Hauk laughed as he watched the two of them. His girls.

No, his family. It seemed so surreal to have them here in his home. He’d been alone for so long that it was hard to believe this was real.

Nothing would ever be the same and for that he was so grateful. While he’d been content and happy before, this was so much better.

And scarier.

Sumi brushed the hair back from Kalea’s face. “Aunt Mari’s a boy.”

“But Aunt Mari’s an aunt.”

“You’re not going to win this,” Syn said with a laugh. “Trust me. I get my ass handed to me by Devyn every day. They wear you down with persistence and kid logic.”

“Yeah,” Hauk agreed. “I learned that the hard way, yesterday. In three hours of nonstop questions, she wore me out.”

Kalea looked down at her clothes and frowned. She tugged at her nightgown. “Who dressed me like a princess?”

Hauk smiled at her. “Your Aunt Des.”

“Is Aunt Des an aunt or is she a boy, too?”

“She’s a girl,” Sumi said, touching her nose, “and she has a daughter your age.”

“Really!”

Hauk nodded. “You’re wearing her daughter’s clothes and she has another dress for you after you bathe.”

Pulling away from Sumi, she opened her mouth wide and jumped on the bed. “Is it pretty, too?”

Hauk wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Okay, sure.”

Sumi laughed. “Daddies don’t know about pretty dresses. But Aunt Des always has pretty things on her little girl, so I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

“When I meet them?”

Hauk reached for Kalea to pull her off the bed. “How about while Uncle Syn —”

“No!” Sumi growled the word out so ferociously that he released Kalea instantly and took a quick step back in fear of her. She’d never made that sound before.

She swallowed hard. “Sorry, Dancer. I’ve waited too long to have her with me. I’m not going to let her go. Not for anything.”

He met her gaze and nodded. “I know the feeling, and I wasn’t going to take her far. But I think I’ll just leave her here with her mother before I lose a body part we both might miss.”

Sumi held her hand out to him. He took it and she led it to her cheek. “I’m sorry I overreacted.”

Syn shook his head. “Da —” He looked at Kalea and caught himself. “Dang, Hauk, here I thought I had the scariest wife. Now you done gone and upped me with one even more ferocious.”

He rolled his eyes at Syn. “I don’t know. Shahara’s still frightening. After all, she did shoot me.”

“Yeah, but yours just about ripped your arm off with her bare hands three seconds ago… and she’s wounded. Never come between a mother and her baby. Hard lessons learned.”