“MORGAN!”
I ripped my mouth away from Jude at the sound of her voice.
“FREYJA!”
I rushed over, and she pulled me into her arms. Freyja was Scribe, Athena, and Phoebe’s sister. She left Rosewood after Scribe married Henley, telling everyone it was now her turn and she would find the person the universe had for her at Mardi Gras.
Now she was with Duncan. My father’s right-hand man.
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be traveling this late in your pregnancy. What if you go into labor?”
“Lucille said we could come. She assured us the baby would be born in Boston,” Duncan said, as he wrapped me up in a warm hug.
“Lucille?” I cocked my head to the side and looked at Duncan. “You believe in Lucille?” I asked with a grin.
“I believe in Freyja,” he corrected.
Freyja smiled up at him, and he kissed the side of her head. I hugged Uncle Mac and Cian. But the woman standing beside him just stared at me. I knew who she was but hadn’t had a chance to meet her yet.
“Hi, Aunt Caity.”
She swept across the room and pulled me into her arms. “I am so mad my brother kept you from me.” She hugged me tight and the tears threatened to fall again.
“Well, you’re here now. Stop hoggin’ my daughter.”
Caity stepped back, but not before punching my father in the arm. He winced and rubbed the spot as he glared at his sister.
“Stop, Dad, that didn’t hurt.”
“Clearly you’ve never been hit by Caity,” Cian said. My aunt spun around and he quickly held his hands up, laughing as he said, “I’m not sorry. You’re fuckin’ mean, but I love you anyway.”
I watched the two of them as I stood next to my father, with his arm around my shoulders. I looked around at the faces. “Maddie didn’t come?” I asked. I’d been so excited to finally meet my cousin. She was only a year older than me.
Aunt Caity looked away, and Cian wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Maddie wishes she could be here, but she promised to call later.”
There was tension in Cian’s shoulders as he spoke. I wanted to ask more questions, like, was she okay? But then, my mother walked in and went immediately to Freyja.
“Benny, it’s so good to see you!”
“Look at the belly! Freyja, you are absolutely glowing! And did I hear correctly? Athena is pregnant?”
“She is. The universe connected her to her one. She’s so happy.”
“Stevie must be thrilled with all these grandbabies.”
“She is. She wanted us to come to New York, but I needed to see Morgan. Make sure she was doing alright. I mean, Lucille said she was, but well, I wanted to see with my own eyes.”
“You should have invited your parents; I would love to have seen them.”
“They’re in Rosewood with Dimeter and Phoebe. Tad is only a few months old, so she is very happy to snuggle him any chance she gets.”
My mother looked at me and smiled. “I get it.”
Mom walked over and hugged my dad and I looked over at the bar, where Smokey was sitting. It wasn’t a secret that he had a thing for my mother, but while she was friendly and spent timewith him here at the clubhouse, she wouldn’t get on the back of his bike, no matter how many times he asked.
Smokey wasn’t looking my way. He was staring straight in front of him, and I knew it was because he didn’t want to see her in the arms of another man.