Like a Good Neighbor Chapter 7 & 8

CHAPTER SEVEN

Within a week, Shelby and Jennifer moved in with me for good. We went out and bought a pink canopy set with pink sheets for Jennifer’s princess room. We let her choose a few decorations and the three of us finished her room.

I had brought Ryleigh and Molly into my office and explained to them that Shelby would now join us as our newest employee. Ryleigh jumped at the idea of having some help and volunteered to start working nights since her husband worked night s as well. That way, they could spend their days together. It was the perfect solution for everyone. Shelby would come in after dropping off Jennifer at day care. She would work until three or so when Ryleigh came to work. Then she would go get Jennifer and return home. I would meet them there several hours later and we would eat then get Jennifer ready for bed. Once Shelby got her routine down to her liking, Molly would cover for her in the morning while she started working out. By the time Shelby came in I had finished working out and had taken my shower. That way, I could personally train Shelby myself. Shelby had opened up about things she did not like about her body. She felt her legs where too thin and she did not have a nice ass which I found silly but I wanted her to feel comfortable with herself.

That’s an easy fix concentrating on lower leg work and squats. The squat rack did wonders for your thighs and ass. However, as I explained to Shelby, she couldn’t neglect her upper body if she wanted to look symmetrical. Shelby weighed one hundred twenty-seven pounds in workout clothes. By the time Christmas was approaching Shelby was a beast in the weight room. She was mentally driven to sculpt her body into what she wanted. She attacked the squat rack and leg press like it was her mortal enemy.

It was apparent Shelby was feeling more comfortable with herself as she went out and bought more revealing workout wear. She was one of the best-looking women in the gym and was turning a lot of heads. We didn’t act like we were romantically involved so she got hit on quite frequently which I know had to help her self-esteem.

Christmas was approaching and I talked Shelby into having Christmas Eve at my house with her entire family. I had a local deli that was going to cater the entire event. It would be Shelby’s parents, Samantha and her husband, her grandparents on her dad’s side and one of her mother’s sisters. I ordered three trays of small sandwiches, two trays of meatballs, three large pans of chicken wings, two trays of muffulettas, two trays of deviled eggs, vegetable trays and two large pots of soup. One was corn and crab and the other a seafood gumbo mix.

Shelby had mostly taken care of Jennifer and we had hidden her gifts that were not wrapped in our bedroom closet under sheets. Shelby had made a rule that Jennifer could not enter our room without permission and if the door was shut, she had to knock. The other rule that I had implemented was that Jennifer had to speak to adults respectfully. From now on all women were ma’am and men were sir. It took a while, but it was finally almost routine for her. She did not have to call me sir, she called me Jace but I insisted that she call Shelby ma’am.

I was personally struggling on what to buy Shelby for Christmas. I was infatuated with her and loved her with all my heart. Shelby was the kindest, most softhearted souls I knew. She wanted the best for everyone and held no grudges. She even bought a large, beautiful Christmas card for her ex-husband and both she and Jennifer signed it. She sent it to his office she did not have the address for his new house.

Tim’s parents had made no effort to contact Shelby or see their grandchild since the divorce. It was sad because Shelby had given her husband everything he had asked for and then some. We were not even sure if he knew that Shelby and Jennifer were living with me.

So, I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to get her as a gift. I thought about giving her an engagement ring, but she had just gotten out of a bad marriage. It was entirely too soon to propose although I wanted to do so very badly.

Clothing was out of the question because her body was evolving on a monthly basis. She had everything she wanted and very rarely asked for anything for herself. So at the last minute, I reached out to Shelby’s mom, Beth for help with a gift.

Beth explained to me that her ex-husband always forgot her birthday, anniversary and never bought Christmas presents for her. Beth did find out that he had bought some diamond jewelry for his secretary which really upset Shelby. It was not the fact he was fucking around. It was that in all the years she had been without him the only jewelry he had bought were the wedding rings. So, Beth thought that a diamond gift might be appropriate.

