From Ashes

“And that turns it right back off,” I whispered, and she giggled.

“What, baby?” she asked sweetly when Jax jumped onto her legs. Asher had climbed onto the side of the bed and was hanging off my arm as he answered for both of them.

“Aunt Dana and Uncle Adam are here. Can we go outside and play with Abbi and Brandon?”

“It’s cold outside,” I whispered in the ear that was farthest from Asher.

“Ash, honey, it’s too cold outside. Why don’t y’all go into the game room, and when Aunt Jackie and Uncle Ethan get here with Caden, I’ll send him in there too, okay?”

“Go outside, please!” Jax begged with a cheesy grin, and I had to shove my face into Cassidy’s shoulder so he wouldn’t see me laugh.

“Not tonight, baby.”

“Mommy!” He sighed. “Said please!” Jax said, like that should have ensured they got their way.

I almost snorted.

“Jax.” Her voice was still sweet, as only Cassidy’s could be, but it’d taken on that mom tone and the boys knew there was no point in arguing further.

“All right, Mama,” Asher said, and he kissed her cheek, hugged my neck tightly, and climbed off the bed. “C’mon, Jax, let’s go to the game room!”

Jax didn’t move but he waved at us. “Bye, Mommy! Daddy, go a room now!”

I knew what he meant to say, but God, that kid was a riot without trying or realizing it. I couldn’t hold back my next laugh.

Cassidy lifted him up over her belly and kissed his chubby cheek before hugging him. How she did all that with her belly so big was beyond me. He looked up at me and grinned as he waved at me from behind her head. I kissed his forehead and held the hand that had been waving, let my index finger run over his wrist, then watched him run up to Asher and the two of them leave our room. I couldn’t help but smile watching them leave. We had great kids, and I couldn’t wait to see how Emma would shake things up. Now that I’d gotten my wish for a girl, I had only one more thing to ask for. Both boys had my black hair and green eyes; I couldn’t care less what color hair Emma had, but Lord, I wanted her to have wide honey-gold eyes.

Cass started to get up, but I gently brought her body back to mine. “Babe, they’re all starting to get here now; I gotta go make sure the food’s all good.”

“Sweetheart, you’ll have my mom, Amanda, Nikki, Emily, Aria, Jackie, and Dana here. I’m sure one of them is bound to check on the food if you’re not in there. I just need a few more minutes with you,” I whispered, and reached into my nightstand and dug around in the back ’til my hand hit the velvet box. Bringing it up around her, I set it on her belly and kissed her neck. “Merry Christmas, darlin’.”

“Oh, honey,” she whispered, and covered her mouth when she opened it. It was a set of three white-gold bands soldered together, each with a large birthstone on it, the birthstones going in a diagonal. The top had a ruby between Asher and July 15, 2013; the middle had an amethyst between Jax and Feb. 1, 2015; the bottom had a garnet and was blank on each side.

“As soon as Emma’s born, I’ll get the bottom engraved.” I wasn’t worried about Emma going into February; if she didn’t come early, Cassidy and her doctor had already decided she would be induced January twentieth. If she came sometime in the next week, which I doubted, then I’d just get the gem changed. “I know this is more of a Mother’s Day gift, but I bought it for this last Mother’s Day, and we found out about Emma right before I could give it to you. So I took it back and had them add on another ring when we found out the due date, and I’m not about to wait another seven months to give it to you.”

“Thank you so much, Gage.” She turned her head and cupped her hand around the back of mine to kiss me thoroughly.

When she turned back and took the ring from the box to put on her finger, I fingered the necklace under my pillow and draped it onto her chest, connected the clasp, put my hands back on her stomach, and waited.

Her hand flew up to the long necklace and she brought the pendant up to study it. It was a white-gold phoenix, with a diamond on each wing and yellow gold coming from the bottom of its tail. I’d seen it in passing one day and bought it immediately. Cassidy had learned from her mom and Connor that you had to find the beauty from the ashes. It didn’t take long for us to realize it didn’t just apply to actual ashes. Because there were a lot of times in our lives that we’d had to find the light in the dark.

I’d thought I was going to lose her from the scorpion sting, but it’d given us Asher. She’d gone through a rough pregnancy, and God had taken Jax from us momentarily and almost taken Cassidy, just to bring them back, and now Jax was a happy, healthy, and amazing kid. And it was hard knowing she wouldn’t have more kids, but it made the surprise of Emma that much sweeter. The phoenix was everywhere in our lives now. From Asher’s name and Cassidy’s second horse, which she’d named Phoenix, to the only tattoo I’ve gotten or would ever get: the same one she had on her back. It was our symbol, and her mother’s words were now our motto. During hard times, we whispered them to each other to remind ourselves that we would get through whatever was happening and would come out stronger, and when God blessed us with gifts, it was said as a prayer.

Her hand closed tightly around the pendant and she looked up at me; her wide honey eyes were filled with tears. “From ashes?” she asked with my soft smile.

“From ashes,” I confirmed.