It was a beautiful day for a picnic.

After months of grueling physical rehab, studiously nursed along by Marilee and the rest of the family, Arlo had slowly regained his health. Recently, Dr. Stenersen had declared him “out of the woods.”

“Not many of my patients get so much support from their families,” she had said to Arlo as she walked him out of the appointment, glancing at the Romans who filled her waiting room.

“They’re nicer to a sonofabitch like me than I deserve,” Arlo had grumbled, although it was obvious from his smile that he was actually quite touched the doctor had praised his family.

To celebrate, the family had decided to gather at the park in the town square.

They couldn’t have picked a better day. The midday sun was high and bright in the sky, blocked occasionally by floating cumulus clouds. A cool breeze carried the scent of springtime flowers and freshly-mowed grass. Large oaks with branches that leaned all the way down to the ground provided welcome shade, as well as a chance for the bigger kids to show off their tree climbing prowess.

Sawyer carried Harper in his arms as he walked up to where the family was gathered. Remy lagged behind, holding hands with Shiloh, who stopped every few seconds to examine some intriguing insect of plant on the ground. They were the last to arrive. Getting two kids out of the house was work, and then Remy had taken her sweet time getting ready, too.

Not that Sawyer was complaining. She had ditched her at-home clothes today, and was wearing a low-cut, red cotton dress that hugged her hourglass figure in all the right places. She’d also put on a new perfume.

“You like it?” she had asked at the house, holding her wrist out to Sawyer to sniff.

He did. It smelled like cedar and jasmine and the irresistible scent of Remy’s own skin. So irresistible, in fact, that he’d picked Remy up in his arms and carried her, giggling, to their bedroom.

They were already late, he figured, so what was an extra fifteen minutes?

Sawyer slowed down to allow Remy and Shiloh to catch up with them, then grabbed his wife’s hand. She smiled at him and leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him quickly on the lips.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you back,” Sawyer replied.

“And I love what you did this morning, too,” she added mischievously.

“What did you do this morning, dad?” asked Shiloh, who apparently wasn’t as engrossed in playing with an insect crawling on his hand as he had seemed.

“I made those pancakes, remember?” Sawyer replied, winking at Remy.

“Yeah!” Shiloh yelled before launching off into the grass again.

“Good save,” Remy laughed.

They could see the family gathered around the park. Arlo was sitting under the shade of a massive oak tree with Emmy on his knee. Marilee was buzzing around a table laden with drinks and food, laughing loudly at something one of the kids had said to her.

Ashleigh was also sitting down, one hand rested on her enormous belly. She had her feet propped up on a stack of pillows resting on top of a cooler. Walker was making his way over to her with a plate full of food, and she was smiling at him happily.

Colt, Rose, and some others were buzzing around Shelby, who was holding her hand out into the bright sunlight so they could admire her new engagement ring. Even from this distance, they could see it sparkling in the light.

Wolfe had his arm around Shelby and was beaming proudly. Sawyer grinned to see his friend’s excited expression. He remembered what it had felt like when he’d proposed to Remy, like he was on top of the world. Come to think of it, he still felt like that.

As they walked up, people called out greetings and good-natured jokes.

“How y’all doing?” Sawyer said in their general direction.

“Oh man, I was worried you two had gotten lost. I was about to send out a search party,” Walker said, with a wink at Remy.

“I could use a search party to find my feet!” Ashleigh joked, rubbing her massive belly.

“They’re still down there,” Remy said with a smile. She bent down to kiss her sister-in-law fondly on the cheek.

“That is such a great dress, Remy!” Ashleigh said.

“That dress is part of the reason we’re late,” Sawyer said, with a lascivious wink at his wife.

Walker and Ashleigh laughed.

Sawyer could see Shiloh buzzing around Marilee, who was fixing him a plate.

“We had pancakes this morning, gramma!” he yelled.

“Is that ight? Well, you must be ready to eat again, since breakfast was so long ago,” Marilee replied.

“Yeah!” Shiloh shouted, then careened off in the direction of an oak tree where some other cousins were gathered.

Sawyer and Remy made their way over to Shelby and Wolfe.

“Nice ring, Shelbs, but do you have to marry this guy to get it?” Sawyer cracked.

“ ‘Fraid so,” Shelby laughed, moving over to hug Remy and Sawyer.

“Hey, I’m no fool. I told her it’s a package deal!” Wolfe said.

Everyone laughed.

“It’s so beautiful in person,” Remy commented, when Shelby held out her hand for closer examination.

Harper, staring intently at the shiny object on Shelby’s finger, cooed and reached out her hand to touch it. Shelby held her hand up close to the baby’s face so she could see it. Harper responded by adorning Shelby’s hand and ring with a long stream of drool. Everyone laughed again.

“The kid’s got great taste!” Wolfe said with a laugh as he reached out to take Harper in his arms.

“If you don’t mind holding her for a bit, Wolfe, I’m gonna go fix myself a plate,” Remy said.

“Sure thing, hon,” Wolfe responded.

“Yeah, you go on. I’ve been wanting to get some quality time with this little creature!” Shelby said.

Sawyer and Remy walked over to the table and greeted Arlo, who was still sitting quietly with Emmy on his knee. Marilee had gone off in Shiloh’s direction, probably to warn him about the hundred potential dangers of climbing a tree.

“Can I get you anything? Need me to take Emmy?” Sawyer offered his father.

“Thank you, no. We’re just hanging out over here,” Arlo replied.

Remy began to make up a plate for herself, but Sawyer wasn’t hungry just yet. He reached into the cooler and produced two beers, opened them, and handed one to his wife with a little gallant bow.

Remy giggled. “Thank you, honey. A beer seems like the perfect thing right about now,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” Sawyer replied, clinking his bottle against his wife’s.

Just then Marilee yelled out “Who wants cake?”

A swarm of kids ran over to the picnic table with all the enthusiasm an offer of an unlimited supply of sugar brings to small children. Their parents followed, pouring milk and distributing slices of cake Marilee was cutting, gossiping familiarly and laughing at each other’s jokes.

Shiloh slammed into Sawyer’s leg and began talking about how far up the oak tree he’d gotten before Gramma had made him come down with a promise of cake.

Sawyer looked over at Arlo, worried he might be annoyed by all the chaos, and was surprised to see him smiling bounced Emmy on his knee and surveyed the Roman family. Marilee turned as if in response to a tug from some invisible string between her and Arlo, and smiled broadly at the sight of him and Emmy.

Maybe the heart attack really had changed him, Sawyer thought. He would not have thought it possible, but before, Arlo would have been peeved by the crowd milling around him. He sure as hell would not have been bouncing Emmy on his knee, smiling at her delighted cries.

For the first time he could remember, Sawyer thought, his dad looked at home among his own family. The idea made him smile briefly, before his attention was drawn back to Shiloh’s chatter and the promise of another beautiful day with his family.