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Kyle stood and lifted the little boy into his arms. “Hey, B, what are you guys doing here?”
“Me a big helper. Me get ice cream.”
Kyle raised one brow at Rhett as they approached. “Is that right?”
“Yup.” Brendan said, popping the P. He was already squirming to get down, so Kyle lowered him to his feet. When he was steady, he took off toward the playground with Teddy fast on his heels.
“Hi, Tina.” Bella wore one of those fabric wraps and had her new baby cuddled against her chest.
“You guys here together?” Rhett looked from Kyle to me and back again.
Kyle mumbled something unintelligible and scowled at his brother.
“Yeah.” I fiddled with the paracord bracelet on my right wrist. “Teddy earned an ice cream treat for doing a good job in the pool.”
“Oh, okay.” Rhett angled in and placed a kiss on Bella’s cheek, oblivious to the look Kyle was still sending him. “I’m going to order our ice creams.”
Bella hummed in assent and ducked her head. “Hi, Callie.”
“Hi,” Callie responded quietly, though her attention was quickly stolen by the sight of a couple with a little girl who’d just gotten in line behind Rhett.
The girl’s braids swung as she turned our way, and when she saw Callie, a smile broke out on her face and she waved.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Ava.” She smiled and waved back.
“The girl you met at camp?”
She nodded.
At her old school, the guidance counselor had voicedconcerns that Callie had become distant and closed off to her peers, so seeing her interaction with Ava lit me up inside.
The newborn wrapped up against Bella’s chest squirmed and let out a whimper. “I’m starting to think he hates this thing.” Bella sighed as she undid the wrap and cradled the baby in the crook of her arm.
“Callie loved when I wore her like that. Teddy, not so much. I think it made him too hot.”
The infant wailed then, making me strangely nostalgic for the days when my kids were babies. I surveyed the playground where Teddy and Brendan were playing and smiled. Callie was more difficult than Teddy as a newborn since she had colic, but their problems were more clear and easily solved then.
A memory of Levi holding our daughter like a football, her belly laid across his large forearm, as he walked through the house, had me shaking my head and chuckling. In those early days, we had no idea how to deal with a colicky newborn. We were only twenty-four, and we’d been married for less than two years when Callie was born. That first deployment a few months later was the hardest, aside from the one when he didn’t come home. My chest tightened, and I pinched my eyes closed.
The crying got louder, pulling me out of my thoughts. Beside me, Kyle was holding the baby up on his shoulder with one arm under his butt and the other behind his head. He bounced slightly in place, lulling the newborn back to sleep.
I smiled, and warmth blossomed in my chest. He was a natural with kids. It was a shame he hadn’t had some of his own yet. He would make a great dad.
“I swear, Kyle. You’re the baby whisperer,” Bella said.
“I don’t know about that. Brendan only liked it when Rhett held him. Remember?”
“Then I guess you’re the Hudson whisperer.” She chuckled and turned back to me. “Are you ready for the school year?”
“Getting there. Classroom is coming along. I have lesson plans to finish and orientation next week.”
Callie was still at my side, though she continued to peer over at her friend, who was now sitting at a table with her parents.
“Why don’t you go say hi to your friend?”
“Mom…” she huffed.
