“You’re not old, Jenny,” Ashleigh said with an annoyed glance at Alex.

“You’re my new best friend, Ash,” Jenny said.

The dark-haired little girl, who was the spitting image of her gorgeous mother, smiled up at Jenny. “BFFs.”

“Forever,” Jenny said. “Do you think Mommy will be surprised to find out the party is for her?”

“Yep. Auntie Maddie told her it was a cookout. She lied, but it was a good lie.”

“That’s right. She lied so she could surprise Mommy, but Auntie Maddie wouldn’t lie to your mommy about something important.”

“I know. Can we go play with the horseshoes?”

“As long as you stay right there where I can see you, and don’t throw the horseshoes at each other.”

Holding hands, Thomas and Ashleigh scampered off, leaving Jenny and Alex with Hailey and Holden, who sat in a bouncy chair.

“Don’t tell me you’ve given up on the idea of having kids of your own,” Alex said as he took a seat on the blanket.

“Not entirely, but I’ve tried to be realistic about it. I’m getting older every day, and it’s not something I’d do by myself. I’d be a terrible single mom.”

“No, you wouldn’t.” Alex held out a finger to Holden, who curled his pudgy fist around it. “I want kids. I want a family of my own.”

As she listened to him and watched his interaction with Holden, Jenny held her breath, waiting to hear what else he would say.

“I bet we’d make really cute babies together.”

Okay, that was unexpected. She swallowed hard. “You do?”

Nodding, he reached across the blanket for her hand. “You don’t think so?”

“I haven’t really thought about it, but now that you mention it, they probably would be pretty cute.” Her eyes filled, and she looked away, desperately trying to rein in her emotions.

“What?”

She shook her head.

“Tell me.”

“You make me want things I long ago gave up on hoping for.”

“You make me want things, too. The same things, I suspect.”

“We shouldn’t even be talking about this,” she said with a nervous laugh. “It’s far too soon.”

“No, it isn’t. We aren’t kids. We’ve both been around long enough to know when something special comes along. Who says we have to spend two years together before it’s acceptable to have this conversation?”

“I never said anything about two years, but two months might be practical.”

“Screw practical.”

“Don’t swear in front of the babies.”

“Don’t dodge the issue.”

“Maybe we could continue this conversation later?”

“Yes, I believe we will continue this later.”