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I pull a pen out of my back pocket and jot down some notes.
June 1, 2031
It’s June’s 30th birthday today. THIRTY. We have two children squished on either side of us, but I feel like she wants to celebrate with me already. >:-)
She’s biting her lip and giving me the eyes.
You know the eyes.
June stretches out beside me in the little tree house, yawning dramatically, then “accidentally” grazes her fingertips up my thigh as she brings her hand back up.
Yep, she wants me.
Theodore just ran outside, then came back in to tell us that one of the clouds looks like a face with a philtrum. Apparently that’s the little groove between the bottom of your nose and your upper lip. Where does he learn this stuff?
Caroline has to pee.
I don’t know why I wrote that down.
“I really have to pee, Mommy.”
Folding the index card in half, I slip it back into my pocket.
Samantha is way better at this.
All four of us shuffle out of the custom-built tree house, flicking grass blades and dirt stains off our clothes. Andrew helped me build it two years ago—only, it’s not in the tree; it’s built around the tree at ground level.
We learned our lesson.
“Wait! I forgot my sword.” Caroline bounces toward the little wooden house and sneaks beneath the curtain, her sable-colored ponytail bouncing against her overalls. She’s a tomboy to the max. When she skips back out through the opening, the sword I made for June on Christmas Eve is clutched in her fist. She starts to make swishy noises as the worn wooden blade slices the air, then points right at her brother. “Get back, beast!”
“I’m not a beast, Caroline. I’m a child.” He crosses his arms as the setting sun casts a yellowy glow upon his already sandy hair. “You’re going to give me splinters if you stab me with that.”
“You’re no fun at all.”
“Want to go inside and crystalize our own rock candy?”
Caroline’s face scrunches up with disgust. “That’s so boring. I want to fight bad guys with my magic sword and save Aggie and Bubbles from the un-peekable monsters.”
“Unspeakable,” he corrects. “Hey, don’t you have to pee?”
Her eyes widen with remembrance. Squeezing her legs together, she books it through the yard toward the back of the house, Theodore giving chase. When he catches up to her he tugs on her ponytail, and their laughter rings in my ears like the sweetest lullaby.
Two familiar arms encircle me from behind as a warm cheek presses into the center of my back. I grin, placing my hands atop hers. “I saw you eyeing me in the tree house.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she murmurs against my T-shirt, her fingers drifting downward and inching beneath the hem.
“Think we can occupy the kids with a movie while we lock ourselves in the bedroom?”
“You mean, without tears or bloodshed?”
“Valid.” Taking her by surprise, I bend down, grip her by the thighs, and haul her onto my back. June squeals, wrapping her legs around my waist and burying a fist in my hair for leverage. “I guess I can wait. But the moment you blow out your candles, you better be well on your way to blowing—”
Her hand slaps over my mouth as she laughs out, “Brant!”
“You can’t look at me like that and not expect me to obsessively think about what that look implies, Junebug.”
I start to move toward the open patio door with June bouncing on my back, holding on tight through her giggles.
