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“It means we’ll talk about it.”

He nodded like we had just signed a legally binding contract. “Okay. I’ll tell Grandma.”

Willow laughed. “And there goes your last line of defense.”

Kaidence immediately sprinted toward the bed. “I’m gonna jump!”

“Kaidence Black!” I barked.

He skidded to a halt right before the edge, hands raised innocently. “I was just looking!”

“You were about to launch yourself into orbit,” Willow said, leaning against the doorframe.

Kaidence walked over to the windows and looked down at the backyard, his eyes widening. “Look! Mommy, look! The pool has a waterfall!”

“I see it, baby.”

“Can I swim today?”

“Not today. It’s too cold.”

“Can I swim tomorrow?”

“We’ll see.”

He spun around, scanning the room. “Can I put my tablet right here by the desk?”

“Yes.”

“And my Goldfish?”

“No,” I stated firmly. “Absolutely no food upstairs in the bedroom.”

Willow caught Kaidence’s eye and mouthed over my shoulder, Hide them under the pillows.

“Willow, I see you,” I said without turning around.

She gasped with mock innocence. “I didn’t say a word!”

“You have an accomplice vibe that radiates across the room.”

Kaidence giggled and threw himself backward onto the rug, lining up his plastic dinosaurs along the baseboard.

Seeing him settle so naturally into the room pulled a sharp ache behind my ribs.

Caspian should’ve been the one standing there showing our son how to turn on the faucets. He should’ve been arguing with me about buying a twice the size of the wall, or teaching Kaidence how to throw a football across that massive lawn.

He should’ve been here.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, blinked back the heat behind my eyes, and turned toward the door.

“Come on, Willow. Let’s get your room picked out.”

Willow’s room selection took all of twenty-five seconds.

The moment she pushed open the door to the guest suite across the hall, she dropped her bag flat on the bed.

“Claimed!”