Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron) (4 page)

The car pulled up to the front entrance as the servants came out ready to collect her bags from the trunk of the car and bring them up to her room.  William opened the door to the car and Gianna ran up to her screaming excitedly, "Auntie, Auntie.  You are finally here.  What took you so long?  We have been waiting for hours."

Emily, who was about the same size and shape of Grace with short bobbed dark brown hair and blue eyes, came up behind the little girl.  "Now Gianna, give your Auntie some space.  You knew she was coming at 10am.  It looks like Auntie Grace is right on time as usual.  It is not her fault that you decided to wait outside on the front lawn for her since we got her 30 minutes ago."  Looking at Grace and shaking her head, "Honestly, I am really starting to believe that children have absolutely no real concept of time.  You look great!  Albeit, little skinny and tired but otherwise great."

"Aww, Em.  I knew I could count on you to be honest.  I am tired. I am about to remedy that with a very long trip to Florence and check on the Tuscan vineyard my mom bought years ago."

Em pulled Grace into a hug and whispered into her ear, "Promise me, when you are there you will find yourself a very mysterious, gorgeous Italian millionaire out among the grape vines and fall madly in love with him.  You can do some shameful things that one day you will write about in your memoirs."

"Ha Ha, very funny Em, but come to think of it a nice love affair would be nice." She whispered back.

"Come in.  I put you in your usual room.  I figured that you would like that best. I put us and the kids on the opposite side of the house, so at night they won't wake you.  Jacob was sleeping through the night for months but now that his molars are coming in, he wakes up every two hours it seems.”  Taking Grace’s arm in hers they walked up the steps to the front door, “I am so glad that you decided to come.  Did Michael have to try very hard to talk you into it?"

"No, actually, three months has been far too long.  I was missing you all so very much.  I was going to suggest an outing here if he didn't.  I think I will go up to my room to freshen up and change."  She looked at the kids and gave them each a hug.  She turned to the girls and said, "When I come down, would you girls want to go for a walk on the beach with me and your brother?" 

Gianna and Chelsey screamed their approval as Grace went up to get ready. 

Grace and the kids spent the rest of the morning on the beach building sand castles and dipping their toes into the water.  The water was much too cold to submerge more than that.  Jacob amused himself by trying to catch a flock of pigeons.  Every time he got too close to them, they would scurry farther away.  He loved the cooing sound they made as they dug their beaks and feet in the sand and grass, looking to find their next meal.  He was starting to get fast and surefooted on his feet.  Last time she saw him, he was still hobbling along trying to stay upright.  She kept a keen eye on the children as they played.  At about one in the afternoon, Jake started to protest.  He must have been hungry or tired. Grace figured that it was probably a bit of both.  She rounded up the children and started back to the house for lunch.

Zane walked up behind a sand dune.  He was curious to see the beach and have the sand between his toes.  They were here on a mission to scout for mates.  On his planet the women were being taken prisoner or killed in a war tactic of their mortal enemy, the Drylons.  They needed to find women from an alternate planet that they could successfully breed with in order to keep their warrior race from going extinct. 

That was when he heard it.  It was the melodious sound of laughter.  It touched his very soul like nothing had before.  He crouched down as low as possible so that she wouldn’t see him.  This was hard to do, as he had a much taller stature than the typical men on this planet.  He looked over the dune, positioning himself behind the brush and saw a woman with a young child in tow.  She was swinging him around in circles trying to cheer him up.  He was giggling as she spun him around but as soon as she stopped he would whine.  He was probably getting tired.  However, the child was not what he was really paying attention to. 

She was a vision.  Never had he seen a creature more beautiful than this.  Her hair glinted in the sun a fiery red with an occasional purple glint as it blew around in the breeze.  Her eyes were a color he had never seen before, a bright green, not much different from the aqua that he saw in his own reflection.  The way she took care of the children she was with told him that she would be a good mother.  Hopefully, she was not attached to a male on this planet.  Right away he concluded that these children were not hers because they did not look anything like her.   This woman would require more surveillance.  He was going to do whatever it took to make her his mate.

Grace and the children walked into the solar to find Emily behind a table set with a healthy lunch for all.  She was hungrier than she thought she would be when her stomach gurgled in response to the spread she saw on the table.  Soon after she and the kids were cleaned up, they started to enjoy the feast set before them.  They all enjoyed the sandwiches, fresh vegetables, and the macaroni and cheese Emily had ordered from the kitchen.  After eating what seemed to be their weight in food, the girl's bellies were full and they starting to yawn.  Emily excused herself and promised to return after she took them up to their room.  She left Jacob in Grace’s arms fast asleep.  She did not want to disturb him and Grace was not going to let her either.

Grace enjoyed having Jacob in her arms.  She loved the way he smelled like baby soap and sunscreen mixed with the salt in the air from the beach.   He was warm and curled up in her lap breathing with his little mouth open as she enfolded him in her arms.  The solar offered the best view of the ocean and she looked out to the sea.  She lost track of time in a meditative state brought on by the sound of the baby's rhythmic breathing and the sight of the waves crashing on the beach.  She was interrupted from her trance by Emily returning from putting the girls down for a nap.

