“Alright, you’re on.”
Landon climbed up the four rocks before turning over her shoulder. “Jalen, we’re going to race; tell us when to go.”
“On your mark, get set, go!” Jalen called.
He and Landon both took off up the rock wall. He had not been expecting her to scurry up it so quickly. He could keep up with her because of his height, but she was moving. They reached the top simultaneously, and Landon laughed.
“I almost had you.”
“You were pretty close, kiddo.”
They propelled back down, and the group headed toward the exit once their harnesses were taken off them. They’d been there several hours, and Rohan was sure they’d all had fun but were tired. When they got to the parking lot, they climbed into Jalen’s vehicle, with Rohan behind the wheel, and headed back toward her apartment.
????????????
Jalen had just finished making an account for Landon to take her permit test when Alynn came down the hall and sat beside her. She and the twins had headed straight to their room when they entered the apartment twenty minutes ago.
“Jalen, can I sleep over tonight?” Alynn asked.
“I don’t mind, sweetie,” Jalen responded, placing the laptop on the side table. “But we need to ask Trent and make sure he’s okay with it.”
“Okay, can I call him?”
“Sure,” Jalen responded, handing the little girl her phone as Rohan walked back into the living room from the kitchen.
He handed Jalen a bowl of ice cream before going down the hall to get the other three girls. Jalen listened to Alynn’s side of the conversation before she held the phone out to her.
“My dad wants to talk to you.”
She took the phone and brought it to her ear as everyone came down the hall. “Hey, Trent,” she greeted as Alynn bounded off with the others to get her bowl of ice cream.
“Hey, did you guys have fun today?”
“We did. We spent a few hours at the adventure park, and now they’re eating ice cream, and we’ll probably watch a movie.”
“Are you sure it’s okay for Alynn to stay?”
“Of course, as long as she has your permission. She’s always welcome.”
“Okay, I can pick her up in the morning before I head to work.”
Jalen shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. She knew he went to work at the crack of dawn some days. “She can stay with Landon and the twins, and I can bring her home when I get off. Or, if you’d be more comfortable, I can drop her off with Rohan or Vivian tomorrow morning on my way to work; that way, she can sleep longer.”
“Either of those works. I’ll drop some clothes by later,” Trent responded. They said their goodbyes and hung up.
Jalen stood, going into the kitchen, where the girls made their bowls of ice cream and added a few different toppings Rohan had set out on the counters. She took the whipped cream bottle from Omari as she covered half her bowl with it and handed it to Landon, who was farthest away from her.
“Alynn, Trent said he’d come by later and bring you some clothes. You can hang out here with Landon and the twins tomorrow while I’m at work.” She turned to Landon. “If you’re okay with babysitting one more.”
“Yeah, that’s cool,” Landon responded. “We’re going to roll off some of the craft paper and make a welcome home sign for Mikal and Kodi, and I told them we could make rice crispy treats if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine. Just be careful with the marshmallows,” Jalen responded as she passed Nathan the sprinkles she was reaching for.
When everyone had their ice cream made to their liking, they went into the living room, and Jalen startedCoco. She figured she would choose and skip the debate that could break out. The girls sang along to the songs, which quickly turned into dancing when their ice cream was finished.
Landon, who’d been lying on the floor, got up and sat on the loveseat, giving them room to move around. As the performances continued, Jalen rounded up all the bowls and took them into the kitchen. When Rohan walked in, she’d just started washing them, and he took the spot next to her to rinse.
“What time does their flight land on Tuesday?” he questioned as he dried his hands.
