Thrills To Spare

“Lemme see!” Chloe whined, climbing over Dylan on the couch when Phoebe and Jordan finally entered their home after being gone for more than three days. Dylan grunted as she stepped in an awkward place on his lap, her feet on his thigh, balancing her hands on the arm of the couch as Dylan placed a stabling hand across the front of her ankles. “Lemme see!” She bounced, the hem of her pink sundress bouncing along with her as Phoebe walked over to the couch tenderly, sitting down very carefully with the blue bundle in her arms.

Spencer and Gavin were quick to flock to her sides, peering over her arms to see the adorable face of their new baby brother who was incredibly small and soft.

“Why he sleepin’?” Gavin asked, tilting his head, his white blonde hair flopping into his eyes much like his brother’s did. “He tired?” He asked, looking up a Phoebe who leaned down to press a tired kiss to his forehead.

“He’s very tired.” Jordan nodded, sitting down on the other couch where Chloe and Dylan sat, his little girl immediately climbing into his lap, sitting across the top of his thighs and resting against his chest. “It’s a lot of hard work being born.” He finished, wrapping his thick arms tightly around his only baby girl as she stuck her thumb into her mouth. “Hey, I thought we kicked that habit?” He asked, slowly pulling her fist away from her mouth. Chloe pouted and slumped against his chest, her hair tickling the underside of his chin softly.

“When we gonna play with him?” Spencer asked, reaching out to stroke his little brother’s soft, pink cheek.

“You can’t do a whole lot right now, but soon he’ll be grown up like you and Gabby and you can play with him all day.” Phoebe advised, trying to think of a good way to break it to them that their new little brother would be doing a whole lot of nothing for the next few months.

“I wants to hold him.” Chloe declared, reaching her hands out excitedly in her Mommy’s direction. “Lemme hold him.” She giggled as she wiggled her fingers. Phoebe looked over at Jordan wearily before he could nod at her.

“Okay, but Daddy’s gonna help you.” Phoebe agreed, slowly rising to her feet and walking to the couch. Jordan showed Chloe how to cradle her arms correctly to support the baby’s head.

“Look! I’m a good Mama!” Chloe beamed as she held Jordan Junior, or JJ, making Jordan snort and laugh as well as Phoebe who giggled. “I can do it!” She exclaimed as Dylan raised an eyebrow at her, shaking his head as Gabby crawled onto the couch beside him. “Hi baby!” She smiled down at her new brother, kissing his forehead carefully, rocking her thin arms back and forth.

“How about you change a few diapers first? Then we’ll see if you’re a good Mama.” Jordan said, making Phoebe laugh as Chloe crinkled her nose and shook her head back and forth animatedly.

“No thank you.” She shook her head. A few minutes passed of entertained silence, Jordan looked over to his wife to see her eyes slowly closing, her arm around Gavin as he leaned into her.

“Come on, I’ll make lunch while Mama takes a nap, then we can watch a movie.” Jordan said, slowly taking baby boy from Chloe’s arms. He went up to the nursery, putting JJ down for a nap and turning on the monitor before heading back downstairs. “I got it from here, go sleep.” He leaned down, giving Phoebe a sweet kiss on the lips before helping her up form the couch. Phoebe did as she was told while the troops filed into the kitchen behind Jordan.

“What’s for lunch?”

“Ice cream!”

“I want doggies!”

Jordan sighed, running a hand through his hair, reaching down to pluck up his twin boys, setting them on the counter while Dylan helped Chloe climb onto her own stool at the breakfast bar. “Let’s see what we got in the freezer.” Jordan walked to the Viking appliance. “We have… mini corndogs for Spencer, chicken nuggets for Gavin… and grilled cheese and tomato soup for Dylan and Chloe.” He grinned victoriously, pulling the bags from the freezer and walking to the oven.

