Life in the Wind

9

Lacey and Hailey took Riley back up to the house later for a little downtime. Riley went down for a proper nap in Lacey and Ryan's room while the 2 women sat in the shallow end of the pool with the baby monitor nearby. The 2 young girls and 3 men of the family showed back up and got in as well, swimming until it was time for dinner.

They'd decided to go to a nice restaurant and got somewhat dressed up. They only had to take Will's car with the girls and could fit Jay and Hailey while Ryan and Lacey took their car for the car seat.

They pulled up to the nice restaurant and all headed in, the adults keeping the 2 younger girls contained. As soon as they got a table for 8, they sat down and ordered drinks.

"Aunt Lacey?" The second youngest Halstead asked.

"Yes, Jamie?" Lacey looked over while she was feeding Riley her baby food.

"How did you and uncle Ryan meet?" Jamie asked, without looking up from her coloring page that doubled as her menu.

Lacey chuckled, along with Ryan. "I have aunt Hailey to thank for him. He was her partner for a while and made me have a drink with him. The rest is history,"

"It took a little convincing," Ryan chuckled but was ultimately happy they had that one drink. The one drink turned to dinners, which turned to dating, getting engaged, and then married. Now they had all they needed with their baby girl.

"It took me weeks. You're so freaking stubborn!" Hailey chuckled, letting Riley sit on her lap for a while after her food was finished.

"Those 2? Stubborn? More like impossible. They're the worst." Will chimed in, while all of them laughed at Jay and Lacey's similar stubbornness.

By the time they got their food and ate, it was almost 7 and Riley was starting to get pretty fussy. She was passed around from Hailey to Jay to Will and back to Ryan before the night ended and ended up falling asleep on her father's shoulder.

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Once they returned to the house, the guys played poker while Hailey and Lacey spent time playing a very intense game of UNO with their nieces. It was a night full of candy, pop, games, laughs, and even some playful wrestling between Will and his 2 young girls. Needless to say, he let the girls win.

"Alright girls, tomorrow we're going to the aquarium so you need to get some sleep." Lacey smiled, tucking the 2 girls into their shared big bed.

"Will Daddy come give us a kiss goodnight?" Jamie asked, Katie nodding in agreement to the question.

"I'm sure he will honey," the older woman grinned, kissing both of their cheeks before shutting the door.

Ryan was already in their room, waiting on Lacey to come in and join him. Of course, as soon as she did, she checked on Riley's sleeping form before getting in bed and sliding under the covers.

"How many you want?" Ryan asked as Lacey got comfortable beside him.

"What? Kids?" Lacey asked, chuckling as she was a little shocked at the question. Ryan nodded, running his fingers through her hair. "I don't know honestly. I know I want more than one but not for a while. I want Riley to be at least one before we start trying again."