She was going to throttle him. Her brother must have sensed the intent in her eyes because he shut his mouth and made a prompt exit.
She continued mopping, muttering under her breath as she went. When she finished, the floors were sparkling. Inhaling the clean scent, she went to put the mop away.
She returned to the kitchen just as Haris was quietly exiting with a glass of water, his socks leaving footprint marks on the still wet tiles.
“Hey!” she said. “I just mopped!”
Wincing, Haris turned to her. “Sorry.” His voice lowered as he muttered something to himself, and she narrowed her eyes at him, hand going to her hip.
“Excuse me?”
“Naveed told me you were crashing out,” Haris said.
Her jaw dropped. “I amnotcrashing out!”
Haris arched a brow, unconvinced. Her chest tightened.
“Anyway,” Haris continued. “Are you staying for dinner? Or did you just come here to take your frustration out on our kitchen?”
She glared at her brother. “Don’t be smart with me,” she said. “And, yes, obviously I’m staying, since you people don’t know how to fend for yourselves. I was about to cook.”
He gave her a confused look. “But we already brought dinner.” He pointed to the bag Naveed had left on the counter.
“Oh.” She frowned. “I took meat out to defrost.”
“Just put it back,” Haris said with an easy shrug. “And relax.”
“I am relaxed! I’ve never been more relaxed!”
“You’re acting like Ammi.”
Oh god.She was becoming her mother. That was enough to get Emmeline to pause. She released a long breath, and Haris nodded. “I’ll call the others—I’m starving.”
Emmeline pulled out the plates to set the table and, shortly thereafter, Naveed came into the kitchen to reheat the tray of food they’d brought home. Once the oven dinged, he brought the tray to the table, removing the foil to reveal roasted chicken atop a bed of buttery rice. It smelled divine.
They all dug in, chatting about different things: Naveed’s finance job, Haris’s medical school classes, random members of their extended family.
As Emmeline ate and talked with her family members, she found herself relaxing, talking and laughing along with them. She showed them pictures of Eve from her visit to Millie’s yesterday, telling them all the funny things Noahand Ira had said, her heart warming as she thought of her adorable nephew and nieces.
“She’s all calmed down now,” Haris said to Naveed, voice a fake-whisper. “No need to be afraid anymore.”
“Damn,” Naveed replied in an equally terrible whisper. “I was hoping she’d clean my room.”
Emmeline rolled her eyes. “You guys are so funny. Truly.”
They continued eating, and she felt much better once there was a hearty meal in her stomach. Just as she was finishing, Naveed stood, picking up his plate. As she scooped the last bite of rice onto her spoon, he grabbed her plate from underneath her, too.
“It really isn’t difficult to put your plate in the dishwasher after you’ve eaten, you know,” Naveed told her. She raised a brow.
“Hey, don’t be smart with her,” Haris said, pointing a finger. They were both mimicking her, clearly enjoying themselves.
“Hilarious. A real comedy act,” Emmeline said drily, pushing her chair back. The boys laughed, and her lips twitched.
Together, they picked up the rest of the dishes, and Charles stuck them in the dishwasher. Then, they went to the couches in the living room to hang out, and a little while later, one of the caretakers brought Motu in.
The baby dragon lit up when he saw Emmeline, flying straight to her. She hardly had a chance to bring her arms up to catch him as he all but tackled her, almost sending her flying back.
The weight of him against her chest was soothing. Tears pricked her eyes as Motu nuzzled his head against hers, and she held him closer.
