Bless The Broken Road

Chapter Seventeen- Telling The Brothers

           They got back, and Jael quickly went back to their bus, and Joey went back to his. She found Luke, Joel, Courtney and Moriah on the bus, with James, Antonia, Hallie, and Jessie. Jude and Phoenix were already in bed. And the rest of the band was outside, having a competition to see who could slide downhill the furthest while laying on a cardboard box. Moriah looked up, right as James grabbed her hair. 

      "Ow! Let go, please, James." Joel gently pried his fingers open, releasing his wife's hair.
     "Thanks. Hi, Sydney. How'd it go?" She looked down, sitting beside Luke.
      "Well, there's been a....change in things. We're.....I'm not his girlfriend anymore." Joel nearly shot up, startled.
      "What? He broke up with you?! Where'd he go?" She smiled slightly, looking at her brother.
      "Sort of. More like he proposed. We're getting married." Joel froze, his jaw dropping. Luke smiled, looking at his sister from where he sat on the floor.

      "Congratulations, Sydney. I know that this is probably huge for you." She smiled, playing with the ring. It was simple, with two small diamonds and a tiny one with it. Then, she looked up at her brothers.

      "He asked for permission, right?" Joel nodded.
     "That's why I flipped out. Don't ever do that again. You scared me for a minute. I thought he'd asked us, and then broke up with you." She chuckled.
     "Really? I'll have to remember that. I still owe you for those spiders you put in my bed that one time." She said, and his eyes widened. He started slowly backing away from her.
 
    "I....I thought you'd forgotten about that, love." She raised an eyebrow.
     "Forgot? Mm-mm. Every girl who ever told me she had a crush on you found out about that." He gave her a little bit of a dirty look.
     "Oh, you did not." She crossed her arms, and Luke bit his lip, trying not to laugh.
     "Oh, yes, I did. It did get rid of a few girls who acted like jerks, though. I think Moriah's the only one I didn't tell. Actually, I waited until after you two got married." He groaned, and Moriah chuckled, kissing his cheek, and Sydney stood up.
      
      "Why are little sisters so annoying?" She smiled sweetly at him.
     "Because older brothers do stupid stuff that's worth telling about. I'm headed to bed." She started to head back. And then paused, looking back at Joel.
      "And at least I didn't tell her about that one time when you played Truth Or Dare and ran down the street na-" Joel quickly cut her off.
     "Alright, Jael. See you in the morning." She smirked, picking up Jessie, who started sleepily playing with her mother's hair.

     "Goodnight guys. Hey, say goodnight, Jessie." She looked up, rubbing her little eyes.
      "Ny-ny." Then, her head dropped back down, and she closed her eyes. Jael waved, and headed to the back lounge, which was now sort of a nursery, so she could put Jessie to bed. After she left, Moriah looked at her husband, a curious look on her face.

      "How did you run down the street?" He blushed bright red, and then whispered the word in her ear. Her eyes widened, and she nearly smacked him.
 
      "Joel David Smallbone, you ran down the street stark naked!?!" He tried to slowly and discreetly scoot away from her.
      "Yes....when I was a teenager." Luke snorted.
      "You still were grounded for about a month after. Dad didn't care how stupid you were being." Joel nodded, looking down.
     "Yeah. Now, I'd go back and change it if I could. I really regret it." Moriah smiled slightly, picking up Antonia, who had almost fallen asleep. James lay on his dad's lap, his eyes closing.

      "I do appreciate hearing that. Now, I'm going to put Antonia in bed, and I'll be back to put James to bed." He nodded, and she stood, heading back. Hallie used her dad's knee to pull herself up, giggling as she did. Courtney chuckled, scooping her up.

      "You're not at all tired yet, are you, stinker?" She laughed, clapping her hands and bouncing. Jael came back, now in her pajamas, and she dropped onto the couch. She yawned, and her eyes started to close. Luke chuckled, standing and going over. He gently shook her shoulder, and she weakly swatted his hand.

     "Mm....go away.....I'm sleeping...." He smiled, laughing quietly, and scooped her up, carrying her to her bunk. He lay her in gently, and kissed her forehead.

      "Sleep well, Jael." He headed back out, and sat down beside Courtney, who kissed his cheek.
      "You're not at all protective of your older sister, are you?" He chuckled slightly, and Hallie crawled into his lap.
      "Well, Daniel didn't really help with that whole thing. Joey's much better. I'm glad he's the one she said yes to." She smiled, and Hallie tried to grab one of Luke's curls. She was getting the dark, curly hair like her dad, and she loved to play with his. He caught her hand, and chuckled. Courtney took her, and she grunted at her mother.

      "Oh, no you don't. Stinker. I am too. He's a good guy. And he also reminds me of a young man I dated for awhile. He was the sweetest person in the world. And, after we got married, he told me he'd love me be matter what, after we found out I couldn't have kids." Luke chuckled, kissing her on the cheek.
      "He sounds like a pretty good guy." She smiled, scooting closer to him.
     "The best. And despite what the doctors said, we were blessed with three beautiful children." Luke smiled, sliding an arm behind her and holding her close. He wouldn't trade the family he had for anything in the universe.

Hello, mates! What did y'all think? And 23 days until Christmas!! Also, huge, huge, HUGE thank you to jilnysoto, aka JellyBeanz, for the beautiful new cover!! Go follow her and read her books! On another note, the song up top is one I want to learn how to play on the acoustic guitar, and is one of my favorite worship songs of all time. Thanks for reading!