Free Cree (My Way Series - Book 1) (Volume 1) by H.J. Bellus Page B

her head.
    I wore a burnt orange miniskirt with black leggings and grey boots. My blouse was white and loose-fitting with a red tank top underneath it. I wore lots of bangle bracelets and one of Frances’ necklaces.
    Annie insisted on doing my hair, so I let her brush through it and then I convinced her that I wanted a messy bun just like hers. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun that sat off to one side, and then let Annie place a matching hair flower into my hair.
    Willow and Lacey were home now, but we refused to let them invade our dress up party. Annie and I were locked in Cree’s master bathroom, enjoying our alone time together. Cree kept banging on the door, insisting that he needed us. When we finally made our way out of the bathroom, Cree was perched on his bed with a beer in one hand and the remote in the other. He was watching football on his flat screen TV. When his eyes met ours, he instantly started to tear up. Annie ran to his side and hugged him with all her strength.
    “Why are you crying, daddy?”
    “Because I’m looking at the two most beautiful girls in the whole wide world, who dressed up for me on Thanksgiving, to eat the turkey I cooked.”
    “Oh, Daddy, you so silly!”
    Annie went prancing out of the room to find Willow and Lacey. Cree pulled me close and rested his forehead on mine.
    “You created a mini-you!”
    “You let me.”
    “I know. I love you, Milly!”
    I shut my eyes tight and let the sounds of his “I love you” rain down all around me. It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Until today, it had been Poppy’s voice saving me from that trailer.
    “I love you, too, Captain!”
    We decided that since this was our first Thanksgiving together that we would each start a new tradition. Cree insisted on serving mac n’ cheese with sprinkles if needed. He was melting my heart one sprinkle at a time. Annie insisted we dress up as pilgrims and indians, so she assigned the roles and made the appropriate headdress for each of us. Cree and Willow were the pilgrims, so Lacey, Annie and I were the indians. She placed paper headbands on our heads and showed us to our seats. Cree threw a fit when he couldn’t be an indian, so Annie threatened him with a time-out. I loved to just sit back and watch the interaction between the two of them. They were slowly healing the most inner broken part of my heart.
    Willow banned pumpkin pie and insisted that cheesecake would be the only dessert at this feast. She was an amazing baker and was adamant that pumpkin pie was way too traditional for us. She had been baking pastries for The Shop the last month. Her pastries were to die for! Cree wasn’t happy about this and made a pretty good argument, but in the end he lost.
    Lacey’s was simple—she wanted a picture of all of us together with no griping. We ended up all posing around the table with our headbands on. Annie sat in the middle of the table like a little centerpiece, with Cree on one side of her and me on the other side. Lacey hugged herself tightly to me, and Willow draped herself over the back of her brother. It took us three times to get the self-timer down before we captured a decent picture.
    I decided on a movie to kick off the holiday season. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was my selection, and I bought everyone goofy pajamas to wear while watching the movie. Willow threw together a white chocolate popcorn mixture to munch on. We huddled together in the living room to watch the movie. Lacey made all of us squeeze onto the couch for one more group shot in our pjs. Cree, Annie and I took our normal positions all cuddled up on the couch. Annie lasted about a good thirty minutes, before she was snoring into her daddy’s chest. Cree kept sneaking kisses up and down my arm throughout the movie.
    “Stop it! You are going to drive me nuts,” I finally whispered to him.
    “Stay the night with me.”
    “But what about Annie?”
    “She knows I love you. She loves you.