Mandy

Chapter 24

Living, He loved me.
Dying, He saved me.
Buried, He carried...
My sins far away.
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   The family arrived at the inn at lunchtime the next morning, excited and tired after their two night waterpark stay.

   "This place is huge!" Amilee yelled as she got out of the van.

   Mandy laughed as she picked Ethan up and lifted him out of his car seat. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

   Amilee nodded her agreement as she looked at the outside of the building.

   "Ok, I've got the air mattresses, the cooler, and the other box of food. Am I missing anything?" Caleb asked as he wheeled the cart over.

   Mandy eyed the cart. "Other then our cases, that should be good for now." She told him as Amilee grabbed her free hand.

   Caleb pulled the cart behind him as he pulled the keys out of his pocket.

   Mandy and the kids followed him, Amilee still looking around the property in amazement.

   Caleb unlocked the door, pocketed the keys, then opened the door.

    Amilee let go of her mother's hand and ran into the inn, jumping up and down excitedly.

  A half hour later, after the inn had been explored to Amilee's satisfaction, Amilee and Ethan sat down in the lobby and opened up the box of their toys.

   Caleb and Mandy carried the air mattresses and suitcases upstairs into one of the two master suites.

   Mandy looked around the room, then back at the things they needed to get in there.

   Caleb opened one of the suitcases, then pulled out an air pump. "Lay these beside each other with the crib in the middle?" He asked.

   Mandy nodded. "I can get those blown up if you want to put the crib together." She told him.

   Caleb grinned and walked over to where the sides and legs of the crib lay. "So, do you still keep in touch with Josef at all?"

   Mandy smiled as she plugged the pump into the outlet. "Not as much. I get a letter and a picture at Christmas each year, but that's about it."

   In the lobby, Amilee was carefully unpacking the toys, while Ethan was quickly grabbing his favorites.

   "No, Ethan, that one goes here." Amilee corrected, pointing to the spot where she wanted Ethan to set down the block he was holding.

   Ethan looked at her for a minute, then set down the block and picked up a plastic book instead.

   He quickly crawled to the other side of the lobby, then sat down and promptly started to chew on the book.

   Amilee took another block out of the suitcase and set it on top of another one. "I'm making a castle for my doll." She announced.

   Ethan cautiously watched her from the opposite side of the room, still chewing on his book.

   Amilee looked at him, then frowned. "You're suppose to read books, not eat them." She reprimanded him.

   Ethan just grinned and ignored her.

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   From now on, there will usually only be one update a week, on Sunday. If, for some reason, I'm able to get a ton of chapters written in any particular week, I'll also post a chapter on Thursday, but Thursday updates will no longer be regular.

   For those of you asking why, I am going to post a chapter about that in my "Kimmeg's Extra's" book.

   I love you all! Thank you so so much for reading my books, it really means a lot to me. <3