The pie shop still did mostly pie. Their specialties were cherry, apple, and sometimes peach. Just the way that their father had done it. But they had expanded to cakes, cookies, and even macarons.
The cakes were black and white but they were shaped strangely. Until Jill peered closer.
They were shaped like penguin parts.
“What is this?”
“Watch,” Cori said with a grin. “Ruby, come here, baby.”
Jill turned to see a little girl with bright blond curls come running.
If Cori hadn’t called her Ruby, Jill wouldn’t have known which of the three-year-old blondes this was. Each Carmichael triplet had given birth to a daughter, all within two weeks of one another. They were cousins, but the little girls could have easily passed for triplets themselves.
Ruby was Cori and Evan’s daughter.
“Show Jill what we do with the cakes,” Cori told her daughter.
“Make pengens,” Ruby said. She took two mini cakes that looked like flippers and slid them next to a cake shaped like a penguin body.
“Oh my gosh,” Jill laughed. “You made penguin puzzle cakes.”
“I was trying to be creative. Honestly, I was making penguins and a flipper fell off. While I was using frosting to glue it back on, it occurred to me that we could just have all the pieces and parts be separate and people could put them together themselves.”
“Because heaven forbid we just have a square cake with a picture of a penguin on it,” Evan said dryly. But he was smiling as he slipped his arm around his wife’s waist.
“Oh, you love when I get creative,” Cori told him, giving him a not-at-all-subtle look.
“That I do.”
Ruby’s cousins, Cara and Michaela, joined Ruby at the table near the window and started putting their penguin cakes together as well.
Ava and Parker and Brynn and Noah joined their daughters while Cori and Evan stayed with Jill.
“So what’s this big news? I was shocked that you wanted to bring everybody in here,” Cori said.
“Sometimes there are things that happen that you need to make a big deal out of,” Jill said, thinking fondly of the Landrys.
She was getting used to that way of thinking. There was never a dull day in Autre.
A few months ago if someone had told her she’d be living in a town where chaos could erupt at any moment, she would have told them that sounded like a nightmare, but now, she was seeing it for what it was. The Landrys lived life loud, boldly, and fully. And, to their credit, when someone didn’t want to share in the loud boldness, they didn’t push. They let everyone be who they were and do things the way they needed to.
However, they did insist everyone live life fully.
Jill didn’t know if she would ever really feel like she was doing the mom thing right. She didn’t know if she would ever completely love it or would want to do it more than once. But she did know that her child would have a very full family experience. Her child would be fully loved, fully protected, and fully supported. And that was what really mattered. It might not all come from Jill—in fact, it wouldn’t all come from Jill—but that was okay.
“So how are things going? I can’t believe you’re back visiting already,” Evan said as he and Cori and Jill took chairs at the table where Jill’s mom and dad were sitting. “You just got to Louisiana with the penguins. And I know you’ve been stressed about how things are going with them. I’m surprised you would leave them already.”
“Yeah, you haven’t even finished decorating the house,” Cori said. “All that gorgeous furniture and decor I ordered for you is just sitting in that front room on a stripped down, unfinished wood floor beside unpainted walls.”
She had unwrapped one chair and a lamp, but then she’d started spending her off time at Zeke’s and…she’d basically forgotten about the chair and lamp. And everything else.
Jill nodded. “Yeah, things haven’t been going exactly according to plan. But I have a lot of help there. In fact, do you guys want a little tour of where the penguins and I are spending our time now?”
Her mother perked up. “A tour?”
“Yes. I mean, you should definitely come to Louisiana for a visit. The family there, the Landrys, own a swamp boat tour company and this petting zoo that’s turning into an animal park. There’s also a restaurant and bar that serves home-cooked authentic Cajun food. It’s quite the tourist experience. But today they’re taking the penguins on a little parade around the animal park. They’re introducing them to the other animals. We thought it would be a good enrichment activity to give them some additional stimulation. They are live streaming it as it happens. I thought maybe you guys would enjoy watching it with me.”
It had been Donovan and Charlie’s idea, of course, to do the parade today. Jill suspected it had something to do with her not being there, as a matter of fact.
She knew that Donovan thought she was being overly cautious with the penguins. He wouldn’t have done the parade if she had absolutely shut it down, of course. She had agreed to this. But she didn’t think it was a coincidence that today was the day he decided the penguins should go for the walk.
Charlie had texted her that it was going to happen and Naomi had agreed to live stream it. Of course, that wasn’t just for Jill’s benefit. They could’ve simply done that by video call or recorded it for her.
The livestream would go up online to reach out to the people following the park. Charlie felt it was a great way to give the community and their patrons a glimpse of the penguins since they were not being allowed to visit them in person.
“I’d love to see them,” her mother said.
“Absolutely. It’ll be cool to see some of the people you’re spending time with now,” Evan said.
Jill gave him a look. She had told him and Cori about Zeke. Well, that she was hooking up with the hot guy who lived next door. Who also happened to be her contractor.
Jill pulled her laptop out of her bag and set it in the middle of the table. She logged in and pulled up the channel where the livestream would be happening.
They’d already started. She knew Naomi was behind the camera. Jordan was in front of it and was already introducing what everyone was going to be seeing.
Jordan already did a number of talks for the park, educating people about the various animals and talking about the special needs that many of them had.
“There they are!” She pointed at the screen. “That’s Magellan,” she said, indicating the penguin in the lead. He was waddling along the path looking side to side. He seemed curious and she couldn’t help but smile.
“They are going to take them to meet the lemurs and the sloth. I think they’re going to also take them by the flamingos. I don’t know if they’ll go over to the otters and alpacas today or not. But we also have some red pandas that have recently joined the park and there are porcupines and hedgehogs, and a bunch of goats and other barnyard animals for them to watch and interact with.”
They watched for a little while, listening to Jordan’s explanations of what was going on. Jill supplemented Jordan’s narrative with the penguin names and who each of the humans were.
It was strange how hard her heart thumped when Zeke came on screen.