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“Can you blame me for wanting to keep you to myself?” Cory said, cupping the side of Vi’s face. “It’s been great so far.” Vi smiled.

“Oh my God! It’s so sweetly sappy in here I may throw up!” CeCe exclaimed.

Vi laughed. “It surprised us too, CeCe.”

“She and Alexis are no different than us, babe,” Cory said, staring at her sister.

CeCe laughed. “You’re right. I get all ooey gooey when she walks into the salon.”

“Okay,” Cory said. “We’ll come to Sunday dinner.”

“What can we bring?” Vi asked.

“Yourselves!” CeCe exclaimed.

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“Let’s make fun mocktails for Sunday dinner with your mom,” Vi said. “CeCe won’t let me bring anything.”

“There’s nothing to bring, babe. They’re making burgers,” Cory replied.

“I could make baked beans.”

“Cat’s bringing baked beans.”

“How about a dessert?”

“Mom’s bringing a cake,” Cory said.

“Chips! Can we at least bring chips!”

Cory chuckled and walked over to put her arms around Vi. “Babe, it’s okay. We don’t have to bring anything.”

“We should. It’s the nice thing to do.”

“When we have these dinners I usually bring beer and wine,” Cory said.

“Then can we please make some of your yummy mocktails or the real thing?” Vi asked.

“Yes, we can do whatever drinks you want. It’s sweet you want to take something.”

Vi smiled and sank into Cory’s embrace. “They’re my family now.”

Cory leaned back and looked into her eyes. “We are a family, aren’t we?”

“We are our own little family,” Vi replied.

“I love our family,” Cory said. She leaned in and kissed Vi tenderly. Cory’s heart melted with love for this woman. Vi could make her weak in the knees with the simplest words or a look or a touch.

“Okay, I’m going in the back to find another case of wine to put on the display at the front,” Vi said.

“I can help you with that when Taylor comes in,” Cory said.

“It’s okay. I’ll find the wine and be right back,” Vi replied, walking to the storage room in the back of the store.

“Wait a minute,” Cory said, reaching for Vi’s arm. “I’m going to start paying you if you keep working in the store on your time off. That’s all there is to it.”

“Paying me?” Vi scoffed.