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“Well, her hair looks funny because her uncle isn’t used to having a little girl to look after, hasn’t quite learnt how to do hair. Kind of like Uncle Jamison,” I add making Serenity giggle because with as amazing with details in woodwork as my brother is, he’s a terror with a hairbrush. “Her mom died two years ago so it’s just been her and her uncle since then. She just started Rickman this year. There was an issue with one of the mothers that volunteered at her old school. She would follow her all around the school, telling her she’d be happier living with her, and scaring her by coming up and touching her out of nowhere. He complained to the school and the police, but they just told him if he tried to talk to the woman again, they’d file a restraining order against him.”
“Typical for the cops around here,” Julie huffed, and I nodded as Jesse’s eyes darkened in anger.
“If you know which cops, I’ll tell Chief Davidson to make sure they get on his radar,” Jesse says, and I smile knowing he definitely will. He’s been fuming about the cops in town since one of them tried to threaten him when he was trying to protect Maddie and her younger sister Kayla from their abusive father.
“I’ll let him know. Right now, I need help figuring out how to build this,” I tell the group, showing some of the drawings to give them a general idea. “In the jungle area, I was thinking monkey bars, we can bolt them using the anchors in the floors, so they’ll be sturdy, right?” I ask Julie.
“More than, we put them in commercial grade concrete, so they’ll hold,” she assures me. “Are you wanting to do more than one story on anything?”
“I was thinking maybe in the temple area, something where they might go up and down a bit, not far but enough to make it fun. Then in this area, do a small climbing wall, kind of like the ones on the playsets, just a little wider and with more spots for hands and feet, and when they’re at the top, a slide into the temple area.”
“Doorways and the archway for the waterfall would be easy to do with wood I’ve got,” Jamison said giving me a smile seeing the rest of the drawings. “This is going to be one massive party.”
“Cleo deserves it, and hopefully, it’ll let some of the other kids in their grade get to see the real Cleo and not the scared one that came in last August.”
“I think a lot of this we could put together using scaffolding really,” Joe says after looking through the ideas. “You’d just want to wrap and pad it, but it should work. We could probably even set up some mid-levels on them by using shorter poles. It would let them move up and down levels but not be too high that way.”
“That sounds great. I figured we could put the mats down throughout, so if anyone trips they’ll be cushioned,” I tell them, and they all agree it’s a must with the concrete floor.
“Do I get to come, Aunt Jas?” Serenity asks as Joe and Jamison start making notes about possible dimensions.
“Cleo is going to invite your whole grade, so yes, you absolutely get to come. I think she’ll really enjoy if you do, sweetie.”
“But no spoiling the surprise for her or the others,” Serena warns her.
“Cleo helped me come up with the theme and she approved the designs Friday afternoon, so she knows what it’ll look like,” I tell them. “We’ll hopefully be getting the invitations out this week for April sixth.”
“Is that her actual birthday?” Julie asks and I nod. “So three days before yours?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“So more April birthdays. I think someone needs to have a March baby around here,” she jokes, and I swear, my belly flutters as though it’s in agreement.
“I wouldn’t be against it,” I tell her, smiling as her eyes widen in shock. “We’ve had one date, but the second I saw him…it was everything I’ve been waiting for, only I thought he was married.”
“With a kid, like Mom thought when she met Dad and me,” Julie guesses and I nod. “How quickly did he clear that one up?”
“Cleo mostly did when she called him her uncle in introduction. Then he said she’d been stuck with just him the last two years so, pretty quickly. Jaime babysat for him last night after his had to cancel on him, and Cleo loved her. Jaime braided her hair, and she was asking if she really had to take it out to wash in the bath. It was falling out so it wouldn’t have lasted her another night.”
“Is that your way of saying you’re heading over there tonight to ‘help’ and will then just stay the night because it’s such a long drive home?” she teases, and I shake my head fighting off my blush.
“No, I said I’d stop by in the morning because I don’t want Cleo finding me there before this is more and hopefully about to be permanent.”
“Notice she didn’t deny wanting to stay the night in there, baby girl,” Julie says to Serena, giving her a wink.
“What do you expect? She’s a Cartwright, of course she’s going to know who the right one is from the start. And don’t think you have room to talk unless you want to explain what happened on our first date—heck not even a date date. You brought over coffee after meeting me just hours before and never left,” Serena counters making me giggle.
“You weren’t arguing about it though, were you?” Julie whispers to her, giving her a kiss.
“Never,” Serena assures her.
They make me grin and sigh happily watching them. They’ve been together for seventeen years and are more in love now. The same with Mom and Dad. They’re coming up on forty years and adore one another entirely still. That’s what I want. That connection that just gets stronger with time—with Adam.
The house empties with my siblings assurances they’ll look into getting my vision created, and I slip over to my room, settling in for the night. I expect to toss and turn, but I’m out fast when I focus on the fact that I’ll get to see Adam and Cleo in the morning.
My alarm goes off and I hurry out of bed, smiling the entire time I’m getting ready. I’m out the door ten minutes before I really need to be, but I can’t help myself. The lights are on downstairs when I pull in and I laugh when Cleo hurries out the door, still in her pjs and hugs me tight.
“Good morning to you too, sweetheart,” I tell her, pulling a giggle from her before ushering her inside out of the cool morning air.