With that information in mind, I went to Miller’s Jewelry in town which had an impeccable reputation. I explained to the young lady that I had no idea what I was doing and I think she was amused at me. But after about forty-five minutes, I walked out with three items. The first was a one carat, six-and-a-half-inch diamond tennis bracelet. The second were a pair of white gold one and a quarter carat diamond earrings. Since I bought both together, I saved a little money and walked out with about six thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry. The third was a birthstone ring symbolizing Jennifer’s birthday in January. It was a pretty ring with a large garnet stone in it.

Christmas Eve was on a Friday, and we scheduled the party for six that evening. All the food was delivered at four thirty and the caterer set everything in warming dishes and laid out everything else of the dining room table. I had bought a few cases of beer and the previous owner left the bar fully stocked so we were as ready as we would ever be.

Jennifer was bouncing off the walls waiting for everyone to show up. She had adopted my house as home and we had grown very close to each other. I had to go in her room and kiss her goodnight after Shelby tucked her in. She always told me I love you when she kissed me back. She was an amazing child and somehow, she seemed to be handling her new life well.

Shelby’s siter Samantha was the first to show up with her husband Brian. Then Shelby’s parents were right behind them. Then Shelby’s grandparents arrived several minutes later followed by her aunt. After Shelby gave everyone a tour of the house everyone wound up back in the living area where we had two huge sectional sofas and several chairs arranged. There was ample seating for everyone.

Shelby and Jennifer played host making sure everyone got drinks and knew where the food was laid out. Jennifer was really doing a great job bringing the drinks to everyone. When she brought two cokes to her great grandparents Bob and Margaret Bartlett, Bob thanked her. She responded like she had learned.

“You’re welcome, sir.”, she replied, with caught everyone off guard.

After several more polite comments by Jennifer, Shelby’s father could not help but speak up. He looked over at Shelby and I with a smile on his face.

“There’s no doubt who is influencing who here.”, he stated.

“She has become quite the young lady sir. Shelby is an amazing mom.”, I replied.

“Yes, we knew that……. But there is a lot of you in there now too.”, he answered.

I talked to Shelby’s grandparents and her aunt for quite a while trying to explain the series of circumstances that had brought us together. They really were grateful for the transformation in not only Shelby but Jennifer as well.

Everyone ate and drank for several hours then around eight o’clock Shelby wanted to give out presents to everyone. Shelby had handled all the gifts for everyone this year and she had done a fabulous job. Everyone was overwhelmed with their gifts and of course, I had a couple of surprise presents for Jennifer and Shelby.

So, Shelby went to the side of the tree and pulled out three large boxes and called out Jennifer’s name. Jen ran across the room and took one of the packages from Shelby and sat down on the floor. Jen made short work of the wrapping paper and pulled a Wilson A1000 Fast pitch Softball Glove out.

“Wow, this is big……. Who gave me this?”, she asked.

“All of these are from Jace.”, Shelby replied.

“Thank you so much, Jace. Now we can start practicing.”, she said, reaching for the next gift.

She unwrapped a new Easton Ghost twenty-four-inch softball bat with a pair of batting gloves. The Last gift was a Boombah rolling bat bag for her to keep all her equipment in. Shelby made sure to explain to Jennifer that this was all very expensive equipment and had to be taken care of. Jennifer got up and came over and gave me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek for the presents.

Shelby had left the room, so I slipped a small box to Jennifer and told her to give this to Shelby. I also instructed her to say that this present from her. Jennifer waited patiently for Shelby to return then ran across the room to her holding out the box.

“Here momma, this is for you. Jace said to tell you it’s from me.”, Jennifer stated, causing everyone to laugh.

“What did I do?”, Jennifer turned staring at everyone.

“Nothing my angel, thank you so much.”, Shelby replied bending over and kissing her.

Shelby carefully unwrapped the box and placed the paper on the coffee table. She opened the box and saw the ring for the first time and almost cried.

“What is it mom?’, Jennifer asked.