“My Girl” by Otis Redding plays through the entire house, and I hold my niece in my arms, pull a penny from behind her ear. “What’s this?” I whisper, smiling back at her the way she’s smiling at me. She grabs my chin with her chubby little fists, and I spin us around the living room a little too fast for Dad’s liking. “Take it easy, Logan. She just ate.”

“I got her,” I tell him, then look back into her eyes—eyes just like my mother’s. “Your uncle Lo’s got you, doesn’t he, Princess?”

Exactly a year ago today, Baby Katie was born. It wasn’t easy on Lucy, and I’m saying that as someone who has absolutely zero knowledge of the labor process, but Lucy, probably the strongest of us all, struggled. Bad. She was in labor for fifteen hours, completely drug-free—because that’s how Mom had done it—and she wanted to be just as strong as Mom. When it got time to push, things got worse, and Katie—she was beached. No. Bitched. No… wait… breeched. Yeah, that’s it. She was upside down or something, probably facing the butthole instead of the vagina—gross—but anyway, they had to do a last-minute emergency C-section. 

Swear to God, I’ve never seen Lucy that scared. 

When they wheeled her out of the room, we were all waiting for her in the hallway. She wouldn’t stop crying, and it wasn’t the physical pain that made her that way. She kept saying she couldn’t do it, that she’d failed as a mother… and then, the saddest part of all, she kept crying out for Mom. Broke my damn heart. Dad’s, too. I gave her the lucky penny from around my neck, told her it was Mom’s, and that Mom would be in that room with her. She looked up at me, cried some more. “But it’s yours,” she said, and I shook my head, told her it was going to be Katie’s, anyway. It was. I’d planned to give it to her the minute she was born. Besides, I don’t need luck anymore. I had Aubrey. Who sat by my side the entire night, holding my hand, and telling me everything would be okay. 

An hour after Lucy was taken into the OR, Cameron came out, covered in scrubs from head to toe, and blood. So much blood. I thought that something horrible had happened. And then he broke down in tears and said, “She’s so perfect. God, she’s so perfect.”

And she is. 

My baby niece.

My little princess. 

“My turn!” Lachlan shouts, arms up, reaching for Katie.

I set Katie on the floor, make sure she’s steady on her feet before letting her go. “Be careful, okay? She’s only little.”

Lachy rolls his eyes at me. “I’m not a dummy, Logan! Jeez, you gotta give me room to breathe, bro.”

Lucas sways past, dancing with Laney, and smirks, “You play stupid games…”

I shake my head. “Shut up.”

Dad smacks the back of my head as he walks to kitchen. “Don’t talk to your brother like that.”

And then Leo’s coming down the stairs. “Yeah,” he says. “Don’t talk to your brother like that.”

“You don’t even know—”

“Everything’s good to go,” the twins shout, their heads poking through the front door.

I look at my watch. “What time does the party start?”

“In an hour,” Cameron says, picking up his daughter. “Where’s your girl?”

“Wherever yours is.”

The song ends, the back door opens, and Aubrey walks in: hair down, long summer dress with palm leaves, flowers in her hair. I ask her, “Have you seen my friend, Wilson?”

“Who?” she says, making her way through all the people to get to Katie. She kisses her cheek, then wipes off the lipstick she left behind.

“My friend, Wilson,” I repeat. “Because you look like a castaway.”

Cameron shakes his head, chuckles. “Poor effort, dude.”

“You’re an idiot,” Aubrey tells me. “And why are you still in your underwear? The party starts in an hour.” She flicks her wrist, shooing me out the door. “Go. And you, too, Lachy.”

I grasp both her hands in mine and smile; I can’t help it. “My clothes are up in my old room.” I kiss her quickly. “And I was kidding. You look beautiful.”

Had it not been for Aubrey’s four-poster bed, her move in to the garage apartment with me would’ve been just as stealth as my move in with her. 

She hasn’t left my side. 

I won’t let her. 

Neither will my family. 

And, sure, we could’ve gotten our own place, but truthfully? I don’t want to be far from my family—my support system—and after the first night of You + Me 2.0, when Aubrey caught me up on everything going on in her life, it was pretty clear she needed a support system of her own. And my family—my dad especially—was more than happy to be that for her.

She now runs Lucy’s bookstore.

* * *

“Why do I have to dress like this?” Lachlan asks, fidgeting with his tie. “I feel like a jackhole.”

I sit on the edge of my parents’ bed and shake my head at him. “You hang around me way too much.”

“Not by choice,” he says. “You’re just wherever Red is, and I actually like her.”

Aubrey giggles as she buttons my sleeve.

“Why can’t I just wear jeans?”

“Because…” I start. “Because it’s Katie’s first birthday and Lucy wants to get some nice pictures of all of us today.”

“That’s dumb,” he mumbles.

“Listen, Lachy,” I say, my voice firm. “Lucy and Cameron—they were told they’d never have a baby, and it’s something they’ve wanted for a really long time. Besides, Lucy and Cam—we owe them a lot. I know…” I look down, a knot forming in my throat. “I know you were really young when Mom died, but afterward, Dad—he didn’t take it too well, and if it weren’t for Luce and Cameron and Cam’s mom, we might not even be here.”

