Playing For Keeps (31 page)

"Just so you know," she said, panting
just as hard as he was, "the next time you try to leave me. I'm
going to kick your ass."

Jason had to bury his face against her
shoulder to stop himself from laughing out loud. She was just so
damn cute.

"Stop laughing at me! I'm a threat,
damn it!"

Jason pressed a gentle kiss to her
lips.

"No, you're my sweet little
grasshopper."

Epilogue

Ten years
later.....

"But, Dad, we're going to starve!"
Cole complained, again, as he sagged to the ground, doing his best
to look like he was dying. Of course eight year old Elizabeth and
five year old Joshua copied their older brother, dropping to the
ground right beside Jason's feet and doing their best to out pout
the other.

Jason chuckled as he added more
burgers and chicken to the large stainless steel grill he'd bought
and set up yesterday.

"Don't you love us, daddy?" Elizabeth
asked, adding just the right amount of lip trembling while Joshua
over did it. Jason sighed, throwing more hot dogs onto the grill.
He was going to have to work on looking pathetic with his youngest
son again it seemed. An amateur pout like that could mean the
difference between Haley feeling sorry for all of them and baking
some delicious treat to shut them the hell up or her rolling her
eyes and ignoring them.

"I so hungie, daddy," Joshua said,
using the baby voice that he knew his parents were suckers
for.

Jason looked down at his children and
did his best not to laugh at their over exaggerated pouts. They
were so damn cute, but that was to be expected since they were his
kids. All three of them took after him in height, dark hair and
appetite, but they all had their mother's beautiful emerald eyes,
cute little noses and the ability to brighten up a room with their
smiles.

Pursing his lips in indecision, he
looked around their large backyard for his little grasshopper. When
he didn't find her among their guests he stepped back and craned
his neck to look through the kitchen's double glass sliding doors.
He spotted his parents, a few cousins and uncles but no little
grasshopper.

When he looked back at his kids he
wasn't too shocked to find them already back on their feet, looking
ready to pounce. They knew the drill after all.

"Take this plate," he said, grabbing a
plate off the large picnic table he had set up as his work station,
"and go hide. Make sure you share, because if I hear any whining
I'm not doing this again." He threw another cautious look over his
shoulder before loading up the plate with three large barbeque
chicken legs.

"After you're done make sure you get
rid of the evidence and, Cole," he said, looking over his shoulder
at his oldest son who was licking his lips hungrily, "make sure
your brother and sister remember to wash up this time."

The last time they snuck food at a
party, Cole innocently denied eating the double chocolate birthday
cake. Haley would have probably bought the story if Elizabeth and
Joshua hadn't been covered from head to toe in chocolate frosting.
Then again he wouldn't have been caught if the kids hadn't rated
his ass out.

He handed the large plate to Cole.
"Pick a better spot this time," Jason warned his son.

Cole nodded. "Can we have
some-"

"Jason Bradford!" his mother said,
drawing their attention towards the house. They all swallowed
noticeably when they spotted Haley standing next to his mother with
her arms crossed over her chest and her cute little brows
arched.

"Please tell me you're not already
sneaking food," his little grasshopper said on a tired
sigh.

"No, of course
not--
run kids! Run
!" Jason yelled even as Cole took off towards the woods with
his brother and sister hot on his heels.

His mother let out a long suffering
sigh as she walked over to the table and picked up the small box of
baby wipes and three juice boxes from one of the large coolers and
headed for the woods.

Jason gave Haley the grin that still
got him out of parking tickets and unlimited free samples at the
grocery store. Haley simply stared at him, pushing her glasses back
up her nose with one finger.

"I love you?" Jason said, trying not
to laugh as Haley tried to look stern and failed
miserably.

"They're my cupcakes, you greedy
bastards!" they heard his father yell from the kitchen.

Haley's lips twitched as she said,
"Between you, the kids, and your father, I don't think there will
be enough food for everyone."

"But they were starving, my little
grasshopper. The poor things were barely able to move from hunger,"
he said, trying to look and sound innocent as he shifted closer to
the grill so that she wouldn't see the plate of chicken bones he
forgot to hide.

"Those
poor things
conned Mitch out the two
plates of peanut butter cup bars that Mary made, twenty minutes
ago," Haley informed him, chuckling.

"They what?" he yelled, causing
everyone around them to jump. He ignored them as he turned a glare
in the direction his children headed off to. The sense of betrayal
hit hard. Not only had they conned the soft hearted Mitch out of
delicious baked goods that were meant for him, but they failed to
give him his customary cut of the action, fifty percent.

"Yup," Haley said, walking past him to
grab a cold soda from the cooler. She rolled her eyes when she
spotted the chicken bones and perched her cute little ass on the
end of the picnic table. "As soon as he walked in and put the baby
down they hit him with 'I love you, Uncle Mitch' and hugs and he
was a goner."

Jason's glare shifted to his best
friend who was lounging in a chair with his wife, Mary, Haley's
best friend, on his lap while their baby played in the sandbox
close by as their two oldest children ran around with the other
kids playing tag.

