“But reality is a whole different ball game.”
“Exactly.”
She released my hand. “You’re not used to it, so you’re just going to have to practice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let people help you in small ways. When someone offers to take something off your plate, let them.”
I tugged the string loose. “I can try.”
Kennedy burst out laughing. “Oh, God, you should see your face. You look like I told you to jump off the Empire State Building without a parachute.”
I scowled at my best friend. “You’re not funny. You know that, right?”
She made a pssh sound. “I’m hilarious.”
“Anna! Watch me!” Lyla yelled from the trampoline.
“I’m watching, Lyla Bean.”
She took a running start and catapulted herself into the water. My hand flew to my chest as I braced to jump in after her. Lyla popped up. “How awesome was that?”
“Super awesome,” I called back—and enough to take ten years off my life.
“Now me,” Justin said. Instead of taking a running jump, he bounced at the edge of the trampoline, getting more height with each pass until he finally launched himself into the air and flipped, landing with a splash.
“They are going to make my hair turn gray,” I told Kennedy as I clapped for Justin.
“I think that’s part of their job.”
“I’m figuring that out.”
She looked over at me. “How are they doing?”
I leaned back in my chair as Justin and Lyla raced from the trampoline to the dock and back again. “I think pretty well, all things considered. We’ve had our rocky moments, but we’re finding our way.”
“I think the only thing that truly helps in these circumstances is love and time. You’ve got the love piece handled. Now, you just have to let the time part unfold.”
I knew she was right, but I wanted every reassurance I could get that I was doing all I could for Justin and Lyla. “I second-guess just about every choice I make for them.”
“I think that’s natural, too. But especially when they unexpectedly came into your care.”
“What about you and Cain? Any word from the foster-to-adopt program?” I couldn’t imagine two people who would make better parents to a child who needed a home. But they’d had the rug ripped out from under them more than once now.
Kennedy sighed, looking out at the water. “I really thought our last placement was it, but—” She wiped at her eyes.
“Oh, Kenz.” I leaned over and took her hand, squeezing. “You are going to find the babies that were meant for you. I have no doubt. You just have to keep pushing until you do.”
“It’s so much harder than I thought it would be. And every time I have to give them back because someone changed their mind or circumstances changed, it takes a piece of me.”
“I don’t think it could be any other way. Because you love so freely.” I envied Kennedy for her ability to do that. She didn’t hold back even one piece of herself. But I knew that gift came with pain and hardship.
She took a shaky breath. “The right pairing will come. It’s just going to take time. I hate it for Cain, though. You know him. He wants to shield me from all forms of pain, and this is one area he has no control over.”
Cain was another level of overprotective when it came to Kennedy, and I was honestly surprised he’d handled this process as well as he had. But being with Kenz had changed him, helped him let go a bit. “You’ve made him loosen his hold on the reins a bit.”
Kennedy snorted. “A little, but he still wishes he could plan for every possible outcome.”
