to get on the road.”

As
Tru rolled her eyes and Haven giggled, I picked up a box and smiled at Jude as
we followed our daughters out the front door. “Jude, we raised two great girls,
don’t worry about them. They’ll be okay.”

“I
know that, Sadie, I just don’t want Tru plowing her way through frat parties
once she gets to college. She’s already too young to be going anyway. Hell,
neither of the girls can even buy a fucking lottery ticket yet,” he pouted and
I grinned wider. I followed him to the SUV and watched as he placed the tote he
was holding in the back before he took the box from me and placed it on top.
“Damn it, why did they have to so damn smart and graduate a year early?”

“Relax
big guy. I know you’re worried about them; you wouldn’t be the amazing father
you are if you weren’t. But, you need to remember that they aren’t little girls
anymore. We worked hard to give them a better life than we had and we need to
let them live it. Besides, they’re going to Ball State University with Max,
Stone, Harlowe, and Kal. They have friends there plus Dan and Brenda live five
minutes from campus. I actually feel relieved they chose to go there because at
least we know they’ll always have someone there to look out for them.”

“I
know all of this Sadie but…ugh, I don’t know. They’re my little girls and they
always will be, no matter how old they get. I’m just not ready for the house to
be so quiet,” he replied, rubbing hair over his head like he always did when he
was stressed.

“Hey
now, who said the house would be quiet? We’ve been married twenty years, babe.
You think by now you’d know that living with me has never been dull.”

He
smiled and wrapped his still-sculpted arms around me and I melted the same way
I always did. “Never were truer words spoken. Being married to the most
incredible woman in the world has definitely been an adventure.”

“One
that’s not close to being over, despite the fact that you’re getting too old to
keep up with me,” I teased, bumping my hips against his. I instantly felt his
erection starting to swell and he growled playfully at me.

“Too
old, huh?” Jude asked, his still mesmerizing eyes burning into mine. “Girls,
get in the car, I have to discuss something with your mother,” he called as he
picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

As
he carried me quickly back into the house, the girls both laughed out loud and
Tru called out, “Get a room, you horn dogs!”

“That’s
what I’m trying to do! We’ll be right back!” he yelled as I laughed and held
onto to him.

“Jude,
we really need to get on the road soon. I don’t want the girls to be late for
their first day of college.”

As
he carried me into our bedroom, he tossed me on the bed and replied, “Don’t
worry, princess, this won’t take long,” and shrugged out of his shirt before
unbuckling his jeans.

“Oh
how romantic,” I laughed, “just what everyone woman wants to hear before sex.”

“You
know me, I’m all about the romance,” he said before he crawled on top of me and
we successfully distracted each other from how much we were going to miss our
daughters as they started a new chapter in their lives.

Jessie

“You
didn’t forget anything at home, did you Kal?” I asked my son as he started
unpacking the last grocery bag and putting the food into the cabinets. “If you
did, let me know and I’ll make a trip next weekend.”

Kallum
smiled at me as he placed several boxes of macaroni and cheese into the cabinet
and said, “I’m positive I didn’t forget anything, Mom. We went over my list
fifteen times to make sure.”

“I
know, but-”

Kallum
stopped unpacking and walked over to me. Wrapping me in a hug, he said, “Mom,
you don’t need a reason to visit me. I know I’m a junior and I’m almost
twenty-one, but you and Dad are always welcome to crash any time you want to.
I’m one of those guys that actually gets along with their parents and I miss
you both just as much as you miss me.”

I
felt tears misting in my eyes as I held onto him a little tighter than I should
have. “Oh I’m sure I miss you much more, son,” I replied. This was Kallum’s
third year of college at Ball State University and he was getting his degree in
Music Education. From an early age, he knew he wanted to be a teacher but when
he heard Kris telling stories of how much he loved his music teachers growing
up, a light went off in his head and just like that, he knew he wanted to
change kid’s lives through music. Kris and I were both incredibly proud of how
amazing our son had become and what he wanted to do with his life. However
every time we made the trip to Muncie to drop him off for another year of
college, it never got easier.