Ten years ago Mitch would have simply
taunted and teased the kids with the baked goods until someone hit
him upside the head and made him share, but that all changed when
Haley asked the bastard to do her a favor. Back then Mary was a
struggling single parent of a newborn and was barely getting by on
less than an hour of sleep a night.

As a favor to Haley, after much
manipulation on Haley's part, Mitch reluctantly volunteered to run
some food, formula and diapers over to Mary's small apartment. Mary
had opened the door with messy hair, dried spit up on her clothes,
looking exhausted and holding a screaming baby girl and Mitch fell
hard.

Almost overnight the old Mitch was
gone and the new soft hearted family oriented man appeared. He
started spending all his free time helping Mary, making sure she
got enough rest, and taking care of little Tabitha much to
everyone's shock. Everyone knew that Mary had fallen equally as
hard for him, but she held back, too afraid to end up hurt again.
It took some time but Mitch eventually wore her down and within a
year they were married and expecting their second child.

"Did no one try and stop him?" Jason
demanded, turning his attention back on his little grasshopper, who
was helping Brad's son, Aaron make up a plate of food.

Haley chuckled softly as she sent the
little boy on his way. "Everyone was too busy laughing."

"Those were my peanut butter cup bars,
woman!"

"But," Haley said with an
innocent little pout, "the
poor
things
were starving."

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" he
asked, lips twitching as Haley walked into his arms. He put an arm
around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her
head.

"Yes, yes I am," Haley said, sounding
proud as she snuggled closer.

He held her for a few minutes, simply
enjoying having his little grasshopper in his arms before he asked
the question he hated asking, "Did they show up?"

"No," she mumbled against his
chest.

Jason leaned back and cupped her face
in his hands. "I'm really sorry, my little grasshopper," he said
softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He hadn't really expected
them to show up to celebrate their ten year anniversary, but he had
hoped for Haley's sake.

No matter how many years passed he
still couldn't rid himself of the guilt he felt every time her
family disappointed her. After they announced their elopement her
family had gone a bit hysterical. They'd screamed, ranted, and
begged Haley not to throw her life away on a loser like him. They
hadn't cared that he'd been in the room at the time.

Finally Grandma had put an end to the
bullshit and started swinging that cane of hers. Ten minutes later
while Mr. Blaine was rubbing a sore knee he wrote a check in
Jason's name for a hundred thousand dollars and all he had to do
was walk away from Haley. Turning down that money had been the
easiest decision he'd ever made. He just wished Haley and the kids
weren't the ones to suffer as a result.

They completely cut Haley off and
refused to have anything to do with the kids. He knew it hurt
Haley, but she never let it show. Thankfully he had enough family
to more than make up for the loss.

"It's okay," Haley said, forcing a
smile.

"The hell it is!"

They both looked down and smiled as
Grandma glared up at them from her new electric wheelchair. With a
flick of her hand she gestured for Jason to load her up. With a
smile he did just that.

Having Haley's grandmother move in
with them five years ago when Chris retired and they finished
building this house had probably made up for her family's neglect.
Haley and the kids loved having her with them and Grandma loved
having her own in-law apartment and the freedom to harass them any
time she felt the need arise.

"I don't know why you keep inviting
them, Haley," Grandma said, gesturing for Jason to add another hot
dog. "They don't deserve you."

Haley shrugged. "It wouldn't feel
right if I didn't."

Grandma gave Haley a sad smile. "I
know, kiddo."

"Here you go, Grandma," Jason said,
placing the plate on one of the tables the guys had set up that
morning. She reached out and gave Haley's hand a squeeze before she
rode over to the cooler and grabbed an ice cold beer. With a long
suffering sigh, Jason grabbed the beer away from her, ignored her
glare, and handed her an ice cold root beer instead.

Haley couldn't help but smile as the
two got into a bickering match over Grandma's right to have a beer
at a barbeque. Jason reminded her that her doctor said no alcohol
and Grandma reminded Jason that she'd take him over her knee if he
didn't give her the damn beer.

In the end Grandma grumbled as she
went to eat her meal with an ice cold Coke. She threw Jason a fond
smile when he wasn't looking. Five minutes later the kids were
happily skipping out of the woods with an exhausted Megan pulling
up the rear.

"Grandma!" they said excitedly as if
they didn't see their great grandmother every day. Grandma didn't
bother hiding her pleased smile as all three children sat down with
her and shared their latest adventures with her. Megan grabbed a
beer and headed for the pool, muttering something about needing a
vacation.

Haley leaned against Jason as he
flipped burgers. "You okay, my little grasshopper?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist
and snuggled into his side. "More than okay."

"I love you, my little grasshopper,"
he said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers.

"I know," she said, smiling against
his lips.

He pulled back to grin down at her.
"You know?"

"Mmhmm," she said, absently as she ran
her fingers through his hair, smoothing it back.

"
Mmmhmm
?" he repeated back, sounding
amused. "You love me and you damn well know it."

"Maybe," she said with a
shrug.

"Maybe you should just admit that
you're crazy about me," he said, leaning in to kiss her
again.

"And why would you want me to do
that?" she asked, still smiling.

"Because I'm playing for keeps, my
little grasshopper."

The End.