Chapter 6

Brie came down the stairs after changing her clothes as though she was trying to sneak away.  David, sitting on the couch, looked up at her and shook his head.  “Where have you been?” he asked.

She sat down on the couch next to him and picked up her Kindle.  “Nowhere”, she said nonchalantly.

“Baby, I love you, but you’re such a liar.  You wanna try that again?”

“I just went upstairs and changed my clothes.  That’s it.”

“And stopped by Jacob’s room, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“My ass, Hannah.  He locked his door, didn’t he?  Just like I’ve told him to do.”

She sighed.  “Damn it.  I couldn’t help myself.”

“You wanted to see what he was doing.  I get that, but you have to remember that he’s not a child anymore, baby.  He’s a twenty- three year old man.”

“Who’s under our roof and therefore that gives me license to spy.”

“No, honey, it doesn’t.”

She cursed again.  “DAMN IT!  Why can’t you just humor me?”

“Because were that Jordan or Maddie up there, you wouldn’t humor me.  You’d be saying the exact same thing that I just said to you.  Hell, you have said the exact same thing I just said to you in regards to Jordan.  And all I did was walk by and accidentally hear her.  You’re intentionally spying.”

Her face wrinkled into a frown.  “When did you become my Jimney Cricket?  It’s supposed to be the other way around.”

He just shrugged.  “You keep me from doing stupid shit and I keep you from doing stupid shit.  That’s just the way our relationship works.”

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Jake and Delilah lay in bed, exhausted.  “I’ve missed that”, she said breathlessly; her chest raising and falling in heaves.

“You know, so have I.  I’ve missed making love to you.”

“I appreciate you making sure you wore a condom.  I don’t want to have a child until I’m married.”

“I don’t want children until I’m married either, so it was my pleasure.”  He pressed his lips to her brown hair.

“Jakey, can I confess something to you?”

“What might that be?”

“You promise you won’t overreact?”

“Yes, honey.  What do you need to say?”

“Jakey, I’m in love with you.  I have been since we dated at Loyola.  I don’t want to be with anyone else but you.”

He tilted her chin up to meet his face.  “Delilah, why would I overreact about that?  After a long conversation with my parents yesterday morning before I called you, I figured out that I feel the same way.  I’ve never felt this way for a woman before, but I don’t find it frightening.  I’m not scared.  I want to love you, and I want to do so for the rest of our lives.”

“You’re not proposing, are you?”

He chuckled.  “Not yet.  I will eventually.  Let’s see if you get that job in Denver.”

“Jakey, I lied about the job offer.  Just wanted to see you again.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you wanted to see me too, or you wouldn’t have called.”

He shrugged.  “Guess so.”  He sighed contently.  “I love you, Lilah.”

“And I love you, Jakey.  Don’t ever let me go.”

He placed a kiss against her silken lips.  “I don’t plan to.”

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After all of his siblings were home for dinner, including Malachai and Jordan who were visiting from their own homes elsewhere in town, Jake joined the rest of his siblings in the living room with Delilah at his side.  He sat on the couch and laughed with the rest of his brothers and sisters.  Malachai was telling the younger children- Meagan, Makayla, James, Jeremiah, Marc, and Jessykah- about his experiences of their mother walking in on him.  “Our mother does NOT know how to knock at times, you guys, so be aware and lock your door.  That’s a standing, unspoken rule.  If you’re gonna get busy, lock the door”, he said, acting out the last sentence and laughing.

Jacob and Jordan both laughed and said in unison, “No kidding.”  They exchanged a look.  “We haven’t done that in years”, Jordan joked.

“No shit, sis.  It’s been since before we graduated high school, I know that’s for sure.”

Delilah interrupted.  “I still don’t believe that you two are twins”, she said to Jake and Jordan.

“We are.  It’s frightening to know that I have to share my birthday with this hideous fucker, but he’s my brother nonetheless and I have to share with him whether I like it or not”, Jordan said with a laugh.

Delilah giggled.  “I don’t think he’s hideous.  I think he’s rather handsome.”

“Have you looked at the guy lately?”

“I’m sure I’ve seen more of him that you have”, Delilah said, the look in her eyes challenging Jordan to say something.

“You know what, I’m sure you have too.  But, I shared a womb with that joker.”

“More like I shared it with you, Jordan.  Remember, Dad swore Mom was having a BOY, not a GIRL”, Jake said with a laugh.

“And I was born first.”

“More like I kicked you out of the womb first.”

“Have you two always had this sibling rivalry?” Delilah asked them both.

“Since the day they were born”, their mother said as she walked into the room.  “Miranda, Isaiah, and Elijah, go to the children’s table, dinner’s ready.  If you’re over the age of 15, wait here until I come get you.  If you’re 15 and under, go wash up and get to the children’s table for dinner.”

“What about us washing up, Gramma?” Isaiah asked.

“Grampa and I will take care of that when you get to the table.  Get in the kitchen.”  When the little boy, his little brother and twin sister were in the kitchen, Brie looked at the young adults in her living room.  “Jordan and Jake have had a bit of a sibling rivalry since the moment they were both out of the womb.  I remember Kristen coming into the bedroom in the first safe house and telling me that these two would kick each other because one would take up the other’s space.”

They both nodded.  “That sounds like something we’d do”, they said in unison.

“Believe me, you two caused your father and I enough heart ache when you were babies.  It was refreshing to have a single after you.”

Maddie stuck her tongue out at her older brother and sister.  “Ha, ha assholes.  I was a breath of fresh air.”

“Until Daddy spoiled the hell out of you”, Brie added as she walked away to help her husband get their grandchildren ready for supper.

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Delilah loved eating dinner with the Draiman family.  She learned more about her Jakey then she thought was possible.  She enjoyed hearing stories about when he was growing up, especially the one about their father’s birthday snowball fight.  “Malachai and I were both feeling froggy as hell that day, man”, he said with a laugh.

“You can say that again, little brother”, Malachai said in response as he cooled off a bite of pasta on his plate to eat.

“What happened?” Delilah asked.

“You care to tell the story, Jacob?” his father asked.

Jake shrugged.  “Why not? It’s my girl asking about it.”  He turned to her.  “Ok, so, after we made Mom and Dad breakfast in bed, they came out of the bedroom at the separate safe house and told us all to get our coats and gloves on; we were going outside.  So, of course, we did.  Mom showed the girls how to make snow angels and the four of us boys, because Jessi and Marc hadn’t even been thought of yet, we ran off and decided that we were going to conspire against Dad.  Dad had this HUGE shit eating grin on his face as he watched what was going on when out of nowhere, I pegged him in the back with a snowball.  He turns around and looks at us like we’ve lost our minds.  We talk our trash, I call him old and Malachai calls him chicken, and that was the end of that.  Dad rolled himself a snowball and packed it good and tight, then told us to run.  From there, it was all out war.  The four boys against our father.  Then it was the four boys against our father and sisters.  I hated that we were so outnumbered, because one adults accounts for two people on one team.  So, I got brave and went and got Mom.  We threw snowballs at each other all day.”

“That sounds like it must have been a blast”, Delilah said.

“I think I can speak for my children when I say it’s one of all of our fondest memories”, David said with a smile.  All of his children and his wife nodded in agreement.