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Hi everyone, first of all, Happy Mothers’ Day to ALL Nurturers!
This weekend we’ve been celebrating my books that feature strong MOM figures on my FaceBook Author Page — These books are listed below (with some buy links.
Today’s excerpt is from Within the Law. Of all the Moms I’ve written about my personal favorite is Sylvia Hughes, mom to Tom Hughes (Within the Law) and Aunt/Step-mom to Caitlyn Smythe (His Lucky Charm); Sylvia is fierce, protective and loving of both her children, no matter what age they are, and at the same time she understands they are grown adults with lives of their own (fortunately she has her own love affair with her husband Walter to keep her busy).
This excerpt is the first time that Sylvia is meeting Alli, Tom’s fiancee.
“Calm down sweetheart.” Alli was surprised about how nervous Tom was about his parents coming to visit.
“No. You don’t understand. My mother is going to come in here and look for something wrong. She won’t stop until she finds it.” He was checking all the surfaces for dust even though Alli had spent all of the day before cleaning.
“You are driving yourself crazy.”
“My mother will drive me crazy.”
“I spoke with Caitlyn yesterday. She said your mom isn’t as bad as you make her out to be.”
“Well Cat can say that. She’s a few hundred miles away.” He stopped and looked at Alli. “You two are getting pretty chummy. I don’t know if that means trouble for me?”
“You worry too much.” Alli left the room. He hoped he hadn’t insulted her.
Tom plumped the pillows on the sofa… again. He had to admit, Alli had done a nice job scrubbing the house. He was grateful because she really understood how important it was to him. She had never even grumbled about it. He was using his sleeve to wipe a possible smudge off of a glass panel on the curio cabinet when he heard Alli coming back down the stairs.
“Babe, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” He stood silently when he saw what she was wearing. “Now, that’s really not fair. I’ve got to wear that to work.” And he knew he would never get over the vision of her wearing his uniform shirt and nothing else but a pair of flimsy panties and a delicate diamond engagement ring. The shirt was left unbuttoned.
“Your cousin said you needed to be distracted if you got too nervous.”
“I’m distracted.”
“Good.” She went into his arms. “Now you just need to relax…”
His breath was slow and steady. “I think I know just what I need to relax,” He spread the shirt open and pulled her to him. He bent to kiss her.
They heard the front door open. “Tommy! Come help your father with the suitcases.”
Alli stepped back and pulled the shirt closed. Her eyes were wide. “They’re early!”
“Uh, yeah…” He blew out a big breath. “I’ll be right there ma.” He called back.
“I have to get upstairs.”
“I’ll keep them distracted.” He did his best to compose himself and then he went to greet his mother. He made sure to hug his mom and swing her around so that her back was to the stairs. “Hi ma. You got here early.”
“Your father decided to push on through instead of stopping at a decent hour last night.” She started to look around. “So where is this Alli of yours?”
He saw Alli run up the stairs and he did his best to hide a smirk. “She’s uh, upstairs changing. She’ll be right down.” Tom turned to the door. “Let me go help dad.”
Just a few minutes later, Alli was coming down the stairs dressed neatly in a casual light blue pants suit. She was fully composed. Her hair was combed perfectly. And her smile was indescribable. Tom marveled at how quickly she put herself together.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, I am so glad to meet you. Tom has told me so many nice things about you.”
Sylvia Hughes laughed. “Now I know you’re fibbing child.”
Alli smiled. “He’s also told me nice things.” She stressed the word “also”.
Walter Hughes poked his son in the side. “She’s good.”
“Ma, dad, this is Alli Davis, the woman I plan to marry.” Tom was proud of her.
“There’s a pot of coffee and muffins in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” Alli offered.
“Sounds lovely.” Sylvia led the way. When she stepped into the kitchen, Tom noticed her looking around. “I see you’ve made a few changes…”
Tom groaned inwardly. “Alli is a really good cook ma.” He prepared himself for her onslaught.
