The gang is literally all here. I make my way into the throngs in Sam’s and Leo’s back yard, letting the swell of voices and laughter and the smells of whatever’s on Sam’s grill wash over me. Playing the cello alone has always been one of my best forms of medicine. Tribe is the other.

I catch a bullet with arms and legs right before it crashes into my leg. Daniel skids to a stop right behind her, laughing as I hand him the streaking girl. “Evie, doll, you’re going to break someone if you don’t look where you’re going.”

She grins at him, covered in ketchup and clearly unconcerned. “He catched me.”

“A girl after my own heart.” Sam leans in and gives the toddler a big, smoochy kiss on the cheek. “A party’s no fun until you’ve gotten in trouble at least once, right, sugar?”

Evie laughs. Daniel snorts. “Just wait until Soleil starts walking.”

“You hush.” Sam shakes his head. “We’re keeping her right this size for the rest of her life.”

I look around, trying to find the baby in the sea of heads. “Who’s kidnapped her?”

Sam rolls his eyes. “The first person, or who has her right now?”

I imagine he could give me a list, with times and locations of each exchange. Sam is exuberant and outrageous, but he misses exactly nothing—and he adores his daughter with the wild mop of hair and the dark-eyed gaze that matches his. “You might have to search people when they leave.”

Leo swings in to join us, laughing at my comment. “They’ll give her back when it’s nap time. Her lungs are really impressive.”

Daniel backs away, listening carefully to whatever Evie’s whispering into his ear. I grin at Leo. “I hear babies are really good at topping from the bottom.”

Leo laughs again and wraps an arm around Sam. “They are. And she’s got an excellent teacher.”

Sam has a stellar wounded-innocent look. “Such accusations, and after I spent all day teaching her how to blow bubbles just for her Pops.”

Leo’s whole face melts. “Aww, did she finally do it?”

“Nope. She’s waiting for you.” This smoochy kiss is for Leo’s cheek, and then we’re whirlwinding again, Sam dragging me off to parts unknown. “You look hungry. Come.”

I follow him as he heads to the grill. There’s no evading Sam’s tacos, even if I wanted to.

He plucks Soleil out of Mattie’s arms on the way. She just grins and spanks his ass. I shake my head and give her a wry look. Apparently I’m not the only one who struggles with the rules for vanilla behavior.

Sam stops at the grill and snuggles his baby girl under his chin. “What do you think, wiggle bug? Should we feed Uncle Eli the spicy tacos today, or the extra-special body-slam version?”

I hope Soleil knows that my stomach lining is white, Jewish, and a little touchy about being set on fire.

Sam winks at his daughter, picks up a bottle of something hot and red, and squirts it liberally onto the spoonful of meat already sitting on a soft taco shell.

I don’t ask. I watch Soleil’s droopy eyes instead. One baby who feels entirely safe with her daddy.

“So.” Sam scoops toppings from the nearby table onto my plate, clearly not trusting me with my own taco. “Have you tied Chloe up and had your way with her yet?”

I wince. “Does my answer influence what you’re going to put on that?” Sam has used his grill to get even with more than one Dom.

He laughs. “Yes. Don’t lie.”

I wouldn’t have anyhow. “No. She has to choose this freely. Not everyone is meant to be kinky.” No matter how much pressure my inner Dom would like to apply.

Soleil chooses that moment to let out a sleepy, fussy wail.

Sam slides her into some kind of contraption on his chest, bouncing in time to the universal beat only parents can hear. “It’s okay, sweetie love. You can grow up to be straight and vanilla and your daddies will still love you.”

I grin—and then it fades as I realize my answer is exactly the same as his.

I’ll still love Chloe, too.