Shameless Bonus Scene

“Is something burning?” Jack poked his head through the kitchen door, doing his best impersonation of a bloodhound, as he scrunched up his nose and sniffed.  

His dark hair had gone almost completely silver around his fiftieth birthday. For as much as he complained about prematurely aging, I was sure he knew it only made his eyes stand out all the more.  

My husband got better looking every year. Lucky me. 

I put my hands on my hips and leaned on the counter near the stove. “Very funny, Jackalicious. I haven’t burned the cinnamon rolls since our first Christmas together.”  

Olive, our youngest granddaughter, pushed past her grandpa in the doorway, then skidded to a stop in the middle of the kitchen. “Jacka-wishish? Dat’s a funny name.” Her dark curls looked just like her mom’s, though the freckles spattered across her nose definitely came from her father. No one with Cooper genes had freckles. “Jacka-wishish! Jacka-wishish!” 

She pranced from foot to foot, a grin stretching her pretty face, then poked Jack in the belly before sprinting out to join the rest of her cousins. 

He shook his head. “She reminds me so much of Charlie at that age. All that fire and sass, covering up a whole lotta sweetness.” 

“It’d do good for Charlie to hear you say that. Her boys were so easy, she’s overwhelmed by Olive’s energy. I think she feels like a bad parent.”  

She wasn’t a bad parent. Not at all. 

Charlie made me proud every day. Sure, her daughter was precocious, but she handled it with the perfect blend of grace and structure.  

“Have I told you lately how overwhelmed I am by you?” Jack pushed off the doorframe and came to stand at my side. “You went from being the perfect mom to a wonderful grandma…nine times over.” 

“Nine grandkids.” The truth still flabbergasted me. For someone who thought she would never have a family to end up with one so large…I thanked my spirit guides every day for leading me to Wildrose Landing. “Who woulda thought?” 

“Plus you’re flippin’ flappin’ hot.” Jack waggled his eyebrows. 

“First, that’s my line. And second?” I smiled wistfully, shaking my head as I glanced at my feet. “You’re just being nice to your wife. My belly is soft and my hips are…” 

“Just the way hips should be?” 

I shrugged. “Curvier than I’d like.” 

Jack slipped a hand around my waist and drew me close. “I hate to hear you say that. These curves are luscious.” He brushed his nose against mine, then stole a kiss. 

“Luscious, huh?” 

He nodded, his hands caressing my hips. “They’re yours, aren’t they?” 

“Actually, they’re yours.” I met his gaze, hoping he could see those words were just as true as they were when we met. “Just like me. I’m yours.” 

“Promise?” 

“Always and forever.” 

Jack started to reply, but a crash sounded in the living room, followed by several gasps and a shout of surprise. 

“Olive! Harper! Henry! You know better than to run in the house!” The heat in Garrett’s voice had me laughing quietly to myself. He sounded so much like his father did when we met. 

“You think they’re okay out there? Or do they need reinforcements?” I checked the time. “I’d be happy to come to the rescue, but the cinnamon rolls still have five minutes before they’re done.” 

“You save our kids from their offspring. I’ll watch these and join you when they’re out.” 

I nodded and started to leave, but Jack caught my hand, pulling me back in for a kiss. His lips were still as warm as they were when we first met, his hands just as eager to explore, and I still loved every minute of it. “On second thought,” he said, “our kids are adults. They can handle this on their own.” 

I smiled as another thud sounded from the living room. 

“Hey, Momma?” Connor called. “What’s the ETA on those cinnamon rolls? The natives are getting restless out here.” 

I cupped Jack’s cheeks and gave them a pat. “Sounds like it’s time for a little woo-woo to the rescue.” 

“Go get ‘em, Grandma Cooper.” 

Our living room was so overrun with family, it put even my wildest daydreams to shame. Garrett, his wife, and their three kids had squished onto the couch. His preteens stared in shock at their younger cousins. Connor and his wife took the loveseat, with their three on the floor at their feet. Charlie and her husband had brought in chairs from the dining room, while their three children seemed to all want in someone’s lap at the same time.  

“Did someone mention something about cinnamon rolls?” I asked from the doorway. 

All nine grandchildren leapt to their feet, racing towards me with smiling faces. Someone started the chant of “Cinnamon rolls!” and the rest took it up while the six adults in the room looked sheepish and embarrassed at the behavior of their progeny. 

“I’m so sorry, Momma,” Connor said. “They’re really wound up.” 

“As they should be on Christmas morning. But never fear, I have just the thing.” I pulled a bottle of vetiver out of my pocket and waited patiently for silence to settle on the crowd.  

“What’s that?” Harper finally asked in her six-year-old voice. 

“Have I ever told you the first thing your Aunt Charlie ever said to me?” 

Charlie dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, no. What if we tell the story about Connor’s love affair with condiments instead?” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Connor slowly shook his head and puffed out his lower lip. “Maybe we should focus on that time Garrett got us kicked out of karate.” 

“Or we could just leave the past in the past.” Garrett leaned back and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Just sayin.’” 

“What’s the first thing Mommy ever said to you?” asked Olive, while her older brothers looked on eagerly. 

“She asked me why I smelled like dirt.” 

Giggles chased shock around the room as little heads swiveled to look at my embarrassed daughter.  

“Why would she say that?” Henry asked. 

