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She bobs her chin. “Then I’ll be proud to call all four of you Sinclaires.”

Overcome with it, I pull her into a hug, careful not to squish J.J. My whisper comes thick and quiet. “I love you, Mama.”

Hers is just as lumpy-sounding. “I love you too, Ver Bear.”

The door opens, and Adeline slips into the room, dressed to the nines in a sparkling golden gown. “Oh, attendance is just fantastic, Princess! That baby sure does know how to draw a crowd.” I already know what she’s going to ask when her eyes fall on him, fists balled beneath her chin. “Can I hold him?”

Mama hands him right over, and I watch with a pang in my chest as she cradles him close, beaming.

“What a blessing you are,” she whispers, eyes full of adoration. “I’ve thought about it a lot, and you know what?” Glancing between Mama and me, she squares her shoulders. “I want to foster or adopt. Rufus is gone, the Princes are letting me keep the Gilded Rose, and there’s three bedrooms upstairs. There’s nothing stopping me anymore.”

“Good for you!” Mama says.

I give Adeline an excited smile. “You’re going to be a great mom, Adeline.”

I hear a knock behind us, and I turn to see Pace peeking his head through. “You decent, pretty girl?”

“Yes,” I answer, giving my dress a spin. “What do you think?”

He lets out a low whistle, pushing through the door. “I think that dress is going to look fantastic on our bedroom floor in about five hours.” Before Mama can voice her passionate disapproval of the comment, her hand dramatically covering Justice’s ears, he saunters in, holding the door open behind him. “But I wanted to introduce the three of you to someone.” He quirks a brow. “Orsomeones.”

“Oh, my god,” I breathe when the two kids enter. They’re fresh-faced teenagers, their complexion as dark as Pace’s. The boy is almost as tall as him too, sporting a bright green suit. The girl has long, curly hair, and her bright green dress is a perfectmatch to her brother’s. Both of them are wearing intricately creative makeup, sparkles of gold stars around their brown eyes.

And they look like Pace.

“This is Micha,” Pace says, gesturing to the boy, who does an exaggerated curtsy. “And Michaela.” The girl gives us a spin much like the one I’d just performed for Pace.

“Pleased to meet you,” Micha says. And then, “Your house is fucking dope.”

“Well.” I prop a hand on my hip as my mother snorts. “I guess the cursing is genetic.”

Michaela nods. “Damn right.”

“But don’t tell our mom,” Micha adds, pulling a face. “I hope the green’s okay. Pace said there was a theme.” He places a palm over his heart and I see his nails also match. “Ilivefor a theme.”

Wearily, Michaela explains, “We went through five shades of green before landing on this one. Be careful,” she urges, “with the themes.”

“Got it,” Pace says, nudging them forward. “So, this is my girl, Verity. Her mother—we all call her Mama B. And this little guy,” he says, stepping forward to kiss J.J.’s cheek, “is my son, Justice.”

I worry at first they’re going to ask questions. I knew they were coming, but we haven’t had the discussion yet about how to explain our weird little family. In the end, all the worry is for nothing, though.

Micha just leans in to look, saying, “What a cutie.”

After a pause, Michaela glances at me. “We don’t babysit.”

I laugh. “No problem. We have plenty of volunteers.”

“And this,” Pace says, addressing the stunned woman still holding our son, “is Adeline. It’s a long story that I’m definitely never telling you, but she saved your lives once.”

Adeline gazes upon them, clearly overwhelmed with emotion. “I never thought I’d get a chance to meet either of you. It’s such a pleasure.”

Micha looks at her, the glint in his eyes screaming that he’s dying to ask. “Who does your makeup?”

Pace and I share a look.

Not quite the question I was expecting.

Adeline stammers, “I-I do.”