Ewing (A Cross to Bear #6)

Chapter 7

By the end of the year, things were going as well as they expected them to. The kids, all of them, were growing up so fast, and Billy was crawling now. As soon as someone put him on the floor, the little boy was off getting his toys from the toy box or hanging out with one of his sisters. Even they were doing well with having him around under foot nowadays.

Ewing didn’t worry about the family. Theirs nor his brothers’ families. They were all doing well and he thought that with all that was going on, he felt as if Trinity had been born to the mountain and that she’d been in his life forever. It was a wonderful feeling, having hearth and home, and he couldn’t have been more thrilled when the tree was up in their living room, and the kids were experiencing their first Christmas with them.

Thanksgiving had been a wonderful holiday. They’d celebrated at Mark’s home, and the faeries had made it their job to make sure that everyone had what they wanted to eat and drink. The turkey, a fresh bird, had made a huge hit, and the girls—or perhaps they didn’t know—didn’t seem to mind that they were eating Rocky the Turkey. Ewing wasn’t going to spoil their fun with the meal, but he was sure that they’d be asking questions after he seemingly disappeared from the pen.

There were still men surrounding the area that had been used for the killing spree. As it turned out, twenty-six men and women had been arrested in the sting to get those who had actually done the killing taken care of. Without the help of Sunny, they might never have had any luck in bringing them to justice. It did bother the townspeople to know that their own mayor had been a part of the group that enjoyed—sickly—killing off teenage girls when he had four of his own.

“I just heard from the prison. Ben is dead. They said that it looks as if he took his own life, but I feel that they have that wrong. I’m betting that they didn’t look all that hard in finding out if he’d been murdered. Just one less thing that needed to be worried about is what I think.” Trinity told Ewing that she would tell the girls later as they were at the pack house today making gifts for the family. “I have a few of the ornaments that we made when Grannie would send us there for a few days. I thought it was because she wanted some quiet time but the more I miss my kids for being there, the more I realize that she was helping us get to know other groups of shifters better. Did I tell you that I love you today? I do.”

“And I love you so much.” She pulled the next batch of cookies out of the oven. Before they were even on the cooling rack that she had out, the faeries were decorating them. They were beautifully done. He’d say that for them. “The kids and I baked our cookies yesterday and decorated them. This batch is just for the faeries. I’ve never seen even a child have as much fun as they seem to be having. And they look picture perfect, too.”

“I did see that you showed them what cookies looked like. Do they know that they can branch out, too? Make their own designs.” She only had to hand him one of the cookies that he guessed the faeries had decorated on their own. It was so thick with icing and sprinkles that he doubted that it would taste all that good. And he’d bet anything that it weighed about a pound, too. Putting it back in the cookie jar with the others, he sat down and watched the cookies being made. “So, can I have one?”

“Sure, but just so you know, you’re going to have to try everyone of them that is in here decorating. To make sure that you get the best cookie they’ve made.” Sometimes, like a great deal of late, he thought that having such competitive creatures around would get him into trouble. Of course, that’s what he had Trinity for. To keep him from weighing a ton by now as well. “I do have some water in the kettle if you’d like some tea. I could use a nice cup of it but without sugar. Things are just too sweet around here for me to think that I need anything else.”

After enjoying a cup of tea each, he did get to have a cookie without the frosting. It had broken when Trinity had dropped it onto the cooling racks and he said he’d eat it. He was really glad that he was losing the war with himself not to grab one and have one.

While cleaning up the kitchen after the cookies were all decorated, he helped box up the newly made cookies into containers to give away. The faerie queen, namely Sunny, was going to get a lot of them because of who she was to the little people, but they’d also have more than enough to give to the families that came around singing carols over the next few nights.

Each faerie was able to take one of their creations home with them to have the sugar fix. He didn’t know if they got the zoomies like the kids did when they got too much sugar or not. And didn’t want to be around them if they did.

Dinner was just going to be the two of them, and they decided that it would be just as easy for them to grill out a couple of steaks. There were potatoes put in the already hot oven, and the bread that had been made just this morning was going to accompany their meal. Cookies would be for dessert.

They had a television in the living room. It was a huge one that took up most of the upper wall space over the fireplace. After making a fire for the two of them, they sat in the relatively dark room but for the lights on the Christmas tree. The faeries had helped decorate it as well, and he was glad to see that the lights, colorful ones, were the perfect light for their big room.

