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Olivia wandered over with her headphones on, her hand contorted into the shape of a bird, flying in front of her. She leaned her little hip against my side, and I encircled her hips with my arm.
“Yes!” Mara lifted her head and peeked out to see that the attention had shifted, she relaxed back into her seat. “What can I do?”
“It’s going to be busy,” I mused, “if birdy is going to be involved, we’ll have to pair her up with either you or Bex, maybe Loulou if you’re comfortable with that.”
“Loulou is the pocket pet volunteer?” Mara asked.
“Yes, she’s a grandmother of six or ten or something ridiculous like that, and one of her grandkids has Down Syndrome. She knows the importance of staying vigilant.”
Bex interjected from the kitchen, “I want Olivia with me, if possible. We started out there together, and working the fundraiser together is a huge milestone for her. I really want to share that with her.”
“What about Amelie and Cole?” I asked.
Rhys replied, “They’ll be with my parents until I’m done with the setup, so I’ll be free before all the people arrive. I’ll bring Amelie and Cole in later if they want to see what’s going on.”
“I’ll be there, too,” Zale added, “we have our group text chat. So long as we update it whenever we hand any of the kids off to each other, we’ll always know who has which kid. There are enough of us to allow some flexibility for them. I’m on the setup crew with Rhys, once we’re finished, we can be on standby.”
“I want to be with Auntie Bex with the pocket pets,” Olivia announced.
I was surprised that she was listening. I thought she had her music on.
Bex lit up, her gorgeous smile breaking free. “Well, there you go!” she crowed, “That’s settled!”
Olivia turned to me and asked, “What are you and Uncle Barrett going to be doing?”
All eyes, including Barrett’s swung my way.
“Um…”
Mara elbowed me, teasing, “Uncle Barrett? Does Livvy know something we don’t?”
I swiveled my head to look at Olivia, then scanned the room seeing everyone’s expression alight with hope. Oh, my Lord, if this failed!
“I told Auntie Willa that she should choose Barrett for her family. She’s happy when she’s with him,” Olivia stated in her matter-of-fact way.
“Oh, really?” Bex dragged the word out interminably.
My eyes skittered from Bex to Rhys to Barrett.
Rhys interjected, using Barrett’s childhood nickname in his concern, “Rebecca, don’t screw things up for Bear…”
“Glad I have you in my corner, Livvy,” Barrett grinned.
“Wow,” Mara said with respect to Barrett, “you just put yourself out there for real.”
Barrett stood with his long legs braced, his hands loose at his hips, his body still, watching, waiting for me, as always. He met my eyes, and his gaze was soft on my face.
“I’ve been patiently putting myself out there for months now,” Barrett replied easily.
“Oh, my goodness!” I stood up from the table in a false show of temper and saw out of the corner of my eye that Zale had come alert, ever ready to steady me. Both Mara and Bex’s faces adopted twin expressions of apology. Only Rhys was smirking. Smart man. I stomped over to Barrett and stood right in front of him with my hands on my hips.
“Well?” I challenged him.
“Well?” he smiled back.
He was beautiful. He was mine. For now. Maybe forever if I didn’t screw things up. I needed Merry and Bex, maybe even Rhys and Zale in my corner. I moved in closer to him and tipped my chin back. He raised his hands to cup my face. I heard a collective gasp from Mara and Bex as he bent his neck and softly, sweetly, kissed me.
“You made a good choice, Auntie Willa,” Olivia stated matter-of-factly. “Can I have a snack Auntie Bex?”
