"Whew, that was close. We'll go put some antiseptic on it. "
"Logan did already. And I didn't cry. And we had submarines, except he says they're poor boys down here, but I don't see why they're poor because they have lots of stuff in them. And we had Popsicles. "
"And we got to ride in the wheelbarrow," Gavin took over the play-by-play. "And I used a real hammer. "
"Wow. You had a busy day. Isn't Logan coming in?"
"No, he said he had other stuff. And look. " Gavin dug in his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled five-dollar bill. "We each got one, because he said we worked so good we get to be cheap labor instead of slaves. "
She couldn't help it, she had to laugh. "That's quite a promotion. Congratulations. I guess we'd better go clean up. "
"Then we can eat like a bunch of barnyard pigs. " Luke put his hand in hers. "That's what Logan said when it was time for lunch. "
"Maybe we'll save the pig-eating for when you're on the job. "
They were full of Logan and their day through bath-time, through dinner. And then were too tuckered out from it all to take advantage of the extra hour she generally allowed them on Saturday nights.
They were sound asleep by nine, and for the first time in her memory, Stella felt she had nothing to do. She tried to read, she tried to work, but couldn't settle into either.
She was thrilled when she heard Lily fussing.
When she stepped into the hall, she saw Hayley heading down, trying to comfort a squalling Lily.
"She's hungry. I thought I'd curl up in the sitting room, maybe watch some TV while I feed her. "
"Mind company?"
"Twist my arm. It was lonely around here today with David off at the lake for the weekend, and you and Roz at work, the boys away. " She sat, opened her shirt and settled Lily on her breast. "There. That's better, isn't it? I put her in mat baby sling I got at the shower, and we took a nice walk. "
"It's good for both of you. What did you want to watch?"
"Nothing, really. I just wanted the voices. "
"How about one more?" Roz slipped in, walked over to Lily to smile. "I wanted to take a peek at her. Look at her go!"
"Nothing wrong with her appetite," Hayley confirmed. "She smiled at me today. I know they say it's just gas, but - "
"What do they know?" Roz sprawled in a chair. "They inside that baby's head?"
"Logan asked me to marry him. "
She didn't know why she blurted it out - hadn't known it was pushing from her brain to her tongue.
"Holy cow!" Hayley exploded, then immediately soothed Lily and lowered her voice. "When? How? Where? This is just awesome. This is the biggest of the big news. Tell us everything. "
"There's not a lot of every anything. He asked me yesterday. "
"After I went inside to put the baby down? I just knew something was up. "
"I don't think
he meant to. I think it just sort of happened, then he was irritated when I tried to point out the very rational reasons we shouldn't rush into anything. "
"What are they?" Hayley wondered.
"You've only known each other since January," Roz began, watching Stella. "You have two children. You've each been married before and bring a certain amount of baggage from those marriages. "
"Yes. " Stella let out a long sigh. "Exactly. "