Eric takes Kaya from my arms and holds her high in the air. “Hey little beauty! You wanna stay with Uncle Eric while Mommy and Daddy have dinner on a floaty?”

Laughing I tell him, “It’s not a floaty.”

Eric smiles at my two-year-old daughter. “It’s a floating pontoon, which is the same thing to you, Kaya, huh?” She’s riveted by him, reaching for his face with little to no dexterity, just waving her hand at him. He leans in and nibbles on it. “Got you!” She giggles and that lights his face up. “She loves me.”

“She barely knows who you are,” I mutter, rolling my eyes as I head to my wife.

Behind me I hear my brother say, “Your daddy’s a jerk, isn’t he? Yes he is! Yes he is!”

“Eric!”

He laughs, “I’m just kidding, Kaya! He paid for all of us to come to Turtle Island so he’s a very nice jerk, isn’t he?”

Shaking my head on a lopsided grin I stroll up to Hannah, Emma, Sofia Sol, and Charlie, all in beautiful sundresses with tropical, fresh flowers pinned in their hair.

On this trip to Fiji for Charlie’s birthday I brought Emma, Eric, Ben, Hannah, Gabriel, Elijah, and Sofia Sol — the group who grew up together. Who played on Uncle Jaxson’s farm on hundreds of occasions. Who vacationed at Myrtle Beach together, the only time Sofia was able to join us when we traveled. Who I could trust with my life, and have. These people are the ones who if anything happened to them, it would happen to me, too.

Since falling in love and having a daughter, with a son on the way, I’ve opened up more. I now believe that soulmates aren’t just romantic relationships. They exist in friendships and family, too, because I’ve felt it with these guys. I’d do anything for them. Anything. And when they are in pain or joy, I feel it with them.

A couple have found their better halves and they’re here, too. A couple of them are searching for love, and a couple aren’t looking at all. Elijah brags about having no interest in settling down, much like his Senator father did. Sofia Sol insists she will never marry or have children, but she’s the first to reach for Hannah’s baby, Clara.

I just think you can’t plan these things, and that’s the best part about them.

“You ready, Highness?” I ask my wife as I slip my arm around her.

She leans into me as my sister and cousins smile. Sofia motions to the long table all set up for dinner on the white sand beach. “Look at this spread! You’re missing out!”

Emma mutters, “Yeah, right. They’ve eaten with us the past four nights out here. They’re over it.”

Sofia gives her a look. “You’re kidding right?”

“Totally kidding. Nobody could get over how beautiful this is.”

Hannah smiles, “You guys have fun out there. Happy Birthday, Charlie.”

“Thank you!” My wife takes my offered hand and lets me guide her down the dock.

A smiling native — they all smile here, and I can’t blame them — spots us and waves from the boat that will take us to the floating pontoon.

As I guide Charlie carefully aboard, she dryly says, “I’m only four months pregnant, Ethan. Don’t be so ginger with me.”

“You’re the ginger, Red.”

Shaking her head on an amused smile, she takes a seat next to me, our fingers entwining as the boat pulls away for the private beach. Absently she plays with the wedding ring on my finger, and her cobalt eyes match the darkening sky as she gazes out.

Turtle Island is privately owned and can accommodate only twenty-eight people so it’s very remote and intimate. There are several ways to dine. The family has preferred a long table on the sand, and that’s where we’ve spent our evenings until tonight. But what I’ve got in store for my wife is extra special.

Charlie’s breath hitches as the floating pontoon comes into view with glowing lanterns lining all four sides and a single table and two chairs set center stage. “I’ve never seen anything so romantic.”

Can I pat myself on the back now?

The dinner comes in courses, boated out to us each time with wines that complement each dish. All the seafood is fresh caught here on Turtle Island, the chef a descendant of the chef before him. There isn’t one bite that isn’t mouth watering delicious.

When he brings a slice of chocolate cake with a candle and leaves us matches to light it when we want to, Charlie and I tell him how much we loved it all. He just beams at us and floats away, saying he’ll be back in a while.

Under a growing blanket of stars, the clear ocean shimmering around us on all sides, I rest my hand across the table and ask, “You having fun on your birthday, Mrs. Cocker?”

The sweetest smile appears as she caresses my open palm. “There was this moment, Ethan, when you were asleep last week. Kaya was between us and the two of you were on your backs, her little hand over your ribs. She adjusted her weight and made this little soft lip smacking sound. And then you did the exact same thing.” Charlie pauses, emotion in her voice. “I can’t describe the love I felt as I watched you guys. And now that we have a little boy coming, I don’t know how my heart is going to take it. So, my real birthday isn’t today, Ethan. It’s the day I walked into that break room. That’s when I was born.”

Speechless I stand up and walk around the table, bringing my wife to her feet. Cupping her chin I kiss her and pull her close, murmuring, “I’m going to spend the rest of my life making you feel like that.”

Burrowing into me, she whispers, “Then we can throw away that candle because I don’t need to make a wish.”