“I heard from my parents. They’re coming, but my brothers aren’t. To be honest with you, I’m glad that they’re not. They can smoke pot at home and have no trouble trying to have some when they’re out, too. Mom said that they couldn’t wait to spend some time with the kids and that they had gone overboard with gifts for them all. I told her that we’d done the same thing, it was their first Christmas together, and they all went all out in all the Cross homes.”

“Did you talk to them about moving here?” She told Ewing that she’d not had to. Her mom had mentioned that now that they had grandchildren, it was time they got out of that big house and got something smaller and closer to them. “Good. I’m also glad that they don’t have any problem with treating them all the same, either. Just like us, they think of them as nothing but blood children. I’m happy about the fact that we don’t have to browbeat them into spending time with them. I don’t know who has more fun, them or the kids.”

“I will say this. They were never like this when I was a kid. It was more survival of the fittest around them. Now they’re getting down on the floor and having a good time with them. I never thought that they’d have this much fun. And my dad, he loves them to pieces.” He noticed, too, that Billy was a big hit with the older couple as well. “I almost forgot to tell you. The shop, A Cross to Bear, will be closed after the new year to have the flooring replaced. I hadn’t realized how worn it was until I nearly lost my footing when I tripped on a carpet snag. The men said that it should only take a couple of weeks, and by then the painters will be able to get their job finished as well. Also, the new roof. Are you sure your brothers are all right with spending that much money on the building?”

“That was Grannie’s pride and joy. I’m betting that any one of them would spend twice that much on it just to have it looking good. Also, you said that you were going to hire more help to have more than one checkout lane. I love that idea and when I brought it up to the others, they said they liked it as well.” They talked about this and that, and Ewing could feel himself falling asleep.

The room was warm and cozy. The fire was soothing to his senses. When he felt himself completely drift all, he welcomed it with open arms. Christ, he’d been exhausted all week and was glad for some downtime while the children were away.

Billy was cooing in the middle of the floor when he opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure what woke him up but he was glad that he could enjoy the little boy talking and cooing to someone in the corner of the room. He’d been delighted and surprised that none of the children bothered the tree. No ornaments had been spilled off it, nor had there been any paper wrestling when they were trying to be sneaky.

“Hey, big boy. What’s going on?” He looked at him and smiled. It was all he needed to be able to power through the day when he thought about what a simple smile could do for him. “Are you talking to someone?”

He looked around the living room and especially hard at the places that Billy seemed to be staring at the most. When he came to him, crawling on his hands and knees, he picked him up and put him on his chest. He laid his head on him and closed his eyes. Ewing decided to join him in a little longer nap.

When he woke up the second time, not only was Billy still on his chest but he was still sleeping as well. He’d gotten to the point that he was taking baby food now, and the doctors couldn’t believe how well he was doing after having such a scare when he’d been tiny. And he had been a tiny little man, too.

Rolling to the floor, leaving Billy on the couch, he took one of the cushions off the other end and put it on the floor, too. Just in the event that he rolled himself over and off the couch. He was getting really good at surprising them about his development.

“I hope that it’s you, Grannie, that is watching over Billy. I miss you so much but just to think about him being able to meet you makes me hurt a little less that you’re not here any longer.” He watched the corner that Billy had been staring at the most. “If it’s you Mom and Dad, I’m glad that you’re here too. I don’t remember you all that much, couldn’t even pick out your picture if not for the ones on the walls here but I’m happy to know, or think I know that you’re here for my children.”

He sat there for the longest time. Not really thinking about any one thing but thinking about his family. Ewing had been told his entire life that things were the way that they were because they had to be. But glad that his parents were gone hurt him to think about. He just wished he’d had longer with them than he had.

Ewing had been the youngest of all the brothers. He’d been about six months old when his father had died with his mom. Grannie had never thought that they’d done them right, leaving them in a house without food or water to care for them. Oftentimes, he thought perhaps that they had hoped that they’d died too to be with them in a sick sort of way. He’d never told his brothers that nor his grannie but that was how he felt about them.

If not for Grandda, they might have gone on thinking that the two of them, his parents, had died together. But it wasn’t so. When his mom found out that their father was gone, she thought that she could leave the mountain. But being saddled with six children, all of them younger than his own kids were at the time, didn’t appeal to her. Or something like that, he thought. He had never wanted to think of her as being selfish but having his own family now, that’s all he could think about. Is how selfish she’d been in not being a part of their lives. His father had had an accident that resulted in his death, and his mother had taken her own life. He could never do that to his own children, even for as much as he loved his Trinity.