Twenty minutes, a few tears and a tiny temper tantrum later, both of the twins were eating mini corn dogs and tater tots while Chloe ate chicken nuggets and tomato soup. Dylan was content with his grilled cheese and soup while Jordan stole bites from all of their plates.

“We’re definitely ordering in tonight.” Jordan sighed as he flopped back onto the couch, flanked by his children as they settled in to watch. “We’re each getting a pizza so no one can whine about not getting what they want.” He insisted.

“I wasn’t whining!” Chloe insisted from under his arm where she was cuddled nice and warm up against his side with a blanket over her lap that stretched to Dylan’s legs as well. “I was just telling what I wanted!” She concluded as the opening credits for Peter Pan concluded.

Jordan looked to the baby monitor to see that JJ was still fast asleep, and hoped that his wife was just the same. Spencer and Gavin watched on in wonder at the screen while Chloe sighed and plopped her feet in Dylan’s hap. His hands quickly came to rest on them, rubbing them softly, but not breaking eye contact with the movie as well. Soon Dylan would be old enough to bring to action movies while he split off from Phoebe and the others who preferred Disney Pixar flicks. Not that he didn’t mind watching Finding Nemo for the thousandth time, but he couldn’t wait to have real guy time with his boys. Take them skating, golfing, to see new Tom Cruise movies and fishing… the same stuff he did with his brothers when he was just a little older than them.

He then looked to his daughter and praised the Lord that one if his little swimmers had finally made a girl. To date, the only Staal-blooded woman in the entire family. Chloe was a true Godsend, and he knew that Phoebe would be absolutely lost without her little girl to dress in frilly clothes and take to the spa. They were partners in crime and without a doubt always would be. Girls stuck together, didn’t they?

Then he thought of Phoebe, the light of his life and reason for living. They had five children; three more than she had ever planned and handled it all like a real professional. Jordan had heard stories of when a spouse died; the other had to take on the children on their own. He knew that he could never do that without Phoebe. Phoebe had their house running like a finely tuned machine, even before he was home full time, even now when he awoke, she had been up for hours, making breakfast, packing lunches, getting Chloe and Dylan off to school and halfway done with the laundry.

Phoebe was the reason his world turned, and hopefully, within the next few months, he could show her just how much she meant to him.

•••

“Uncle Siddy!” Chloe giggled, launching herself at Sidney when they reached the home he shared with his wife, their daughter, and their son who was only a few months old.

“Geno.” Dylan grinned, making a break for his favorite Russian once the little blonde boy spotted him on the patio. Phoebe watched her two oldest busy themselves as she carried baby boy into the home in his carrier.

“Oh, give me that baby!” Veronique, Marc’s wife swooned as soon as she laid on the newest Staal who was now two weeks old and showing the more unique side of the Staal genes with small tufts of strawberry blonde hair. Phoebe laughed, as it seemed all of her children were being swept away while Jordan entered the house, a hand on each of the twins before they could run out to the patio as well. They were going through a phase where they were eating as much food as possible and once they spotted the buffet table they had already made a beeline.

“Well that was easy!” Phoebe laughed as Jordan wrapped his arms around her from behind. She laughed as he set his chin on her shoulder, blatantly looking right down the top that showed off her pregnancy assets.

“That’s got to be one of the best parts of pregnancy.” He exhaled happily while she smacked him on the arm, taking his hand in hers as they walked out to the patio where it seemed most of the party was. Jordan watched as Phoebe hurried over to Kara who was sitting with Vero as they watched over JJ and Sidney Junior, Sidney and Kara’s six-month-old son.

“Can I get you something to eat?” Jordan asked of his wife. She nodded and he went off to fix her a plate. He knew what she liked. Kara and Vero watched on with an excited grin, exchanging secret looks that Phoebe missed as she blatantly checked out her husband.

“Mama, I wanna go swimming.” Chloe ran up to Phoebe, tugging on the hem of her skirt gently. “Can I go swimmings?” She asked, twisting her hips from side to side to watch the hem of her own skirt twirl about.

