“Wren, this is Willa, my sister. Willa, this is Wren.”
Wren waves, and Willa follows their lead, saying, “It’s lovely to finally meet you. And now I understand why River hasn’t been home much.”
“Sheishis girlfriend,” Mason says in hushed tones.
“I’m sorry,” Willa says to Wren. “I tried to prepare them. Mason, remember?—”
“Let me,” Wren says. They kneel down in front of Mason and take both his hands. “You wanna know something cool?”
Mason’s eyes go wide. “Is it a secret?”
“I’m a special friend of Uncle River’s, but I’m not a girlora boy. I’m just me.”
Mason’s brow furrows for a second. “So, like a superhero?”
Wren grins. “Yes. Exactly like a superhero.”
“Can you fly?” Maddie asks, leaning on Wren’s shoulder.
“Only if I’ve had two cups of Uncle River’s coffee.”
Both kids giggle at that.
“That’s a cherry pie,” Willa says. “We should put it in the fridge if we’re not eating for a while, and in the oven if we are.”
“I wanna hold Wren’s hand,” Maddie shouts.
“But I do,” Mason whines.
I grab Wren’s hand, happy to show Wren I don’t care if my family knows we mean something to each other. I hadn’t realized just how much it mattered to me that Willa likes Wren.
“Too bad. I got there first,” I say, and I drag Wren to the kitchen as the children laugh, giving us chase.
Wren’s idea to build a pizza-making station was a great one, in theory, but chaos, in reality. Mason is too heavy handed with everything. His pizza looks like a mountain. Fuck knows how we’re gonna cook it through. Maddie, on the other hand, is taking an age to create a flower garden made out of pepperoni petals and green pepper stems.
And flour dust still hovers in the air like a snow globe. Wren’s hoodie sleeves are cuffed and dusted in white as Maddie tells them in toddler gibberish all about the hamster’s jailbreak attempt, and how Willa said a bad word trying to catch it.
But Wren is navigating everyone through pizza construction like a champ as the kids bombard them with questions.
Do you like ponies?
Why is butter yellow?
Does Wren know that Jeremy is allergic to kittens?
“Jeremy?” I ask Willa quietly.
Willa adds more cheese to her pizza. “New kid in their class. Moved from Wyoming because his mom has family here.”
Wren catches my eye and smiles at me. And fuck, I feel it all the way to my boots. I try telling myself that this isn’t a date.How can it be with my sister and the twins here? But it sure feels like one.
Even if it came with additional logistics and security drills.
It’s the closest to normal we can get right now. I look outside, and the sky is doing that big Western thing it does, where it looks like it could swallow every thought that has ever chewed up your brain.
I lean against the large island, watching Wren’s hands. They’re sure and coaxing.
“I like Wren,” Willa says quietly.
