Holiday Trilogy Special Edition Read online

  "Mornin', beautiful." He kissed her temple.

  She grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and brought him to her for a real kiss. "Why didn't you wake me this morning?"

  He smiled. "You were sleeping so pretty, I just couldn't. Besides, I wanted to get a jump on the day."

  "Hmph," she snorted as he headed toward the kitchen. "Rather jump the day than me? Blasphemous."

  He chuckled and reached for the phone. "I'm going to have some pizzas delivered for lunch."

  "Didn't you have pizza yesterday for lunch?"

  "It's the easiest thing for a group like this. We need to eat and keep working. I'm sure we'll get her finished if we do."

  "I saw a bunch of hamburgers in the freezer. Couldn't I grill them for you?"

  He looked at her skeptically. "You wouldn't want to do that."

  "Sure I would. I don't have that much left to do in here, and I've got the whole afternoon."

  He looked around. "You're cleaning. Why are you cleaning?"

  She gave him a look. "Houses need to be cleaned every now and again, you know."

  He smiled. "But you don't have to do it. I'm perfectly capable."

  She leaned in to him for a kiss. "Oh, yes you are. Quite capable indeed. But you're busy, I'm bored, and this way it'll be done before Sophie gets back."

  "What a woman." He pinched her butt. "Well, if you don't mind cooking, I'll let you. Use whatever you find in there."

  "Great!" She hugged him, and watched him go back outside.

  Maddie got out hamburgers and buns, and all the condiments to go with them. She'd make some fried potatoes and serve the chips and cookies she found in the pantry. She carried the hamburgers out to the patio where Rob had a gas grill.

  "Madcap!" someone yelled at her.

  "Mad hatter!" another voice called.

  Fred grinned at Maddie. "They're trying out nicknames. Let us know when we hit one you like."

  She grinned back.

  Rob spoke up, "I kind of like Madi-licious." He leered at her.

  She hollered, "Get back to work! No time for this nonsense." She studied the grill for a minute, and realized she had no idea how to operate it. She lifted the lid and walked around it a few times.

  The men were watching her by this time. Smoky winced and said, "She's going to ruin your grill, Coop."

  Rob chuckled. "She'll figure it out."

  Maddie pushed a few buttons and nothing happened.

  Smoky winced again. "She's going to blow us to Kingdom Come, Coop."

  "All right!" Rob shook his head. "Go help her. But the rest of you lugnuts get back to work. We are going to finish this today."

  Smoky smiled politely as he approached Maddie and the grill. "Allow me, Ma'am."

  "Thank God!" Maddie kissed his cheek and went inside to fry the potatoes as Smoky grilled the burgers.

  She laid out a spread for them on the picnic table, and they were all polite and jovial with her while they ate. She laughed hard at some of their jokes, and smiled politely at the rest. It was obvious they were trying to impress her.

  "So what do you have left to do?" she finally asked Rob.

  "We're building the deck that'll go around the pool halfway, with stairs up to it, and a locking gate."

  "Good." She nodded, thinking of Sophie.

  "Actually," he continued, "we should be able to start filling the pool this afternoon. We need the water to warm up by Monday night."

  Fred shook his head. "Probably not going to be too warm by then, Coop. It usually takes a week of sunshine to warm it up just right."

  Rob shrugged. "We'll get what we get, I guess. We're going to have a couple of ninety-degree days, so that'll help. But if it's still cold, I suppose we'll just need more beer Monday night to take the edge off." He stood up to throw his plate away.

  "I'll take care of that, Rob," Maddie told him.

  "Rob?" The guys teased him, as if it was an incredibly funny name. "Oh Rob? Rob!" they all clamored around him.

  "Shut the fuck up," he muttered good-naturedly, and dipped Maddie backwards for a long, passionate kiss. He stood her back up and dusted off his jeans. "Make fun of me now, will you."

  They stood in a row next to Maddie and Shorty asked, "Does the line form here?"

  She smiled as Rob shooed them away. "Leave my woman alone. Get back to work."