“Because I did.” I unscrewed the cap on the vetiver and passed it around. “This is my favorite essential oil and Charlie was right. It kinda smells like dirt.” 

As little hands accepted the bottle and waved it under their noses, peace descended on the room. Some of the grandchildren liked the smell more than others, but all of them were interested in hearing more of our family history. I told them about our crash meeting at Sweet Stuff, about offering to watch the kids for Grandpa after seeing how he struggled because of losing Grandma Nat. When I got to the part about our food fight, nine jaws dropped simultaneously. 

“You had a food fight?” asked Garrett’s oldest. “Like, a throwing food kinda food fight?” 

“Dad would never let that happen,” his middle child declared. 

“Yeah, Daddy.” Harper crossed her arms over her chest and sat back on her heel. “What gives?” 

As my kids struggled to defend themselves from an onslaught of questions, I leaned against the wall and smiled. After twenty-five years of marriage and all the ups and downs of family life, I still loved having my people around me. Cooper-Qs in the summer. Birthdays. Thanksgiving. Christmas. I never passed up a chance to gather them all close. The chaos, the energy, the love and understanding…it was a dream come true for me. 

“And to think. There was a time you never thought you’d have a family at all.” Jack snuck up behind me and pulled me close, pressing my back to his front as he rested his chin on my shoulder. 

“How long have you been back there?” I asked as I melted into him. 

“Long enough. I can never pass up a chance to watch you work your magic on a herd of rambunctious children.” 

“Did you ice the cinnamon rolls after you took them out?” 

“The…” Jack pulled away, his eyes darting back to the kitchen. “Oh no.” 

The shriek of the fire alarm detonated the peace. Hands covered ears while Garrett and Connor launched into action. “I’ve got it!” called our oldest as he dashed into the kitchen. He pulled the smoking tray out of the oven while Connor fanned the fire alarm and Charlie opened a window, letting in the crisp December air. 

Jack stared at the mess with a wry smile. “I guess some things never change. I’m still burning breakfast.” 

“But I still have your back.” I hauled a second pan of uncooked rolls out of the fridge with a smile. “Something told me I’d need two of these this year. This is why it’s important to trust your intuition.” I slipped the rolls into the oven and set a timer, then followed my family back into the living room. 

“While we wait, I guess we might as well open a present,” I said, reaching behind the sofa to pull out a bag full of small, wrapped boxes I’d hidden earlier. “These are all little things and might be silly,” I said as I handed a gift to each and every person present. “Go ahead and unwrap them, and I’ll explain.”  

The grandchildren ripped through the paper while the adults broke into theirs. I smiled as my family lifted the lids to the boxes and peered inside.  

Charlie laughed as she pulled out a diffuser necklace. “This reminds me of the one you made me when I was a kid.” 

I nodded. “I was going through a box of old stuff, just memories and mementos from when you kids were little, and I found your necklace and the bracelets I made for the boys when we first met. I took them apart and used those beads to make new jewelry for all of us. Everyone from your family has beads from your original necklace, plus a bottle of the oil you liked when you were a kid.” I turned to Garret and Connor. “Same for you guys. And the ones I made for me and Dad have beads from all the originals. It might seem silly, but to me, there was something magical in having a piece of our past to remind us where we started.” 

I smiled as my family slipped on their jewelry and added drops of oil to the lava stone.  

“This is wonderful, Momma.” Garret sniffed his bracelet. “It brings back so many memories and I love the idea of the kids and Angela getting one too.” He draped an arm around his wife’s shoulder while the rest of the family nodded their agreement. 

“All I ever wanted was to have a huge family to love. To have people to come to when things got hard or to celebrate with when things went well. I wanted a tribe. A group who understood and cared about each other. For a long time, I didn’t think that was possible and here we are twenty-five years later, and look at us.” I offered my family a watery smile. “I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for the gift of sharing your life with me. You…all of you…you’re the greatest gift anyone could have given me. Thank you,” I whispered to Jack with glistening eyes. “Thank you for giving me everything I ever wanted.” 

He wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me close. “No, my dear. Thank you. Our family is strong because of you. My heart is full because of you. I wake up each morning happy because of you.” He pressed a kiss into my hair. “You’re the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Right before I met you, I said I’d rather be lonely the rest of my life than risk falling in love with someone else and losing her the way I lost Nat. I thought it was bad enough the kids were gonna grow up and leave me someday. That after having one person ripped from my life and three more scheduled to vacate the premises in a decade or so was more than I could handle. I wondered who in his right mind would sign up to let someone else in, knowing the heartbreak waiting for him when she was gone.” 

I blinked at my husband and put a hand to his chest. “I saw all that sadness when we met. It was the reason I kept showing up. I knew that wasn’t the real you.” 

“But you know what?” he continued. “The kids did grow up, and they did move out, but they’re not gone. And every year or so, I have someone else to fall in love with. A grandchild, a new son or daughter-in-law…” Jack leaned his head against mine and beamed at our family. “What I’m trying to say is that I am so glad we crashed into each other at that candy store. And I’m grateful for you every day since. I love you, Amelia Cooper.” 

“I love you too, my handsome husband.” 

Jack cupped my cheek and pressed a kiss to my lips and we lost ourselves to the love of our very large, very loud family for the rest of the day…until Olive threw a toy at Henry, who tripped over Harper and knocked over the tree.