Page 69 of Broken Chains

"I'm out. I told you guys, selfishly I'm not sure Cole and I will ever have kids," Elizabeth said.

"Find me a mate and I'll be happy to join in. Now that Peyton's mated, I'm feeling very left out here in single-land."

"You have to actually go out once in a while if you want to find a mate, Shelbs," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "You met Oliver at the grocery store picking up an order for work. Don't lecture me on getting out."

I laughed. "Fine, that's true. Your time will come. I promise. But it would help if you let go of Ben first and actually opened your heart to the possibility."

"Wait, Ben? Like your childhood bestie, Ben?" Lily asked. "He took off for the military, right?"

Shelby nodded as she shot me a glare of betrayal.

"Do you still talk to Ben?" Ruby asked.

"No, still no word from him, but I've been working with his little brothers and know he's doing well, just busy," she lied. I could always tell when Shelby wasn't telling the full truth, but I didn't call her out on it in front of everyone.

"Besides Lil, I don't know about Ruby, but Oliver and I definitely plan on having more kids," I said, taking the heat off Shelby. She shared a lot with me in confidence that I knew she didn't want the others to know about.

"Yeah, Bran wants at least two more. He's so in love with Opal that I think he'd have a dozen as long as they were just like her," Ruby laughed.

"What's not to love?" Lily asked. "She's perfect. They both are."

"I really appreciate you guys opening your hearts to Eve and accepting her into the family. I mean, I know she's not my biological daughter, but I really couldn't possibly love her any more if she were," I admitted.

Lily was sitting next to me and reached over to hug me. "We love you and we love Eve. Heck, even the boys have started to grow on me."

I laughed. "Sometimes it really is like I have four kids already. They are so great though. I'm really blessed."

"This house is amazing, too," Lizzy said. "I love it here."

"I've always loved this house. I remember the stories Grandma used to tell us about it and I always knew I'd buy it and live here."

"Oliver and the boys have done an incredible job fixing it up," Ruby said. "Y'all should have seen what a nightmare this place was when she first bought it."

I laughed. "It really was bad, but I never actually saw that, only the potential of what it could be. There's still plenty to do, but it's coming together so much faster than I ever imagined possible."

Ruby grabbed Opal up and excused them. "I'm going to go to the nursery to take care of this stinker. No one needs to smell the impact of this diaper. Gah!"

We continued to talk while she was gone, about everything and nothing at all. That's just how it was with me and my sisters.

A knock on the front door made my heart drop into my stomach.

"I got it," Ruby yelled as she was coming back down the stairs.

"Watch Eve," I told Lily as I got up to walk to the front door.

"Evie," I heard Melina squeal before I even saw her in the doorway. "Please just let me have my baby. I've missed her so much," she said theatrically.

"Are you the woman of the house?" someone asked Ruby and I realized Melina wasn't alone this time.

I opened the door further to see them. "No, that would be me," I said. "It's okay, I've got this," I told Ruby, as I took a deep breath and tried to calm my mounting nerves.

"You sure?" Ruby asked, and I nodded.

She started to walk away, but Melina started to wail, real tears and all. "Please, just let me hold her. Or at least stay so I can look at her. She's gotten so big since Oliver let me see her last."

Her words set up warning triggers everywhere. Did she really think Opal was her daughter?

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