In order to keep the land that they had lived on for all their lives, a Cross had to be living there even if they were the last man standing, so to speak. If not, then it would revert to the park, and more than likely, everything that they had would have been left where they left it, including farm equipment and the like.

He couldn’t see anyone leaving the land willingly. They all had enough money of their own, and they invested too in the towns surrounding them. And when it was necessary they would pitch in whatever help was needed when the town needed them too. It was a win-win as far as he was concerned.

They could come and go as they pleased; they didn’t have to occupy the mountain twenty-four-seven. Just live here. He knew that he would. Simply because it was the best place that he knew of and an even more wonderful place to raise kids. They had freedoms that city children would never have. The freedom of all the outdoors.

~*~

Trinity loved working outside. Even though it was snowing and fairly cold, she still loved being out where she could have the sunshine on her face and the warmth of it as well. As she was making her way to the barn, having only just been able to get a milking cow, she let the chickens out and told them to be careful. Yes, she thought to herself, she was talking to the barn animals.

“Mom?” She smiled at Patty. “I was wondering if you think I’m old enough to learn how to milk Caroline.”

“I don’t see why not. I mean, she’s a good old girl, and her temperament is fine. We’ll give it a try. If your hands aren’t big enough, we’ll try again later.” She sat her daughter—oh, how she loved the sound of that coming from her mouth—on the stool that she usually used and showed her how to get Caroline ready.

“If your hands are too cold, she’s going to object to you touching her. Just be careful.” After getting her hands washed up and disinfected, they did the same to the udders. “Now, I’ve shown you before how you have to milk her from the top to the bottom. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about. Go ahead and get started.”

The first spray of milk coming from the cow had Patty squealing with delight. But it upset Caroline a bit, so Trinity showed her how to talk nicely to her, and she’d be fine. It was a rare treat for her to see Patty so determined to do something around the farm. Of late, she’d been blowing off her chores in favor of reading books. It was hard to tell her to put them down and do her work, but they were working around that, too.

Caroline was milked, although a little later than normal, and they took the fresh milk into the house. After it was set up and put away by the faeries, the two of them, with the other girls went out to gather eggs. They didn’t get many this time of year, but they still gathered what was in the nesting bins. They were all shocked when they found a tiny chick, about four or five hours old, huddling up to her momma in the warm barn. They decided to call her Snowball.

All the animals that they used on the farm had names, thanks mostly to do with her daughters. And each animal was addressed by their names daily and the girls would act like they’d missed them through the night too. It was silly, she knew, but it also brightened up her day to know that the kids cared so much for the animals that they were in charge of.

Not only did they have cows and chickens but they had pigs and goats too. The animals that were around rarely bothered the animals that were in pens, so she was glad for that. If one of the animals came up missing, it was because whatever had taken it must have been starving, as the mountain animals had a deep respect for the Cross family and wouldn’t do that unless there was a reason.

Once all the outdoor chores were finished up, they’d gotten about a dozen eggs this morning, she started on breakfast for the girls. It was something that she enjoyed more than anything she did with them as they talked to her and each other, and that was how she found out the most interesting things.

Ewing came in the back door when she was ready to put the plates together. He’d gone out with his brothers to find a missing child. It happened all the time around the mountains for one reason or another, and all she could think about was the little boy whose parents had tossed him over the side of one of the many falls to kill him off. Their plan was to sue the park for negligence, but the Rangers, all of them had been park rangers for a long time, and he was safely taken from his parents as well as the other children in the home.

Trinity only had to look at Ewing to know that it hadn’t gone well. She sent him up to get Billy so that he could have some eggs with them as well. It would do Ewing a world of good to be around the little boy as he wouldn’t comment on things but would just jabber away about whatever baby talk he was using.

“Billy said that he wants to go into town and see the Christmas lights tonight. Who wants to go with him?” Of course, the girls wanted to do that. She was surprised that he even had to ask.

They’d taken the trip to see lights several times so far in the season. The first time they went, there weren’t as many lights up as there were decorations around the storefronts. But each time they went, they saw more and more lights, and it was so much fun to see the animatronics working, too. There were a great many of them depicting bears climbing one thing or another.

