Page 176
Story: Princes of Legacy
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.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182