make it in time,” Hannah said.
“But we want to go now,” Oliver said.
“It doesn’t start until two, and it’s only one thirty.”
“So how much more time is that?” Jeff asked.
“Thirty minutes. And it’s only a five-minute walk to the arena, so there’s plenty of time to make it there. Now sit and eat.”
They finally settled and found something to talk about while they ate their food.
“You’re good at that,” Kal said.
“At what?”
“Parenting.”
She laughed. “It doesn’t always work.”
“I don’t know. You’ve got that magic voice that makes people want to do what you ask them to do.”
She leaned into him. “Really? Does it work on you?”
“You bet your—” He looked over at the boys. “Anyway, you should try it on me sometime. Anytime.”
“So if I wanted the house painted, for instance . . .”
He cocked a brow. “Not exactly the direction I was headed.”
She gave him a small smile. “I know. Come on. Let’s get these boys into their costumes.”
On the way to the costume contest, Kal got a text from Jackson.
“Jackson and Becks are here. I let them know where we were headed so they could meet us there.”
“Oh, good.”
Kal went into the men’s restroom with Oliver and Jeff while they changed into their costumes. When they came out, Iron Man and Black Panther were outfitted in full glory.
“My two favorite superheroes, ready to head into action,” Kal said, toting both their backpacks.
The boys struck fighting poses.
“I feel protected already,” Hannah said.
“We’re ready to kick some butt,” Oliver said.
“I’m so glad we have superheroes here to protect us.” Jackson leveled a grin at the boys as he approached.
“Me, too,” Becks said. “Nice costumes.”
Hannah stood. “Oliver, Jeff, this is Kal’s brother, Jackson, and Becks, his fiancée.”
“What’s a fiancée?” Jeff asked.
“That means we’re getting married,” Becks said.
“Oh. I knew that.”
Hannah smiled.
“How come you’re brothers but you aren’t the same color?” Jeff asked.
“Because we were adopted together,” Kal said. “We didn’t have the same parents when we were born. But we grew up together. We lived together. That made us brothers.”
“That’s so cool,” Oliver said. “Does that mean Jeff and I can be brothers now?”
Hannah smiled. “Not exactly. You have me and Jeff has his parents. And the two of you don’t live together. But you can be best friends.”
Oliver scrunched his nose as he thought. “I guess that’s okay. Mom, can we go now? I don’t want to miss the contest.”
“Sure.”
They all made their way to the entry point near the stage. There were quite a few kids entering the contest, so Hannah, with Kal’s help, registered both Oliver and Jeff. They were led to a gate where they’d go up on stage to show off their costumes.
Everyone took a seat, and the parade of costumes began.
“There are some really cute kids up there,” Becks said. “Yours included, Hannah.”
“Thanks.” Becks was right about that. She enjoyed watching kids of all ages walk across the viewing area. She clapped for all of them.
In the end, no one was singled out as the best. All the kids received a bag of treats and an award badge, which Hannah appreciated. Best of all, both boys were thrilled and already digging into their bags, which meant the adults could wander over to the wine and beer area without the boys complaining about it.
Kal got a beer and Hannah a cup of wine, and then they walked around the vendor booths to see what was being offered. Nothing she really wanted, actually, but it was still fun to browse to see what crafty items people made. She sniffed some soaps, ogled quilts, ran her fingers over some amazing woodcrafts and pondered buying a pink flamingo for her mother’s front yard.
“Does she like flamingos?” Becks asked.
“She’s crazy about them. But shockingly, she doesn’t have one in her front yard. And this one is adorable.” It was made out of brass and wasn’t pink, which was what made it so unusual and unique. She knew her mother would love it.
“Grandma would like that one,” Oliver said. “We should buy it.”
“Oh, we should, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re right. We totally should.” She pointed to the flamingo and dug the money out of her purse. The vendor wrapped it up nicely for her and put it in a bag.
“Cute flamingo,” Kal said as they continued to walk along.
“I hadn’t intended to buy anything. But my mom will love it.”
She stopped at another vendor that sold spices. She sniffed a few of them and loved the way they smelled. She could already imagine the different