Charming's Queen

23. Dinner

With a heavy sigh, Lynne pulled out the steak from the oven. She set the pan on the cutting board and smiled as she heard the playful bickering between Filip, Juice and Jax. Lynne looked over at Gemma and smiled, "How's the soup coming along?" She asked as she then pulled the pan of veggies out, followed by the rolls from the oven. She set them down and turned around as she heard Abel rush into the kitchen.

"It's great!" Gemma smiled and looked over at Abel after stirring the soup.

"Mommy! Mommy! Grandpa is tickling me!" Abel cried, grabbing onto Lynne's leg. "Save me!"

Lynne gave a small giggle and looked down at Abel, "Grandma will be too, if you don't beat it!" She teased and rubbed Abel's head, "Show Grandpa your cool moves! Maybe he'll back off," she suggested, and watched as Abel nodded and ran off to the living room.

"He calls you mommy now?" Gemma asked, a wide smile growing on her face as she turned towards Lynne. "Well, to be fair.. you were more of a mother in the past two months than Wendy and Tara ever were."

Lynne smiled and nodded in agreement. "He never asks for either — and Thomas is content with me." She cleared her throat and walked over to the refrigerator, pulling the salad out that she had made a half hour earlier. Setting it on the counter, she then  opened the cabinet and pulled out dishes for the seven of them and cutlery to match.

"Aye, lass, need any help?" Her uncles accent broke her from her thoughts.

"Actually, yes, Uncle Filip." Lynne cleared her throat. "Could you set the table for me?" She asked, handing him all of the dishes. "Thank you!" She smiled as he agreed.

"I told you, that you belonged with us from the beginning." Gemma spoke up, with a smile after Chibs left the room to go set the plastic table that Jax had set up in the living room.

"You were right." Lynne sighed, "and it hurts to admit that," She joked.

Lynne set all of the rolls in the basket, then smiled as she heard Abel heading towards the two.

"Mommy, daddy sent me to help!"

"Well, Abe, good thing, I needed some muscles." Lynne smiled and leaned down, "Can you bring this to the table for me?" She asked as she held out the basket of rolls, watching as Abel nodded quickly and took them. She watched as he carefully made his way to the living room and smiled. "He's such a good little boy."

"Well, you and Jax, you're raising him well." Gemma smiled. She turned off the burner and wiped her hands on the towel that was swung over her shoulder.

Lynne added the steak to a platter, followed by the zucchini, summer squash, asparagus and the roasted potatoes. "I'm going to bring this on out." She spoke softly, "I'll be right back for the salad and wine." Lynne quickly left the room, holding the platter right and close to her body as she entered the living room, where Juice was throwing Abel in the air. She walked over to the table and set it down, smiling over at Jax, who started to walk over to her.

"It looks amazing, baby." He spoke up, slapping her bottom as she reached up for him.

Lynne squealed and buried her head into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I was slaving away in the kitchen all day." She joked, "It better be amazing."

"Anything you make is amazing." Jax responded and kissed her head, "Do you need me for anything?" He asked.

"All set, babe." She smiled and retreated back towards the kitchen to grab the salad and the wine, where she met Gemma who was in the process of bringing the soup out.

Once Lynne grabbed the two items, she followed Gemma to the table and set the bowl and winds down on the table. "Dinner's ready!" She called, watching everyone start to flock to the table. She giggled and looked over at Thomas, who was napping in his swing before sitting down next to Jax, with Abel in between the two. Juice sat down across from her, with her uncle joining him, followed Gemma and Clay taking the last two open spots.

...

"I'm going to go put the little rugrats to bed." Lynne said softly, looking over at Jax, who nodded. "After that, we can break out some desert." She pushed away from the chair and lifted Thomas, who was just burped a few minutes prior and taking Abel's hand. "Let's go get to bed, bud." She said softly, looking over at Abel. "Go say goodnight and then use the potty and meet me in your room." She said softly and watched as he nodded.

Lynne walked to Thomas' nursery and set him down on the changing pad, pulling out a pair of pajamas. She stripped Thomas of his clothes and changed his diaper, then put on the solid blue pajamas. Once he was all dressed, she lifted him in her arms and headed into Abel's room, sitting down in the rocking chair and grabbed the book from the bedside table.

Within a few minutes, Abel came in, wearing a pair of Mickey Mouse pajamas. "I'm all ready for bed, mama." He spoke up and climbed up into the chair, next to her, laying his head on her chest.

Lynne wrapped her arm around Abel and started rocking while she opened up the book. "In the great green room, there was a telephone and a red balloon.. and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon." She read, watching Abel look at the pictures. "And there were three little bears, sitting on chairs."

"And two little kittens!" Abel said, pointing to the two small animals on the rug.

"And a pair of mittens." Lynne added, "And a little toy house and a young mouse."

She continued to read and rock the two, then smiled as Abel's breathing started to slow. "Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon," She read and looked down at Abel, who's eyes were closed. She heard a soft snore leave his lips and she closed the book, setting it on the nightstand next to the chair. She adjusted Thomas in her arms, so she could also pick up Abel and then stood up slowly, carefully to not wake him. She slowly set Tommy on the chair, then adjusted her grip on Abel, who nuzzled into her neck.

Lynne slowly leaned down and pulled down the blankets on his bed, then slowly set him down onto the bed. She pulled the blanket over him and kissed his head, turned around and picked up Thomas. She hushed him as he gurgled and quickly left the room, closing the door behind herself after flicking on the nightlight.

Lynne approached Thomas room and sat down in the chair, rocking him slowly until he started to get tired. After about fifteen minutes, she stood up and set him down in his crib, turned on the monitor and closed the door behind her.

"They're out." She spoke up as she walked into the living room. "I made Oreo cookie pie." She said as she walked over to Jax, sitting on the couch next to him and cuddled up into her side.

"I did miss your cooking," Juice spoke, his eyes nearly lighting up as she mentioned desert.

"I can agree." Clay added.

"I think it's settled," Filip laughed, "We all missed you and your chef skills."

Lynne smiled and kissed Jax's temple, "I'll go get desert then!" She said and stood up, heading towards the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out the pie, heading back to the living room after grabbing a few plates and forks, as well as a knife. She balanced the items on her arms as she walked in and set the pie, followed by the dishes and utensils on the table.

"Go crazy," She laughed.