"Me neither. Not really. Not like this." I squeeze her hands. "But I want one. With you. With Asher and my brothers.”
She stares at me. Then she nods, decisive.
"Okay.” A pause. "But I still want a dog."
"You're getting a dog."
"And a rug."
"And a rug."
"And yellow walls."
"Lily." Asher laughs, the sound filling the empty room. "You're getting everything. We promise."
She smiles. It's the brightest thing I've ever seen.
"Okay," she says. "Then I think this is going to be a good home."
I look at Asher. At the room that's waiting to be filled. At the girl who's waiting to become a person.
"Yeah," I say. "I think so too."
Chapter Twenty: Asher
Sixmonthslater.
The farmhouse smells like coffee and pancakes and something burning that's probably my fault.
"Asher." Jinx's voice carries from the kitchen, dry and amused. "The bacon."
"Shit." I grab the pan, flip the blackened strips onto a plate. "It's... crispy."
"It's burnt, what the hell."
"It adds character. I did that on purpose."
Lily appears in the doorway, dark hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, wearing pajamas covered in cartoon dogs. She eyes the bacon with suspicion.
"Dad burned breakfast again."
The word hits me like it does every time. Dad. She started saying it three months ago, casual, like it was nothing. Like it didn't shatter me into pieces every single time.
"Dad did his best," I say. "Dad is not a morning person."
"Papa makes better pancakes." She slides into her chair, reaches for the syrup. "No offense."
"None taken. Papa is a professional."
Jinx comes in with a fresh stack of pancakes, sets them on the table, drops a kiss on the top of Lily's head. He's wearing sweatpants and one of my t-shirts, his hair loose around his shoulders, his feet bare on the kitchen tile.
He looks domestic. Still got the body of a Greek god and hands that can choke a man out, but he looks happy, if the grin on his face is anything to go by.
"School today," he says, sliding into his chair. "Did you finish your homework?"
"Most of it." Lily pours an alarming amount of syrup on her pancakes. "I got stuck on the math."
"Which part?"
