Chapter 91

The sun had barely risen enough to lighten the sky the next morning when Brianna was awakened by a small hand patting her face.

"Bina? You wake? Bina? Bina?"

"Mmmm?" She answered groggily.

"You wake? BINA!"

Eyes flying open, she jerked awake. "What? Romeo? What's the matter?"

"Santa comed!"

"Yeah? How do you know?"

He held up a brightly wrapped box with a corner of the paper torn off. "Pesents!"

"Is that yours?" She sat up to take a closer look.

"Yep!"

"How do you know it's yours?" She tried to see the tag to prepare for who was going to be upset, but he kept waving it around.

He ripped off more paper. "It a ball!"

She picked up the paper he threw aside. "Yes, but I think that ball is for Copper."

"Oh." He frowned.

"And I think Jake's going to be upset that you opened his gift."

Romeo thought for a moment, then held out the half opened package to her. "You fix? Pease?"

Brianna smiled and kissed his head. "Yes, I think I can fix it."

He jumped off the bed and ran to the door. "Bina come on! It Missmas!"

"I'm coming." So much for getting a decent sleep. Climbing out of bed, she pulled on her robe and followed the excited little boy into the hallway. 

Romeo stopped in front of his father's door and tried to turn the handle, but it was too high for him to get a good grip on yet. Brianna always left hers open a bit so that she could hear the kids and Romeo could get to her if he needed to. "Daddy wake?"

The devil inside Brianna rose up. "I don't know. Maybe you should go see." Reaching over his head, she opened Jon's door enough to let Romeo in. After all, fair was fair. He'd kept her up well after midnight putting all the gifts from Santa under the tree and then just relaxing together in front of the fire. Neither one had wanted to go upstairs to their lonely beds. But she was paying for the late night now......and misery loved company.

"Daddy, Daddy, wake up! It Missmas! Daddy wake up!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake." Jon answered, rubbing a hand over his face. A thought struck and he stared at his youngest. "How did you get in here Little Man? Did you open the door?"

"No, Bina opened it."

"Of course she did." Brat!

Brianna grinned at his disgruntled tone and continued down the hallway towards the stairs in search of wrapping paper and tape. But first, she needed coffee.

The living room was a sea of wrapping paper, ribbon and torn boxes. The noise level was just below deafening. But at least it kept Brianna awake.

Jon handed her a refilled cup of coffee as he sat down beside her on the loveseat to watch the madness. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "You just had to send the human alarm clock in to wake me this morning, didn't you?"

Brianna smirked. "If I had to be up, so did you. After all, it was your fault I got so little sleep last night."

"More like it was your fault I didn't get any sleep at all!" He reached down to straighten his pile of gifts.

"My fault? How could it be my fault? I wasn't anywhere near you when we went to bed."

"Exactly!"

Brianna chuckled at his grumbled complaint.

"It's not funny." He insisted.

"Maybe not, but you are."

"Brat!"

"Hey Dad, here's one for you. From Santa." Jesse held up a small package and tossed to his father.

"Santa?" Jon read the tag and shot Brianna a questioning look. She just shrugged. Ripping off the paper, he opened the box....and froze. "Oh wow."

Lifting out the necklace, he set the box aside. The chain was nothing special, just a back drop to the focal point - the charms. The heaviest was a heart wrapped in vines. The other four were flat silver heart shaped discs engraved with each child's name on one side and their birth dates on the other. If the vine symbolized his children, it was definitely accurate. His kids absolutely held his heart. Eyes stinging, throat aching with emotion, his finger rubbed each charm.

Brianna watched his face closely while she sipped her coffee. The necklace had been an impulse buy, but she'd known as soon as she'd seen it, it was perfect for him. "Do you like it?"

"Daddy what is it? Let's see."

Jon held up the necklace and they all gathered around for a closer look.

"Oh! The charms have our names and birth dates." Stephanie noted.

"Uh huh." Jon nodded. "Now even when I'm on the road you'll always be with me." Seeing the look on his daughter's face, his heart swelled. He knew exactly who had given him the necklace: the one who understood a child's need - especially a daughter's - to be loved and appreciated by their father.

Turning to Brianna, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her rather fiercely. Breaking the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers. "I love it. Thank you."

"Oh, but..."

He shook his head and squeezed her hand. "I know it was you. I get it."

"Bri? You gave Dad the necklace? Why didn't you put your name on it?" Stephanie asked.

Brianna shrugged and winked. "Everyone should get a gift from Santa and since Santa only has time to give gifts to children, I put his name on one for him."

"Ah. Gotcha." Stephanie winked back.

"I'm hungry." Jake announced.

Brianna glanced around. "Are all of the presents open?"

"Yeah." Jesse answered. "At least until Grandma and Grandpa get here."

"Okay then, Daddy, how about you start breakfast and we'll start the clean up in here."

Jon looked at the state of the living room and stood up. "Works for me."

"I'll get the garbage bags." Stephanie offered.

“Steph…” Brianna interrupted. “You mentioned before about going to the cemetery today. Do you still want to go?”

Stephanie considered for a moment, glanced at Jesse and shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

“Okay.”

Walking into the kitchen behind her father, Stephanie opened the cupboard to get the garbage bags, then paused. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"It was really nice to come home yesterday and find Bri here."

"Yeah, it was."

"Do you think you could make that happen more often? Maybe even permanently? Or aren't you ready for that yet?"

Jon turned to focus on his daughter. "You'd be okay with her living here full time?"

"Yes."

He didn't know how to ask his next question, or if it was even appropriate to ask at all. "What.......sleeping arrangements.......would you be comfortable with?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes and slanted him a knowing look. "You mean are we going to freak out if we see her sharing your room?"

"Yes smartass, that's what I mean."

She grinned. "I don't think we'll be scarred for life or anything."

"Good to know."

"So......is she going to move in?"

"I'm working on it."