“Aw,
Jess, we’ll see Kal next weekend for the big dinner at Dan and Brenda’s place,”
Kris stated as he walked through the front door of the apartment that Kallum
shared with Max and Stone Matthews. “Time to let go, Mama.”

“No,
I don’t want to,” I pouted and Kris laughed and wrapped his arms around me from
behind.

“I’ve
got her, son,” he said, gently nudging me away from a laughing Kallum and
wrapping his arms around my waist as he rested his chin on top of my head.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep her busy so she won’t miss you too bad.”

“I’m
sure you will Dad,” Kallum laughed as he winked at me with those amazing
blue-green eyes. I know that I was obviously biased, but my son had grown into
an extremely handsome man. He looked almost identical to his father except for
his eyes, which were a perfect mixture of Kris’s and mine.

He’d
had a few girlfriends since leaving for college, but none seemed to stick for
longer than a month or two. He was usually spending his free time when he
wasn’t studying either texting Tru Miller or talking to her on the phone.
Kallum was definitely close with Max, Stone, Harlowe, and Haven, but he and Tru
had just clicked as friends ever since she was little and out of everyone in
the group they were always the closest to each other.

I
knew that he was excited to have her starting college this year so they could
hang out and be together more but I was positive that it was about something
else. I knew unrequited love when I saw it and even though Kallum said he was
only interested in Tru as a friend, I was positive he had more feelings for her
than he was willing to admit. If Kallum really was in love with Tru, she was a
lucky girl to have someone as great as him want to be with her.

As
if he was reading my mind, his demeanor changed from relaxed to slightly
anxious and he asked, “So, have you heard from Uncle Jude and Aunt Sadie yet?
Tru and Haven should be on their way here by now, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,
Sadie texted about fifteen minutes ago and told me they were about thirty
minutes from campus,” Kris replied. “I guess the girls will be in the Johnson
dorms this year.”

“Not
far from us,” Kallum said with a grin. “That’s good. With Harlowe moving about
a block away from our apartment, at least everyone will be living closer
together.”

“Well
I know that everyone has a lot to do tonight as far as unpacking but maybe you
and the boys can take the girls out for dinner tonight. It can be a sort of
‘welcome to college’ thing and you all can show Haven and Tru around town,” I
suggested.

“I’ll
run it past the guys. Might be fun,” Kallum answered non-chalantly but I know
that he was happy with the idea. He could play it cool all he wanted to but I
knew my son well and he was happy to spend a night out with Tru.

“Okay
well, I think it’s time we let you get settled so your mom and I are going to
say goodbye to everyone and head home,” Kris said as he let go of me, dropping
a kiss on my head before walking to embrace Kallum. As he hugged him, he said,
“Good luck this year, Kal, you’re going to do great. Your mother and I are so
proud of you.”

“Thank
you, Dad,” Kallum replied, hugging Kris back. “I love you.”

“I
love you too, son,” Kris answered before releasing him.

I
stepped to him as soon as he backed away from Kris and wrapped my arms around
him. “I love you so much, Kallum. Have a great year, knock them all dead with
that big brain of yours, and make sure to remember to schedule time to have
fun,” I said, fighting back tears.

“I
will, Mom, I promise. Thank you for everything. I love you,” he replied,
hugging me tightly.

“Oh
my boy, I love you too. You’re dad was right, we’re so proud of the man you’re
becoming,” I answered as the tears that were threatening to fall spilled down
my cheeks.

“That
means a lot, seriously. I hope I end up half as awesome as both of you,” Kallum
said. Just as I felt like I was on the verge of a crying jag, the front door of
the apartment opened and Max walked in followed by Stone, Everleigh and Ryder,
who was carrying a box marked “Stone’s shit” and I had to smile. Stone reminded
me so much of Ryder when he was eighteen and was such a funny kid; he was
practically Ryder’s clone.

“Aw
don’t worry Aunt Jessie, Kal will be fine. All he does is study anyway, he’s
pretty fucking boring actually,” Stone said. “Personally I think he needs some
pussy but that’s just me.”

Everleigh
walked to Stone and smacked the back of his head. “Stone Joshua Matthews! Watch
your mouth!” she scolded and Max rolled his eyes as Ryder chuckled.