Twenty years later…

Jack was wrong again, it wasn’t a girl. Jackson came next. Then Noah and then Liam and Mason, and finally, almost six years later, Maggie was born.

I stood in the kitchen looking out the window. I had just put the turkey in the oven. It was a rare occasion. The house was quiet. I knew it wouldn’t last long though. Soon the house would be full of family and laughter, just the way I loved it. But I decided to pour myself a glass of wine and enjoy my solitude for a moment. I sat down at the kitchen island and thought about how quickly the years had passed.

Jack had gone to the airport to pick up Owen. He was finishing his MBA at Harvard this spring. He graduated from high school almost two years early. It turns out that Jack was right, the kid was pretty much a genius. He was barely seventeen when he left for college. It was as if he couldn’t get away from the farm fast enough. Luckily, he chose a school in Boston, where my father could look after him.

His brother Jackson, who just turned twenty, was the complete opposite. He was a farm-boy through and through, we had to practically drag him off to college. He was finishing his third year at the University of Tennessee just like his dad. He had come home every chance he could.

Noah, who was nineteen, was finishing his first year at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He was the most creative of all our children and was studying photography.

Mason and Liam, our twins, were seventeen and had another year of high school left. We hoped that they would just stay out of jail and not get kicked out of school until we could get them off to college. They were a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of trouble

Maggie, who we named after my mother, just turned fifteen, was spoiled rotten. Of course, I could blame most of it on Jack, but her brothers weren’t much better than him. They all worshiped the ground she walked on.

If anyone had ever told me before I met Jack, that I would have six children someday, I would have laughed at them. But the truth was, I loved being a mother and Jack was a great father. We were a team. It wasn’t easy when they were all young, but somehow, we managed the farm and the children.

We couldn’t have done it without Ted and Sarah. Owen named them Na-Na and Teddy and that’s what all the kids called them. I wasn’t even sure if they knew that they weren’t related to us, they had become instant grandparents as soon as Owen was born, and Sarah was there every day to help while Jack and I worked. They were both near eighty and retired. But that hadn’t stopped Sarah from showing up every morning to help with breakfast and getting the kids off to school. And even though Ted retired almost ten years ago, he still drove his old pick up around the farm, telling the guys what to do.

My father finally admitted to himself that he had fallen in love with his assistant Marie and they married when Owen was about ten. So, my children had four grandparents who loved them, and we had a full house for the holidays. When I made Jack drag that great big table up from the barn that day, I never imagined that one day our family will fill it up.

I took a sip of my wine and felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped down from my chair. I hadn’t heard the door open. I squealed when I realized it was Owen. I looked up at him grinning down at me. He was the spitting image of Jack, with his sparkling green eyes and he had the same adorable dimples. His hair was lighter, but other than that, he looked just like him. I wrapped my arms around him and laughed when I looked up to see him holding a sprig of mistletoe over my head. “I made Dad stop.” He chuckled, bending down to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m so glad you’re home Owen! I wish your granddad didn’t have you working all of Christmas break.”

He laughed at me. “He didn’t make me Mama, I wanted to be there, but I’ll be home for a whole week. So, you have plenty of time to fuss at me.” There was no doubt in my mind that he would be the next CEO of Hawkins’ Industries. I knew my father was holding off on retirement until Owen was ready.

I watched as Jackson ran down the stairs to greet Owen with a big bear hug. As different as they were, they were super close to each other. Jackson grabbed Owen’s suitcase and the two of them took off upstairs. Then I looked over at Jack who was still standing in the doorway, taking it all in. He was still the hottest guy I’d ever seen. He hardly looked any different from the day I met him. He had a few gray hairs and maybe a few lines around his eyes, but in my book, those things just made him sexier.

He walked over and put his arms around me and kissed me, “I missed you Claire Colton.” He whispered against my lips.

I flirted with him, “Oh yeah? How much?” He covered my mouth with his and my lips parted instinctively. Our tongues danced together in perfect harmony. I knew the first time we kissed that I would never get tired of kissing him and I never had. He pulled me closer and whispered, “Do we have time to go down to the cabin?” We privately and jokingly renamed the fishing cabin the ‘sex shack.’ But thank god, we had it. It was hard to find alone time with six children in the house and that place had become our private hideaway. I was getting ready to tell him there was no way, we only had a couple of hours until dinner, but he just kept kissing me and I started to think about where we could go for a quickie when I heard Owen and Jackson coming back down the stairs.

Jackson was laughing, “Oh my god Owen, they’re making out again.”

Owen yelled, “Get a room!”

