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Brooke nods. “Like when you went to Greece?”
“Something like that. But here’s the big surprise,” I say. “I want to take all three of you kids with us.”
Brooke asks, “Me too?”
“You too,” I promise her. We’ve been very careful not to let the addition of our own children affect how much attention Brooke gets from us. She’s become like a daughter to me, and we never want her to feel any different. “I’m sure that your mom will say yes. But we’ll have to check with her to be sure.”
Brooke grins. “Cool. Where are we going?”
“Yeah,” echoes Holly. She grabs Brooke’s hand and jumps up and down, chubby feet splashing the lake water in all directions. It’s warm out, the sun bright above us. “Where? Where?”
“That’s the problem,” I say. “I’ve been thinking and thinking, and I just don’t know where we should go! I thought that—”
“Disney World,” says Brooke, without any hesitation. The words are out of her just like a snap. “I want to go to Disney!”
That wasn’t exactly what I had been thinking, but— I like the direction of it. With Disney being down in Florida, there would be plenty of adult things that Ashley and I could go and do, after our day trips to the theme park.
There are beaches, too, lots of them. And our family loves the water. It’s something of a constant in our life. Always has been.
We can go out to the beach a couple of days, and let the kids spend a few days in the theme park, and I’ll find some nice, fancy restaurants—I can practically see the trip playing out in front of me like a movie. Of course I’ll make arrangements ahead of time so that we can bring our nanny. She’ll help with the kids so me and Ashley can get out and have some adult time. And I’ll make sure that there’s plenty of fun for Brooke, Holly, and Tommy too. A five-year wedding anniversary turned family vacation.
Who wouldn’t love that?
Family is such a huge part of our life, I’m certain that Ashley would rather our big trip include the kids than exclude them. Honestly, so would I. Brooke is already visibly vibrating at the thought of getting to go Disney World with us, and though Holly probably doesn’t totally get the excitement, she’s feeding off of her cousin’s excitement all the same, bouncing where she stands.
From the shore, Ashley calls out, “What are you three conspiring about down there?”
“Remember.” I hold a finger up to my mouth and make a shushing sound. “It’s a secret. That means we can’t tell her.”
Brooke nods. “Right! Here Uncle Grant, you take Holly. She’s bad at secrets.”
“Am not,” protests Holly. With a stamp of her foot, she says, “I don’t even know what a Disney World is!”
But Brooke just grins at me and says, “See? I’ll go distract Auntie!”
And then she’s barreling up the beach, nearly tackling my wife in the thigh. With a laugh, Ashley steadies her. They exchange words that are too quiet to hear from down at the lake, and Ashley shakes her head, but then she turns that lovely smile of hers onto us.
“Fine,” she calls out. “Keep your secrets! Just come up here and have lunch. It’s all ready!”
I scoop Holly up. She laughs and squirms. “You hungry?”
“Yeah,” Holly shouts. “Starving!”
“We can’t have that!” I carry her up the length of the shore, to where my wife’s set down the blanket and got the other two kids settled in. Holly is quick to join them, practically attached to her cousin like glue.
Ashley leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Should I be concerned by all this whispering?”
“No,” I promise. “You’ve got nothing to be concerned about at all.”
It seems that there’s an Orlando Anniversary in our near future. Just like everything that I do with Ashley, I find myself thinking that I just can’t wait.
The End
WelcometoSummerJames’world of toe-curling contemporary romances.
Summer dishes out fiery stories full of high-stakes drama. You’re going to find a lot of chiseled, silver fox billionaires and hard-earned happy endings here.
Summer lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her two wild kids and ridiculous cats. Movie nights that include battles for that last piece of popcorn are a theme in her forever cozy home.