“What?” he says, his eyes narrowed. “Like, we’d be eaten by zombies?”

“No,” I laugh out. “I mean, we wouldn’t be here, all together like this. We may have been separated. And could you imagine that… all of us living in different places?”

“No,” Lachlan mumbles. “That would suck.”

“Right? So, I think we can dress like penguins for one day a year. I think Cameron and Lucy deserve that. Don’t you?”

He nods.

Then Katie cries, and I look to the door, to Lucy and Cameron standing there, watching us. “You’re a jerk,” Lucy cries out, wiping at her tears.

Aubrey sniffs, and she’s crying, too.

I sigh.

Lachlan does the same. “Girls are so weird.”

“They’re not that bad,” Cameron says, laying Katie down on the bed. She’s in a frilly purple dress, my lucky penny hanging from a gold chain around her neck. Blue-blue eyes and dark brown hair and more cheeks than you can squeeze between your fingers.

“You make good kid,” I tell Cameron.

He nods, his eyes doing that crazy distant thing whenever he looks at his daughter for more than a second. “Fuck, yeah, I do.”

Lucas says, walking into the room with Laney right behind him. “At some point, we’re going to have to cut it out with all the swearing. She’s going to start picking up on it.”

Laney laughs, her head throwing back. “Remember that time Lachlan thought pussy-whipped meant that you didn’t like cats and you whipped them?”

Everyone laughs. Everyone but Lachlan. “Wait. That’s not what it means?”

The twins come in then, all of us around the king-sized bed, looking down at Katie. Lincoln says, “Aunt Leslee just got to the gate.”

We all groan.

“Guess who’s with her?”

“Who?” Lucy asks.

“Vagina.”

“Ew!” Lachlan squeals.

“Virginia?” I ask. “Our old nanny?”

“Uh huh,” says Liam, but he has that sly smile on his face that can only mean one thing.

“Wait,” Lucas says, unable to hide his smirk. “Does that mean Mia’s here, too?”

Liam nods. “Yep.”

All eyes go to Leo, who’s covering his face. “Nooooo!” he whispers into his hands.

“Who’s Mia? And why is Leo…” Aubrey trails off.

“Mia’s Virginia’s daughter, and she fucking loved Leo,” I say through a chuckle.

“Loved?” says Lucy. “She was infatuated.”

“How long do I have to stay at this thing?” Leo mumbles.

“Remember that time she made Leo a cake with her face on it?” Lucas laughs out.

I say, “Oh, my God, and it was at that really bad stage. When she had that—”

“Brace face!” Liam shouts. “And acne.”

“Oh, my God, so much acne,” Lincoln adds.

“Didn’t Virginia send her to fat camp?” I ask.

The room goes silent.

“We’re such assholes,” Lucas says.

“Yeah,” Lucy agrees, frowning down at her daughter. “We’re the worst.”

“The worst,” Liam agrees.

“She was a really nice girl,” I add. “Like, super sweet.”

“We’re the meanest, most judgmental bunch of whorefaces in existence,” says Lucy.

Leo sighs. “I mean, yeah, we are, but still… if y’all could be my buffer, I’d appreciate it.”

“You’re on your own, bud,” Lucas says, slapping his shoulder.

We all go quiet as we stare down at Katie. “If anyone treats her the way we just treated Brace Face—I mean Mia…” I rub my hands across my face. “Jesus.”

“Kids!” Dad calls from downstairs. “You have visitors!”

Lucy exhales, frowns some more.

“Kids!”

No one moves.

Voices sound from downstairs.

Then Dad’s footsteps, thumping.

Lucy whispers, “Fee-fi-fo-fum.”

I chuckle. Lucas’s eyes go wide. “Quick!” he whisper-yells. “Everyone hide.”

Lucy takes Katie off the bed, and then I’m lifting the blankets while everyone tries to fit on the bed. Legs off the edges, arms bent, hands in places they shouldn’t be. Aubrey settles on top of me, giggling into my chest.

Katie coos.

“Shut it, Katie,” Lachlan jokes. “The giant’s coming.”

Fee-fi-fo-fum!

“Kids!” Dad yells, and then the bedroom door is opening, and it’s silent besides Lachy giggling, Lucas’s hand covering our baby brother’s mouth.

“Welp,” Dad says. “Can’t find them. I must be too tired. I’m going to sleep.”

And then the blankets are lifting and we’re laughing, squealing like little kids again.

The Preston property has been converted into a scene from a fairytale, and to everyone here, Katie is the princess. I don’t think I’ve ever met a little girl so spoiled with love and affection. And no one showers her with more love and affection than her Uncle Logan. I watch him holding her, walking around to the party guests one after the other, a giant smile on his face.

It took a while for that smile of his to return after everything that had happened. There was no denying our initial emotional connection, or re-connection. But it was the moments after that led us to the strength we have now. We were both wary of our feelings and the feelings of those around us. While the Prestons made it known they had absolutely no issues with me, that they supported and loved me regardless of what my family ties were, their feelings for my mother was something else. Tom held the same disdain toward my mother as I did, and I couldn’t fault him for that. While I wish things were different between my mom and I—I still can’t look at her and not feel sick to my stomach that she did so little to save those boys, now men.

