Page 86 of Monstrosity

"Sometimes I forget Mommy Flora. Not forget-forget, but... her face gets fuzzy." She sounds guilty. "Is that bad?"

My heart breaks a little. "No, sweetheart. That's normal. You were very young."

"Daddy shows us pictures and tells stories, but it's not the same as remembering." She pulls back to look at me. "But I remember you. Every day, every moment. Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay," I tell her, blinking back tears. "And we'll always keep Mommy Flora's memory alive, even as we make new memories together."

"I love you, Dasha-mommy."

"I love you too, sweetheart. So much."

Cali's already half asleep when I check on her, but she mumbles, "Love you, Mommy-Dasha."

The name they've settled on makes me smile every time.

Not quite Mom, respecting Flora's memory, but acknowledging what I am to them now.

I find Rio on the back porch, beer in hand, watching the sunset.

The evening is warm, cicadas singing their summer song.

He pulls me into his lap without a word.

"Good day?" he asks.

"The best day." I steal a sip of his beer. "The girls were amazing. Your brothers were helpful. The women have officially adopted me."

"They've been wanting to do that for years," he says. "Just waiting for us to get our shit together."

"Well, we got it together now."

"Yeah, we do." He's quiet for a moment, and I can feel him thinking. "Dasha?"

"Mm?"

"Marry me."

I sit up so fast I nearly fall off his lap. "What?"

"Marry me," he repeats, steadier now. "I don't have a ring yet, and this isn't how I planned to ask, but... marry me. Be my wife. Official, legal, the whole thing."

"Rio..."

"I know it's fast. I know we just moved in together. But baby, I've been in love with you for years. You're already my family, the girls' mother, my everything. Let's make it official."

"Yes."

"I mean, if you need time to think?—"

"Rio. Yes. Of course yes." I kiss him hard. "Yes to marriage, yes to forever, yes to all of it."

"Yeah?" His smile is brilliant.

"Yeah."

He kisses me deeply, then stands, lifting me with him. "Inside. Now. We need to celebrate properly."

"The girls?—"