Page 13 of The Billionaire's Instant Triplets

She helped the triplets get dressed, wash up, and brush their teeth, then led them downstairs for breakfast. On the way, Jacob held up his arms to be carried. “Hold me.”

Ria scooped him up, planting a quick kiss on his downy head. Tristan might be a little too self-consciously cool for Ria’s taste, but the kids were a delight. Anyway, by the time they got downstairs, Tristan might well be sitting at the table and digging into a huge serving of pancakes.

He wasn’t. In fact, he was nowhere in sight.He probably left for work,Ria thought as she set Jacob down.

“All right, kids, today’s breakfast is pancakes!” She grinned at them, and the triplets cheered, which was adorable. “Do you like pancakes?”

“Yeah!” the kids called.

“Wike skul,” Jamie added very seriously.

“Hold that thought.” Ria winked at him as she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Tristan.

Do the triplets go to some kind of school? They keep asking about it.

She slid her phone back into her pocket. Usually, Ria was careful not to be on her phone much around the kids, though she did keep it on her most of the time for occasions like this. She turned her full attention back to cooking breakfast. One by one, she lifted the triplets onto the counter and let them request what shape of pancake they wanted then watch while she made it.

“Heawt,” Jasmine requested, so Ria made her best heart-shaped pancake.

“Dinosauw,” Jacob put in during his turn. He watched with awe as the steaming dinosaur-shaped pancake came off the griddle. Finally, Ria lifted Jamie onto the counter. He gave her a mischievous grin.

“Skuw.”

“Hold on, honey, let me see if your dad knows what that is.” Ria pulled out her phone and saw that Tristan had replied to her question.

No, they don’t go to school. They went to a nature preschool before, but it wasn’t a good fit.

Hmm. Perhaps the kids were missing their nature preschool. Still, Tristan’s reply didn’t help Ria much in her attempt to make fun pancake shapes. She made Jamie’s pancake in a blob that she hoped looked like a school to the casual observer. Jamie seemed happy, and all the triplets soon dug into their food. Ria piled her plate with the pancakes she’d made earlier and joined them for breakfast, listening to their happy babble as they all ate.

After breakfast — and a quick wash to get smears of chocolate and blueberry off the triplets’ chins — Ria decided to take everyone out for a walk. If the triplets were missing their nature preschool, a little fresh air might do them good. It was a little hard to tell which jackets and shoes belonged to which kid, but none of the triplets seemed to care, so she just helped them into whichever clothes were closest at hand and got them outside.

Despite their occasional rowdiness, the kids seemed to understand how to walk outside. Jasmine slipped her hand into Ria’s and looked up at her with wide, trusting green eyes.

“Go park?”

“Sure, honey. We can go to the park.” She squeezed Jasmine’s hand. The boys, meanwhile, had begun to wrestle a little as they walked. Ria let it play out. They were clearly careful with each other, and it might help get some of their energy out.

Ria didn’t know the neighborhood well enough to know where the parks were, so they wandered a little before coming across an open space lined with oak trees that boasted a large, colorful playground. When the triplets caught sight of it, they ran towards the playground, cheering. Thus followed a morning of pushing kids on the baby swings, catching them at the bottom of slides, and clapping for them as they carefully maneuvered the rope bridge. The air was cool and fresh, the park was almost empty, and Ria could hear birds chirping in the trees. She was happy to stay here as long as possible.

After an hour or so, the triplets began to fuss about being hungry and tired, so Ria gathered them up for the walk back home. When they were almost out of the park, Jamie’s eyes lit up.

“Skuw!”

Ria looked around. Perhaps the nature school they’d attended was nearby? But he was pointing up, towards one of the oaks. Ria followed his gaze as the other two kids began to shout, “Skuw! Skuw! Hold me — skuw!”

Finally, Ria spotted it and began to laugh. Up in the tree, sitting on a branch and cleaning its paws, was a brown, bushy-tailed squirrel with bright eyes. It appeared to be completely unaware of its young fan club on the ground.

“Right, asquirrel,”Ria said.

“Skuw!” Jamie beamed.

“Boo-tiful squw,” Jasmine put in helpfully. “Tree home?”

“I think the tree is his home, yes. So, you guys all like squirrels?”

All three dark-haired heads nodded enthusiastically.

“Well, that’s very good to know. Squirrels like to eat nuts, right?”

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