“Chlo are you sure you want to go swimming? Why don’t you see what Emmy is up to?” Kara smiled down at the little girl who had a look of realization on her face before nodding and running off to find her friend.

The Crosby house was filled to the brim with people, friends and family alike, scattered through the first floor, patio, and spacious backyard. Sidney was finally finished playing hockey, his career spanning another year than Jordan’s and it called for celebration. He was also a full time family man from now on and while he and Kara had no foreseeable plans to have another kid, they weren’t taking many precautions against having one.

“Here you go, babe.” Jordan said, bringing her a plate with a chicken salad sandwich, some pasta salad and fruit salad along with a cup of Coke.

“Thank you sweetheart.” She giggled as he leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek.

“Don’t fill up too fast, I think Geno and I are going to grill up some steak and chicken later tonight.” He smiled before sweeping Sidney Junior up into his arms and bunching him softly on his hip as he went to go stand with a few friends around the bonfire pit. Phoebe watched on as Dylan, Chloe, and Emmy roasted marshmallows under Sidney’s keen eye, Marc and Vero’s two daughters playing beanbags across the far corner of the backyard as well.

“So do you think I should be worried?” Kara asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs as JJ slowly fell asleep against Vero’s chest. “I guess what I mean to ask is… do you think Sidney will be able to handle being just a dad? I feel like, I don’t know, maybe he’ll find full time domesticity to be boring.” She frowned.

“I promise you, my life with Jordan has been anything but.” Phoebe laughed. “It’s amazing the things he’s still learning even after five kids. Full time parenting is an adventure all it’s own. I know as soon as I retired from the firm it felt like I was giving up one full time job for another.” Phoebe recalled. “I can promise you there has never been a dull moment around our house.”

“That makes me feel a lot better.” Kara gave a sheepish grin. They continued to chatter amongst themselves and when Phoebe stood to throw away her plate, she noticed that Jordan was nowhere in sight. Upon further inspection, she noticed that most of the party had moved into the family room and that included all of her children. Vero and Kara followed her into the house and she was confused by what she saw, most of the floor cleared as Jordan was on one knee talking to four of his children.

“Jord?” Phoebe asked, tilting her head, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Her voice made him jump as he looked up from talking to Dylan who stood beside Spencer. Vero walked over to Jordan, handing JJ off to him before he could bend down to put him in his carrier. “What’s going on?” She asked, blushing under the attention before he could nod down to Dylan. He walked towards Phoebe, a confident smile on his face.

“Baby, take a seat.” He insisted as Geno dragged over a dining room chair. Phoebe looked around discreetly to see that most everyone in the room was watching what was happening. “We’ve been married for almost ten years, Phoebe, and while I know we are both always so busy with the kids, the house, and friends, I just want to know, I’m always thinking of you. I can never thank you enough for all of the wonderful things you do for this family, and especially for me. Enough that I just wanted to know…” He trailed, looking back at Dylan who was now standing in a row, the two twins between he and Chloe, and JJ’s carrier on her other side, turned around.

They simultaneously pulled small, white signs out from behind their backs, beaming smiles across their faces as Phoebe’s eyes trailed over them quickly.

Will you marry me. Vero giggled as she turned around JJ’s carrier, revealing to Phoebe a fifth white sign taped to the grey handle, again?. Phoebe gasped, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth as Jordan pulled something from his pocket, a small black velvet box. He opened it to reveal a stunning diamond set in a white-gold band.

“Jordan?” She gasped, tearing her eyes from the ring back up to her husband’s baby blue eyes, the same eyes she fell in love with so many years ago.

“Make me the happiest man in the world, again?” He spoke quietly, his eyes shining with unshed tears. His face broke into a wild smile as she threw her arms around him, nearly knocking the two of them over as the room broke into cheers and applause.

“Only if you’ll make me the happiest woman.”