“Rachel.” Sadie laid her hand on Rachel’s shoulder.
Rachel picked at the pilling of the blanket, not able to meet Sadie’s gaze. Even a whole bottle of lavender cleanser wouldn’t make her feel better.
Sadie sucked in a breath as the only crack in her typical lawyer-inspired neutrality. “Not that I heard anything,because I’m really good at not hearing anything. Most days. That point is definitely arguable, but I stand by it. But if Ihadheard something, I’d say maybe you and I should talk about the parenting agreements you have in place with Gavin.Because I’m wondering if he might be violating a few of them?”
Ugh.
Technically, he was. Not with the dog thing, but with the constant working thing and how often he wasn’t able to fulfill the timelines he’d agreed to.
He worked a lot,though, and he did provide for the boys, so Rachel shook her head. No, she wasn’t going there.
A shuddering breath escaped from her lungs.Get yourself together, Rachel.
Gavin didn’t intend to violate the orders and,honestly, most of the time it was easier this way. Rachel was more in control when Gavin wasn’t around so much. That control allowed her to prevent everything in their lives from going totally sideways. They all just tilted a little with the chaos.
“I don’t want to do that; everything’s fine.” Rachel replied, because it was always fine. She just, sometimes, wished that things could be easy for a minute. Even a few seconds.
The baby Sadie was watching that morning got a little too close to the edge of the blanket, so Sadie reached for him and pulled him back into the center. He immediately went to work at edging toward the grass again.
Sadie patted him on the back as he started past her, then pulled him to the middle of the blanket.“If everything stops being fine, you know where to find me.”
April’s one-year-old was unloading a package of Goldfish crackers onto the blanket. “You did a great job of taking a deep breath over there.”
Rachel sighed. She had a sinking feeling down to her toes that the dogs were not going to be going to Gavin’s anymore because Dakota decreed it.
“You know your boys are going to rule the world someday, right?” Molly asked Rachel, pulling her glasses down to the tip of her nose as she glanced in the direction of the sounds of children.
Rachel had no doubt that this world domination was what they plotted late at night in their room. She’d overheard enough of their breakfast conversations to know her boys had the potential to either lead the free world or find themselves in deep, deep trouble with their shenanigans.
“They’ll figure out how to be co-presidents or something. My munchkin will be their vice-president,” Molly announced brightly.
Rachel allowed her gaze to trail to the field next to the playground where the twins had begun to coordinate a soccer game with several of the other kids from the playground area. They’d incorporated the dogs but kept them on their leashes. At least they were being responsible dog owners. Unlike their dad.
This version of the game didn’t seem to follow any of the traditional rules, but the other kids all looked to be fine with the scenario, if she were to judge by the enthusiasm with which they shouted new regulations to one another and Kellan and Brady approved or vetoed those ideas.
Her boys were tough; she gave them that. They always bounced back whenever disappointment hit. Heck, they didn’t even seem to register it most times. They just roared into the world with rose-colored glasses.
Dad can’t make the game? No worries, they got to see their uncles.
Mom burned dinner? It’s fine, they preferred cold cereal, anyway.
Her parents didn’t have a substantial relationship with them? Eh, who needed two sets of grandparents?
She blew out a breath and gnawed at her lip, hoping they’d hang on to this kind of resilience. Hopingshecould be enough for them.
The children ran back and forth between two small orange cones—she had no idea where they’d found the cones and did a quick scan of the street to ensure there weren’t any missing from a construction project.
There weren’t.
“Where’d they get the cones?” Rachel asked.
“There’s a stack by the bathrooms.” Sadie gave a pointed look to the aforementioned stack. “They asked first.”
“I said it was okay,” April added.
The children began kicking and spiking, yes, spiking the balls.
Yes, balls. This version of the game came with four balls. A soccer ball, of course. A volleyball because, why not, and two tennis balls.
