Trifecta: Stone [Completed]

Epilogue: Perfectly Warm

"Mom!" an insistent voice called to me through the door.

"Just a second," I called back.

"Mom!" my six-year-old daughter repeated.

"I heard you, Denise. I'll be out in a second."

I pulled on a sweater and made my way out of Serge's and my bedroom.

Denise was waiting in the hallway. "Look what I made," she demanded, holding up a piece of paper for my perusal.

She had drawn a picture of a wolf in a field of flowers. "It's very nice," I told her with a smile. Her drawings were becoming ever more complex with time.

"I'm going to give it to Uncle Matthias when he comes."

"I bet he'll love it. Now, I've got to go finish getting everything ready," I told her. "Go play entertain Nancy and Trevor."

She did not look very happy at my direction, but she reluctantly walked away.

I walked out of the hall and into the kitchen, as I had so many times before.

My husband was in the kitchen and he looked over at me as I entered. I smile and walked over to him and into his arms. We kissed for a long, lingering moment and then I looked up at him.

"What else needs to be done?" I asked, tilting my head.

"All the coolers are filled. Your father is outside starting the fire, Moramay is outside organizing the tables, and the kids are somewhere."

A vehicle pulled up into the driveway and peeked out the living room window. "Karen and Dan are here with their kids."

"Oh good, then their kids can keep an eye on ours."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. "You can't just expect them to do it."

"If they don't Karen, will put them to work. I'm saving them."

"Good point."

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," I called loudly.

"Hello," Karen said as she came in the house, her two younger children following her in the door. "Need some help?" she offered.

"Sure," Serge said.

"Dan and Sebastian are just taking the coolers around back."

I handed her some bowls to carry outside and she passed them to her children.

Payton whined loudly. "Mom." At thirteen he was already almost as tall as his mother.

She shook her head at his protest. "Take that outside and then you can watch the younger kids if you'd prefer."

"'Kay," he said as he made his way outside with his load.

"Do you need help?" Macy offered me. At fifteen she was very pretty. Her appearance was different than her mother's, but she retained some of Karen's softness.

I smiled at her. "You can go help with the kids outside, if you want. I think we've gotten everything handled in here."

She smiled and it reminded me of how vexed Dan was at the amount of attention she got from boys. He definitely did not find that funny.

I found his reaction hilarious.

* * *  *  *  *  * * *

We finished in the kitchen and we carried everything outside by the time our other guests began to show up. Tabitha waddled in with Bobby, who seemed to think she might break at any given moment. The only thing I was concerned might break at that moment was her water.