Lou finished off her beer. “Mama Ami decided that while Gerald was a despicable waste of humanity, her baby should know his sibling, so she tracked Jory down.” Lou grimaced at this. “My mom was training as a mechanic. She was only nineteen. Mama Ami was almost done with graduate school, but still had at least a year and then her residency or internship time. Both would have to struggle to complete their studies and would need help, only my mom’s family…” Lou pursed her lips searching for the right word.

“They suck,” Bay said.

I studied Lou out of the corner of my eye to see if Bay’s words would upset her, but she just nodded, pointing her beer hand at him. “They do kind of suck.”

“Lou’s being nice. They’re assholes.” Bay held Savannah above his head, wiggling the giggling toddler back and forth. When he settled her back down, he jerked his chin at the gathering. “As you’ve probably figured out, my family picks up strays.”

Lou elbowed him and Bay winced.

I smiled around my beer. “I don’t consider myself a stray.”

Bay repositioned Savannah on his hip. “Sorry, anyway, when our moms met, they decided to pool resources. Help each other. Jory moved into my mom’s house. We were raised together in the same house until my mom married my dad.”

Lou snagged another beer from someone as they passed. “Papa Bjorn is the best. Honestly, we could have stayed in the house with them, but my mom wanted to give them their space, and we were doing better by then. Of course, she bought a small bungalow next door.” Lou pointed at a neighboring house, where I could just make out the roof and a little bit of the siding behind the large fence…that had an open gate that obviously didn’t get closed often. It was covered in a clinging vine that had stuck it to the fence.

At this point we were interrupted by Papa Bjorn carrying a wooden slab covered in grilled salmon. He leaned over to kiss Lou on the cheek. “It’s good to see you, darling girl.”

Lou returned the kiss. “You too, Papa B-jou.”

“Salmon is ready. We’re about to eat.”

“Papa B-jou?” I murmured.

Lou flushed, but I think it was more from the beer and happiness than embarrassment. “I had a hard time saying ‘Bjorn’ when I was little.”

Bjorn grinned. “It was endearing.”

Bay’s mother, Mama Ami, came up behind Bjorn and gave him a squeeze. “It’s about time. I’m starving.”

He slowed his movement so Ami could stay connected to his back. “It’s not my fault. I left the office on time. Lara and Jen were late. Something about losing one of their prep people.”

They left our sphere, moving together to put the salmon on the table, which was for the best because I was about ten seconds away from swiping it from him and eating it right off the board. You’d think I hadn’t had a bite in weeks, or that I hadn’t been stuffed half full since I got here.