“Good man.” Josh stood again, patting his helmeted head. “Ready to get in our boat?”
“Mama.” Julian spun, looking up at me. “Will you be at the end?”
“Yes. We’re going to walk to the finish line.” I pointed at the girls. “You okay with that?”
“Yup. Go, Mama. I want you to see me win.”
Forcing a smile, I took a step back.
I wrung my hands as Josh picked him up to carry him to the edge of the water. Holding my sixty-pound child like this only highlighted just how thick his arms were.
They were like the rest of him. Sturdy. Strong. Thick and manly. Capable. He could fix things and build things and probably wrestle a bear if necessary.
And the way his biceps flexed and the sleeves of his T-shirt clung to him made my heart thud heavily. Or maybe that was terror, because he was about to put my sweet boy in a fucking floating pumpkin.
He ducked, talking to Julian, then handed him to Jasper, who was volunteering. Then he pulled himself into the pumpkin.
Jasper helped Julian in, and my little guy slid in front of Josh, then the two of them grabbed their paddles. Julian waswide-eyed and focused, but there wasn’t an ounce of panic on his face. He wasn’t overwhelmed. He was alive.
Tears filled my eyes, making my vision blurry.
“Come on, Mom. We gotta go.” Maggie tugged on my arm.
The two of us jogged to catch up with Chloe and Ellie, who were headed to the viewing area by the finish line, but I turned back halfway there to check on Julian.
The massive man was shoved into a lumpy pumpkin, carefully protecting my overjoyed son whose smile was so big, it looked like he’d already won.
A buzzer sounded, and the pumpkins were cut loose, paddles flying and colorful gourds wobbling in the water.
One painted with black and white stripes capsized almost immediately, and the firefighters pulled its occupants out quickly.
The crowd was cheering, and Maggie, Ellie, and Simone were screaming “Jul-i-an. Jul-i-an” over and over.
Water splashed up around the pumpkin, making it hard to see his face, but they were paddling hard, Julian’s tiny arms to Josh’s huge ones, and they were moving pretty quickly.
I inched closer to the water’s edge, not caring if my sneakers got soaked. “Come on,” I shouted. “You can do it.”
Another boat capsized, and one near them wobbled, slowing them down. Within seconds, three boats had made it out of the fray and were ahead, and Josh and Julian were in control of one of them.
The first boat listed, then tipped, the adult paddling on one side making it worse.
It gave Josh and Julian the opportunity to pull ahead.
Ellie grabbed my hand and squeezed, screaming her lungs out for her brother, whose little face was soaking wet but smiling.
My heart soared at the expression. God, I was so damn proud of him.
“Go,” we called as Josh’s muscular arms powered them forward, so close to the finish.
Moments later, they were crossing the finish line in second place.
Josh immediately handed his paddle to a volunteer who’d approached to steady the pumpkin while the firefighters helped them out of their boats.
He scooped Julian up, the two of them blurry as tears filled my eyes and spilled over my lashes. It was a strange sensation, being so happy while also being this tired and overwhelmed.
As Josh waded out of the water, holding a cheering Julian in his arms, my emotions took over completely, and I ran to them, throwing my arms around them.
“You were both amazing,” I cried, barely feeling the freezing water seeping through my clothing. “I am so proud.”