He kisses the place behind my ear and lets his mouth rest there, breathing me in.
The first car comes through the gate. Theo abandons his stick and sprints toward the gravel drive. Lucas’s hand tightens on my hip in pure paternal reflex before he lets me step forward.
The lead vehicle pulls up. Anne is out of the back seat almost before it stops, her dark hair longer than I remember. A boy who is taller than I am ready for slides out behind her, his hand still in hers.
“Auntie Sienna!”
Eli is five now. Two years older than Theo. He has Anne’s careful eyes and Kain’s straight, serious mouth. The moment he sees me, he lets go of his mother’s hand and walks the last few steps to me on his own. He lifts his arms.
“Come here, sweetheart.” I crouch and gather him in. He smells of pine soap and the long drive. He hugs me tightly around my neck. “Look at you! Look how big you’ve gotten.”
“I lost a tooth,” he tells me into my shoulder, very seriously.
“You did?”
“Two.”
“Two whole teeth!” I draw back to look at him. He opens his mouth to prove it. There is a pink gap on the bottom front and another on the side. “Now, did you lose them, or did somebody steal them?”
He grins. “No, silly. They fell out.”
Theo, who has been waiting with admirable patience, tugs at Eli’s coat.
“Come see,” he commands.
Eli looks at me for permission. I nod. He follows Theo off across the gravel with the resigned patience of an older cousin who is about to be shown something that is not, in fact, that interesting.
Anne reaches me, and her arms close around me in a warm embrace. “Sienna.”
“I missed you,” I whisper into her hair. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you more.”
We stand there for a long moment, her cheek against mine, my hand at the back of her head.
Kain unfolds from the driver’s side and meets Lucas on his way to the steps with that half handshake, half shoulder bump that means “hello” in male. The two of them have grown into easy company over the years.
A second car pulls up. Violet is out before Darius can come around to her door. Her belly precedes her by a noticeable margin. Her hand presses to the small of her back as she walks.
“I’m fine,” she says before Darius can speak. “Sienna, tell him to stop hovering over me like this. It’s a baby, not a bomb.”
“Violet!” I close the distance and very carefully gather her into my arms, my hands splayed across her shoulder blades, our bellies meeting at her round one. Her cheek presses against mine. “Look at you.”
“That’s one way of telling me I look fat.”
Darius sighs. “Ignore her. She’s been trying to get me to call her that since this morning. She’s in the mood for a fight.”
“Oh, so now you’re saying I pick fights?” Violet glares at her mate, and I quickly turn her back toward me.
“You’re glowing. Pregnancy suits you.” I grin at her.
My friend gives me a doubtful look. “Really?”
“You look beautiful, Violet,” I insist.
Her breath catches. “Don’t make me cry out here in the driveway.”
Darius shakes his head in exasperation and clasps Lucas’s hand, the two of them exchanging a quiet look that has years of partnership in it now.