She noticed the microwave. “It’s about time you modernized a little Tommy.” Tom almost dropped. He had been prepared for only criticism. Yet, when he thought about it, his parents were both always very supportive of him. Maybe, he thought, he was just being a little paranoid.
It wasn’t until they were seated at the table enjoying their coffee and muffins that Sylvia did start in about their living arrangements.
“Ma, we’re both adults…” This was an age-old argument between them. It would probably be the same argument no matter what age he was.
“You are not married yet. You know how I feel about that. I don’t approve of that under my roof.”
He counted to ten, very quickly, before answering. Tom looked directly at his mother. “Ma, fortunately this is my roof… Remember? I bought this house from you and dad.”
Alli started to say something to Tom when Walter put his hand on hers and shook his head. She stayed quiet. Walter winked at her.
Sylvia glared at her son. “Well, why don’t you just move the wedding date up then? That would solve everything.”
“Ma, we set the date and we are sticking with it. We have been making all of our plans on that date. There are people who will be coming in from out of town. I am not going to make them change their plans. And we are living here together. That’s it. I hope that you can accept that while you are visiting us.”
Sylvia was silent for a long time. Finally she turned to Alli, “For your sake, not his, I hope that when your babies grow up, they are more mindful of your feelings.” She looked like she was ready to pout. “Children should respect their parents. You’ll know what I mean when you have your own.”
Alli gave Tom a desperate look. He looked at her apologetically. She squared her shoulders. “Uh, Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Hughes, we want you to know up front… I can’t have kids.” She braced herself.
“What do you mean you can’t have kids?” His mother frowned.
“There was an accident and… I was left unable to have children.”
“You can’t get pregnant?”
“No ma’am.” Alli bit her lip. Tom reached across to take her hand.
Sylvia looked at her and then Tom. “Well, we want more grandchildren. You had better do something about that. Adopt.”
Hyphema
KINDLE ~ B&N ~ SMASHWORDS ~ APPLE
Hostage Heart
KINDLE ~ B&N ~ SMASHWORDS ~ APPLE
Courage of the Heart
KINDLE ~ B&N ~ SMASHWORDS ~ APPLE
Within the Law
KINDLE ~ B&N ~ SMASHWORDS ~ APPLE
A Chaunce of Riches
KINDLE ~ B&N ~ SMASHWORDS ~ APPLE
Common Bond, Tangled Hearts
KINDLE ~ B&N ~ SMASHWORDS ~ APPLE
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JUST BROWSING THE INTERNET AND FOUND A FEW TERRIFIC QUOTES
“Small business people are people with goals and values that can’t be calculated on a profit and loss statement.” ~ Linda McMahon
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“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” ~ Mother Teresa
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“Always wake up with a smile knowing that today you are going to have fun accomplishing what others are too afraid to do.” ~ Mark Cuban
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“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value”
~ Albert Einstein
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““It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Celebrating
National Small Business
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JUST BROWSING THE INTERNET AND FOUND A FEW TERRIFIC QUOTES
“Where there is love there is life.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” ~ Mignon McLaughlin
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“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.
Those who wish to sing always find a song.
At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.” ~ Plato
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“A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.” ~ Dave Meurer
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“The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together.”
~ Robert C. Dodds
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“The most important thing in the world is family and love.” ~ John Wooden
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“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” ~ George Santayana
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“Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” ~ Brad Henry
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“The family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.” ~ Dodie Smith
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“Heirlooms we don’t have in our family. But stories we’ve got.” ~ Rose Cherin
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“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ~ Lao Tzu.
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“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones you accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.” ~ Unknown
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“‘Cause all of me Loves all of you. Love your curves and all your edges. All your perfect imperfections. Give your all to me, I’ll give my all to you. You’re my end and my beginning. Even when I lose I’m winning.” ~ John Legend, All Of Me
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“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way.” ~ Pablo Neruda
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You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.
~ William W. Purkey
He bent over her and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. Adam tried to memorize every feeling, the scent from her hair, her weight in his arms, and the way she opened her eyes and smiled just before she wound her arms around his neck.
“Hmmm… what time is it?” Her voice was sleepy.
“After three.”