  Maddie hummed to herself as she cleaned up. The 'my woman' remark floated around in her head, bounced off her stomach and settled as a happy feeling deep inside her. She finished cleaning the house and curled up on the bed for a nap late in the afternoon. Rob woke her with a kiss to her neck.

  "Hey, cutie." He smiled at her.

  "Hey." She yawned. "Get-r-done?"

  "Yep." He nodded, tracing a finger down her thigh. "All filled and everything."

  "They why don't you crawl in here and join me?"

  He leaned over and placed another quick kiss on her forehead. "I would love to, but I'm so tired I'm not sure I can move. I'm going to hop in the shower and hit the hay."

  "No dinner again?"

  He shook his head as he peeled off his dirty clothes. "In weather like this, I don't always eat dinner. Especially if I've had a big lunch." He went to the shower, and Maddie sat up. I always eat dinner. I'm always hungry.

  She ate some leftovers from lunch, and when she checked on him, found him sound asleep, as expected. She flipped through the three available TV channels, but found nothing interesting. Rob had a total of one movie, namely The Little Mermaid. She was lucky he even had a VCR. She chuckled when she thought about how many movies she owned on DVD. He would probably be shocked. She settled in to watch The Little Mermaid, knowing it was a love story with a happy ending, and she was totally in the mood for that.

  She woke him the next morning by planting kisses all over his body, paying more attention to certain spots than others. When he was spent and smiling like the Cheshire cat, she crawled up next to him and wrapped herself in his arms.

  "Oh my God." He kissed the top of her head. "I knew it was a good idea having you stay here. What a way to wake up."

  "Yeah, I thought so too." She brushed the hair out of his face. "How did you sleep?"

  "Dead to the world. Very glad to have that project behind me."

  She snuggled up to him. "With a day and a half until Sophie comes home. Plenty of time to relax and enjoy."

  "Right. All we have to do is clean up around the pool area, get that bulldozer out of there, buy birthday presents and a cake for Sophie, find some birthday and fourth of July decorations, get a keg, scrounge up food for everybody, pick out fireworks…"

  "Well good God," she muttered. "That's at least a day's work, right there. Which leaves you about a half a day to spend with me."

  "Starting now." Rob grinned and dived under the covers.

  They managed to get all their party arrangements made with enough time left over to relax, too. Rob was very pleased with the way Maddie decorated the patio area, using a mix of July fourth and birthday decorations. They bought a sheet cake for the masses with a red, white and blue frosting and a small pink princess cake for the birthday girl.

  Maddie helped him choose gifts for Sophie, and she bought a book as her gift. They wrapped the presents, bought an enormous amount of food and fireworks, and were ready to go by Monday afternoon. "I told Rosa any time after four," she mentioned to Rob, who nodded.

  "That's what I told everyone else. Sophie should be back at four. They were going to celebrate her birthday there, so I'm assuming her mother won't plan to stay for the party."

  "Good."

  Rob chuckled. He looked at his watch."It's only one-thirty. How are we going to pass the time until four?"

  She yawned. "I was thinking a nap might hit the spot."

  He caught her around the waist. "I was going after another spot. What do you say we go christen that pool the right way?"

  She laughed. "Are you freaking crazy? I felt the water a little while ago. It's not warm yet, by any
stretch of the imagination."

  "Shoot." He kissed her neck, and ran his hand inside her shirt. "Well, then, we'll just have to go christen the bed again."

  She leaned back against him and sighed as he caressed her. He reached for her braid and began unwinding it. "I want to feel your hair," he whispered into her ear. He ran his hands down to her scalp and back out through the long mass of hair. "God, you're beautiful," he murmured, and led her to the bedroom.

  An hour later they were sprawled out on the bed, trying to get their heart rates back to normal, when the doorbell rang. Rob looked at the clock. "It's barely two-thirty! What the fuck?" He slipped his jeans on but didn't button them. He padded out to the front door yelling, "Is your fucking watch broken? Because you're going to be really sorry when you find out what you've interrupted!"

  Maddie peeked around the corner to see who it was. She saw Rob fling the door open, and noticed his jaw drop at the same time. A young, dark-haired woman and an older man stood there. The woman said, "My fucking watch is not broken." She looked at the man. "How about yours, Edward?"