Jack grumbled, “I have a room. About thirteen of them, as a matter of fact, but they always seem to have children in them.” Owen and Jackson laughed, and Jack leaned down in my ear and whispered, “The kid’s twenty-two and he’s still a little cock-blocker.” I couldn’t help but laugh and elbow him in the ribs.

Noah came down the stairs a few seconds behind Jackson and Owen wondering what was going on. It wasn’t long after that Mason and Liam came flying through the door with Maggie. Following them were, Sarah, Ted, my father and Marie. So, much for a quickie, I thought.

It wasn’t long before it was time to get dinner on the table, so I started barking orders. What’s the use in doing all the work yourself when you have six kids? Maggie was setting the table while the boys and Jack were helping with food when Jack noticed Maggie. She got her braces off today and I noticed that she was wearing a little mascara and lip gloss. She usually wore her hair in braids, but it was down and falling over her shoulder. She looked beautiful, but she was my baby and I hated to see her growing up. Jack hadn’t seen her transformation yet.

Jack grimaced, “Maggie come here. What happened to you?”

Her cheeks turned pink, “What Daddy?”

He turned to me and whispered, “What the hell happened? She didn’t look that way yesterday.”

I laughed, “She’s growing up Jack.”

He frowned. “Well, I don’t like it.”

I watched her walk over to Jack. He pulled a brand new white iPhone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She let out a squeal and began jumping up and down. “Oh my gosh Daddy, thank you!”

I looked over at Jack and rolled my eyes and he just grinned at me and shrugged. Mason was the first to notice. “What? Dad, you just give her a phone?”

Liam piped up. “What happened to the rule that ‘Colton children don’t get a phone until they turn sixteen?’”

Jack cleared his throat, “Well, Maggie’s a girl, it’s a safety issue.”

Mason chuckled, “I’m pretty sure that’s gender discrimination, Dad.”

Jack looked at me for help. “Don’t look at me. I’m pretty sure Mason has a good point.”

Noah laughed. “I seem to remember having to muck out stalls the whole summer before I got a phone.”

Maggie’s little cheeks were pink. “I mucked out stalls last Saturday.”

Liam smirked, “More like you ogled Rake Johnson’s butt while he mucked the stalls.”

“I did not!” Maggie insisted.

I looked at Jack and now his face was red, and his jaw was clenched. Jack growled, “Who the hell’s Rake Johnson?”

“I hired him last summer, you gave me the okay, remember?” Jackson looked at Jack.

I smiled, “Is he Luke Johnson’s kid? Because if he is, I’m guessing I might be ogling him too.”

Maggie frowned. “Eww Mom. Just eww.”

Jack scrunched his eyebrows up at me, “You’re really not helping things here.”

I laughed. “You started all this.”

Owen interjected, “What kind of name is Rake, anyway? And how old is this guy?” His face looked a lot like Jack’s.

Liam smirked, “He’s in our grade, he’s seventeen.”

Owen looked at Maggie, “He’s too old for you.” Maggie rolled her eyes.

Jack looked at Maggie. “Owen’s right.”

Noah laughed, “Aren’t you like five years older than Mom?”

Jack glared at Noah, “Well your mother was twenty-five when we met, not fifteen.”

My father decided to join the conversation at that point. “You were still too old for her.” He smirked at Jack, clearly enjoying his predicament.

Jack turned his glare to my father, “Thanks for the input, Rich.” He shifted his eyes to Maggie, “Mags. It doesn’t matter. Just from now on, take one of your brothers with you when you go down to the stable.”

She crossed her arms and huffed. “Now that’s gender discrimination.”

Jack grinned and shrugged. “Maybe so. It turns out I’m not as progressive as I thought.”

I rolled my eyes and put my arm around Maggie, “God help any poor boy that wants to date you, little bug.” 

Owen laughed, “Show of hands, who thinks Mags shouldn’t be allowed to date until she’s thirty?”

Everyone raised their hand but me, and Maggie stomped out of the kitchen with her arms crossed. We all laughed as we sat down at the table.

Jack raised his glass, “To having everyone I love home for Christmas.”

I looked at Owen and I could see his eyes watering as he raised his glass higher. “To Mama and Daddy.”

All the children toasted. “To Mama and Daddy.”

I felt my own eyes watering when I looked at Jack and raised my glass higher, “To Jonathan What’s-his-name.”

A wide understanding grin spread across Jack’s face. “To Johnathan What’s-his-name.”

All I could think about was how lucky I was to have stopped at the diner that night.

Would you like read more about the Colton family? Be on the lookout for a Colton Family Farms Series. Up next…Jackson’s Story. Email the author to be notified of new Colton Farms releases or for a spot on the ARC team.