A Couple of Forevers (This Time Forever Book 2) (16 page)

Chapter
16

Instead of going to Cuba de Asia as previously planned,
Kayla’s party was held at her grandparent’s home.  In light of everything that
was going on Jonathan’s stalking of Renee, everyone decided it would be best to
have the celebration close to home.  Lena and Ben hired a chef to come into
their home to prepare dinner for the occasion. 

Kayla almost changed her mind about leaving once she found
out about what was going on with Renee.  “I’m going to stay around until this
is all taken care of.  I’ll just put in a call and tell them that a family
issue has come up.  I’m sure they’ll understand.” 

“No,” Renee said to Kayla.  “You’re not going to do that
because of me.  As much as I hate to see you leave, you really need to do
this.  Everything here is going to be fine, and a lot of people here are taking
care of everything.  I can’t believe I’m saying this to you, but I really want
you to go.  This is a wonderful opportunity for you, and you’re going to do
great things.  I’m going to be fine.”

After dinner, the group moved from the spacious dining room
to the living room.    Dennis and Sharon had come into town and Kayla was
sitting on the couch visiting with them.  Sharon had asked Kayla if she was
excited about everything.  “I really am,” Kayla told her.  “It will be so
different without Mom and Matt there, but I’m a big girl, so I’ll be fine.  It
really does help, though, that Mom and Dad are letting me stay in their house
until I find something in the city.”  Renee and Elliott had offered to let
Kayla live in the house that he had purchased when he was there previously, and
she readily accepted.

Noah and Noelle were toddling around, and climbing onto
every piece of furniture that they could get their chubby little bodies onto. 
Matt scooped up Noelle and carried her over to Kayla and their grandparents
were sitting.  “Hey, short-stack,” he teased.  Kayla smiled at Matt, but her
eyes were misting.  She reached over and tickled the bottoms of Noelle’s little
feet, causing her to giggle loudly.

“Hey sky-scraper,” she teased back, the unshed tear falling
down her gorgeous face.  “I’m going to miss you calling me that every day, you
know?”

Matt felt the same way.  He was going to miss his twin
sister terribly.  When he found out that she was going back to New York, he was
sad, but he didn’t want to show her that.  He wanted his sister to go out and
have the great life that she deserved.  He was pissed that Mik had hurt her so
much, but he knew that Kayla would meet someone who would love everything about
her.  Still, it would be hard not being able to see her on a whim.

“Hey, girl, now don’t do that, okay?  You know I don’t know
what to do with a crying woman.”  His voice cracked a bit on the last bit of
his sentence.

Kayla swiped at the tear that had landed on her cheek. 
“Yeah, I know.  Remember the time you tried to cut my bangs and they ended up
all the way in my hairline?  I started crying like there was no tomorrow
because they were sooooo bad, and I knew Mom would blame me because I had been
nagging her to cut them for me, but she kept saying no, so I got you to do it. 
You kept patting my arm and pacing back and forth, saying please Kay, don’t
cry.  They’ll only be ugly for a little while, and then before you know it,
you’ll have hair again.”

Matt and everyone else laughed at the story.  “Yeah, that
was pretty bad.  It was a double whammy because you just kept crying, and Mom
was not at all impressed with my hairstyling game.  But hey, we all lived
through it.  Oh, trust, I will be texting you daily to check up on you, and
there is this wonderful thing called Skype.  So, we good, Kay.” 

She hugged everyone an extra-long time, especially Noah and
Noelle.  She was going to miss those two little sweeties so much.  “I promise
to come and see you soon, okay?”  They hugged her neck with their fat little
arms and gave her kisses. 

After the long good-bye, Kayla, Mariah, and EJ left Ben and
Lena’s home and went to the beach house.  Matt and Sonya were driving Kayla to
the airport the following morning.  Mariah, and EJ were returning to New York
with Kayla.

Renee sat on the couch in the living room, sandwiched
between Noelle and Noah, who were patting her leg, their chubby little faces
showing concern that their Mommy seemed to be sad.  “Awwww, I love you little munchkins,
too.”  She blew raspberry kisses onto their cheeks, causing them to squeal with
laughter. 