  The man wriggled his wrist. "Nope, seems just fine. But we are dying to know what we've interrupted."

  "Hello, Dad, Dionne," Rob said without much enthusiasm.

  Maddie cringed. She studied Rob's father. He looked like an older version of his son, with darker hair, graying at the temples. He was stockier than Rob, but about the same height.

  She turned her gaze to Dionne and was surprised to see she was quite beautiful. Her long dark hair curled a bit at the ends and framed her face. She had a nice figure, noticeably bigger in the bust than Maddie would ever be. Maddie sighed.

  Rob said, "You're early. I thought you understood it was a surprise for Sophie, and you'd have her back at four."

  Dionne motioned toward the driveway. "That's why we left her with your mother in the car. Your parents wanted to come for a visit, so we arrived a bit ahead of time." She tried to look past Rob into the other room, but he stood firm. "I guess we should have called."

  "You think?"

  "Button your pants, Coop." Dionne instructed him.

  He folded his arms across his chest. "Can I put on some underwear first?"

  "Oh my!" His father smirked. "We did arrive at a bad time."

  "No dad, five minutes earlier would have been a bad time. This is a merely an inconvenient time."

  Dionne put her hand on Rob's chest. "Sophie invited us to her party, Coop. We didn't want to disappoint her. She can't stop talking about her new live-in nanny, what's her name, Maggie? We just had to meet her."

  Rob gave Dionne a look. "Go get her, but do not let her in the kitchen. I mean it. I'll get dressed."

  "Thank goodness." His father chuckled with Dionne.

  Rob stomped back to his room.

  Maddie slipped in before him so he wouldn't know she'd been listening.

  "Get dressed," he ordered, and began pulling clothes from his drawers.

  "Who is it?" she asked innocently.

  "My parents and Dionne brought Sophie back early, and they want to stay for her party. What a fucking bundle of crap this is going to be."

  Maddie made a face at him. "Would you like me to hide in the closet? Or maybe I can sneak out the window?"

  He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Just get dressed." He stomped into the bathroom to finish dressing there, and Maddie fumed. He didn't speak to her as he passed back through, and she grew even more steamed. She stood at the mirror, debating what to do, and chuckled at the look of her wild hair. It looked like bedroom hair. Hell, it is bedroom hair. She formulated an evil plot in her mind, and proceeded to clean up and choose her attire for the evening, very carefully.

  She decided on a soft white cropped top that left little to the imagination; and no room for a bra. All her jean cutoffs were tight, but the pair she donned was a bit shorter, more 'Daisy Duke', than usual. Maddie smoothed lotion over her long legs and slipped into a pair of white sandals. She applied a little too much make-up, quite heavy around the eyes, and grinned at herself. Topaz would be proud. Maddie looked as much like a streetwalker as someone so otherwise wholesome could. She ran her hands through her hair and fluffed it out even more. No braid tonight. Dionne had met her match with this 'live-in nanny'.

  She sauntered into the living room, where everyone was seated, and Rob held Sophie on his lap.

  He glanced at her and his eyes popped.

  Maddie tried not to laugh. The look of sheer terror on his face was priceless.

  "Maddie!" Sophie jumped up and ran to her for a hug.

  "Hi Soph. Happy Birthday!" Maddie gave her a squeeze.

  "Daddy won't let me go in the kitchen. Do you know what's in there?"

  "Maybe." She smiled, and walked Sophie by the hand back to where everyone sat.

  'This is Maddie," Sophie announced.

  Rob cleared his throat. "Madison Stewart, these are my parents, Edward and Andrea Cooper, and Sophie's mother, Dionne Baxter. Maddie works at the daycare center where I take Sophie. She's been staying out here so I can work summer hours. She takes Soph to the center in the morning." His voice trailed off.

  Maddie stared at him. What he'd said was the truth, but he made it seem so clinical, so impersonal. They should have seen us an hour ago.

  "So you work at a daycare center?" Edward Cooper made an attempt at conversation, since the two women with him did not seem inclined to do so.

  "Yes, I do." Maddie nodded. "It's a fun job. Sophie and I get to play all day long."

