Chesca looks around, utterly unbothered. "What?"
Cole raises his wine glass slightly, expression unchanged, as if this requires no explanation whatsoever.
Jax recovers first, grin spreading. "Team dad."
"No."
"You literally packed snacks for the raid."
"Tactical nutrition."
Remy leans back in his chair. "You texted everyone individually after the raid. 'Status check. Report in.'"
"Occupational hazard."
"Occupational hazard doesn't explain remembering Xander's shellfish allergy," Vanessa adds. "We didn't even tell you about that."
Cole goes very still.
Kade takes a sip of wine, expression innocent. "You called Chesca 'hime' for three weeks before anyone told her what it meant."
"It means PRINCESS," Chesca announces, proud. "I looked it up."
Jax spreads his hands. "Team. Dad."
Cole's expression suggests Jax may not survive dessert. I bite my lip hard to keep from laughing, but the sound escapes anyway, small and helpless and lighter than anything I've felt in years.
Chesca shrugs and reaches for more bread, already moving on. A few minutes later, she stops mid-bite and looks around the table again.
"Can I ask another question?"
"Inside voice, piccola."
She lowers her volume by maybe ten percent. "Are you ALL in love with each other?"
Jax cackles, loud and delighted. "Oh my God. Kid. WHAT."
Chesca blinks at him, earnest and confused. "You're always together! And some of you kiss and some of you don't but you're ALWAYS here."
Vanessa grins into her wine glass. "That's... actually a fair question."
Asher's expression doesn't change. "I'm only in love with Vanessa. And moderately tolerant of everyone else."
"Aw, babe."
Mira's voice cuts in, dry as desert air. "I love no one. I simply tolerate Jax more than most."
Jax clutches his chest, dramatic as theater. "She TOLERATES me. I'm so moved."
Chesca considers this. Her face scrunches the way it does when she's working through something complex. "So Cole chose Mom. And you all chose each other. And now we're chosen too?"
The table goes still, but it's not the uncomfortable kind of silence. It's not the held breath before a verdict.
Kade catches her eyes. "Family. Different kind."
Alina's voice is soft. "Yeah, sweetheart. You're chosen too."
My eyes burn. I blink it back. Cole's hand covers mine. Not under the table, butonthe table, visible and deliberate, and squeezes once.