Meg gave him a shove. “Get your own chair.”

Because it was standing room only in the Sokolov kitchen this day. Karl glared at Damien and Meg and they stopped bickering. “Sorry,” they muttered together, as if they were their kids’ age and not grown-ass adults.

“We’re all gathered here today,” Karl began, “to celebrate our Mercy’s birthday.” He paused to let the hoots and hollers die down, smiling down at Mercy, who was blushing beet red and looking very flustered.

And very cute, but Rafe allowed that he might be biased.

“We’ve waited a long time to welcome you into our family,” Karl went on, “and we couldn’t be happier that you’re here. We adopted Gideon years ago, so now we have a matched set.”

Mercy laughed and half covered her face with one hand. Rafe pulled it away from her face and kissed her palm.

“Besotted,” Farrah said, rolling her eyes. She and André had arrived the evening before, surprising the hell out of Mercy when Rafe had led her into his parents’ house, blindfolded. But it hadn’t just been Farrah and André. Mama Romero and half the Romero clan had shown up.

So had John Benz, his family, and three more of the “sibs.” The others hadn’t been able to make the cross-country trip but were tuning in via Skype. Rafe had met them all and liked them. Gideon and Daisy had too, and for Gideon it meant being immediately engulfed in more family than he’d been able to handle. At that first reunion, Rafe had taken his friend off to the side, standing with him while Gideon watched his new family, overwhelmed and cuddling Brutus while trying not to cry.

Rafe had been so damn happy for Gideon that he’d been the one to cry. Which Mercy had thought was precious and had earned him some very hot sex when they’d returned to her apartment to pack her things.

Because she’d moved to Sacramento. She’d really done it, quitting her job with NOPD and applying for a position in the SacPD crime lab. She started work on July first and she couldn’t wait.

“Not only do we welcome Mercy, though,” Karl said, “we welcome her family as well. All the ‘sibs,’ the Romeros, and Amos and Abigail.”

Amos bobbed his head, smiling, his arm around Abigail. Amos had woken up after a few days and they’d all been thankful that there had been no permanent damage caused by DJ’s bullet. Amos was still weaker than he wanted to be, but he’d put himself to work, rehabbing the fixer-upper that Rafe had bought around the corner from his Victorian.

It was a two-story and one of the first things Rafe and Amos had done was to install an elevator. Rafe continued physical therapy, but he’d come to accept that it was unlikely he’d gain back enough range of motion to return to the force. At least as a homicide detective. Some days were harder than others, but he’d signed up with Tom’s old therapist and it was helping. He hadn’t lost hope and was keeping busy. He and Mercy had joined Karl and Irina in a few of their fundraising ventures.