Page 55 of Mending Fate
He nodded. “I will.”
Any other conversation was pushed aside when half a dozen kids came running into the library, waving what appeared to be aluminum foil swords.
I looked over at Eoin, and we both said the same thing.
“Brody.”
Thirty
Lumen
CHRISTMAS EVE - ONE YEAR LATER
Sixteen months and two weeks.That was how long I’d known Alec. Not quite a year and a half, and I still could barely believe that this was my life.
Growing up, I’d been by myself, and even when I’d gone to live with Brie, I’d always been painfully aware that what I’d had hadn’t been a family. At least, not the way I’d always pictured a family to be.
Then I’d met Mai, and the Jins had welcomed me into their lives. I hadn’t been alone, but I’d still felt like an intruder. Now, after more than a year with Alec, my outlook had changed.
It was one thing to understand the blended family dynamic from a factual standpoint, but it was something else entirely to go to Thanksgiving in San Ramon and see it personally. To them, it didn’t matter how any of them were connected by blood or whether or not they referred to Patrick and Theresa by their first names or as Mom and Da. Half, step, cousin, adopted, biological.
Those were only descriptive words on the same level as “oldest” or “youngest” or “the baby.” They even jokingly referred to themselves as the “Grace families,” since a quirk of fate had merged families whose last names had similar meanings. Fate. Destiny. Whoever or whatever had brought everyone together. It didn’t matter. They were a family because they chose to be.
So, I’d chosen too. I’d chosen Alec and Evanne and the rest of their family. Even in some way, I’d chosen Keli even though we’d never be friends. And I’d chosen Soleil.
I scanned the room for her and smiled when I saw her talking to the youngest of Alec’s siblings, his half-sister, London. The entire family was gorgeous, and none more so than the actress with the long, strawberry blonde curls and brandy-colored eyes. Soleil had been star-struck from moment one, and London was about as far from a snob or diva as anyone could get. And London wasn’t the only celebrity in the family either.
Brody made several top-shelf whiskeys. The older of the fraternal McCrae twins, Carson, was a much-sought-after fashion designer. In fact, he’d put together my entire outfit for tonight, from the black cocktail dress to the peep-toe pumps and clutch handbag.
His younger brother, Cory, and their step-cousin slash adopted brother, Fury Gracen, founded their own marketing and investment company. Maggie played the violin in the New York Philharmonic. The identical McCrae twins, Sean and Xander, were a motivational speaker and a premier soccer player, respectively.
Austin Carideo was much like Alec when it came to business, though the company his late father had founded was based in technology. Rome Carideo was a real estate developer. The family referred to Paris as the female Indiana Jones while Aspen’s travels were due to her freelance art restoration firm.
Blaze Gracen was a professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University, and his baby sister, Rose, was working toward owning her own horse breeding ranch.
And I was a third-grade teacher.
My first Thanksgiving with them had intimidated the hell out of me. Without the chaos of Evanne’s classmates like I’d had at the birthday party, much of the attention had been focused on me, especially after Alec had announced that I’d applied to be a foster parent. I’d learned quickly that they prized family above all else, and my willingness to foster a teenager had won them over completely.
Everything had been in flux this past year, not only because my relationship with Alec was deepening. At Thanksgiving last year, Hob and Mai had gotten engaged. Two weeks later, Mai had moved in with him, and Soleil had come to live with me.
Shortly after the first of the year, Soleil’s mother had signed off on my adopting the girl. The weekend after the adoption had been finalized, Soleil and I had moved in with Alec and Evanne. If Soleil had expressed the slightest reluctance, we would have stayed at the apartment, but she’d become attached to Evanne from the first time the two of them had met and had been thrilled at the chance to be a full-time big sister.
One thing I’d been worried about through the entire process was Keli, but she’d actually been great. Things had gotten better enough that Alec had redone the custody arrangement to a two-week swap with alternating holidays. Keli hadn’t even minded that Evanne had taken to calling me Mama L. It still tugged at my heart every time I heard it.
“Any particular reason you’re hiding back here?” Eoin came up beside me. “Usually, I’m the one keeping to the shadows.”
Over the past year, I’d grown quite fond of Alec’s younger brother. He’d been through a lot.
“I’m just thinking about how lucky I am.” I accepted the glass of eggnog he held out. “It still feels like a dream sometimes.”
Eoin nodded his head in understanding. “When life throws you curveballs all the time, sometimes you don’t know what to do with the easy lob.”
“Baseball reference?” I gave him a sideways look. “Really?”
He grinned and shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve got layers.”
As he rejoined the party, I felt someone step up behind me. An arm slid around my waist, and even if I hadn’t seen the Vacheron Constantin watch on his wrist, I would have known it was Alec. I could feel him in a way that went beyond the simple press of his body against mine.