Page 74 of The Cannon
That’s why I dropped it and went back into party mode. The whole night seemed like a kind of magical time. Everything touched by the spirit of the holiday.
My favorite part, other than Bristol’s nod, was being with Jude. I guess seeing him let loose and really enjoying himself was what I had hoped for but didn’t expect. He has this other side to him that I hadn’t seen before. There’s a ten-year-old boy inside the cynic. That guy had the night off.
All the kids were dancing with their families and with each other. It didn’t surprise me that the Swifts made sure to include them in everything that was enjoyed by their other guests. Elvis and Ann Margaret were doing “The Monster Mash” in the middle of a circle of kids.
Lucinda and Boone, aka Pocahontas and John Smith, were making hot fudge sundaes for the crew. Mallory was talking with the girls mostly, while Atticus and Charlotte were having conversations with a few of the foster parents.
When the time came for the Best Costume it was unanimous. Grandma Birdie took home the homemade trophy made years ago by the Swift children. Boone told the story before handing his mother the timeworn award.
I had to laugh picturing Brick, Atticus and Bristol taking one of Lucinda’s plastic bowls and gluing a cardboard toilet paper roll to the bottom as a handle. They covered it with tinfoil and glued Halloween symbols to the surface. Bats, ghosts, pumpkins and witches made sense. But it was the Easter Bunny five-year-old Bristol insisted on that made the most lasting impression.
Lucinda said the boys were so pissed off at their sister they refused to sign their names underneath. Which worked just fine for their sister. Bristol’s scrawled name is the only artist mentioned.
Other than my bringing up theMword, the golden moment of the party was when Jude was dancing with Bristol and me. Jesus, it was a sweet scene. A carefree kid showed up, which proved the power of hope.
He’s known more disappointment in ten years than most others have experienced in a lifetime. There’s never been a firm foothold as to his place. Yet, you wouldn’t have known it last night. Before then had he known what it is to feel carefree? That kid and his serious expression gets me right in the heart.
She stirs.
With her back to me I have a cat seat to the greatest show on earth. Bristol waking up. First there’s a curl of the legs as she brings them up against her. Then one straightening out, pulling the sheet down with it.
Damn. It only made it to the top of that out-of-this-world ass.
Her dark hair against the white pillowcase is like a piece of art. It fans out in curls. For a moment everything stops. Maybe she’s falling back to sleep. No, no little lady.
I gently pick up the edge of the sheet and peel it back. Yes. Thank you. There is a god and he created this beautiful woman. For me. My eyes take in the curve of her, the hills and valleys.
“Are you enjoying the view?” her sleepy voice says.
The sheet gets tossed back revealing the head to toe story. “You know I am. Stay like that.”
I inch over to her warm body and start my kisses on the back of her neck. Slowly they travel downward, smooth shoulders, spine, tiny waist, making a spectacular landing on the cheeks. One, two.
Now she stretches long, arching her body for my pleasure. “I’ve got the chills,” she says in low tones.
Wrapping an arm around I turn her over. Against me. Breasts so soft and nipples already peaked. I feel her pussy press against my hard dick.
“I want you to promise me something, Sawyer,” she says.
“What?” I say taking in the scent of her skin.
“Promise me you’ll always love me as I do you.”
Did that just happen? I’ve never known this feeling before. Pure joy. “You love me?” I say just to be sure I wasn’t imagining the moment.
“I love you,” she says running a finger over my cheek.
“I love you too, Bristol. Have since the first look.”
We come together in a kiss. In a weird sort of way, it’s our first one.
“Now tell me what you thought of the promise I requested of you last night. I know we’ve pretty much done everything backwards. We said I love you after I brought up marriage. Did it scare you?”
She gazes into my eyes and a corner of her mouth lifts. “Not scared. Stunned.”
“In a good way?”
“In the best way.” She smiles and lights up the room.
