“Oh, good. Chief Mayet’s already here.” Soph carries a small human child on her left hip, a wide grin on her face, and a second human child, bigger than the first, attached to her free hand. Both human children wear tutus like we’re headed to the theater after dinner. The smaller one hasher hair in pigtails, one on each side of her head, while the other simply looks a little wild. Like maybe her parentswantedto brush her hair, but she wouldn’t allow it.
Not even Jay Bishop is brave enough to challenge the miniature ballerina.
“You look appropriately flustered, Chief.” Soph smacks a noisy kiss to the smaller girl’s cheek and twists as, behind her, Jay wanders in. Then Jen and Corey. Corey holds another little girl’s hand, but seeing as how I don’t believe Jen is a mom, I don’t think the kid is theirs. Spencer meanders in next: no kids, no wives. Then Theo Griffin: no kids, no wives.
Though I know both are married.
“Everyone knows everyone, right?” Janine wipes her hands on her apron and stands on her toes to get a look at everyone piling in. “Oh, Seraphina, dear. Come on in.”
My heart trips with nerves as I do as Janine did. I stand on my toes and search for a familiar face amongst a sea of… well, familiar faces. Fifi moves hesitantly through the crowd, her willow green eyes locking onto mine, but as she comes to the front and reveals her hand wrapped around Mia’s, I lower to flat feet and grin.
“Aunty Minka!” She pulls poor Fifi through no man’s land, her smile bright and beautiful and, as she leans closer, conspiratorial. Lowering her voice, she cups her mouth and whispers, “I didn’t do it yet, Aunty Minka. I didn’t kick him. But I’m gonna.”
“Mia.” Fifi furrows her brows with disapproval. “No, baby. We don’t kick the mayor.”
Mia simply shoots me a sneaky wink.
“We have so many fun extras tonight, huh?” Soph meanders forward with her daughters, but even as she approaches, she glances back to the other, older girl. “Junebug, you wanna come over here for a sec?” She comes to a stop in front of us and lowers into a crouch, so by the timeJunebugarrives, Soph has the smallest ballerina settled on her thigh. “Mia Fletcher, I brought some friends for you to play with. My daughter, Elle.” She gestures toward the feral ballerina. “She was my first baby, and sometimes she can look kinda scary, but I promise,” she wrinkles her nose, “she’s pretty amazing.” Then she looks to the one on her thigh. “This is my Claire Bear. My second baby. She’s a little quieter than her sister, but she’ll probably run the world in a few more years, so I try to stay on her good side.” Finally, she inches to the right and glances up at the third. “This is Juniper. June. Junebug. Bug. Junie. Little G. Take your pick.” She brings dancing eyes back to Mia. “She’s my friend’s little girl. June’s momowns awholebakery and bakes me yummy cakes every single day. That makes me especially happy. Her stepdad is Preston, and Preston works at my company. Everybody.” She studies her babies, June, then back to Mia. “This is Mia Fletcher. Her daddy is a policeman, and he’s…” She casts a curious glance over her shoulder. “I dunno. Somewhere.”
“Parking the car,” Fifi rasps. “He’s, uh…” She gesturesaway. “We drove up at the same time, and Mia was in a rush to come in, so?—”
“I’m here!” Fletch, being Fletch, barges in amid noise and chaos and a little sweat beading on his brow. He takes a moment to study the scene spread out ahead of him, to zero in on our little grouping, then he circles theothercrowd, the one with Bishop and Griffin and Corey, and comes to us. Smirking, he peeks down at Elle and Claire and chuckles low on his breath. “Wow. They looknothinglike you, Soph.”
Lies. They’re basically her clones.
“Do you have two moms and one dad?” Elle asks. She was named for her Aunt, I suppose. Curious, she points my way. Then to Fifi. “Two? That’s pretty lucky.”
“Naw.” Giggling, Mia takes my hand. “This is my Aunty Minka.” Then she tilts her head the other way. “This is Fifi. ‘Cept, she prefers her proper name, which is Seraphina. My dad calls her Sera sometimes.”
“Alright, cool!” Fletch claps his hands dismissively. “Is dinner served yet, or…?”
“Wait. You call your mom by her first name?” Elle leans closer, like doing so could somehow exclude Soph from the conversation. “My mom is super nice to me and Claire, but I still don’t get to call her Soph. That would get me in trouble.”
“Fifi’s not my mom.” Dumping me like last week’s dinner, Mia drops my hand and wraps both around Fifi’s. “She’s my friend. She takes me shopping, brushes my hair, and does lots of fun thingswifme. I have a different mom; her name is Jada.”
“Oh, God,” Fletch wheezes. I swear, I think he’s on the verge of bending at the hips and panting through his relief. “This is okay. It’s not a complete car accident yet.”
“My mom’s dead,” Mia chirps. “She lives in Heaven now.”
Is that the sound of screeching tires and shattering glass I hear, or…?
“Janine?” Fifi breaks away with a squeak and noisy exhale. “Can I help you offer drinks? Who wants a drink?”
She wants a drink.
Finally, Soph turns back to the crowd and singles out a completely unfamiliar face. “Lucy.” She gestures the young brunette closer and bringsher focus back to Mia. “This is Lucy, and for as long as I’m in Copeland working, Lucy’s hanging out with my babies and June. She’s a ballerina too, did you know that?”
Mia gasps. “Arealballerina?”
“Arealballerina. In fact, did you know the Russian Ballet tried to buy her from me?” Soph tut-tut-tuts her displeasure. “How dare they?”
“How dare they!” Mia exclaims. “Why would you wanna go to Russia anyway? They wear weird hats, and your hair is already so pretty.”
“Oh, well…” Warmth fills Lucy’s cheeks as she drags her long, brown braid around to the front of her shoulder. “Thank you. I love your hair, too. My best friend in the whole world has super-dupercrazywild curly hair, and I’ve had straight hair my whole life. Yours is kinda in the middle, huh?”
Thrilled, Mia reaches up and strokes the woman’s hair.
“It’s not crazy curly,” Lucy continues. “But it’s not straight either. I think you got the best hair of all, because you can choose each day which kind you want.”