Page 17 of One Night with Number Nineteen

And not…well, not doing it could cost me everything.

Six

Lainey

“Look at me!” Ollie says, and heart lurching, I open my mouth, take a step toward him…

And then just watch as Sawyer catches him as he leaps off a giant boulder in Luna’s back yard.

Okay, it’s less boulder than rock.

But still, my baby is only four and is launching himself off a rock.

My heart can’t handle this.

Can’t handle him growing up and being a big kid and…

Launching himself off freaking rocks!

He wriggles out of Sawyer’s grasp and runs for the rock again.

I open my mouth⁠—

But it happens again before I can stop it.

Ollie jumps.

Sawyer catches.

And their soft laughter fills the air.

It quiets the edge of my panic, allows me to see clearly, to think.

To wonder if Leo’s been supplanted as Ollie’s favorite Grizzlies player.

“Kills, doesn’t it?”

I tear my eyes away from the sight of Ollie in Sawyer’s arms and their wide smiles, and turn to Veronica.

I don’t pretend to not know what she’s talking about.

Mostly because Alex and Ryan and Rip are kicking a soccer ball around the back yard.

And seriously, I love this California weather.

It’s cool but sunny, and though we’ve had some intermittent rain over the last few days, the mild winter means that the team’s holiday party has spilled outside so everyone can enjoy the sunshine.

“How do they get so big so fast?” I murmur.

“In the blink of an eye,” she murmurs back. Then sighs. “One second, Alex was a baby. The next, he’s…” She waves her hand. “A big kid.” Another sigh. “Time flies.”

“It sure does.”

We stand in silence, watching our boys for a few more minutes.

Then I catch a flash of movement behind Veronica and feel my lips curve up.

Luna and Smitty may be loud and proud, pushy and nosy, intense and a dash demanding.