Read Online The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) by Pamela Warren - Free Book Online

resist. She had been
feeling increasingly attracted to him, and didn’t want to fight that feeling
any longer. It felt right to her that they were finally together again,
especially now that they knew they had a son. Maggie kissed Justin back just as
enthusiastically as he had kissed her until Zak walked in the room.
    “Oh sorry,” he said, feeling a little embarrassed that
he had interrupted their intimate moment. “Sarah and I are going home. Just let
me know what you want to do.”
    “O.k. Zak, we’ll figure it out,” Maggie said.
    After he left the room, Justin said to Maggie, “Have you
ever noticed how much Sarah looks like you when you were a little younger?”
    “Just because she has blonde hair and blue eyes?”
    “You two could be sisters. It’s kind of creepy,” Justin
said and laughed.
    “Well, that would be creepy if it was true, but it’s
not,” Maggie retorted. She hit Justin with a small pillow that was on the
couch. Justin hit her back with another small pillow from his side of the
couch.
    Just then the kids came into the porch to see why Maggie
and Justin were laughing. They were shocked to see them acting like teenagers.
They always thought of their mother as being the mature parent in their lives,
so they didn’t know what to think about this new behavior. Maggie and Justin
sobered up and put the pillows back and then asked the kids to sit down for a
minute.
    “Justin and I were just discussing that maybe we would
like to take some trips with you. We had already planned on going back to Nashville to stay with Tucker, but Justin would like us to come out to California to meet
his friends and family. He thought that Jake might like to meet his
grandparents.”
    Jake looked confused. “I thought my grandparents lived
in Boston,” he said.
    “That’s my parents, Jake,” Maggie replied. “Justin would
like you to meet his parents. They’re very excited to see you since they don’t
have any other grandchildren. We were also thinking about going to Boston so you could see my family.”
    “That sounds like a lot of traveling, Mama,” said Belle.
    “Well, I guess it is,” said Maggie. “Justin and I are
calling it our world tour.”
    Justin smiled when Maggie said that and looked lovingly
at her and the children.
    “I think it sounds great, Mom” said Gabe. “It gets a
little boring at home sometimes. I like to see new places.”
    “Me too, Gabe,” Maggie said and smiled. “O.k., I guess
we’ll make the arrangements then. We probably have just enough time to fit
these trips in before school starts in September.”
    Justin smiled too. He was looking forward to spending
time with Maggie, Gabriel, Isabel, and especially Jake. He had been a bachelor
for a long time and he was enjoying being part of a large, rambunctious family.

.
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    The first stop on Maggie and Justin’s ‘world
tour’ was Nashville. They flew from Lafayette to Nashville and then rented a
car at the airport. As they drove up the long driveway to Tucker’s estate,
Maggie felt happy to be back. She and her children had lived there for two
years and she had started to look on it as being her home. Justin drove up to
the palatial main house, imposing with its white pillars. Tucker must have been
watching for them because he came out immediately when they pulled up and
parked. He walked over to get the door for Maggie, and the three kids piled out
of the back seat. They said ‘hi’ then helped Justin get the suitcases out of
the trunk and carry them into the house. They dropped them off in the front
foyer and ran up the sweeping staircase to their bedrooms on the second floor. After
a lot of noise and giggling, they came back down again, complaining that they
were hungry.
    “Why don’t you come into the kitchen and I’ll make you a
snack,” Tucker suggested.
    They were enthusiastic about this idea, so they all sat
down at the kitchen table while Tucker made his specialty, peanut