"Look, there's a rabbit."
Flat on her back on a picnic blanket, Iris let her gaze follow Callum's arm and finger as he pointed to a cloud-shape in the late-summer blue sky.
"Daaaadddyy." Brandt giggled from his place between them. "That's a dragon."
"What? It is not," Callum said.
Levi snored softly, tucked close to Iris's side, worn out from his little-boy exertions all morning.
"What do you think, babe?" Callum tilted his head to one side, and his jaw brushed her cheek. Their hands remained entwined beneath Brandt, who'd crawled over them to be in the middle. "Rabbit or dragon?"
"Definitely a dragon."
He huffed in pretend exasperation, but brushed a kiss against her temple, his stubble catching in the fine hairs there.
"What about that one?" This time she pointed, and sunlight glinted off the diamond in her engagement ring. It had been two and a half months and she was more in love with Callum and the boys than ever.
"Hmm...a kangaroo?"
"Daaaadddyy!"
All three of the boys were eating up this time with their daddy today, one of the last Saturdays of the summer.
Callum had spent much of the season on the harvest crew, stealing days away when he could. Before he'd left that first time, Iris had quickly disabused him of the notion of hiring a nanny and had the boys with her most days. They'd set a wedding date for next month.
Some in town might think it was too soon, but Iris had spent too many years separated from the man she loved, and she didn't care.
Iris's dad had stepped down as mayor at the DA's insistence. With a fresh set of eyes on Callum's case, they'd worked with a computer specialist from Oklahoma City to identify the license plate on the black truck and the teenager who'd been driving now faced hit-and-run charges.
Her dad still wasn't speaking to her. All Iris could do was pray that their relationship could someday be salvaged.
A war yell sounded, and the back door slammed, followed by wild barking. Anticipating the human projectile that was even now heading toward them, Iris sat up in time to catch Tyler as he pounced on her, Rowdy just behind. Jilly followed down the porch steps at a more sedate pace.
Iris's back twinged as she took Tyler's weight, and she might've fallen back on the blanket, but Cal's arm was there, coming around her shoulders, supporting her.
"Watch it, squirt." He hauled Tyler off her lap and began a tickle war that quickly turned into the boys chasing each other across the yard, Rowdy chasing them.
"Sorry," Jilly said as she dropped onto the blanket next to Iris. "I tried to get him to wash his hands after he used the toilet, but he just raced out of there..."
Iris laughed. In some ways, she was still getting used to living with three ornery boys. There were many eye-opening moments, including the day she'd gone to put a tray of cookies in the oven and found the mud pies they'd left there.
Jilly's treatments had worked, and she'd been pronounced cancer-free. She'd given up the head-scarves and now sported an adorable short cut.
"The tailor called, and you're due for another dress fitting," Jilly said, her eyes on the boys now turning cartwheels and competing against each other. "You changed your mind about the tuxedos yet?"
Callum leaned forward to speak directly to Jilly. "I asked her the same thing. I can drive down to the city and rent a monkey suit real easy."
Iris shook her head. "You two can gang up on me all you want, but I'm sticking with my original plan. Dark jackets over Wranglers." She planned to wear boots beneath her gown, no matter how much Jilly might complain.
Jilly sighed.
"Besides, how long do you think the boys would last in a tux?" Iris asked.
Levi had stripped off his shirt and was wrestling with his brothers, no doubt getting grass and mud ground into his hair this very moment.
"You might be right," Jilly agreed.
Callum laughed. He and Jilly had settled their differences after everything had come out. The relationship between Iris and Jilly and their father remained broken, but at least this good had come out of the situation.
The boys had gone suspiciously quiet.
"Uh oh," Cal said.
"They're planning something," Jilly agreed.
And then there was only seconds to react as the triplets ran toward the adults on the picnic blanket, yelling and whooping.
And Iris wouldn't have it any other way.