After getting them off to school and Billy down for his early morning nap, she went to her office to take care of the paperwork that the president had sent her to go over. He would send her his speeches early enough that she could go over them, clearing up anything that didn’t flow well and any kind of comments that he made that he shouldn’t have.

Finishing up after a few hours, she went to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of tea and something to tide her over until lunch. Mae came to tell her what was going on in the household, little things like they’d need shampoo for one of the girls. There was a leaky window in one of the bedrooms.

Usually, they took care of those things themselves, the faeries having so much magic, but today, she’d run into a problem that she’d never encountered before. Following the little person up the stairs, she entered the big room that had been set aside for just the faeries and knew immediately that it was something that she was going to need help with. One of the large windows had broken when a large limb from the tree next to the house broke off and crashed into the room.

“We can make the large limb disappear, but it would be someplace we’d not need it to be. The glass is easy enough to fix, but the faeries aren’t sure what sort of glass you’d like to have in it. They seem to think that making it colorful will be fine with you.” She said that it normally would, but she’d have to check with Ewing. “He is back now from taking the children to school. Oh, how I wish I could go with them. Don’t you think it would be fun to be able to learn all day long?

She doubted very much any learning would be done if a bunch of faeries showed up to class and were flitting about the room. No, she thought, it would not be fun to go to school all day with the faeries.

When Ewing looked over the mess that had been made, he was upset about all the breakage. Not that they could have foreseen something like this happening, but two of the little people had been hurt, and he felt responsible for it. Getting the limb out, they were surprised then by how much damage had been done to the house, too.

“I’m going to tell you how we’re going to get this done. Nothing nor anyone is to deviate from the plan, all right?” Ewing was trying his best not to laugh. The faeries were nearly vibrating the house off its foundation by the way that they were energized to work with him. After doing the steps, removing the glass one piece at a time, he then went out of doors to survey the damage there. After giving the little creatures a list of things that they’d have to do and in order of them being done, he allowed them to make the windows in this room all colorful if they wished. So long as everyone had a chance to do something to some part of the windows.

The two of them left before the windows were finished being decorated. They were nearly down the stairs when he felt Sunny show up in the room. She’d just bet that she was having a fit over something, or she was making sure that the two little faeries were all right. For as much as she was a hard ass, Sunny was about as soft as she could be when it came to all her domain.

The rest of the morning and into the afternoon, she was busy with the household. A house this big needed a large staff and while she was glad to have them, she thought that sometimes they made more work than they needed to. Cleaning the fireplaces had become a daily thing for the staff, and while she didn’t care when they were cleaned, they usually ended up having a dust fight, and the entire room would be sooty. She wasn’t sure, but Trinity thought that they did that because they enjoyed cleaning up after themselves. It could have been worse, she thought to herself, but they were happy, and so was she.

Dinner tonight was going to be quick. It was nearly getting dark by the time the girls made it home from school nowadays. But soon, the time would be for all daylight they could manage and more outdoor fun for them all. Trinity was looking forward to going tea blossom hunting with the girls and the other children of the bruin. By the time there was full darkness outside, they were loaded up in the jeep and out looking at the beautiful lights that were nearly on every lamp post and business front. There were houses, too, but they wouldn’t be able to shine bright without the town. It was just spectacular the way they all seemed to get together to make their town beautiful.

They’d given out two scholarships this past fall. The students that had received them were overjoyed by them. So were their parents. Twenty thousand dollars was given away and the kids that received them wouldn’t have to work while going to college. She thought that it was great in that part alone.

She was just stepping out of the shower, her second one of the day, when Ewing joined her in the room. Wrapping the large towel around her breasts and body, she asked him if everything was all right.

“Not now that you’ve covered up, it’s not.” The two of them had been teasing each other for the last few days. It was difficult to have sex during the day as there was someone always underfoot. Today, with Billy with the faeries and his nanny, they had just very little time to spare before the girls had to be picked up from school. Dropping the towel on the floor, she raced him to the bed, and that was where they ended up together, just as his phone was going off.

“Don’t answer it.” He said that he wasn’t going to, but she could tell that he did indeed need to answer the phone. Riding her body up against his, he moaned loudly and told her to behave. She wasn’t going to let this opportunity go without a fight.

