Page 31

Kiera pressed a hand to her heart, overwhelmed with pride. “That is an excellent name.”

Quinn wiggled in excitement, already impatient for her turn. “And mine is Chicken Nugget Rocketship!”

Kiera let out a bark of laughter, scooping Quinn into her arms as she kissed the top of her head. “Wow, that’s… that’s also a name, alright.”

“I was gonna name her just Chicken Nugget, but then I thought, what if she wants to fly?” Quinn explained, entirely serious.

"Very wise." Kiera smiled, glancing at her dad. “And you let them do this?”

Her dad spread his hands wide, his sun hat hanging by a string around his neck. He smiled and attempted to look bashful. “They made compelling arguments.”

Her mom, clearly trying to suppress a laugh, placed a warm hand on Kiera’s shoulder. “They’ve been in the garden all afternoon. Thankfully, they don't have Jade's fear of mud."

"You should see the state of their nails," Aunt Jade said, and Kiera could have sworn her eye was twitching.

Kiera finally took in the full picture — both girls were caked in dirt, their fingernails practically black, their socks grass-stained. She sighed but smiled all the same. “Alright, my little garden fairies, go upstairs and shower before dinner, please."

Eliza and Quinn groaned in unison, but Kiera was already ushering them toward the stairs. “No arguments. If you want to play with Chiquitita and Chicken Nugget Rocketship after school tomorrow, you need to at leastpretendto be clean humans.”

As they dragged their feet toward the hall, Kiera turned back to Aunt Jade, who was watching the whole scene with an amused expression, twirling her glass of rosé between two fingers.

“You, my dear niece, could use a summer somewhere with fewer farm animals and more cocktails,” Jade said with a tip of her glass.

Kiera sighed, rubbing her temple. “Give me a minute. I’m still processing the fact that Mom and Dad have chickens."

Her mom appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “Werescuedthem."

Kiera narrowed her eyes in skepticism. "Where did you rescue the chickens from?"

"Just a neighbor down the street. They were going toeatthem," her mom said with a concerned expression.

"Tell me you didn't steal our neighbor's chickens, Mom."

"No, your father went up to the door and paid for them, of course. We're not criminals."

Aunt Jade closed her eyes as she sighed. "Ask John what he paid for them."

"Two Costco rotisserie chickens," her dad said proudly.

"And that worked?" Kiera blinked, looking back and forth between her parents, feeling a combination of worry, amusement, and general confusion.

"No," her dad laughed. "They wanted $50 each for them."

"You paid $100 for chickens?"

"No," her mom said with a laugh. "Jade did, though."

Aunt Jade dissented loudly, but all three were still laughing as Kiera’s mom and dad headed upstairs to check on the girls.

"You're just as bad as they are," Kiera said, looking back to her aunt with a laugh of disbelief.

“I did bring wine, if that helps,” Aunt Jade said, shrugging and daintily crossing her legs.

Kiera collapsed onto the couch beside her, exhaustion pulling at her limbs. “It does. So, what’s the occasion?”

Aunt Jade arched an eyebrow. “Can’t I just visit my favorite niece?”

Kiera raised a skeptical brow.