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“Now I’m worried,” she says. “Is something wrong?” Her eyes land on Harlow, which means she spots her son. “Hand him over, Har.”
Harlow does, and Peppermint snuggles Nicholas into her chest. “Mommy’s got you, little nugget.”
Yes, the nickname somehow stuck.
“Auntie Har had him just fine,” Harlow huffs.
“Bella, stop,” Malachi teases as he pulls his wife back into his arms. “Our nugget will be here before you know it.” He rubs her very pregnant belly as if to prove his point.
“Anyway, back to the surprise.” I kiss the top of Nicholas’s head and then my wife on the lips. “I have someone I want you to meet,” I tell her.
Peppermint glances around the room. “Okay, who?”
I look over my shoulder at Story, who’s waiting patiently with her laptop. “Go ahead,” I tell her.
Story’s screen mirrors on the wall, and two people stare at us. I turn Peppermint to face them, and she gasps.
“Mr. and Mrs. Canton,” I begin. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Pepper Ricci.”
Mrs. Canton bristles. “What is the meaning of this?”
“What the fuck, Nico?” Peppermint cries.
“Language,” Mr. Canton chastises, as if he’s talking to his little girl and not the grown woman before him.
“Trust me,” I tell my wife. When she nods, albeit with a look that promises revenge, I turn to face the screen. “I wanted to meet the daughter you tossed aside like garbage because of something that wasn’t her fault. I wanted you to see the woman she’s become, the wife and mother your little girl grew up to be.”
“Our daughter died years ago,” Mrs. Canton says.
“That’s one thing we can agree on. Pepper Canton died at the hands of my family, my brother. We were the evil in that scenario, not her.”
“What is your point?”
“My point, you crusty old bitch, is this,” I snap, no longer willing to play nice with such horrid people. “Your daughter, the one you gave birth to and should have loved unconditionally, is absolutely, unequivocally dead. But this woman?” I point to Peppermint. “She was born the day your daughter died. She is the—”
“What my husband is trying to say,” Peppermint begins sweetly. Too sweetly. “Is that your hatred of me didn’t fuck me up. It might have knocked me down a peg or two, but I climbed my way out of hell, with a new family, and became someone better than you ever could have made me.”
Peppermint sweeps her arm around the room. “These people are my family. They support me, love me, empower me every single day.” She grabs my hand. “Nico is my husband. The brother of my worst nightmare, but the brightest part of my world.” She kisses Nicholas on his head, and our son stirs awake. “This is my son, your biological grandson. He reminds me that there’s still magic in the world, that even on my worst day, I’m worthy of love.”
When she points to Harlow, Harlow moves to stand behind us, her hatchet raised above her head.
“She is my sister.”
She points to Mama, Giggles, and Spooks. “They are my sisters,” she says as they all move to stand behind us, blades raised above their heads.
This repeats, over and over, until every person in the room is standing behind our family of three, weapons raised.
“Shut this damn thing off,” Mrs. Canton barks at her husband. “I don’t deserve to be disrespected like this.”
Peppermint very calmly hands Nicholas to me and then removes her knife from its sheath at her hip.
“It’s okay, I’m almost done,” she snarls and raises her knife like the others. “Take a good look,Mom and Dad.” She sneers the titles. “BecauseIam what your DNA created. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have family shit to get back to.” Peppermint starts to turn away from the screen but halts and looks back up at them. “Oh, and one more thing. Fuck. You.”
Story cuts the feed, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Canton to sputter over their words and try to figure out what the hell just happened.
Peppermint faces me and grins. “I changed my mind.”
“About?”
“I find that surprises aren’t so bad.”
Laughter fills the room, but Peppermint remains stone-cold sober. She raises onto her tiptoes and kisses me. When she breaks contact, she smiles.
“Thank you for this.”
“I never want you to doubt your worth again. You should always be confident about how loved and appreciated you are, as a friend, as a wife, and as a mother. But most of all, I wanted you to see that there is not a single person in your life who thinks you're weak or that you can’t take care of yourself.”
“I’m guessing you’re going to tell me that even though I can take care of myself, I shouldn’t always have to.”
“Exactly,cuore mio.You catch on quick.”
