For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
Then Aria made a loud, happy, squealing sound. “Yes. Yes, obviously yes! Oh my God, I get to be a bridesmaid!”
Nobody bothered to correct her as she rushed around the table and threw her arms around me, nearly knocking the breath out of me. I laughed into her shoulder, holding her close.
Dimitros stayed where he was, but I saw the way his eyes softened. He pushed to his feet a moment later.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’d be honored.”
Lykos stepped forward and clasped his shoulder. “Thank you, son.”
The moment settled, but my heart began to race again for a different reason.
“Dimitros,” I started, but then I hesitated for fear of offending him—or possibly of refusal.
He looked at me, brows lifting slightly. “Yeah?”
I stood, smoothing my hands against my dress before stepping closer. Up close, I could see the flicker of uncertainty in his expression.
“There’s something else I wanted to ask you.”
Aria stilled, sitting in my spot.
“If you are open to it… or even would want…” I hesitated, then pushed through. “I would like to adopt you. Legally. The same way we’re making things official for Aria. That is, if you’d want that.”
Dimitros didn’t move.
“Adopt me?” he repeated.
The breeze shifted, brushing a strand of hair across my cheek, and I nodded slowly.
“Only if you’re comfortable with it. Nothing changes if you don’t want to.” I offered a small smile. “I’ll understand if you’d rather not and I don’t want to do it if you… Well, if you prefer to just keep me as Violet. I already think of you as mine, and no matter what, that won’t change. My world is a better place with all of you.”
Silence stretched. Lykos said nothing, as I’d instructed. But I could feel his attention fixed on his son.
Dimitros dragged a hand through his hair and exhaled slowly. His gaze dropped to the table briefly before lifting back to me.
“You really mean that?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
His mouth curved into a blinding smile.
“Then yes,” he said, his voice rough. “Yeah… I’d like that.”
Relief bloomed through me, and I smiled happily. “The paperwork will take a long time, but I didn’t want to start it if you weren’t comfortable with it. And it’s not my intention to replace Amara.”
He nodded somberly. “Thank you, Violet. Or should I call you… something else.”
I smiled. “Violet is fine.”
Aria let out another delighted squeak, then grabbed his arm, shaking it enthusiastically.
Dimitros laughed. “Alright, alright. Calm down.”
I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around them, leaving space if they wanted to pull away. Neither of them did. In fact, they hugged me back.
When we pulled apart, Lykos was watching me with a look in his eyes that made me burn.
