Jada sat cross-legged on the floor of Piper and Coop’s house in Lincoln Park and watched eleven-month-old Isabelle Graham and her twin brother, Will, wobble from one piece of furniture to the next looking totally drunk. They were batting around a scruffy pink pig and babbling to each other in a language only they understood, which made them even more adorable. She loved them with all her heart.

She remembered when Piper had found out she was having twins. Jada had been staying with them while her mom was in Lansing meeting Eric’s parents for the first time. She’d been a junior in high school, old enough to stay by herself. But she liked spending time with Coop and Piper, so she hadn’t bitched about it.

Piper was super nervous when she got pregnant, but that was nothing compared to what happened when she had her first ultrasound. Because Jada was taking biology—and because she’d pleaded with them—Piper and Coop had let her come along for the doctor’s appointment. When Piper found out she was having twins, she had a total freak-out. She’d jumped off the table, ultrasound goo still plastered all over her stomach, and charged Coop. “One!” she’d yelled. “I said I’d have one for you! And you agreed to take care of it! I never said anything about two! Do you have to be an overachiever in everything?”

Coop had lifted her off her feet, getting goo all over himself, and said she’d be the best mother of twins ever because of her competitive nature. Then she’d yelled that he was the one with a competitive nature and that she was too emotional to have twins. Coop said it was true she was emotional and asked her if she felt like crying. When she said she did, he’d told her to go ahead. She had, but not for long, and then she’d started hugging him back. The whole time, the medical technician was standing there with the ultrasound thingy in her hand and staring at them like they were both crazy.

Coop had been right about Piper being a great mother, but Coop was a great dad, too. They’d both gone through a lot of changes in the three years since they’d gotten married. Coop had sold Spiral and started an urban gardening program. He already had seven gardens growing in abandoned lots that used to be littered with a bunch of old tires and broken liquor bottles. Coop had former gang members planting and weeding alongside old people and single mothers, everybody working together to feed their communities. In September, Coop was opening a training facility to aid young people in finding jobs in the food industry. Piper said that helping transform neighborhoods was a perfect occupation for a man who loved big challenges.