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"Hello? Yes, Mom. Hold on. Blake, Mom wants to talk to you," she says, holding her phone to him.
"Hi, Carmen. No, I'm fine. My phone is dead. Why don't you and Dad come over for dinner tonight? You can meet a new member of the family. I'll explain when you get there. Okay, you too." He ends the call and hands the phone back to Shannon, lifting his gaze to meet mine in the mirror as Sorina leans against his shoulder.
I pull my phone out and dial Teresa's number.
"Hello, Ms. Lily. What you need?" she says when she answers the phone.
"We're having company for dinner. I need you to do something special for me though, a surprise," I say. Blake narrows his eyes at me and I give him a sly grin.
"¿Puedes cocinar una cena rumana? Sorina, Vlad y yo nos encantaría las comodidades de nuestro país,"I say.
Can you make a Romanian dinner? Sorina, Vlad and I would love the comforts of home.
She laughs into the phone. "Sí, of course. I’ll go to the store now."
"Take Sammi and Rhett with you, please."
"Yes, ma'am."
I hang up the phone and stare at Blake, a smug look on my face.
"Why did you just say my name?" Vlad pipes up from the back seat.
"You'll see."
The aroma of tonight's dinner wafts into my office as I email Monroe. He's not happy about Blake's charity event idea, but he's given permission. We're getting more security, and Sammi has the go ahead for setting up a surveillance system once a location is booked. I'm still nervous, but this is what Blake wants, and I can't find it in my heart to tell him no.
A knock at the door pulls me from my email. "Come in."
The door opens and Teresa walks in. "Ai, Ms. Lily, everyone is here, and dinner is on the table."
I close out the tabs on my computer and stand, walking around to meet her. "Good. I'm starving."
We walk into the empty dining room. Blake and his parents are on the balcony with Sorina. Carmen pulls Sorina into a bear hug.
"Hey," I yell. "Time to eat!"
Standing by the table, we gaze at the wonderful Romanian spread she has put out. Everyone files into the room, standing behind their chairs, confusion on their faces as they stare at the foreign food. Sorina glances from the food to me, a megawatt smile on her lips.
"Lily, this is amazing," she says, hugging my side.
"What is all this?" Carmen says, standing next to her stepson.
"Confortul de acasa," Vlad says, grinning.
"The comforts of home. This is a Romanian style dinner. In honor of Sorina being here with us," I say, smiling down at her.
For the next several hours, there's nothing but laughter, conversation, and great food. I don't think about anything but the people around me, and the moment we're in. Focusing all my energy on the family that’s slowly formed over these last few months.
Life would be perfect if every day was like this. Waking up and working some kind of normal job, coming home to dinner with Blake and Sorina, school trips with her and business events with him. Part of me believes I could survive in this world . . . but a bigger part of me worries I'll fail at it miserably.
What kind of mother can I possibly be?
There's no model to base myself on. My mother was before the auctions, and memories of her are hidden somewhere in the recesses of my mind. Saladinya wants me to remember, to fill in the gaps of Jax's information, but . . . I don't want to. She sold me, there's nothing more important than that knowledge, and that isn't the kind of mother to model oneself after.
"Lily," Vlad says, pulling me back to reality.
"Yeah?"