By late afternoon, shadows stretched long across the grass and the air cooled. The boys had slowed down, collapsing onto the blanket in a tangle of limbs and crumbs.
“Alright,” I sighed. “Pack it up before someone falls asleep right here.”
Jordan stood, dusting off his jeans. “I’ll grab the car. You herd the gremlins.”
While he carried the cooler back, I checked my phone again. Nothing. No ‘good girl,’ demands or rules, just silence. Somehow, that burned more than any order he could’ve sent.
By the time we got home, the spell of the park had thinned. The boys argued about which movie to watch, then fell asleep halfway through an animated dragon battle. I carried them one by one to their beds, smoothing curls back, tucking blankets up to chins that still looked too small for all the res