Lena said to Renee and Elliott, “I know it’s hard when they
grow up and grow away, but she’s such a beautiful and smart young woman with a
fantastic future ahead of her.  It still pisses me off to no end that Mikhail
hurt her so badly.  He’ll be sorry sooner rather than later for his
stupidity.” 

“It’s a relief to me to know that she won’t be all alone in
New York.  Liza and E will be there, and Mariah and EJ, Ben noted.  That eases
my mind a lot.”

After enjoying some further conversation, Kim and Robert
noted that it was getting late.  “Thank you all for inviting us tonight.  We
had a wonderful time with you guys, as usual.”

Renee and Elliott readied the twins, who were falling asleep,
and Liza and E got ready to leave as well.  Once they were in the driveway,
Liza asked Renee what she had planned for the following day.

“I have some paperwork to complete and I need to keep a fire
lit under the distributor to make sure that all the products make it to the
salon before it is scheduled to open.  I have a conference call with Genie and
our investors, so I’ll have plenty to keep me busy,” Renee replied. 

“If you need, I can come over and watch the kids.  We don’t
have any plans for tomorrow.”

“No, you two should sleep in and enjoy yourselves.  You know
you are welcome to come over anytime.  When I’m working, I make a play area for
the munchkins and they are very content with their toys and each other.” 

Renee promised Liza that she would call her when she had
finished all of her tasks.  “I will.  It’ll probably be late in the evening,
though before I finish up with everything.”

When Renee and Elliott got home, they bathed their sleepy
children and put them in their nursery where they immediately fell back to
sleep. 

“Tomorrow is going to be a long day at the office,” Elliott
said as he slipped into bed beside Renee.  We’re finally at the point of
selecting the people that we want to take on criminal cases.  After that, I’m
meeting with a studio executive who wants to fire the firm he’s with now and
switch to us.  Plus, I’ve still got a ton of paperwork that I need to deal
with.”

Renee sighed and said, “Okay.  Sounds like we both have more
than enough to do tomorrow.  At least some of the big ticket items will be
taken care of though, right?  Once the new guys get settled in, that will help
you, Daniel, and everybody out a lot.”

“Yeah, it will,” Elliott said.  He pulled Renee close to him
and the slid under the sheets together.  He kissed her softly, his tongue
tracing the seam of her lips.  He noticed her quiet mood and knew that she was
already missing Kayla, as well as worried about the situation with Jonathan. 
He said, “Everything is going to be okay, baby.  Kay will be fine.  She learned
a lot from you, baby.  And as far as this thing with Jonathan, I don’t want you
worrying over that.  I know you will, but I’ve got this.  We’ve found out quite
a bit about him.  He’s not going to be a problem for long.”

Renee looked at Elliott with her beautiful brown eyes.  Eyes
that were usually shining with happiness since he had come back into her life
and made her so happy.  Eyes that filled with pride when talking about their
children and their family. Eyes that darkened with arousal and need when they
were in the throes of passion.  Tonight, Renee’s eyes were filled with
apprehension over everything that was going on.  “You do know that she gets a
lot of her personality from you, right?  You know how I mull over things even
after I have decided what I’m going to do, I still tend to keep going over it
in my mind.  Well, Kayla is not like me in that regard at all.  She’s exactly
like you.  She knows what she wants and she goes for it.  Having you in her
life, knowing that her dad will always have her back has given her so much
confidence.  I know you’re right about her, but you know, she’s still our
baby.”  She sighed and continued, “As far as Jonathan, that whole situation
pisses me off the more I think about it.  I have so much to do, and now because
of his apparent issues, I have to change the way I do things.  It’s just too
much.”  She added teasingly, “I also know that since those changes involve me
being home more often than not is right up your alley.”

Elliott chuckled and gave her a gentle squeeze about her
waist.  “I can’t lie about that part, baby.  I do love knowing that you and the
kids are safe here at home.  I love being able to take care of you.  I love
knowing that you don’t have to stress out about money, because we have more
than we’ll ever spend.  I love knowing that the kids have the best when you are
with them.  So, yeah.  All of that, and more.”

