Bless The Broken Road

Chapter Eighteen- Planning and Christmas

             Jael sat on her bed, her daughter looking up at her from the floor, and laughing. She pointed to the picture of Joey and Jael, giggling.

      "Dada!" She nodded, smiling and scooping up the girl.
      "Yes, Jessica. That's your dada." Jessie bounced happily in her mum's arms.
      "Dada! Dada!" She laughed, kissing her cheek. She set her down again, and turned the radio on. An unfamiliar song by Selah started playing. She chuckled slightly, listening and writing the song title down. Joel knocked quietly, poking his head in.

       "Hello?" She smiled at her brother, and waved him in.
       "Come on in. Have you ever heard of this song?" He looked at the paper.
       "Bless The Broken Road. Mm, can't say that I have, love. Who did it?" He asked, sitting beside her.
       "Selah." Then, Jessica had to interject.
       "Doe!" Her mum and uncle looked at her, confused. Then, she pulled herself up on Joel's leg.
      "Doe!" She said again, smiling her toothless smile at Joel. Then, Jael laughed. 
      "I think she's trying to say Joel." He laughed, leaning over and kissing the top of her head.
      "I kinda like that name. And it works. Hey, Jessie, who's this?" He pulled up a picture of Moriah, and she just stared at it. Jael laughed.
      "I haven't taught her Moriah's name yet. We've been going slowly, with just one or two at a time." He nodded, scooping up his niece, who started playing with his necklace. Jael smiled, and then her phone dinged with a text from Joey.   
   
      'Mind if I come over for a bit?' She chuckled slightly, and responded.
      'That's fine. I think we also have some stuff to talk about.' He quickly responded.
      'Does it have to do with our upcoming wedding, love? 😘' She chuckled, and Joel looked over her shoulder.
      "Tell him no, it has to do with your incredibly handsome older brother." She smacked him, and he raised his hands. Jessie giggled, bouncing, and then smacked her uncle on the shoulder.

      'I think so. Unless there's something else that needs to be discussed. 😏😊'  Joey responded fairly quickly.
     'Alrighty then, love. Be there in about 20 minutes. 😘' She smiled, turning off her phone and putting it away. Joel was now playing peek-a-boo with Jessie, who was squealing and clapping her hands.

      "Joel, I'd appreciate if you and Moriah could watch Jessie for a little while. Joey will be here in about 20 minutes, and we have some things to talk about." He smiled, scooping his niece up.
      "I think we can do that. And I'm guessing you want me to leave you two alone?" She chuckled slightly.
      "That would be appreciated." He kissed his sister on the cheek, heading to the twins bedroom, where Moriah was playing with them. Joey came, and they just parked in the living room with Starbucks, pens, and paper.

       "What would you think of maybe a date in June?" Joey asked, looking up. Jael smiled slightly, and left, coming back with a calendar.

       "I think June might work. We would just have to not have it on Joel's birthday." Joey laughed, writing something down.
       "How about the 15th?" She looked at the calender, and nodded.
       "That would work. Nothing going on then, and it's after Joel's birthday." He nodded, writing more down.
       "What about color scheme? My opinion would be red, navy blue, or a yellow." Jael smiled, chuckling slightly.
       "Well, I guess great minds think alike. How about pale yellow? Not quite a butter colour, but a little lighter." He chuckled.
       "I guess we really do think alike." They laughed, and kept working for about another hour before Joey had to leave. That night, Jael was up until almost 2 A.M. wrapping presents. (A/N- That legit happened to me Christmas Eve...XD) But, somehow, she managed to get all of it done. The next morning, she woke up to voices, and someone on her bed.

    "Is she up yet?"
    "No, goof, she's still asleep. Now shush, or you'll wake her up!"
    "Are we allowed to wake her, Gemma?"
    "No, Asher! Uncle Joel said we could wait until she woke up, but not actually wake her."
     "But I wanna wake her up, Gemma!"
     "Jude, shush! We have to wait." Sydney opened one eye to see Jude, Phoenix, Asher, Gemma, and Jessie all sitting on the end of her bed.

      "So I get a greeting committee on Christmas morning?" Jude bounced happily when he heard her.
      "Aunt Jael 'wake! Come on!!" She was nearly dragged out of bed, but she stopped them.
      "Wait! If you want presents, you have to help me, loves. See the stack there?" She pointed, and almost all the kids nodded. Jessie and Phoenix didn't, but the other three did.

      "All of those have to go into the living room, and around the tree. Now, get moving, and don't trample the babies." The three kids scurried over, and within fifteen minutes, Jael's gifts were all under or around the tree, and she was seated in the living room with the rest of her siblings and their kids. Emily, Joel and Moriah's teenage daughter, was playing with Jessie, who would try and hide behind the boxes, and Emily would scoop her up, tickling her.

       "Alright, alright, quiet please!" Joel was easily the loudest there, other than Jude and Jessie.
       "Has everyone eaten? Yes? Good. Okay.....well then, let's get started." It took almost two hours for all the Smallbones to open their gifts, but there was a lot of laughter included in it. Later, Joey showed up, followed by David and Helen Smallbone, who also had gifts. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. It was also the last Christmas Joey and Sydney would have before she became Sydney Jael Stamper, instead of Smallbone. Her dad was a little disappointed that his middle daughter was getting married, but he was happy for them, as were all of her siblings. Things were finally looking up, and this year seemed to be the best Christmas they'd ever had.

Author's note-Hey! Here's the Christmas chapter for this book. Sorry it's late.....I promised myself I'd update on Christmas, but then we were at my grandma's, and I left my tablet with Wattpad at home.....But here's the chapter!! Next one will probably be the week of the wedding, and the actual wedding. Thanks for putting up with me!! Love you guys!! Merry Christmas!!!