POV: Jasmine
When I walked into the apartment, the sound of Aurora’s voice reached me before anything else, steady and bright.
Liam was on the floor with her, one hand braced behind him as she climbed over his legs like he was part of the structure she was building.
He looked up when I came in, his attention shifting immediately, taking in my face in a single glance that lingered just long enough to register that something had happened. He didn’t ask, just held my gaze for a moment before letting it go.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I answered, setting my bag down by the door and stepping further into the room.
Aurora saw me a second later and changed direction without hesitation, her steps quick and uneven as she crossed the space between us. I bent to meet her, lifting her into my arms as she reached for me, her small body settling easily against mine.
“Mommy,” she said.
“I’ve got you,” I replied, pressing a kiss to her hair before setting her back down.
Liam watched the exchange quietly, his attention still on me, but he didn’t push past what I had given him. He didn’t ask what I hadn’t said, and I didn’t offer it.
I didn’t tell him what Asher had said, not because it didn’t matter, but because it wasn’t mine to place in the room yet. It would come when it needed to, and not before.
“I’m going to start dinner,” I said, moving toward the kitchen, letting the motion carry me out of the moment before it settled too heavily.
“I’ll keep her out of your way,” Liam answered, already shifting his attention back to Aurora.
The kitchen settled into motion quickly, the familiar rhythm of preparation taking over, grounding in a way that didn’t require thought. Ingredients moved into place, heat came up under the pans, and the space shifted into something purposeful and contained.
Nora arrived not long after, letting herself in with the ease that had become natural between us, her presence folding into the apartment without announcement. She stepped into the kitchen already scanning the counters, reading the room the way she always did.
“What do you need,” she said, setting her bag down and moving closer without waiting for instruction.
“Vegetables,” I replied, sliding a cutting board toward her. “And an opinion on how we’re setting the table.”
“I have several,” she said, picking up the knife, her tone light but focused.
We worked side by side, the movement easy, the conversation starting where it always did — practical, anchored in the immediate. It gave us something to hold onto while everything else stayed where it was.
“Candles or no candles,” she asked after a moment, not looking up from what she was doing.
“Candles,” I said. “Not too many.”
“Agreed,” she answered, adjusting her rhythm to match mine without thinking about it.
She worked through the vegetables with clean, efficient movements, then glanced at me without turning her head fully, her attention shifting just enough to make the question intentional.
“What did Asher say to you?”
I paused for a fraction of a second, just enough for the question to land and settle before I answered, not deflecting but not giving it everything either.
“You’re direct tonight,” I said.
“I know you,” she replied simply. “You came back with a face.”
I exhaled once, not denying it, letting the truth sit where it was instead of pushing it away or dressing it up.
“It wasn’t nothing,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Something about Finn.”
Nora didn’t interrupt, didn’t lean into it, just stayed where she was, giving me the space to decide how much I wanted to say.
“Something I’ll think about later,” I added, setting the boundary without closing the door completely.
She nodded once and returned to the cutting board, letting it go exactly where I had left it, the respect in it quiet and complete.
My phone buzzed on the counter, the sound sharp against the steady rhythm of the kitchen, pulling my attention without asking for it. I glanced at it automatically before I could decide not to.
Voicemail from Jackson. He always was like that. Sometimes I think he would never give up.
I didn’t pick it up, didn’t hesitate, just turned the phone over, pressed delete without opening it, and set it back down where it had been. The motion was clean, final, not something I needed to think through.
Nora saw, her eyes flicking to the phone and back to me, but she didn’t comment, didn’t ask, just continued working as if nothing had happened. The choice was acknowledged without being made into something larger.
The kitchen held steady after that, the moment absorbed into everything else, the rhythm continuing without interruption. Nothing needed to be added to it.
Later, we moved back into the living room together, the work paused for now, the space already shifting toward the evening. Liam was on the couch, Aurora on the floor in front of him, surrounded by pieces of something that only made sense to her.
Leo had arrived quietly, already seated beside Liam, their conversation low and easy, the kind that didn’t need to be carried by words alone. Nora took the chair near them, settling in without drawing attention to it.
I sat on the edge of the couch, letting myself settle into the room without needing to direct it, just taking in the shape of it as it was. Aurora looked up briefly, confirmed that everyone was where they should be, and went back to what she was doing.
The doorbell rang, the sound cutting cleanly through the room without breaking it, just adding to it. Liam glanced toward the door but didn’t move immediately, letting the moment sit.
“I’ll get it,” I said, already standing.
Finn stood on the other side when I opened the door, one hand holding a bottle of wine, the other tucked into his coat pocket, his expression relaxed in a way that never meant he wasn’t paying attention.
“I come bearing solutions,” he said, lifting the bottle slightly. “And an invitation to drink before tomorrow becomes official.”
“Come in,” I said, stepping aside to let him pass.
He walked in like he belonged there, which he did, his gaze moving briefly across the room, taking in who was present before settling into the space without hesitation.
“Perfect timing,” Liam said from the couch. “We were just deciding whether to behave.”
“Don’t,” Finn replied, crossing toward the table to set the bottle down, his tone easy but deliberate.
He sat with us, not apart from it, not entering as something separate, just another piece of what was already there, fitting without effort.
Differently in clarity, something Asher had said earlier shifting the way I saw him without changing what was there, just making it visible in a way it hadn’t been before.
He turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on mine without hesitation, the question already there before he spoke.
“What?” he asked.
I held his gaze for a second, long enough for him to register that it wasn’t nothing, even if I wasn’t going to name it.
“Nothing,” I said, my voice even. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Something in his expression shifted, subtle but present, like he had expected something else or had already read more into the moment than I had said out loud.
He held my gaze a second longer, then turned back toward Liam with a comment about something inconsequential, the tone light, the moment folded away without being addressed.