Page 31 of Dreams Do Come True

I laugh. “I had the same thought earlier. Yes, let’s set a date. We’ll be busy with the children, but Ernest, my brothers, Emily and Jody will jump at the chance of organising it.”

Kean grins. “That’s true. Shall I ask them? I can set up a group chat for it.”

I nod. “Perfect.”

Kean gives me another quick kiss and sits back in his seat and picking up his phone, sending the message. “Done. Now let’s wait and see what they say.”

We don’t have to wait long; not even a minute later, our phones start pinging.

I open the new group and laugh at Kean’s message.

Who fancies planning a wedding?

Ernest is the first to reply.

Time away going well, is it? Yes, so, so yes. Leave it with us and we’ll sort everything. Just send us the date.

Temp replies next.

About time, Cass and I have been planning your wedding since you got engaged. We’ll share our thoughts with everyone.

Cassie adds.

What Temp said. This is so exciting.

“Did you know about Temp and Cassie?” Kean asks.

I shake my head. “No, I had no idea. Pretty sure we can pick a day within the next three months.”

“Months? Oh, honey, I’m thinking weeks.”

“Yeah, okay, I can agree with that.” I look down at River, who is obviously bored with our talk and has fallen back to sleep. “Time to try the box bed out,” I say, standing up, swaddling him and laying him on the mattress.

Kean stands up. “I’m going to check on Lyric.”

“And I’ll tidy all this,” I say, collecting our dirty crockery. I hear Kean talking, so Lyric must be awake.

I chop up some chicken and a small sausage, and trying to be a responsible parent, I add some chopped carrots and cucumber. I don’t have any plastic plates; we didn’t think to buy any earlier, so I look in my cupboard and see I've kept some takeaway plastic containers. That will do for now. I put Lyric’s food in a container and set it on the table while I make him some watered-down juice. I’m just setting that on the table when Kean walks out carrying Lyric, who is clutching his bear.

“Hey, little man. Are you hungry?” I ask, dropping a kiss on his head.

He nods, then looks at me. “Mama, dada.”

I look at Kean and see sadness in his eyes.

“Sorry, Lyric, it’s just Kean and me,” I say, stroking his head.

He buries his face in his teddy and gives a loud sniff.

Kean is rubbing his back, and I’m stroking his arm.

We stand like that for a few minutes when his tummy rumbles.

Kean gasps. “Was that a tummy monster I heard?”

Lyric lifts his head up, his eyes full of tears.

“I think it was. Shall we feed your hungry monster? We don’t have a high chair, but you can sit on Kean’s lap and eat.”