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“It was a solid effort, darling,” Lara said, kissing her wife on the cheek.

“Me! Me!” Juniper said, jumping up from her seat and running over to be smothered in kisses by her grandmothers until she begged them to stop through giggles.

The five of us sat outside at a table in the backyard right near the pool that Juniper was itching to dive into. To make things easier, Larison and I had been in charge of most of the food, even though Lara had protested and made a bunch of desserts anyway. Allison was still having a hard time getting around, but that didn’t stop her from volunteering to do things for us.

“I think I’d like to answer that actually,” I said, reaching for Larison’s hand.

Lara and Allison waited for me to continue as I tried to think of the right words to tell them how much their daughter and granddaughter meant to me.

“I told myself that I would officially start my life after I graduated from school. That I’d make no major decisions or get into any relationships until I had my degree. It would only distract me from my education. And then I met your daughter, and everything changed. I don’t know how to explain what happened to me when she and I met, but it was like…like I knew. I knew that everything had changed. That nothing would ever be the same.”

I met Larison’s eyes and she smiled at me, taking my breath away. She had a habit of doing that.

Lara let out a little sigh. “That was very beautifully said, Jo. I think I need to give you a hug.” I was fine with that, so she got up from her chair and hugged me. She smelled like so many baked things and I couldn’t help but breathe deeply. My own mother hadn’t really had time to do much baking when I was younger. I’d always dreamed about having a mom who baked cookies.

“You can’t say things like that, or my moms are going to like you better than they like me,” Larison said, winking and then leaning over to kiss me.

“I don’t think so,” I told her.

“How is everything with the bookstore going?” Lara asked as we ate fried chicken and potato salad and corn and fresh fruit salad.

“I wish Gram were here to see it,” Larison said. “I think I’m going to put up a framed picture of her or something.”

“She’s looking down on you and so proud. I know it,” Lara said, her eyes sparkling with a few unshed tears.

“Just as proud as we are,” Allison said.

“Mamaaaa, no grapes!” Juniper said. I’d thought that I’d removed all the offensive fruit from her plate, but one must have slipped my notice.

“Just put it on my plate, baby,” Larison said calmly.

Juniper dumped the sliver of a grape on Larison’s plate and went back to her potato salad.

“It’s going to be amazing when it opens,” I said.

“Hopefully,” Larison said. She’d shared with me her anxiety about the store doing well, and I’d done my best to soothe her worries, but only time would tell if the business would be successful. There was no way to see into the future. Very frustrating. One thing I did know was that no one would work harder or care more than Larison. She wasn’t just doing this for herself, she was doing it for Juniper, and she’d do anything for that kid.

“We’re always here to help,” Allison said. “I mean it. I’m not an invalid. I can still help out if you need.”

Larison’s lips twitched as if she wanted to argue, but I gave her a look.

“I know, Mama,” she said with a sigh.

“We go in the pool now?” Juniper said, shoving her plate away.

“Can you wait just a few minutes? We’re still eating.”

Juniper pouted.

“Princesses, wait until the other people at the table have finished,” I told her. This was a strategy I’d used several times with great success.

“Okayyyyy,” Juniper said, dragging the word out. She started whispering to Mozzarella.

I turned to find Lara and Allison watching me.

“We’re so happy you’re here with us,” Lara said.

Something big and intense clogged my throat with too many emotions at once.