Chapter 4

One week passed.   Then another; then yet another.  David and Brie Draiman spent as much time as they could away from the hotel seeing the sights.  He showed her historical landmarks and took her to the cemetery that his parents and grandparents were buried in.  Her maternal grandparents and her mother were there as well.  They visited each plot in turn and left flowers for their loved ones past.  They were both a little sentimental as they walked through the grounds.  “Do you still want to be buried here, David?” she asked as they walked the grounds.  Her arm was around his waist and his arm was around her shoulders.

“I do.  It means a lot to me to be laid to rest with my ancestors.  What about you?  Here or Ireland?”

“My place is at your side, David, even unto death.”

He smiled and kissed her hair.  “I take it that means here.”

“Yes, here with you.  This is where I belong.  I love my father, but I belong with my husband.”  She stretched up and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  “I love you, baby.”

He smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple.  “I love you too”, he said with a whispered against her head before leaving the kiss behind.  “What do you say to going to get some lunch at the hotel?”

She smiled.  She knew what he was thinking.  “Sounds good to me”, she whispered seductively as they walked out to the road to hail a cab so that they could leave the grounds where their families were buried.   “When are we going to Tel Aviv to go scuba diving?” she asked on the ride back.  It didn’t matter; she was just curious.  She was curled against his side as usual as they rode back to their hotel.

“Probably in the next day or two.  I can’t wait to get you in the water.  You’re going to see such beautiful creatures down there.  But, I have to say; none of them are as beautiful as you.”  He tilted her chin up so that he had access to her lips.

“Flattery will get you everything”, she giggled just before he pressed his lips to hers.

“Oh?  Well, that’s good to know because…”, and he started whispering in her ear the things he wanted to do to her once they got back to their hotel room.  They’d still order room service, but they were going to have a little dessert before eating an actual meal.

She smiled seductively.  “Ooh, baby.  That all sounds like fun.  I can’t wait.  But what about…?” she asked before whispering some of the many things that they did that she enjoyed.

He laughed that masculine laugh that said he had her right where he wanted her and he knew it.  “Sure, we can do that too.  I wasn’t planning on leaving the room for the rest of the night, anyway.”

Her eyes lit up.  “Oh?  Then what about…?” and she some more thoughts into his head.

He nodded repeatedly as they rode, listening to everything she had to say.  “Ok, so I guess you don’t want to be walking in the morning.  That’s cool.  We can do that.  We’ll spend all night tonight and all day tomorrow in our room and we can plan to leave for Tel Aviv that evening or first thing in the morning.”

“Let’s make it morning so that we have recovery time and I can try to be walking enough to pull my suitcase behind me when we leave.”

“Sounds good”, he said when the cab pulled to a stop.  He opened the door and offered her a hand out.  She took it and they went right to their room where they started things off the way they used to… with a shower.  The hot water felt too good as it soaked into their pores, but neither of them cared.  It felt good and made making love in the shower and that’s all either of them cared about at that moment.

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Meanwhile, back in the states, Jona was talking to her parents about their impending visit.  “Mr. and Mrs. Draiman are out of the country right now, but they should be back in about a week.  He showing her Israel at its finest.”

“Sounds like they’re having fun over there”, her mother, Kaylian said.

“Oh, from what we understand in the random emails they send their kids, they’ve visited all kinds of historical landmarks in Jerusalem and they’re going to go scuba diving in Tel Aviv.”

“My father is an avid diver”, Jeremiah said.  “Every time he gets a chance he goes diving.  This is the first time he’s gotten to take my mother and they’ve been together for almost thirty years”, Jeremiah said.

“Well, ‘Miah, your parents sound like lovely people”, Kaylian said.  “I honestly can’t wait to meet them, or your sister and brothers.”

“Oh, Jordan, Malachai, and Jacob?”

“Yes.  It must be odd having a brother who’s a world renown doctor.”

“It gets a little strange at times.  Jake doesn’t let it affect him though.  He’s always telling people that he’s just a normal guy at home.”

“Does he do things the way your mother does?”

“You mean the natural, organic, no crap in the food, way?  Yes.  It’s how we were raised.  Mom only cooks organic food.  She goes to a special butcher shop and gets our meat.  She goes to the Farmer’s Market in town to get the vegetables and fruits.  There’s a nice little bakery in town where she gets all of our bread from, unless she decides to get out the things to make it herself.”

“Your Mom sounds like a real do it yourself kind of woman.  I respect that.”

“I’m sure you two will get along great, Mrs. Mason.  My mom’s one in a million.  I don’t thinks she’s really ever met anyone that she didn’t like or that didn’t like her.”

“That’s good.  I think she and I will get along just fine.  And what about your father?”

“He’s an opinionated, hard headed overachiever who speaks his mind about anything and everything.  If he had an opinion on a subject, then he gives it and he usually doesn’t care who he offends or if he offends anyone.”

“I like him already”, Jona’s father, Skyler, said in the background.  “But, Jeremiah, your father is David Draiman.  It’s to be expected that he gives his opinion and doesn’t care if he offends people with what he says.  I bet your father’s name has quite a bit of pull in a lot of places.”

“Well, the last name is what got me into Loyola.  Anyone with the last name of Draiman is in automatically because we’re legacies.  So, my parents keep asking me how soon after they get back do you want to meet them.”

