“He’s working,” Luke answered gently. “He’s taking a meeting for me, and it doesn’t start until six, so it will be a late night for him.”

Luke knew about Jane’s crush. Heck, everyone knew about it. She had been crushing on Ash for years, since the moment she first saw him when he was helping me unload boxes into my dorm room.

We all looked down at Mikey when he let out a huge, dramatic sigh. “You guys done talking yet? I’m ready to see Dylan now, and it’s getting real hard to be polite and quiet and patient. I’m only six, you know. I’m pretty sure I’ve reached my limit.”

At that point, he started jumping up and down, and Madison started giggling, I took both of their hands and ran them up to the front door, much to the amusement of Luke and Jane, who followed at a more sedate pace. Mikey rang the bell, I knocked, and it only took a moment for my mother to open the door with Calla in her arms and Dylan, Mark, and Mara behind her with Rocky bringing up the rear. Mikey immediately shouted for Dylan when the door opened, letting him know that he would be moving here for good.

“Mikey!” Dylan shouted back. “I’m so happy!” They hugged and jumped up and down amid shouts of “I missed you,” the giggles of the other kids, and the barks from an excited Rocky. Dylan pointed to Mark. “This is Mark. He’s going to be our best friend. This is Rocky. He’s the best dog ever.” Rocky accepted a rubdown from Mikey, then licked his face. “Oh, and this is Mara.” Mara rolled her eyes, then she saw Madison.

“Hi,” Mara said. Madison smiled, and I witnessed the birth of a new friendship as they ran off together up the stairs followed by the boys. Rocky looked plaintively up at Luke. Luke nodded at him, then Rocky bounded up the stairs after the kids.

The stairs led into a small living room that was open to the foyer and sitting room below. I watched the girls head into the playroom as the boys sat on the huge overstuffed sectional with Jude. I heard sounds of a game coming from the television up there—baseball, basketball—whatever, it was sports. I waved to Jude, who was sitting there, remote in hand. He waved back, then turned his attention back to the television after high-fiving the boys and passing them a bag of chips. I focused on Calla in my mother’s arms and kissed her chubby cheeks, making her giggle. She patted my face, then reached for Luke, who took her with a huge smile.