In my eyes, she’s neither a victim nor a villain. She is, however, a bystander, and that’s something I don’t think I can ever truly accept.

It doesn’t mean I don’t miss her, though.

It was all those things combined that led me to Logan’s therapist.

I see her twice a month. One session alone, one with Logan. We’d see her more if Logan’s schedule would allow it, but with him working full-time, going to trade school, studying for his GED and ticking off the hours for his court-ordered community service, he barely has time to breathe. I learnt that during his four month stint at the treatment facility, his family, along with Senior Deputy Misty Sanders, Judge Nelson (the town’s only judge who also handled Lucas and Laney’s cases against her ex), and Nathan Andrews (a lawyer and family friend) fought his charges. It was another six months before we were able to get Logan’s final sentence. No prison time was the outcome we all hoped for. We were beyond thrilled with the decision.

Now, Logan’s stopping to talk to the lady I’d been introduced to as Virginia, their old nanny, and her daughter Mia… who is nothing like they’d described.

I nudge Leo standing next me, then wince in pain. The man’s a brick wall, muscles in too many places. He’s spent the past year and a half—since Logan’s downfall—working construction and working out. Next week, he’s off to the police academy.

With a chuckle, he throws his arm over my shoulders, brings me into him. “You’re weak, Red.” All the Prestons call me Red.

I look up at him, but he, too, is watching Logan. Logan and Mia. “Mia grew up, huh?”

“No shit,” he laughs out.

“You gonna talk to her?”

“And say what? Hey, I leave next week, but wanna sex?”

I shrug. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not Logan.”

I elbow his stomach made of stone.

“I meant, Pre-Red Logan. Obviously.”

Right on cue, Logan appears, no Katie. “Get your own girl,” he says, pulling me out of Leo’s hold. He takes my hand, walks me to an open patch of grass. Then he stops, turns me to him. He says, his arms around my waist. “I finally found it.”

“Found what?”

He smirks, motions to Linc and Liam working the stereo. “Our song.”

I try to get out of his hold, but he’s too strong. “No, Logan. Not now.”

“It’s a good song,” he laughs out.

“No. Last time you said that, it was 50 Cent’s ‘Candy Shop’!”

He pins my arms behind me, holds my hands tight in his. Then his mouth is on my neck, my jaw. “I promise, this is it.”

The song starts, and I’m already rolling my eyes in anticipation. Logan starts to smile when my features soften. “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat plays through the speakers, through my heart, my entire body. I let the lyrics fill every part of me.

“Was I right?” he asks, slowly releasing my hands. They go behind his neck, fingers linked. We sway, back and forth, his blue-blue eyes right on mine.

“You were right,” I tell him, my cheek pressed to his chest. “This is perfect.”

“You’re perfect, Red. And this life, what we have, what you’ve given me… it’s all perfect.”

We rear back at the same time, just so we can see each other. He’s smiling from ear-to-ear, like a giant goofball. “I’m the lucky one,” I tell him, grasping the Hope Penny around my neck. You + Me. “And I’m kind of crazy in love with you.”

“The feeling’s mutual, Red.” And then his lips are on mine, and everything fades with the swipe of his tongue, with the way his fingers grasp at my waist. I tilt my head to the side, bump the side of my face against something. Katie. “You guys are so cute it makes me sick,” Lucy says in a high-pitched voice. She’s squatting down, hiding behind her daughter.

Logan shakes his head.

Lucy giggles, stands to full height and holds Katie on her hip. “We’re about to light the lanterns for Mom,” she tells us. “Let’s go.”

I let go of Logan, let him be with his family, because I know how important this is to all of them. They did it for Cameron and Lucy’s wedding, and they plan on doing it every year for Katie’s birthday. Lucy and Logan are two steps away before they both turn, in sync, and narrow their eyes at me. “You coming?” Logan asks.

“You guys go,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s a family thing.”

Lucy scoffs, comes back to me, and pulls on my arm until I’m being dragged behind her. “You’ll realize soon,” she says.

“Realize what?”

“That you are family, Red.”

Logan wraps me in his arms, then lifts me off the ground, throws me over his shoulder. He smacks my butt. I squeal, try to get out of his hold, while my world flips. Everything is upside down. Wired wrong. Perfect. And then Lachlan’s running up to me, handing me a sky lantern. He smiles his gap-tooth smile. “Let’s set the skies ablaze, Red!” And Lucy’s right. I feel it. Only the time isn’t soon. It’s now. And all the people watching us—they have it wrong. Katie’s not the princess here. I am. And I’m living my own fairy tale. My own Happily Ever After.

When we get to the end of the dock, we light the lanterns, watch them float high, high, high into the sky. Logan takes my hand in his, and I feel the familiar sensation of the cold metal against my palm. I take the flattened penny from between our touch, my heart racing as I lift it to my eyes: