“I don’t want to talk about it either,” he says, boring those amber eyes into mine. Before he can finish that thought, before I can come up with a suitably cutting response, Marshall steps closer and lands a kiss on my lips. It’s not like the desperate, world-ending kiss from our latest light driving adventure; it’s something softer, more contemplative, like he’s making a point rather than trying to seduce me.
He pulls back, and I bite down on a smile.
“What was that for?”
“Consider it a promise,” he says with that infuriating grin. “Until next time, Mrs. Oliver.”
Mrs. Oliver?
And with that, he turns and walks back toward the bonfire, leaving me standing alone on the beach with my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest and my brain trying to process what just happened.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter, touching my lips where I can still feel the warmth of his kiss.
“Everything okay?” Laken’s voice makes me jump, and I turn to find her heading this way with a concerned expression that lets me know she witnessed the whole thing.
“Everything is fine. Marshall was just being Marshall,” I say as we start walking back toward the group. “Although I should probably mention that Logan and I went back and made a little correction that Demetri isn’t crazy about.”
Laken’s eyebrows shoot up. “What kind of correction?”
“The kind that prevented my mother from marrying a devil named Demetri and my stepfather from becoming a cruise ship nomad—among an entire litany of other things.” Namely the safety of Gage’s ambulatory state.
A laugh bubbles from her. “How did you manage that?”
“A federal crime may have had something to do with it,” I say with a touch of naughty pride. “It was very romantic, actually. You should try it sometime.”
“I’ll take a hard pass. I look terrible in orange.”
“You look good in everything,” I say, wrapping an arm around her. “Hey, I wonder what Demetri is doing right now?”
“Speaking of Demetri,” Wesley’s voice cuts into our conversation as he materializes beside us with Logan and Gage in tow, “don’t worry about my dear old dad. He may be down, but unfortunately, he’s never out.”
“Comforting,” Gage says dryly. “The man that’s bent on destroying our lives seems to have nine of them himself.”
“At least your father is predictably evil,” Logan points out. “Candace keeps switching between maternal concern and celestial manipulation.”
I nod. “It’s very confusing for those of us trying to maintain healthy family relationships.” I shoot Logan a knowing look because nothing says healthy relationship like a little light driving, mail theft, and a little discipline in the butterfly room of yesteryear. “I vote we all trek back to those glory days on the regular. Ellis really did throw the best parties. We could make it a yearly event.”
We share a quick laugh at the thought, and I feel that familiar warmth that comes from being surrounded by people who understand that our version of normal is slightly left of center.
“You know,” Wesley says, pulling Laken close, “most people’s biggest relationship problem is deciding whose turn it is to do the dishes. Skyla’s biggest problem is figuring out which husband gets to save her from cosmic annihilation on any given day.”
“Hey, I save myself plenty,” I protest.
“Usually by committing federal crimes,” Logan points out with a wink.
“Very resourceful,” Gage adds, pulling me close. “And very illegal.” He lands a kiss on my temple, and I lean my head against his shoulder. It all feels so natural, so very normal. “I’m just glad we survived Candace Messenger’s latest scheme.”
Logan nods. “And we survived Chloe Bishop’s villain era once again, too.”
The entire lot of us share a laugh at that one.
I look around at this ridiculous, beautiful, completely insanegroup of people who have somehow become my family, and something settles in my chest that feels dangerously close to peace.
We might have supernatural enemies plotting our downfall, celestial forces trying to manipulate our timeline, and at least three different versions of fate trying to rewrite our story for us, but we have each other, and most importantly, we have every one of our children safe and sound.
We also have love in all of its messy, complicated, completely impossible forms, and somehow that feels like enough to face whatever celestial catastrophe comes next.
Because when you’re part of a celestial family that spans heavenly realms and defies the laws of physics just to stay together, there’s no challenge too big, no enemy too powerful, and no future too uncertain to conquer as long as you’re willing to face it hand in hand.
