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I followed the melody of giggles and meows into my old room. Sierra and Angel were sitting on the bed, their gazes glued to Tessa’s toy.

“Enchanted origami paper,” I said, impressed. “Ingenious.”

Tessa came up behind me, setting a hand on my shoulder. “Yep. Perfect for catsandtoddlers.”

“Assuming it survives the night,” I said as the toy refolded itself into a ball, and Angel batted it with her gigantic paw.

“It’s rated ‘extra durable’,” Tessa told me as the ball whooshed past us.

Sierra and Angel weren’t far behind. They slid and skidded out of the room. There was a loud, crashing noise from the dining room.

Tessa and I started running. “You were saying?” I said to her.

There was another crash. Followed by a metallic clang.

Calli was running with us now. “I think the toy’s novelty already wore off, Tessa.”

“How do you know?”

“Because that was the sound of my favorite spatula crashing against the kitchen floor,” Calli told her.

And sure enough, when the three of us arrived at the kitchen, Calli’s spatula was lying on the floor, like a discarded weapon on the battlefield. As for Sierra and Angel, the two rascals were scooping food out of a steaming pie pan, using only their hands (Sierra) and paws (Angel). A pair of oven mitts lay on the floor right beside an origami mouse that was jumping up and down, desperately trying to regain the kitchen-bandits’ attention.

I swept Sierra into my arms. She was covered head-to-toe in chicken pie. It was everywhere: in her hair, on her face, and all over her brand new party dress. Her hands were dripping hot chicken goo too. The cat looked only marginally better.

Calli shooed Angel away from the stove, sighing. “So much for my famous chicken pie.”

I peeked into the oven. “There’s another one still baking.”

“And it won’t be nearly enough for fifteen people. You could eat a single pie all by yourself, Leda.”

She wasn’t wrong about that.

“Well, just do your best?” I suggested, shrugging.

Calli sighed again. Then she banned all of us from her kitchen.

The door bell rang as I returned to the front lounge. I hurried across the room to answer it. A grin lifted my lips when I found Nero on the other side, dressed to kill in his fitted battle leather. Cadence and Damiel stood beside him, dressed in…were those hiking clothes? Eira fluttered between them on little hummingbird wings. She was wearing a jumpsuit, boots, and a cute little explorer hat.

I rushed into Nero’s arms. “I missed you,” I said against his lips, then kissed him. “A lot.”

“Is that why you’re covered in chicken pie?” He chuckled, low and deep in his chest. “Drowning your trouble in food, Pandora?”

“Not this time. The chicken goo is all Sierra’s doing,” I said. “With some help from the cat. They totally devoured one of Calli’s pies.”

One of his eyebrows lifted in amusement.

“Hey, this is serious,” I pouted. “Those two mischief-makers got me banned from Calli’s kitchen. They got me banned from thefood, Nero.”

He wrapped his arm around me. “I might have a little something for you.”

My eyes darted to his neck. I licked my lips.

“Not that,” Nero chuckled as I coaxed my fangs into retreat. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a clear bag of chocolate-covered fruit. “These.”

I carefully peeled the bag open and popped one of the pretty pieces into my mouth. It was a cherry coated in dark chocolate, tart and sweet and rich. And totally perfect.

I stared into Nero’s eyes and solemnly declared, “I love you.”