“Well, I suppose just this once, but make sure your sister is strapped in tight.”

Tarkan leaned over the baby, checking on her car seat, which was strapped to the seat. Tianna waved her arms in the air, excited that her big brother was paying attention to her. At nine, Tarkan was becoming more independent and didn’t often have time for his younger sisters who were five and two.

Yasmin prepped the plane for landing, zeroing in on the small island, which was now easily visible. She felt the growing excitement in her children as they neared Isla Narina. They loved their second home as much as their parents and were ecstatic that the family had planned a month’s vacation on the sandy stretch of land.

“There’s the house!” Astrid called out.

Excitement lit a flame in Yasmin and her belly did a flip-flop, the same as it did every time she was about to see her handsome husband. She turned the plane toward the house, dipping lower in the sky and scanning the ground. She could see the work crew Volkan had hired to update the pool area.

He’d rebuilt the house shortly after the fire, but the pool hadn’t been updated at the time and was now in need of some TLC. Yasmin was pleased that it would be finished within the next few days, which would give the kids plenty of pool time while they were on the island.

“I see Nene!”

Yasmin leaned to look out her side window at the woman waving frantically at the small plane. It looked like Narin was taking a walk on the beach and gathering seashells if the bucket she was holding was any indication. Narin had come over with Volkan a few days earlier to help oversee the pool renovation.

“Here we go! And look!” Yasmin called back to the children, pointing out the window. “Daddy’s waving at us!”

She tilted the plane’s wing and flew low over the house where Volkan was standing. The children screamed and waved at him. Yasmin made eye contact with her husband and grinned mischievously. He waggled his finger at her, indicating she was in deep trouble, but the smile stretching his mouth told her he was happy to see her.

Volkan taught her how to fly after Tarkan was born, which Yasmin took to like a fish to water. She loved hurtling through the open sky, skipping along the clouds and aiming for the endless horizon beyond. These days, Yasmin flew more often than Volkan, especially since he purchased a Cessna for her thirtieth birthday, which took most of the sting out of turning the big 3-0.