Page 116 of No Place Like Home

Quinn looked at her with bright eyes, a little scared, but fascinated by her.

“Hi, honey. What’s your name?’“

“Quinny,” she replied.

“That’s a beautiful name.”

“How old are you?”

She raised three fingers up. “Two.”

They laughed.

“You can call me Grandma,” Cynthia said seriously.

My mouth dropped open while Quinny turned to look at me with a huge smile.

The door opened before we could say anything, and Juliet walked in with Jake. A little girl that had red hair trailed in behind her.

“Pais, is that you?”

She was so big now. It stung a little when she looked like she was afraid of me. And that feeling was how everyone felt when they saw Quinny. A little dose of karma was only fair.

Scottie ran to hug his grandpa, and the reminders of my action kept coming head-on.

Jake came in with a tray of coffees.

I looked around, but no Rosie.

“Clark said he’s stopping by to drop off Ori and Lucas.”

Pulling Quinny up, I rested her against my hip and met everyone on the small kitchen island.

“Oh, Quincy’s going to be fucked,” Jake said as soon as his eyes landed on Quinny and me.

“Jakie,” Cynthia scolded him, and Juliet smacked his arm.

“Quinny, this is everyone. Everyone, this is Quinn.”

After everyone had greeted her, she waved her little arm.

“What’s an Ori and a Lucas?” I asked no one in particular.

The door burst open before anyone could answer, and Clark walked in. He looked the same, except a kid held onto his hand: a cute little blond boy that looked older than Quinn. The math wasn’t mathing. Behind them was a pretty girl that looked to be around my age.

They came straight to me.

“This is Jess. She’s a little emotional, but she’s my favorite niece,” he said as an introduction.

My lip trembled a bit.

“Jess, this is Oriana,” he said, referring to the woman. “My wife.”

Okay, wow. That was shocking.

“And this little guy is my son Lucas.”

Oriana’s eyes warmed when he referred to Lucas as his son. I introduced them to Quinn, and before long, we were all eating an unofficial Thanksgiving meal in the middle of summer.

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