Tearing his buttons off, she took one of his hard nipples into her mouth and suckled at it hard. Then, when she nipped at him, biting gently on his nipple, she could hear his frustration as he spoke on the phone. Getting up from the bed, not being bashful at all about her nudity, she sat down in front of him and undid his belt, and then the snap at the top of his jeans.

Trinity made short work of his boxers. Pulling them down over the crown of his cock, she slid her tongue over the top of his cock and was rewarded with the tiniest drop of cum. Licking him more, pulling his pants off when he finally lifted his hips. She swallowed his cock down past the tightness of her throat as she fondled his balls.

She knew that she was playing dirty and didn’t care. He was going to remember this the next time he came for her and his phone rang. The phone was tossed across the room. Once it hit the wall, her body seemed to come apart with just the sound of his frustrations and the breaking glass of the thing.

“I’m going to beat your ass for that. I needed to take that call.” He might well have needed it but she could tell that he didn’t much care if he did or not. He slapped his hand onto her ass, and she came a second time, her body hurting with the pain and pleasure like nothing had before. “You like that, do you? Well, I’m going to have me some—holy Christ Trinity, yes.”

All she’d done was to give his tender balls a small jerk. They were warm and full, and she wanted to tease him a bit. But when he started coming, holding her head down over his cock while he fucked her mouth, Trinity wasn’t prepared for the amount of cum that she had to swallow and was disappointed that she’d missed a bit of him. It was the best way possible to have sex with someone, she thought and squealed when she was suddenly airborne, bouncing a couple of times before lying on the bed beneath him.

He took her hard, his cock filling her, slapping his balls onto her pussy with each downward stroke. It was hard and dirty, and she wouldn’t have it any other way right now. Each time he took her, she raised up her ass so that he could take her deeper, harder than before. Even while she was holding onto his arms, clinging to him so that she’d not shatter apart, her body was racing to meet up with his. His need to dominate her was more than she could take, and she screamed when he bit down on her throat.

Nothing could have prepared her for the way it turned her body inside out and then seemingly upside down. She felt herself being pulled through a small hole and then back through the other side as he suckled at the wound he created at her throat. There was no pain after a few minutes, only pleasure. More pleasure than she’d had in some time with Ewing, and it nearly was too much.

Whatever he was doing, whatever he was feeling by making love to her this way, she would take it ten times more than she thought that she could, if only to satisfy him. Trinity loved Ewing with all that she was and knew that he did the same for her.

Christ, he was laying claim to her like he’d never done to her before. And before she could realize that she was coming again, her body seemed to have been slapped upside of it, and she was out for the count.

When she woke, she was snuggled around Ewing and he was speaking softly. She didn’t understand that he was talking to her until he asked her if she was all right and that he was sorry that he’d hurt her so badly. Lifting her face up to look at him, she could see the tears on his face and wondered aloud about them.

“I thought that I’d nearly killed you.” She said that she was fucking fantastic. “Yes, but when you passed out for so long, I was worried about you. Are you really all right?”

“I am. I’m with you and that right there is enough for me to be able to enjoy you for the rest of my days.” He kissed her gently on her lips, and she smiled at him. “I’m sorry about your call. Not really, but I thought that I’d just say that to you.”

“I don’t even remember who it was now.” She snuggled under his chin and thought that she could sleep like this forever. Then her alarm went off and she knew she was going to have to get up and go get the kids. “Duty calls.”

“You take a nap, and I’ll go get them. I have a few things at the post office that I need to pick up anyway. That way, we don’t have to make two trips. The weather is supposed to be worse by this evening, and I’m looking forward to the weekend here with you and the family.” She didn’t argue with him but rolled over, taking most of the blankets with her when he got up. “I guess that’s a yes. You’ll see me later.”

“It is. Don’t forget to check on the lunch situation while there. Also…you know what? I should go with you. I have a list of things that I have to ask the teachers about their homework. Never a dull moment around here, is it?”

After getting the kids, they stopped and got pizza. There were a lot of people without power, so they invited anyone who needed it to use their generators. They might well should have been without power, too, but the faeries would make sure they weren’t without anything.

Stopping at the post office and getting about a half a dozen boxes, they were headed home. Trinity listened to the kids talking about their Christmas break and all the things they were going to do. She let the sounds of family roll around her, and when they got home, she hugged all of the kids tightly. Trinity felt like she was the luckiest person and mom in the world.