Page 51 of Their Little Foursome

Blake started to apologize, but his Daddy cut him off. “Nope, this one is all on me, buddy. I’m sorry for the mess, Tay.”

“No worries, Sir,” Tay said as they began to press toweling on the tabletop to mop up the lemonade. “I must say, Blake, I believe you could give Moby Dick a run for his money.”

“I know!” Lori pushed her palms against the table to lean back as far as she could. “Wow, I think he spurted on the ceili…”Her screech had their Daddy juggling Blake while reaching out to grab the back of Lori’s chair before it toppled to the floor.

His Daddy didn’t return Blake to his chair until after he proved he could breathe by inhaling and exhaling deeply three times. Once Blake was settled, he looked up and said, “Thanks…Lisa.”

His Daddy chuckled and Lori gave them both a look. “Who’s Lisa?”

“A close personal friend,” Gordon said, giving Blake a wink and ruffling his curls before returning to his chair. “Now, where were we?”

“I do believe you owe our Little boy a meatball,” Beverly said.

Lori gasped and Blake stared in fascination at the sight of their Mommy’s fork as it paused in mid-air.

“What? You asked where we were before the fountain of youth erupted. I’m just reminding you of your part of the bargain.”

“And I thank you for doing so, but, babe, if you try to put that in your mouth, I’m not sure even I will be able to help.”

“Huh? Put what?”

“That!” Blake and Lori both pointed and shouted at the same time.

Their Mommy looked to where she’d used her spoon and fork to twirl every single noodle of spaghetti in her bowl into one giant nest of pasta. She managed a meek, “Oops,” before laughing and using her spoon to push the strands off the fork and back into the bowl only to start twirling once again.

Blake smiled as his Daddy bent to kiss her cheek, wipe a smudge of sauce from her chin and then spear a huge meatball and lean over to transfer it to Blake’s plate. Using his fork as a baton, he pointed at the Littles’ plates and said, “Bon appétit!”

Thinking this had to be the most fun he’d ever had eating, Blake grinned as he bit into the meatball. He’d admit it wasn’tbad but it couldn’t hold a candle to a nugget that looked like his Tyrannosaurus Rex treat jar.

“These really do taste like chicken,” Lori declared, walking her now three-legged stegosaurus across her plate.

“Duh, theyarechicken,” Blake said, forgetting all about his sore bottom when she looked at him with wide emerald-green eyes, her chin quivering. “Oh, it’s okay. Don’t cry, I didn’t mean?—”

“Got ya,” Lori shouted before she burst out laughing.

Blake could only stare as she kept giggling every time she even looked at a dino nugget. “Good grief,” he muttered, shaking his head.

He forgot about nuggets when Tay called out, “Happy Adoption Day” as they and Chef Guilia approached the table carrying a tray.

“Wow!” Lori said.

“Double wow,” Mommy said.

“Triple,” Daddy offered.

“Quadruple wow,” Blake said. “That’s one wow for each of us.” He was pretty sure every eye in the restaurant was locked on the dozen sparklers that had been stuck in the biggest bowl of ice cream he’d ever seen. At the sizzle of sparks flying, he started smiling and when he caught the first crackle and pop, he started giggling. Pretty soon, both he and Lori were holding their sides as the giggles poured from them.

“I do believe someone is overtired,” Gordon said.

“Not to mention overstimulated,” Beverly added.

Their Mommy looked at her watch and Blake saw her look of surprise. “Goodness, the Littles should have been napping for an hour by now.”

“But we have to eat ice cream first!” Lori declared, the severity of the conversation snapping her out of her giggle fest.

“Lori’s right. It wouldn’t be polite not to eat Chef Guilia’s ice cream. It’s homemade! She has to turn the crank for hours,” Blake said.

“Well, not exactly,” Tay said. “But I promise Chef Guilia puts all of her heart into making it.” When the last sputter was heard and the final spark went out, the tray was set down in the center of their table.

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