“Ahhh,” Liam complained, and reached out to take a card. Once he had it and was placing it in with the cards fanned out in his small hand, Allie glanced at Sunita. The pretty little girl had red hair and huge eyes like her mother, but her eye color was the same blue as her father’s.

“Your turn, Sunny,” she said with an encouraging smile.

The girl beamed back and then turned to the pretty little blonde at her side. “Gracie, do you have a king?”

Gracie wrinkled her nose and clucked her tongue with irritation as she handed over a king faceup for all to see.

Sunny took it with a grin and then looked at Teddy Jr. “Teddy, do you have a king?”

“Go fish,” he said with glee, and Allie chuckled as Sunny scowled at the boy and reached for a card.

“Your turn, Gracie,” Allie said then as her gaze wandered to the clock on the dining room wall. She and the children were seated at the table playing cards while the other adults were off performing various tasks. Elvi had gone to buy groceries, something she hadn’t had a chance to do before she’d suddenly found herself flooded with extra people in her home. Mabel had gone to check on things at a Mexican restaurant named Bella Black’s that Allie had been told the two women owned. Stephanie was resting up in her room, and Drina, Harper, Alessandro, Leonora, DJ, and Victor were all in the large living room in the back corner of the house discussing “some matters to do with logistics.” At least, that’s what they’d said when they’d left her playing cards with the children and slipped away.

Magnus, though, was apparently shopping or something. That’s what Allie had been told when she and Leonora had come out of the salon after the other woman had finished taking her vitals. But that was hours ago and he still wasn’t back. Not that she was worried, she assured herself. She hardly knew the man, but for some reason she did feel more comfortable when he was around.

“I have to pee.”

Allie blinked her thoughts away and glanced to Liam at that announcement.

“Okay. Do you know where the bathroom is?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said at once with a slight blush.

“Don’t worry,” Teddy said as Liam slid off his chair. “I’ll watch your cards and make sure the girls don’t cheat.”

“We wouldn’t cheat,” Sunita protested at once.

Teddy grinned at her annoyance, but merely shrugged and said, “Well, now you can’t because I’m watching.”

“Boys,” Gracie muttered, and gave a long-suffering sigh before setting her own cards facedown on the table and announcing, “I have to go too.”

“All right,” Allie said mildly. “Go ahead. I’ll watch your cards.”

“And mine, please,” Sunita said, slipping from her own seat. “I’m going with her.”