I tightened my grip on her fingers, not enough to hurt her, but enough to let her know I wasn’t ever going to let her go. She was just a baby, three years old, if what Ciana had mentioned was true. She was itty-bitty and needed protecting. And even if I had to protect her from her own brother, I would. She was too precious to let anything or anyone ever hurt her.

“They’re here! They’re here!” I heard Ciana yelling as the clatter of her shoes on the floor echoed down the hall as she ran. Seconds later, she skidded to a stop in the doorway, her brown eyes scanning the room and taking everyone in.

“Ciana, where are your manners?” Zia Scarlett admonished. “Are you supposed to enter a room like that, young lady?”

“Sorry, Momma,” she said breathlessly. She walked farther into the room, her gaze jumping between the blond boy and Nova, who held on to my hand even tighter now. “Hi,” she greeted the boy first. “I’m your cousin Ciana.”

The boy rolled his eyes, and when he opened his mouth to speak, I expected him to say something mean. I was prepared for him to make Ciana cry, and I shifted, knowing I would have to punch him if that happened. She might annoy me at least once a day, but I couldn’t let anyone hurt her feelings.

“Garret,” his mom snapped, the softness in her tone gone. The steel in that voice made my stomach turn again, but it had Garret standing up straighter as he gave Ciana a tight smile.

“Hi,” he gritted out. “I’m Garret.”

Ciana beamed at him. “Oh, I know your name. Do you want to play? I’ve set up board games, and Zayne helped me blow up all kinds of new pool toys. Or we could play on the Xbox or the PlayStation.” She was rambling, her words pushed together almost to the point it was hard to understand some of what she was saying as she spoke too quickly.

Garret’s smile became a little more genuine as he watched her. “Um, yeah, sure. I have an Xbox at home. What games do you have that we can play?”

She danced around happily. “Yay! Come with me, and I’ll show you.” She grabbed his arm and was ready to pull him out of the room when she caught sight of Nova again. “Oh…um, I didn’t know you would be so tiny, Nova. I…” She bit her lip and turned to face her mom, her eyes and voice accusing. “Momma, I thought you said Nova was the same age as Vito and Bennie.”

“She is, Ciana,” Zia Scarlett assured her patiently. “But Nova was born a little too early, and that has caused her to be a bit smaller than other children her age. She was in the hospital for a very long time.”

My stomach began to hurt all over again as I looked down at Nova. I didn’t understand what it meant to be born too early, but I did know that being in the hospital for any reason wasn’t a good thing. Instinctively, I tugged her closer, wanting to hold her.