Page 47 of Paradise

“Just us, plus Robbie and Wyl. It was always going to be a small family affair,” Claudia smiled. “And Jezria’s marrying you over the com. She already okayed the additional time off, too, so no one has to worry about lost work or school projects. Just this once.”

“Wow.” Garrett sounded a little dazed. “And when are we doing this?”

“Tomorrow morning. That will give you all of today to enjoy each other’s company before the ceremony tomorrow, and then you two can leave for your honeymoon while Cody spends some quality time with us.”

Cody held Garrett’s hand tighter. “I don’t want them to go away,” he said.

“They aren’t going far.” Claudia bent over and kissed Cody’s forehead. Renee giggled in Cody’s ear. “And Wyl might have said something about going on a tank ride …”

“Really?” Cody had been asking to ride in a tank forever, and Robbie kept saying he couldn’t approve it, but apparently he had anyway. “A real tank?”

“We don’t have any fake tanks,” Miles assured him.

“That’s so … that’s so cool!”

“Yeah, yeah, tell it to Wyl and Robbie,” Garrett said mildly. “But just once, so it doesn’t go to their heads. So. Everything is all ready to go.”

“Sure is.” Claudia kissed Garrett too, also on the forehead. “You’re welcome, dear.”

“Yeah.”

“How are you guys going to spend the day?” Claudia asked, handing Renee over to Miles. The baby bumped a wide, open-mouthed smooch to her daddy’s cheek, leaving a thin line ofdrool behind. Cody made ayuckface, but Miles just smiled. “Because if you’re going to be around here, you could help me tie up the whimsy flowers that I’m going to weave through the decorative arch for tomorrow—”

“Actually, you know what, we haven’t seen the zoo yet,” Garrett said quickly. Cody pumped his free fist with triumph and jumped up and down, but just once, because he knew how to be discreet. “I think maybe we’ll go after breakfast … guys?”

“Definitely,” Daddy agreed.

Cody had never been to a zoo before. “What kind of animals do they have there?”

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” Garrett told him with a grin. Cody frowned.

“What does that even mean?”

“It’s a very, very old movie quote; I’ll explain it on the way to the zoo.”

“You guys eat first,” Miles said. “I’ll let Thérèse know she’s going with you.”

Garrett’s face fell. “Oh, come on, do we have to take Thérèse? What about Corporal Kelly?”

“He’s on patrol. I’ll get her; you guys get ready to go.”

“I like Thérèse,” Cody offered, looking up at his dads. “She’s nice.”

“Nice! She’s nice, he says.” Garrett rolled his eyes. Jonah shepherded the two of them to the table, where Claudia was laying out the breakfast she’d held back for them. It was Cody’s favorite, pancakes in the shape of fish. “Of course, you think she’s nice.”

“She is,” Cody insisted, grabbing up a fish. It was puffy and flaky, and as soon as he bit down, creamy red filling squished out into his mouth. He looked up at his dads and grinned wide. They both grimaced at him.

Awesome.

Chapter twenty-four

Jonah

Jonah thought it was kind of unfair that Garrett slept like a baby the night before their wedding.

Not that there was anything to be nervous about. Jonah reckoned that the big issues had all been dealt with—he hoped to hell they had all been dealt with—and the slate was about as clean as it could get. Claudia took care of all the details like she promised, Miles made sure he and Robbie and Wyl wouldn’t be called away unless something blew up (his words, not Jonah’s; Jonah didn’t think this family’s history with explosions was funny), and all they had to do was keep Cody occupied while it all got set up. A trip to the zoo had taken care of most of that time. The place wasn’t too big but still had far more animals than Cody was used to seeing and some interesting hybrids.

“I thought those were plants,” Cody said, watching with interest as a tigerlily pranced around a transparent greenhouse.

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