Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Girls, hold hands, and one of you hold mine.” They do as they’re told, linking hands as Rayne slides her tiny hand in mine. “Let’s do this.”
I might have misjudged the girls liking fishing. It’s been an hour, and they’ve already lost interest. They’re sitting on their lawn chairs with their heads tilted back, looking up at the clouds.
“You ready to head back to the house?” I ask them.
“I’m tired,” River whines.
“Me too,” Rayne agrees.
“Okay. Let’s get loaded up and we can head back and take a nap.”
“I don’t like naps.” River crosses her arms over her chest and juts out her bottom lip. It’s cute as hell, but of course, I keep that to myself.
“Okay, we’ll just relax then.” I make quick work of packing up the wagon, grateful Briar suggested it when Rayne drops a bomb on me.
“I want to ride.”
“Dazzle, the wagon is full.”
“Mommy lets us ride.” Her lip juts out to match her sister’s, and her eyes grow wet with tears.
“Right.” Mommy lets them. I take a few seconds to assess the situation. I can’t make them walk back to the house. Sure, it’s not that far, but they’re little. Quickly, I unpack the wagon. “Hop in,” I tell them.
Their frowns are turned upside down as they scramble from their chairs to climb into the wagon. “I’m going to need your help. Do you think you can help me?”
“With what?” River asks cautiously, as if she thinks I’m going to make her get back out of her cushy spot in the wagon.
“I can’t pull the wagon and carry all of our stuff. Can you be my big helpers and hold some of it for me?” I ask them.
“I like to help,” Rayne replies.
“Me too,” River agrees.
They’re missing their usual enthusiasm, so I know they’re tired. I didn’t think about them needing a nap. We’ve had a pretty exciting day so far. Rookie mistake on my part. I’ll get better at this. I hand River the tackle box while Rayne holds the bag of snacks. That leaves me with all three chairs and the cooler. “Do we have room for these?” I ask, nodding to their small chairs.
“I can hold more.” Rayne speaks up.
“Oh, me too,” River says, not one to be outdone by her sister.
I add their chairs to the wagon, sling my chair and the cooler over my shoulder, hold their poles in one hand, and begin the short trek back to the house with the wagon held in the other. It’s not far, maybe seven hundred feet or so. By the time we reach the house, their eyes are drooping. I have a feeling if I get them on the couch, or in their beds and it’s nice and quiet, they’ll both be down for the count.
Twenty minutes later, the wagon is unloaded. The supplies are back in my truck, and the girls are on the couch with a cartoon, eyes drooping, just as I suspected. I sit down on the couch, and they crawl over to me. I have one on each side, and within minutes, they’re asleep. I snap a quick picture to send to Briar and close my eyes. Sleep when they sleep, right? That’s what Roman and Emerson preached when Lilly was a baby. I figure that still fits if they’re four. Either way, I’m too comfy to move, and I don’t want to wake them, so a nap for the three of us is just what the doctor ordered.
“Ladies, you made me proud. You ate all of your dinner.” I praise the girls when I toss their paper plates in the trash. When I asked them what they wanted for dinner, they said pizza. Thirty minutes later, we had a hot delivery on the doorstep.
“It was yummy.” River smiles. She looks adorable. They both do with sauce smeared all over their faces.
“What now?” Rayne asks.
They’ve kept me hopping all day. Our nap lasted all of twenty minutes before the girls were wide awake and ready to party. I gave them horsey rides around the living room. My knees are thankful for the nice plush carpet in that room. Then we played with their Barbies, which consisted of me pushing their Barbie Jeeps around, making car noises, and the girls giggling like they were at a comedy show. After Barbies, they decided my hair needed to be done again, so it was back to the salon I went.
“Once we clean up, I have a plan.” I rub my hands together to show them my excitement, and they take the bait.
“What is it?” Rayne asks.
“I can’t tell you until you’re cleaned up and in your jammies.” It’s a little after seven, and they’re usually in bed by eight. I’m exhausted, so they have to be. I have an all-new respect for Briar doing this on her own. I know she’s had Brogan, but Briar’s their mom, and my girl deserves props.