She kissed him and turned around and snuggled her ass into
his lap so that he was spooning her.  She felt his erection on her behind. 
“Elliott, behave,” she laughed.  “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.  We’ll
get around to taking care of our needs soon enough.”

He kissed the back of her neck and pulled her closer to
him.  “Mmmmhm, we sure will.” 

~~~~

Renee was scheduled to be on The Good Morning Show at
10:00.  The twins spent the night with Lena and Ben since she was asked to
arrive at the studio early.  When she got to the studio she was taken to hair
and makeup.  “I really don’t want to wear too much makeup,” she told the makeup
artist.  “I know that with TV, especially HDTV, makeup can be tricky, but I
really do want just a very understated look.”  The makeup artist agreed with
Renee and gave her a very fresh, natural look.  Her locs were already pulled
back into a low, simple ponytail that needed no further styling.  She wore a
deep purple wrap dress that hugged her body perfectly and the earrings that
Elliott had previously brought for her when they were in New York.  Four-inch
black sling-back pumps completed her look.

Traci Banks, the interviewer for the show popped her head
into greenroom where Renee sat waiting.  “Just wanted to see how you’re doing,
and if you have any last minute questions.  You’re on next.”

Renee finished the cup of herbal green tea she was
drinking.  “You know, I really wasn’t nervous at all, but it just now hit me. 
A lot of people are going to see me.”

Traci chuckled and said, “Don’t be nervous.  You’re going to
be just fine.  We’ll do this just exactly the way we discussed.  You’ll see
that everything really does just flow along, and before you know it, you will
have forgotten all about ‘being on TV.’  By the way, the camera is going to
love you.  You look really beautiful.”

After Renee and Traci talked for a bit longer, Traci went
back on set to announce Renee as her next guest.

The interview did go every bit as smoothly as Traci had
promised.   Traci asked Renee to talk about her hair and skin care line, salon
services, specialty services, and the location.  Traci asked her to talk a
little bit about Elliott and the kids.  “Elliott have been together since we
were very young and we have two sets of twins, one older, the other babies.”

At the end of the segment, Traci thanked Renee for coming
onto the show and asked her if she would come back at some point, and Renee
agreed. 

Afterward, Liza drove Renee back home.  Renee’s dad and
Sharon had one more day in town, and were happy to sit with Noah and Noelle.

 “You didn’t seem nervous at all, Renee,” Sharon said.  “I’m
sure your salon will be every bit as successful here as it is in New York.”

“Thanks, Sharon.  I sure hope so.  Our investors are really
counting on it being a bit hit out here, and I really believe that it will be. 
Have you or Dad heard from Aunt Sophie and Uncle Leonard lately.  I haven’t
talked to either of them since they got back from an overseas vacation.

Dennis walked in carrying Noah in one arm, while Noelle
walked beside him holding his hand.  “I just got off the phone with Leonard and
Sophie.  They said they had a great time.  They send their love and said to
call whenever you get a chance.”

Later that evening, after they’d finished dinner, Renee and
Elliott sat in the living area with Dennis and Sharon.  “So, you already have a
waiting list of clients?  California has been anxiously awaiting your salon’s
arrival, Renee.  Appearing on that show this morning is going to get you more
appointments.  I hope everyone is ready for all the appointments.”

Renee said, “Yes, we’re already making appointments for six
months out.  The stylists, skin care specialists, and massage therapists are ready
for it.   The investors are certainly happy about it.   They’re scheduled to
meet with Genie and accounting on Friday and I will conference in on the call. 
Everything is right on schedule.”

Elliott had been working on some paperwork in his office for
most of the evening after dinner.  He came in where the others were chatting
and joined the conversation.  “Yeah, once everything gets settled down, I’m hoping
to take your lovely daughter and the kids to Hawaii.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” Sharon said.  “I know you two
had a really nice time there for your honeymoon, and this time with the kids
will be so much fun.”

After having one more glass of wine, Dennis said to Sharon,
“We’d better get to bed, honey.  Our flight leaves pretty early in the
morning.”  He added, “Elliott, thank you again for arranging a limo to drive us
to the airport.  We really do appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure.  I just wish I was here to take you
myself, but I have to be in the office early tomorrow and Renee has a lot to do
to get things wrapped up.”