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“I’m okay, baby girl. How are you?” Sera hugged her again.
“My movie is over, and now it’s Harper’s turn. She likes scary movies, but she might pick my second-choice movie if I eat everything on my plate at supper. Which I will, because I’m starving,” Violet explained with a giggle.
“Harper is nice.”
“She is, but she can be a bitch sometimes,” his daughter said without missing a beat, which made him smile. This was going to take some getting used to.
“She made lasagna.” Sera told the little girl and kissed her forehead.
Violet pulled away and wiped a tear from her mom’s cheek, “Lucy did, but she made garlic bread.”
Harrison’s heart was lost in that instant to his new daughter. The girl was her mom all over again, though she looked so much like him. How he hadn’t seen it when he had first met them, he didn’t know. It was so obvious now.
“Violet, do you remember Harrison?”
“Yep. He said he’d buy me anything at the coffee shop. Agatha said that I can like you because you make Mom happy.” She’d turned to him as she said to him, and he realized he had been discussed at some point.
“You can like him even if he doesn’t make me happy.” Sera kissed her daughter on the head again, her eyes closed.
“Nope. Only if you like him.” Violet pushed herself off her mom’s lap finally. “If he is staying, I will introduce everyone.”
“I’m staying,” he said in amazement. This kid had no fear.
“Okay.” She grinned and took his hand.
Holding the tiny hand of the person he and Sera had created, he realized he had no fear of what life with his kids was going to be like. It was like he had been waiting for this moment, this opportunity, for years. The trying and trying with Veronica hadn’t taken because his kids were right here, just waiting for him to find them.
On the steps, Violet continued to talk. “Do you want to go in alphabetical order or by age?”
“Age,” he answered. He wanted to know that order. But really, he wanted to know everything about them. They were a part of the woman he loved, even if she hadn’t given them life. But maybe in a small way, she had.
“Oldest to youngest or youngest to oldest?” Violet continued with the questions.
“Oldest to youngest, and an interesting fact about each one.” He threw out, a small challenge that he was sure Violet was up to.
At the landing, he noticed Sera was walking a few steps behind them, watching them and making sure everything was okay for both him and her daughter … their daughter.
Once inside the warm, garlic-scented kitchen, he saw that everyone was already at the table, and everyone was watching him. All of them wore T-shirts and studied expressions of disinterest.
Violet stopped and turned to him, raising her arms because she wanted him to hold her. Surprised she wanted him to hold her, Harrison picked her up. But inside, he was delighted.
“Okay. Harper is the oldest. She is a chef, but she is not a rat.” Violet pointed to the blonde in a yellow T-shirt who waved.
“From the movie, Ratatouille,” Harper said in perfect French and grinned at her little sister. “I also am very bossy, right, Violet?”
“She is, and she gets mad if you don’t move fast enough.” Violet giggled.
“The twins are next, but Maby is older. Maby is also smarter than everyone else.”
“See, I told you all!” The brunette stood up and bowed at all her sisters before sitting back down. “Violet said it, so it is true.”
“Violet is seven. When she’s older, she’ll realize you are just as dumb as the rest of us, just with a fancy degree,” Harper said as she picked at the lasagna.
“Fancy! Can you even say ‘masters,’ Harper? Masters.” Maby said the last word very slowly.
“I don’t need to, Mabel Lucie. I can say ‘own my own business.’ Catering,” said Harper very slowly.
“You share the business with Lucy, Harper,” Maby replied, still willing to argue about it.
