We all look at her. Even the kids.
“Mom?” Novan says, frowning. “I don’t think that’s possible. Uncle Noaz has… no mommy parts.”
I chuckle, hiding it in Malin’s shoulder.
“Oh, I know that. I’m just saying. Look how beautiful they are. Don’t you think they’d look radiant with a baby belly?” Jessica asks.
Novan looks at Noaz. The rest of us do too. Their hair is up in an elastic, curls framing their beautiful features. Makeup perfect though light. Not covering up their face, but highlighting their eyes, lips, and cheekbones with natural contouring. They wear a shirt, sandals, and a tank with thin straps over their shoulders and crossing over their back, which is otherwise wide open.
“Yes,” Greylyn agrees. “Someday, when I’m older, I’m going to make it so everyone can have babies. Even those who weren’t born with mommy parts on the inside.”
Both of her parents are smiling at her, though her eyes are on Noaz.
“Somehow, I don’t doubt that,” Jessica says quietly. “She’s going to be the first ruler of the world.”
“It was always meant to be a Van Doren,” Oakley says as he drops to the sand at Jessica’s feet and holds his hands out for baby snuggles. I’m not sure how much of the conversation he heard, but I don’t disagree.
Jessica shifts to hand him Brynlee. As soon as her arms are free, Novan climbs into her lap. She’s a good mom. All her kids get cuddles whenever they want them.
“Look, Uncle Malin,” Emerson calls and holds up a big box with Briar’s help. It’s a water float of some kind. “Want to play in this after?”
“Yes!” Malin calls back. “We’ll inflate it while we eat.”
“Yessss,” Emerson hisses.
“What is it?” Novan asks.
“It looks like one of those bounce houses, but it’s meant for the water,” Jessica says.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Jalon says.
“And now we know who got it for him,” Oakley says, laughing.
“This is so cool. Thank you, Grandpa Jalon,” Emerson shouts above the crowd. He’s no longer looking at the float but atsomething else in his lap. Both of his parents are bent over his shoulders. His siblings are kneeling in front of him, looking at it.
“What is it?” Malin asks.
“I named a star cluster after him. I tried to buy a galaxy, but NASA is a little selfish,” Jalon says.
“Ah. That explains your move to push the advancement of our space program as a priority,” Levis says.
“I don’t like being told I can’t have something,” Jalon says, shrugging. “Seems to me like a lost revenue stream not selling the naming rights of galaxies.”
“He’s not good with the word ‘no,’” Levis muses.
“Not true. I’ll accept a no in most circumstances. This is just not one of them.”
I chuckle.
We stay at the lake for hours. The sun is beginning to set when the family begins packing up. Malin and I didn’t drive; instead, we chose to walk from our cabin in the woods to the lake. It’s an almost forty-minute walk, but it’s peaceful as we follow the paved road around the lake and then through the trees.
“You have a good time?” I ask.
“Mhm,” Malin answers. His fingers tighten around mine. “Did you?”
“Of course.”
“You didn’t want to try the float course,” he says.
