When Leonardo popped the champagne and poured, Eve looked at Roarke. “You’ve got words. You always do.”
“I do indeed. To all who dwell here, may today’s joy be a drop in a cup that runs full.”
“I love you.” Mavis swiped a tear away. “I can’t say any more or I’ll flood, but I love you mega extreme. Just so you know.”
They went up to the second floor, the guest rooms, guest baths, another play area, another sitting area. Then, clearly unable to wait any longer, Bella gripped Eve’s hand and tugged.
The room, pink, white, frilly, and girly, suited Bella from top to bottom.
“Mine,” Bella said with obvious delight. “Bella’s!”
“It’s pretty great.”
The canopy bed fit for a princess held fluffy pillows and a herd of the stuffed animals kids went for.
But Bella walked to the chair Eve had given Mavis as a shower gift, and stroked a hand over its rainbow arm. “Das, Ork for Bella.” Then tothe toy box Peabody had made, another rainbow with Bella’s name in bright, candy pink. “Peadobby, Nab, for Bella.”
She sighed, and looked so like Mavis for a minute, Eve blinked.
“Love. Mag. Love.”
Then she took Eve’s hand again. “Baby now.”
So Bella led the way to the nursery and its fairy-tale forest theme.
Mavis, blue eyes damp, rubbed one hand on her belly, laid the other on her heart.
“You know what it means to me, the chair. It grabs every feel I have and adds more. We rocked Bella in hers—still do—and we’ll rock Number Two in this one. And the toy box? Peabody, you’re the serious ult to think of it.”
They toured the main bedroom where—on Mavis’s gauge—she’d gone subtle, nearly restful. If you didn’t count the enormous closet with the ceiling wallpapered with big, bold blooming flowers and the wild colors of the clothes and accessories that filled it.
She’d had the wall behind the big bed painted with jewel-toned flowers and birds in flight.
And it worked, Eve thought. She couldn’t say how or why, but it worked.
From there, they went up to Leonardo’s design studio, and among the workstations, the reams of fabric, Eve noted a section separated for Bella.
As there was down in Mavis’s recording studio.
“I’ve already worked here a few times, and I still can’t believe it’s mine. I can come down here and record, I can practice, and—no chuckles—I’m starting to write songs.”
“Why would I chuckle?”
With a shake of her head, Mavis slid an arm around Eve’s waist. “A big, long way from the Blue Squirrel. An even longer way from scouting for marks on the street.”
She gestured to where Bella demonstrated the toy piano in her play area.
“She’ll never have to wonder where her next meal comes from, or if it’s gonna. She won’t have to worry the person supposed to take care of her will hurt her instead. Maybe, in some weird-ass way, because we did, we ended up right here. But she won’t have to go through that. It’s our job to teach her, to show her how to appreciate that and share that, and just be freaking kind.”
“She already is kind. You’re damn good parents, Mavis.”
“In the whole universe, hell, the multiverse, that’s what I want to be most.”
“Mission accomplished.”
Laughing, Mavis shook her head. “I’m pretty sure it’s never really done. And I’m okay with that.”
She beamed out a smile. “Peabody, McNab. You’re up!”