“Whenever if fine, Jeremiah”, Skyler said.

“Would the day after they get back be ok?”

“When are they due back?” Kaylian asked.

“Sometime next week, that’s really all any of us knows.  I know there’s been a lottery to see who’s going to pick them up from the airport.”

“Everyone’s excited for them to come home, huh?”

“It’s just not the same around here without Mom’s massage music playing softly upstairs, or watching them playfully flirt with each other.  Even my baby brother and sister miss it.”

“Babies?  At their ages?”

Jeremiah laughed.  “The baby brother and sister I speak of are both recent high school graduates that are about to take off to Loyola themselves.  The only babies like that are my nieces and nephews; the youngest of which is 2.”

Kaylian sighed in relief.  “Oh, that’s good news.  I’m looking forward to seeing all these little ones.  How do your parents do it?”

“I wish I knew, Mrs. Mason.  I wish I knew.”

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Hunter had assimilated to being one of the many Draiman grandchildren rather quickly.  He fit in perfectly.  He, Miri, and Ira were all in the living room watching educational TV.  During one of the commercials, Hunter looked over his shoulder at his Uncle Jake.  “Uncle Jake, when are Gramma and Grampa gonna be home?” he asked in his three year old wonder.

“I’m not sure yet, Hunter.  Why?”

“A ‘cause we miss them”, Ira said to his father.

“Gramma and Grampa missed my birthday”, Miri said.  “Me and Gramma were gonna have ‘Gramma and Miri’ day that day.”

Jake smiled softly at the children.  “Gramma and Grampa needed to be alone together for a little while.  They needed a break.”

“Did we do something to make them want to leave?” Ira asked.

“No, son.”  Jake had a good idea.  “I’ve got a plan.  Do you guys wanna show Gramma and Grampa how much you missed them when they get back?”

“YEAH!” the three young children shouted.

“Hunter, I’m gonna go tell your Mama and Daddy that I’m taking you to the store with me and we’re gonna go get some stuff so that you can make a BIG poster for Gramma and Grampa for when they come back.  How does that sound?”

“What about Miri and Ira, Uncle Jake?” Hunter asked.

“They’re going with us and they’re gonna help you.  It’s gonna be a group project.”

“YAY!!” the three children shouted.

“Ok, get your shoes on and I’ll be right back.”  Jake stood from the couch and went upstairs to find James and Kimberly.

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James and Kimberly were straightening up the room after “Hurricane Hunter” had torn it to pieces; leaving a horrible path of destruction in his wake.  “Who knew  three year olds could cause such utter destruction?” Kim laughed as they picked up.

“I did, baby.  Remember how big my family is?”

She laughed.  “Yeah.  Your brothers and sisters are all pretty cool about Hunter.”

“Because we all knew that Malachai was adopted by Dad.  The thought process is actually pretty natural to us.  ‘If I care for this woman then I need to care for this child.’  A real man can step up and do that and that’s how our father raised us boys.”

There was a knock on the door.  “Jay, Kim, I’m taking Hunter with me so that the kids can all make Mom and Dad a welcome home sign.  We’ll be back in a while”, Jake said through the door.

“Ok, Jake, we’ll see you when you get back”, James called before he started the vacuum.

“Can Jake handle three kids by himself?” Kim shouted over the noise.

“Yeah.  Jake’s great with kids”, James called back.  When he was finished vacuuming the crumbs up off the floor, he shut off the noisy machine.  “All the technology in the world and we can’t invent a quieter vacuum cleaner?” he asked himself  them looked up at Kim.  “Baby, don’t worry.  Jake will take good care of Hunter.”

“If anything happens to him…”

“You’d have to beat me to him; trust me.”  He reached out to her and she came to him.  He pulled her into the circle of his arms.  “You worry about that boy too much, Kimberly Elaine.  No one is going to hurt that child.  Do you believe that?”

She nodded softly, her eyes closed and her head on her shoulder.  “Yeah, I believe it.”

“Do you believe that I’m never going to hurt you?”  he guided them down to sit on the bed.

She nodded.  “Yes.”

He took one finger and placed it under her chin and used it to manipulate her head.  “Then relax and don’t worry so much, baby girl.”  He pressed her lips to hers reassuringly.

She took a moment to process what he was doing, then her hands slipped under his tank top to caress the six pack he hid underneath it.  She moaned softly against his lips and deepened the kiss.

His hands slipped beneath the camisole she wore to caress the bare skin of her back.  He could feel through her kiss that she was still guarded when it came to his family.  Only being around them would show her that no one would hurt her or Hunter.  But, she needed reassurance from him.  He peeled her top off of her body and laid her back on the bed.  After slipping off of the bed to his knees, he placed himself between her legs and took her shorts off of her body.  He gently kissed the inside of her thighs-taking his dear sweet time and savoring every inch of her.

She let out a soft moan.  “Oh, GOD, James.”

“All you have to do is tell me to stop.”  The tone in his voice said that he knew she wouldn’t.

And she didn’t.  In fact, she said the exact opposite.  “Please, no.  Don’t stop”, she sighed.

He smiled to himself as he lowered his mouth to her core and- with one long lick- began to sate a hunger that hadn’t been sated in nearly a month.