"You want us to watch Shannon until the fireworks are over, and then to bring her home?" Ryan Cameron didn't really have a question about what Rev. Powell wanted; he just needed a minute to consider the consequences. It was Saturday, July 4, and the fireworks were scheduled for later that night.

"Oh could I, Mr. Cameron?" Shannon Powell begged.

"I would appreciate it," Rev. Powell said. "I don't have to read my sermon from the pulpit, but I do have to write it down. And today I've decided that the approach I had written Thursday is really going at it backwards. I don't want to take Shannon away from the fireworks."

Ryan couldn't see any grounds for refusal, even if he'd wanted to. And eight-year-old Shannon was basically a good kid, especially for a PK. "Just stay close to us, Shannon," Laura said. Finding someone else's kid among a crowd in the dark was murder. Somehow, you knew your own by the way she moved. Not that he was going to search for Crystal tonight; she and JG would meet them when the fireworks were over.

He and Laura waved Rev. and Mrs. Powell goodbye, agreed with Shannon on two rendezvous, and settled down while she took a last swim. It had been a decade since they'd had an eight-year-old of their own, and they rather enjoyed the limited and temporary possession. Crystal didn't quite shut them out of her life, but she no longer enjoyed sharing the details with them. For that matter, she no longer enjoyed finding an odd-shaped rock.

Crystal and JG returned for a snack just before sunset, and Ryan told them about Shannon. "I could go back with my parents," said JG. His doleful tone implied the sacrifice involved in spending the last 45 minutes of the day away from the girl he had seen all afternoon and would see the next day.

Ryan didn't mind. While clearly unworthy of his little girl, JG was the least unworthy of any on the horizon. He was majoring in electrical engineering which, if it didn't rate as a science, was one hell of a lot better than art history. Besides, he was what she wanted; had JG not wanted her, it would have been a tragedy.

"Your choice," said Laura. "The front seat won't be crowded after all."

"Just make sure," Ryan said, "that there is no corruption of the innocent while she sits between you." The amount of petting that Crystal and JG would do in the presence of Laura and him was a bit annoying, suggesting as it did that they were doing a lot more in private. Laura put a high priority on keeping the lines of communication open, so he usually didn't say anything.

Shannon pinched JG's nose about then. She squealed all through the chase. And everyone was laughing so hard by the time that JG dumped her in Ryan's lap that the subject was closed.

By the time that darkness settled, Shannon had reached the point where her exuberance was less an outflow of energy than a necessity to keep herself awake. He warned her against going into the woods any more. This had less to do with getting lost (in less than an hour the fireworks would draw everybody to the lake shore) than fear of what she would stumble upon in the dark. Crystal and JG weren't the only young couple out there.

Finally, they had her settle down, and he tried to entertain her with knock-knock jokes. Those and elephant jokes exhausted, he was telling the one about: " ... The boss asked why I was throwing so many nails away. "'They point the wrong way, ' I told him. "'Silly, ' he said. 'Those are for the other side of... '" He stopped at the first swoosh.

She froze at the BANG! "Oooh!" she said, and he had to agree with her. Strings of red draped over the other side of the lake like a giant umbrella; the nearest strings almost reached their side. He moved Shannon to face the center of the fireworks directly, so her body could receive the pressure from the explosions like a radar antenna. She said nothing, but held that position while the sky filled with fire again and again.

He hugged Laura as they split their attention between the lovely sky and Shannon's appreciation. Slowly, though, Shannon slid back against him. She was about to miss the fireworks which she had anticipated so fiercely. Laura saw what was happening and moved to lean against him on the other side.

The sleeping girl received more of his attention than the fiery sky. The sheer trust that she exhibited by going to sleep lying against him enraptured him. It was a familiar pleasure, sensual but not directed towards Shannon. He'd never been attracted to those who slept in his arms -- except Laura.

They'd had an evening wedding, a festive reception, and a long drive to the resort. He'd fallen asleep across the bed; she'd managed to change her clothes and cover them both with a blanket. He could still remember the morning.

He woke to see her face inches from his and deep asleep. They'd made love before their marriage, but had never come close to sleeping together. He'd regarded those words as euphemistic.

Now, though, he had the woman he loved asleep beside him. He could see the breath move her lips. He lay like that until his bladder forced him up. Then he stripped, showered, shaved, and brushed his teeth -- which meant that he had to unpack as well.

He slipped back in bed to watch her sleep and wake slowly. She didn't even look dismayed when she woke. At his urging, she returned to bed from her bathroom time. She snuggled against him while he played with her hair and kissed her again and again.

Finally, their love play got more direct -- hers as well as his. (She'd been a little surprised to find him in his pajama pants.) They struggled out of their clothes, but still he kissed her breasts and stroked her sweet wetness until she asked for him. "I need you," she said, another first.

He entered her, sliding smoothly into that warmth. Her legs rose up to welcome him, even clasped around him. The clumsiness with the rubber didn't matter; stopping to escape the entangling sheet didn't matter. The desire continued while the action paused. Finally, she clawed at his shoulders. She shuddered around him just before he exploded within her. When he withdrew, he couldn't quite ask her what he wanted.

"We really don't need to get up right now," he said instead.

"No one's going to discover us," she'd agreed. Legality was an experience new to them.

There was a little more petting, a lot of whispered love talk. But she'd snuggled up against him again, and -- without his even asking -- fallen back asleep. She accepted him, treated the nest of his arms as home. It would be years before she would bear his daughter, but that morning she gave birth to his trustworthiness -- creating it whole by the trust she gave.

Shannon, on the other hand, would miss what she had entrusted to him if she slept much longer. He shook her gently. "Look, Shannon," he said. The first rockets of the grand finale were going up.

She woke enough to open her eyes. "Oh," she said as one colorful mass after another filled the sky. She watched until they faded completely, still lying against him. Then she curled up and went back to sleep.

"I'll get our stuff together," Laura whispered. Not that others weren't shouting around them, not that Shannon would have awakened for a much louder sound, but whispers are appropriate around a sleeping child. He helped her gather things as well as he could. When the kids returned, JG took Shannon out of his arms. Ryan carried the blanket and the cooler back to the car.

The cars from further down the lot filled the road behind them so that they couldn't get out. Ryan wasn't in a hurry, Laura had always been patient, and the kids would gladly have said good night till it be morrow. They opened the doors as wide as neighboring cars would allow and rolled down the windows to let the interior cool. Crystal took Shannon from JG's arms and strapped her into the seat. The kids stood on the right side of the car while the adults stood on the left. The line behind them started to stretch out, and JG's father honked as he went by.