  Sophie grinned and added, "And with Maddie sleeping here, she and daddy get to play all night long. He always wins at Candyland. Maddie and I think he cheats."

  Maddie bit her lip at the continuing look of horror on Rob's face. It pretty much mirrored the expression of everyone else at this point. She smiled at Rob, thinking deep down, I knew there was a reason I love four-year-olds. Sophie was completely innocent. She had no idea that she'd said anything wrong.

  Rob coughed. "Maybe we should let Soph open her presents before everyone else gets here." He stood and looked at Maddie. "Would you help me bring them out, please?"

  "You bet." Maddie threw a little swing in her step and followed Rob to the kitchen.

  Just inside the door, he turned and practically screeched under his breath, "What the fuck are you wearing?"

  She looked down. "Do you like it? Your father seems to."

  "You look like a fucking hooker!"

  She chuckled. "Did you notice every time I move he strains his neck to get a glimpse of my boobs?"

  "Yeah, and I believe mom noticed too. Is this really the first impression you want to make on my parents?"

  "I didn't know your parents were going to be here!"

  "Neither did I!" He stomped around the room. "But they are, and I would have assumed that once you realized that, you'd act responsibly and at least look like yourself."

  "What does it matter? I'm just the live-in nanny, aren't I?"

  He shook his head. "That was a jab from Dee, I admit it."

  "Which you didn't bother to correct."

  The sad look on his face made Maddie feel guilty. "I wasn't prepared for this, Mad. I know I probably should have been, but with everything else I had to think about this weekend, I did not prepare myself for you meeting Dee."

  "What do you want me to do?" she asked, a bit more softly.

  He shook his head. "I don't know. Try to stay away from Dee and avoid all unnecessary confrontation."

  She nodded. "I promise to try." She looked down. "Do you want me to change?"

  He chuckled. "Well, not now. The damage is done." He pulled her to him for a quick kiss. "You do look hot. The hair is about to drive me wild."

  "I could put the braid back in."

  "No!" He smiled at her, and handed her a couple presents to carry in to Sophie.

  Sophie liked everything her father gave her, some toys, clothes and games. Rob handed her the last package. "This one's from Maddie."

  T
he child ripped into it and smiled when she saw the Shel Silverstein book of poetry.

  Edward remarked, "That is a good book."

  Dionne spoke up, "Yes, it is. Sophie has it at home and we read it all the time."

  Maddie looked at Sophie without skipping a beat. "If you already have this one, we can take it back. You can pick out another."

  Sophie held the book to her chest. "No! I love this book, and I don't have it here. My favorite poem is the one about the snowball. Do you know it?"

  Maddie's heart soared at the little girl's words. "Yes, I love that poem, too." She smiled and touched Sophie's cheek.

  Sophie scooted next to her. "Will you read it to me?"

  The doorbell rang and Maddie answered, "Your guests are starting to arrive, sweetheart. We'll read it later, I promise."

  Rob opened the door to Fred, his wife Emma, and a very large teddy bear. Maddie noticed they seemed to know everybody, and there were greetings all around. "Okay," Rob announced "now that Fred's here, we can go out back. I promised we'd wait for him." He led Sophie through the kitchen and out to the back door. Maddie hung back, but she could still hear the squeal of excitement when Sophie saw the swimming pool.

  Rob showed his daughter all around it, with Dionne and the grandparents admiring the handiwork. Maddie leaned against the porch rail and watched.

  "Mommy, look at my pool!" Sophie hopped up and down. "Will you go swimming with me? Please?"

  Dionne shook her head. "Not this time, baby. I didn't bring my suit." She threw out her chest. "I'm sure there's not one in this house to fit me."

  Maddie muttered, "Not one to fit that ego, for sure."

  Fred came up to her and smiled. "Hello Maddie. How are you getting along today?"

  "I've had better days, Fred. But thanks for asking."

  He put his arm around his wife. "This is my wife Emma. Em, this is Coop's better half, Maddie."

  Emma smiled and extended her hand. "I'm pleased to finally meet you, Maddie. Fred's told me many good things about you."