“Finally, now it is time for some adult conversation.”  Em said as she sat beside Grace.  “Are you alright with him?  If you want me to take him let me know.”

“Never.  Holding him makes me want to seriously start thinking about finding someone to get serious with and have one of my own.  Just as long as Aunt Marion doesn’t start getting ideas of setting me up with any or all of New York’s most eligible bachelors or Grandmamma starts harping on the advantages of an arranged marriage between two prominent wealthy families.  It is almost like she believes we need to form another family empire.”  Grace gave Em a knowing glance.  “You know how well that has worked out in the past.”

“There is someone out there for you Grace.  He just hasn’t found you yet.  Go out and have some fun and when you least expect it you will find your soul mate or more like he will find you.  I just know it.”  Em returned her gaze to the sea out the window.  “I have to tell you something important," She placed a hand protectively over her abdomen.  "Baby number four is on the way.”

“Oh my God, this is wonderful news!  No offense, but I have seen you with this crew and now I am left wondering just how are you going pull this off?  These guys take up most if not all of your time and effort.” 

“I am finally resorting to what I never wanted to do.  I never wanted to hire a Nanny but now I feel I have no choice in the matter.  I am having a hard enough time keeping up with three kids but four is just too much.  I mean, I have maids to do the laundry and cooking and cleaning but the kids take so much time.   Gianna will be starting school soon.  By the way, we got her in that private school that we applied to when she was two and just got word after Michael gave that huge donation that she has been accepted.  I just never want my kids to feel like we did with regard to our parents.”

Grace gave her a skeptical look, “Really, Em.  Are you really worried about that?  Just because you have a nanny to help keep the kids together, which was hard for me this afternoon to do by the way, does not mean that you will be less than the parent you have always been to your kids.  You will continue to spend time with them and instead of sending them away to boarding school, you will keep them in the city for school and they will come home every night to be with you.  Honestly, you do kind of need time for yourself some times.  Besides, these kids are the luckiest kids on the planet to have you and Michael for parents.  Have you started interviewing nannies yet?”

Em looked at Jacob still lying in his aunt’s arms and smiled at the sweet look on his pink and dreaming face.  “Marion has already given me a number of agencies over the years to contact for a good nanny since Chelsey was born.  I called a month ago when I finally broke the news to her that we were going to have another baby.  I interviewed several candidates and found a nanny two weeks ago.  She is supposed to join us tomorrow morning.  I figured for the children sake that it would be an easier adjustment with Michael and me available when they were getting to know her and the beach is an easy place to plan activities that the children love.”  She looked at Grace, almost seeking her approval.  “I just hope we are doing the right thing.  I am so exhausted.  I wanted to thank you for taking the kids for a couple hours this morning.  We were able to take a nap for about an hour and a half and it was heavenly.”    

Grace smiled sweetly at her best friend, “I love you Em.  I am so glad that Michael fell madly in love with you, just as I predicted he would, and married you.  Your kids are the best and they really are the luckiest kids on the planet.  Bar none.”

They talked until Jacob had awoken to the noisy entrance of his rejuvenated sisters.  Grace and Emily took the kids to the kitchen for ice cream followed by another visit to the beach with Michael joining in on the fun. 

Zane could clearly see that the female with the red fiery hair was not the mother of the children.  The parents were out with them now, and you could see the resemblance.  The boy clearly resembled the woman with dark brown hair and the eldest girl looked just like the man on the beach with the middle child resembling an even amount of both.  He could also see that the parents were a couple because they kissed and held hands on the beach as they ran and chased the children.  Gods was that fire haired woman beautiful.  He noticed the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he heard her speak, talk, or look in his general direction.  He was sure she could not see him.  He was well disguised in the brush and grass along the sandy dunes.  Now that he was sure she was unattached he would begin to plan his move to take her up to the ship.  

“Grace, so when are you planning to leave us and go on to Tuscany?”  Michael asked sitting on the nearest beach chair next to Grace to rest after a couple of hours of playing with the children.

“I have made my plane reservations for a Swiss flight out of JFK at 10 pm Monday night flying to Florence, Italy.  I plan to be there 2 hours earlier because of security.  According to William I will need to leave at 7pm to make sure I am there on time.  He will arrive here at 6:45 to pick me up and bring me to the airport.”  Grace looked happy that all her travel plans were made.  William was great at making sure that Grace arrived on time for everything.

“You appear to be looking forward to the trip.  What do you plan to do while you are there?”

“I am planning to relax when I get there.  Not to mention, try a lot of wine and go shopping.  Seeing that today is Thursday and I have three whole days to spend with you, Em, and the kids. I intend to take full advantage of my time with you all and not worry about the next trip.”

“I can certainly agree with that. I got a note from my Mom today.  She is planning to come tomorrow.  Once she found out that you were here, she started harping on dad to visit the Hamptons.  I hope you are not upset with this.”  He looked at Grace awaiting her response.

“Of course not, I would love to see Aunt Marion and Uncle Howard.  I just am hoping Grandmamma will stay busy at her flower show.  You know how she always gives a hard time about not going to law school and running my father’s law firm and not being married or involved with one of her chosen wealthy men.”