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Abby shrugged. "Yeah, what?"
"I'm not really your aunt, though."
With a bemused smile, the ten-year-old tilted her head and considered that. "Oh. Well, I didn't think it mattered. My grandma's not really my grandma, and my dad's not really my dad."
Hating the way that sounded, Grace dropped her book and took Abby's hands. "Whoa, hey, sorry. Your grandmareally isyour grandma, and your dadreally isyour dad. Just because you aren't blood-related doesn't mean you aren't family, right?"
Was she failing miserably at salvaging this?
Grace had absolutely no experience with kids, especially not ones with complicated family situations that she had to be careful not to undermine. She was probably making a mess of her attempt to fix it, but she held her breath while she waited for Abby's reaction.
"Yep. Momma says it's not blood that makes you family. It's love."
Before she could ruin a nice moment with aForrest Gumpjoke that would likely go over Abby's head, Grace patted her knee. "Perfect. Great. Glad we settled that."
"So, can I call you Auntie Grace? I called Auntie Sofia that, and she didn't say anything."
"Of course you can. And between you and me, Auntie Sofia wasn't surprised by it because she comes from a really big family with a lot of love in it, so she's probably used to that kind of thing."
Abby nodded. "Guess that meansyoudon't have a big family?"
Grace shook her head. How did she get into such a deep conversation with such a small person?
Were all children this... impactful?
"Well," Abby started, looking around the room and waving her hand with a flourish, "you do now, huh?"
"Uh, yeah," Grace choked out, barely keeping it together.
She changed her mind. Children weren't just impactful. They were soul-crushingly astute, and they probably took secret lessons on how to make adults cry.
"You look...busyagain," Abby whispered, studying Grace's face.
"Busy?"
"Yeah, busy. Sometimes, when my dad is working on a hard case, he stares at walls like that. Then Mama tells him he's gonna fry his brain if he keeps turning his gears so fast."
"Oh, yeah?" Grace chuckled, forcing a smile. The flickering candlelight cast eerie shadows on the walls, adding to the mounting tension in her chest. "Well, I guess I'm a little lost in my head tonight."
"Is it because of the storm?"
"Something like that," Grace admitted, deciding not to burden the young girl with her true concerns. After all, it was supposed to be a cozy Christmas gathering, not a suspense-filled whodunit.
But there was no denying that Abby's words had struck a serious chord within Grace before the little girl had shown concern for her well-being, so without thinking, Grace reached over and hugged her fiercely.
Abby squealed in surprise as Grace held her tightly, yelling something about not being able to breathe. At least, that was what Grace thought she said, but since Abby’s voice was muffled by Grace's plush sweater... she couldn't be sure.
Robin approached them, chuckling as she sat down. "Whoa, release my firstborn. I'll need help with the baby, so I can't lose my babysitter."
Abby gasped dramatically, feigning offense. "Is that all I'm good for?"
They laughed together as Robin pulled her daughter close, smothering her with kisses. "You're the best thing that’s ever happened to me," Robin whispered tenderly. "And don't youeverforget it."
Grace hadn't forgotten her earlier fears by any means, but her chest filled with gratitude as she watched the example of what mother-daughter love should be like.
Apparently, not having love like that in her family didn't mean no one did... whether blood-related or not.
What was more… she needed to stop running away from people because she was constantly scared they wouldn’t care about her as much as she cared about them. She’d been living her life like that becauseshe’dchosen to, not because of her parents’ choices.
