All They Wanted (Wanted 5.6)

Ari wiped a tear from her face.

I nodded. “I’m all about that promise, Jeff.”

“Same here, I think that’s a great idea,” Josh said as he leaned down and kissed Heather’s forehead.

We all turned and faced the river. Before I knew it, we stood in a line, our arms all wrapped around the person next to them as we looked out over the scenery.

“What do you think it will be like?” Ellie asked with a wide grin. “I can’t help but wonder how many kids each of us will have and how many kids they’ll have. Will they grow up and move away or stay close by us?”

“I’m going to say, after this, I’m think we’ll stick to the two we’re having,” Heather said with a light sigh.

Everyone laughed.

Ari peeked up to Jeff. “I think two sounds about right for us as well.”

Ellie dropped her head against my shoulder. “Two seems to be the magic number. If we’re blessed with another baby, I won’t argue.”

“Then it’s settled. Someday we’ll be back with the whole gang here at this park,” Jeff said putting his hand out. We each placed our hand over the others as we formed a circle.

“To the promise,” Ari said with a wide grin.

Five voices all responded at once.

“To the promise.”

“I’m so excited I could scream.”

I chuckled and took Ellie’s hand. “So am I, sweetheart. We’ve been waiting a long time for this to happen.”

“We sure have. I can’t believe we were able to get the same campsites. It was smart of Jeff to call up last year and reserve all of them. And we got them all in that same area. I can’t wait to see the kids playing.”

Reaching for her hand, I brought it up and kissed the back of it. My heart was filled with an unbelievable happiness. “It’s going to be a great weekend.”

I pulled into the same campsite we had camped at over twenty years ago. “It looks the same.”

Ellie chuckled. “Do you remember the mountain lion?”

“Yes, and don’t remind Josh. It took that bastard fifteen years before he finally stopped telling that story.”

“Trust me, I won’t have to remind him … he already mentioned to it Heather the other day. She told me.”

Rolling my eyes, I got out of the truck. “Great.”

We both stood and looked at the campsite and then glanced back to the fifth-wheel we had bought a few years back. “I’m glad we wised up a few years back and gave up tent camping.”

Ellie nodded in agreement. “You know, Anissa’s going to want to spend the night with us.”

That warm feeling settled in my body like a soft blanket. “And that’s totally fine with me.”

Laughing, Ellie shook her head. “That little girl has you wrapped around her finger. Lauren told me about the pony.”

“She wanted it!”

With her hands on her hips, Ellie tilted her head and gave me that look. The one where she was right and I was wrong, and she wanted me to admit it.

“Fine, maybe I shouldn’t have bought it without talking to Colt and Lauren first, but Hunter, Bayli, and Joshua all have a horse. Why couldn’t Anissa?”

“You make a good point on that, but next time, save something like that for Christmas or her birthday. And for goodness sakes, talk to the kids first, Gunner.”