“How are you ever going to get up in the morning?”
He was amused by the way her words slurred. “I’ll go in late.” He walked into their bedroom and placed her gently on the bed.
Adam helped her while she fumbled into a night shirt and crawled under the blankets. Then he went to his side of the bed and stripped, leaving his clothing on the floor. He got under the covers and pulled her body up against his, he kissed her on the top of her head and whispered “G’night.” Before he reached to turn out his night table lamp, he stopped to watch her sleeping in their bed… another memory for him to store.
Surprisingly Adam had woken early after all. He quietly got out of bed without disturbing her, took the folded paper from his pocket and took a pair of pants with him to put on after he left the room. In the kitchen he plugged in the pot of coffee that Davie had left prepared and leaned against the counter to read the report. In all test groups, ‘589APPLE’ had significantly improved the healthy development of the fetus in-utero by directing nutrients and necessary vitamins to the growing embryo. Various laboratory animals were used throughout the stages. Thanks to the administration of ‘589APPLE’ hundreds of healthy baby rats were born during this testing period with an improvement of nearly seventy-five-percent in overall development, survival and general health over the control group which did not receive ‘589APPLE’. Many more test groups were used in the studies, most of them showed extremely high neo-natal success rates.
However, Adam noted, the more complex the animal in the test group, another statistic registered. By the time pregnant laboratory monkeys were given the drug, while most of the babies were born healthy, the maternal health began to suffer with one fatality attributed to malnutrition. The human test group consisted of twenty-five pregnant females who were given the drug; four mothers died within twenty-four hours of birth, two died prior to birth and their healthy babies were delivered by Cesarean section, seven more were hospitalized suffering the effects of starvation and one more died within six months after. The summary at the bottom of the report cited the fifty-percent of human mothers who suffered illness or fatality after taking ‘589APPLE’ during at least five months of the gestation period.
Autopsy results of the fatalities showed that not only did the drug direct more of the ingested nutrients to the fetus, but it also ‘attached’ itself to the digestive track and prohibited any significant nourishment from being absorbed into the mother’s body. A recommendation was made to Dr. Bryan Chapman, the Vice President of Regularity Affairs of the pharmaceutical company, that the formulation of the drug be examined and altered to reduce this risk to the mothers. The author of the summary, who signed only his initials, proposed that production of ‘589APPLE’ be postponed indefinitely.
Adam was dismayed that this supposedly beneficent drug could have such devastating effects. He also was aware that he had made it possible for this drug, with its current potentially lethal formulation, to be manufactured and distributed in third-world countries and on the black market everywhere. This drug had the potential to turn a growing baby into an insidious parasite that could kill its mother. There was no choice left, he had to stop it.
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JUST BROWSING THE INTERNET AND FOUND A FEW TERRIFIC QUOTES
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” ~ Mark Twain
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“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ~ George Orwell
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“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” ~ Mother Teresa
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“This is what I am learning, at 82 years old: the main thing is to be in love with the search for truth.” ~ Maya Angelou
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“Science is the search for truth – it is not a game in which one tries to beat his opponent, to do harm to others.” ~ Linus Pauling
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“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” ~ John F. Kennedy
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“All children should be taught to unconditionally accept, approve, admire, appreciate, forgive, trust, and ultimately, love their own person.”
~ Asa Don Brown
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“America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way around. Human rights invented America.” ~ Jimmy Carter
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“Women’s rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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“Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
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“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~ Japanese Proverb
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“A friend is one with whom you are comfortable, to whom you are loyal, through whom you are blessed, and for whom you are grateful.” ~ William Arthur Ward
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“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” ~ Author Unknown
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“That some good can be derived from every event is a better proposition than that everything happens for the best, which it assuredly does not.”
~ James K. Feibleman
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“You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.” ~ Oscar Wilde
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“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~ Andre Gide
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“Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby- awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.” ~ Lemony Snicket
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“Compassion is the ultimate expression of your highest self.” ~ Russell Simmons
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“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” ~ Steve Maraboli
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“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” ~ John F. Kennedy
