“It’s okay, Sawyer.” Vida took Sawyer’s arm, keeping her from taking the phone.

Casey’s eyes rose, seeing the fear in Vida and Sawyer’s expressions. Penni had paled, sensing she had done something terribly wrong.

Casey glanced back down at the picture before handing it back to Penni.

“It seems as if you all had a good time.” Casey’s voice was hoarse with emotion. “I need to check on Max.” She left them staring after her as she stepped out onto the back porch, sliding the door closed. Then she walked to the end of the deck and leaned against the railing. Her hands clenched the smooth wood as she looked toward Cole, who was jumping off the diving board.

He would have found joy in knowing the little girl he had tried to help years ago had found happiness. The Cole she had grown up with was gone forever, but in his place was intrinsically the same person—a kind and loving man. If he had been given the choice to save himself or someone else, Cole would have put himself second. Casey accepted that. Of course, like all families that had to deal with challenges, the choice hadn’t been theirs to make.

Shaking those thoughts away, a smile tugged at her lips. The backyard was filled with family and friends who were celebrating Max’s birthday. The pool was practically overflowing, with several of the Predators prowling around, keeping an eye on everyone’s safety.

At first, she had been terrified of having a pool; however, the safeguard of the fence with not one but three alarms installed by Max had swayed her, and the enjoyment the children and Cole got from it had proven to be worth giving in to her husband’s coaxing.

Max was standing beside the table, feeding the apple of her daddy’s eye a bite of chocolate cake. The fifteen-month-old toddler was perched on her daddy’s hip in her poofy dress with a big red flower headband circling her peach fuzz blond hair. She wore her usual pink bandana tied around her neck to catch the drool that constantly clung to her chin. She could rip a bib off in a second with her flailing arms. As a result, the bandana had saved more than one dress, no thanks to the father spoiling her rotten. Joy gazed at Max with the wonder only a child could find, her chubby hands cupping her father’s cheeks as her forehead rested on his. Her little rosebud lips giving her hero a kiss. It was a special moment that was gone to soon when Joy’s attention returned to her second favorite thing in the world. Chocolate cake.

Casey’s gaze scanned over the rest of the yard, coming to rest on their three-year-old daughter. Her hand was being held by Maxie as they walked toward their father. Sky grabbed her father’s jeans, tugging at his pants. When Max looked down, Sky raised her arms into the air.

Like father, like daughter; Sky was her father’s special angel. Her large husband’s strength and encouragement had given her the reassurance to quit work and fill their lives with those with cognitive dysfunctions who needed a home, and they had fallen in love with Sky when she had been placed in their home through foster care. Her birth mother had not been able to deal with a child with Down syndrome, so the open adoption had given them all the best of both worlds.

Max bent, lifting her into his free arm, and the two girls giggled as Max took turns blowing bubbles into their chubby necks. He easily held his two daughters close as Maxie jumped back into the water with a teasing shout at her father.

Casey smiled, glancing once again at the large group spread out around her. She knew exactly what she was looking at in the backyard filled with family and friends. Writers, poets, and lovers had attempted to describe it throughout the centuries, but it defied description with words. The intangible feeling that had tears of happiness clinging to her eyelashes would never be able to explain the full wealth of its meaning. To put it simply, this was… love.