“You don’t play with the ducks in the house!”
“Um-hmm.” He motioned his hand over to one of the bowls of water as he said, “I made ‘em a place to swim.”
“I see that.” She stood there looking around at the mess he’d made, and after several seconds, she looked back over to me and said, “How exactly did he manage all of this without you noticing he was up to something?”
“Whoa! Wait a minute.” I threw my hands up in defense. “This is my fault?”
“Well, this mess wasn’t here when I went to take my shower.”
“I told him to play in his room.”
“Well, technically, he did what you said,” Everleigh snickered. “He just brought a few friends to play along with him.”
“I wanna p’ay, too,” Mary Catherine announced as she darted into his room and started chasing one of the ducklings. “Come he-ra, ba-by duck.”
And just like that, mayhem ensued.
All the ducklings started pitter-pattering around the room at a frantic rate, dodging my precious daughter as she tried to catch them, and it wasn’t long before the first bowl of water toppled over. And then a second. In hopes of stopping the insanity, I shouted, “Hey! Hey! Knock it off.”
Sadly, I was completely ignored.
Mary Catherine continued to run amok, and it wasn’t long before Colby jumped in and joined her. Having them both running around was a disaster waiting to happen. Realizing that things were getting out of control, Everleigh raised her hands and shouted, “That’s enough!”
Both kids stopped dead in their tracks—the ducklings, too, and I don’t think I’d ever been more impressed with my wife. She squatted down so she could look both of our children in the eye as she said, “I want these ducks taken back out to the pond, and this mess cleaned up.”
Colby’s bottom lip pursed with a pout. “But Mom...”
“Now, Colby.”
“Okay.”
Without any further delay, he scooped up a handful of ducklings and started out of the room. Mary Catherine was finally able to catch one for herself, and she followed her brother outside. Everleigh and I went out to the porch, so we could keep an eye on them as they returned ducks to their nest.
And I must say, they looked pretty damn cute as they scampered down the walkway together.
Everleigh let out a deep breath and sighed, “Those two might just be the death of me.”
“They definitely keep things interesting.”
“That they do, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
“Nor would I.” I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I love those kids, and I love their momma.”
“And we love you. More each and every day.”
The End
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am blessed to have so many wonderful people who are willing to give their time and effort to making my books the best they can be. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to breathe life into my characters and share their stories with you. To the people I’ve listed below and so many others, I want to say thank you for taking this journey with me. Your support means the world to me, and I truly mean it when I say appreciate everything you do. I love you all!