She closed the journal, smiled, and padded out to find Jonah on a stepstool, scooping coffee as Trace helped him count. With one chubby little hand, he waved. The other spilled grounds on the counter. “Happy fourf of July,” Jonah said in a squeaky voice, still trying out new words.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Trace said, kissing her on the lips. Whispering to Baskia, he added, “We didn’t discuss what he’d call you.”
“How about he decides when he’s ready.” Baskia hadn’t thought about that. Jonah had lost his mother, but she wasn’t sure if he even knew her. If she’d learned one thing, it was that everyone needed a mom, no matter if they were related, a fabulous cook, or someone just to listen. “Good morning,” Baskia said.
“You wake,” Jonah said.
“I am, and I want to make you breakfast. Do you want to help?”
Jonah smiled. “Daddy say you bootyful sweep.”
“Beauty sleep,” Trace corrected gently, with a sheepish smile.
Baskia laughed.
“Daddy count,” Jonah said, drawing his father’s attention back to their project.
Baskia wanted to cry tears of joy at the sight of the two of them together. In Jonah’s presence, joyful smiles and an easy peacefulness suggested Trace was born to be a father. Instead of tears though, Baskia grinned, stepping closer, wondering just how big her family and heart could get.
“I like puppy. I want puppy.” Jonah said later, after they’d filled up on waffles and let Pepper clean up the scraps before setting out for a morning walk.
Baskia knelt down. “Jonah, this is Pepper. He’s your puppy.”
Jonah’s eyes got huge. “Reewy?”
“Really.”
He cheered, taking the leash from Baskia. “My puppy. My puppy.”
As they stepped outside into the warm summer sun, Baskia had never felt fuller or brighter. She had a family, big and scattered, intimate and near, but all of them, forever close to her heart.
Trace took her hand in his, Jonah and Pepper leading the way on the trail behind the cabin.
Trace leaned into Baskia. “So, where do we go from here?” he asked.
“Wherever we go, we go together.”
Acknowledgments
It is with great humility and honor that I have such a supportive group of family, friends, and colleagues to thank. To my big and littles, thank you for believing in me. Dad, your support means the world. To all my relatives and friends, near and far, thank you for cheering me on, being the first to buy copies of my novels, and for sharing this great adventure with me. God, you’re the best. And to all you readers, keep reading, keep dreaming, and keep moving mountains.
About the Author
Throughout her teens, Deirdre Riordan Hall acquired a wanderer's mindset, traveling the US and throughout Europe as far east as Turkey. Now she satisfies her traveler's heart and longing for faraway places, their unique smells and sights, customs, and languages through story and connecting with worlds—imagined or real—on the page and with readers. She lives with her family by the Pacific, spending as much time at the beach as possible, pretending to be a mermaid.
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Want more Bliss Books?
Book 1: To the Sea
Book 2: Surfaced
Book 3: In the Desert
Look for Book 4: Mirrored
Look for Kindled, the final story in the Follow your Series, December 2014.
On the Mountain (Follow your Bliss #5) Page 25