Page 61 of Embattled Return

Shannon was shocked when Lora’s eyes filled with tears again. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts Lora turned away from Shannon. “Oh, honey, don’t worry about it. I was just teasing you. If you’re busy it’s no big deal.”

Crossing the room to the far window, Lora looked out over the golf green. Afraid of the tears she thought she’d see, Shannon joined her, but Lora was clear-eyed.

“Chad has been after me about my work hours,” she murmured.

“Well,” Shannon said slowly. “I think he has reason to,” she told her friend honestly. “You work way too much. You do realize this is Saturday, right? Normally a day to relax and hang with family or friends. Get some chores done. Not go over...whatever it is you think you need to go over.”

“I know it’s Saturday,” Lora said softly, looking down at her hands. “It’s the only day my phone doesn’t ring off the hook. Which gives me a chance to get a little ahead.” Forest green eyes so like Mercy’s lifted to face her. “You have no idea how competitive it is in business. They know I’m not built for this and you would not believe the attacks my company has gone through over the past few months. I have to stay on top of the game.”

Shannon sighed. Lora had changed so much in the past couple of years, but she felt like the woman had exchanged one neurotic behavior for another. “I understand that, but I want to remind you of something. You have a worried little girl out there and I know you’re building this company for her, but she doesn’t understand why she can’t just have her mother.”

The tears really did come then, and Shannon felt like shit in provoking them, but she held her friend as she cried. And when Lora begged off lunch to go make cookies with her daughter, Shannon was okay with getting out of their hair to go grocery shopping on her own.

When she told John about the incident later, he’d gotten an odd look on his face. Wyatt sat on his lap playing with his keyring.

“What do you know?” she asked him, seeing the knowledge in his expression.

John cringed. “I can’t tell you everything, but I think they’re maybe at odds about having a baby. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

Ah. That would explain the tension she’d walked into. “Damn,” she breathed. “Okay. Didn’t hear it from you and I won’t say anything. If they need help, we’ll be here for them.”

John gave her a lopsided smile. “That’s my girl.”

They ordered pizza that night just to be easy and watched a silly kid cartoon before getting the boys ready for bed. This unscheduled, unregimented time was Shannon’s favorite, because they all just laughed and played. John was very good at distractions while she did the business part, and she couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Obviously, her week away had highlighted to him how much she did and he was trying to make up for that, but she hadn’t had any complaints on the amount he’d helped her before.

After reading them a couple of books, the kids zonked out on the couch. They each took one and carried them to the bedroom, tucking them into Caden’s bed, which they seemed to both prefer. She wondered when they would want to sleep in separate beds. The need to be together was so sweet...

The next day ran even more quiet. Shannon lazed around in a t-shirt and sleep pants for a scandalously long time, but it earned her a fun romp when the boys took their afternoon nap.

John had undertaken a large part of the laundry, so Shannon threw together a double batch of chocolate chip cookies to take into work the next day. Since the group had grown, she hadn’t been able to cook as much on Fridays anymore. Poor Roger left her messages on the fridge, occasionally, requesting her meatballs, but she knew he was just teasing her. Cassandra, his wife, cooked like a mad genius and Shannon knew for a fact that Roger had bulked up since they’d been together.

The boys had to help her bake, of course, so she gave them the beaters to lick while she assembled the rest of the ingredients. Then, when the first cookies were done and slightly cooled, she split a cookie between them. They ended up covered in chocolate, of course, but they were so damn cute she didn’t care. They needed to take a bath in a little while anyway, so they might as well have fun.

John rolled in as she was pulling out another tray. He snatched one of the cookies from the cooling rack and stuffed half the thing in his mouth. “So good, babe.”

She laughed at the look on his face, because it looked just like the boy’s faces had a few minutes before. “Go see Harper. You can have more cookies tonight when you get home.”

He looked at the boys in the chair. “You’re sure?”

“Of course,” she said, rolling her yes. “Go play.”

Dropping a kiss to his lips, she shooed him out of the kitchen.

Shannon and the boys had a quiet night. Once her cookies were done she hauled both boys to the tub in their bathroom and gave them a bubble bath. Carmella wandered along behind, just keeping an eye on things. Once out of the tub she bundled both boys into their room and got them dressed for bed. Then, sitting in the chair with a boy in each arm, she read them a book.

Shannon loved this time of the night, and she loved that both boys still seemed to love to sit with her and read. At some point in the not-too-far future she would have to put them in bed to read, but for the most part she managed.

Caden fell asleep first, curling up against her neck. Wyatt loved seeing the pictures in the book, so he hung on a little longer, but eventually, even he gave in. Shannon tried not to wake them as she lifted them to the bed, but it was hard juggling both solid little bodies. Once on the mattress, though, they snuggled in together and fell asleep quickly. She’d talked to Willow about this today, and her friend was of the opinion that they would separate on their own eventually.

Once the boys were tucked in, she just leaned into the crib, stroking their hair. Though the pregnancy had been a trial, she would do it all over again. Happily. She hoped Chad and Lora came to some kind of understanding, and she hoped Lora didn’t work herself out of love.

That seemed harsh to even think, but she couldn’t imagine a job coming between her and John, let alone her kids. She wouldn’t let it.

With a final breath to draw in their sweet smell, she left the boys to sleep and headed to her room. Carmella curled up by the closet door on her pillow as Shannon climbed into bed, her lids sagging. She checked her phone for messages, then curled up against the pillow and went to sleep. John would wake her with a kiss when he got home.

* * *

John easedinto bed as cautiously as he could without waking Shannon. Damn woman looked like a freaking angel, laying there. Before he settled, he leaned over and brushed a kiss against her lips. She smiled, even in sleep, and sighed as her hands found his chest.

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