Page 115 of Everything We Found

“Traffic on the 101 was terrible,” Nadia explained, tickling Zelie under the chin. She’d been living with Thomas at his house. Every so often they stayed at her house when she had business to do in town, so she had yet to sell it. Zelie giggled and reached for her. “May I?”

“Please. My arm is about to fall off. She’s getting so heavy.”

Nadia scooped the toddler into her arms, inhaling the sweet scent of sunscreen and baby shampoo. “Hello, Zel-belle.”

She and Thomas had connected instantly with Natalya when they’d visited Kauai for Christmas. It had been the first time the entire extended family had been together. Claire had even convinced Lisa to join them. Watching their mothers bond, and Natalya’s dad, Gale, flirt with the two older women, had been amusing and heartwarming. Almost as much as watching Thomas and James surfing with James’s sons. Two brothers rediscovering their way around each other, their places in a family that had been shattered and hastily glued back together.

Zelie squirmed in Nadia’s arms and pointed insistently toward the ground. “Down! Down!”

“Okay, little miss independent.” A girl after Nadia’s own heart. She set Zelie on her feet, holding a chubby fist as she took wobbly steps on the concrete.

“You’re still a natural,” Natalya observed with a knowing smile. “You and Tom still set on not having your own?”

Nadia laughed, shaking her head. “We’re perfectly content being the fun aunt and uncle. Between your three, Kristen’s three, and Aimee’s two, there are more than enough kids to spoil.” It was a conversation she and Thomas had on more than one occasion. Neither felt the need to add to their extended family. They had each other, and that was enough for them.

“Burgers are up!” Nick shouted across the yard. “Kristen, tell the kids!”

Kristen headed toward them, clapping her hands when she reached the pool’s edge. “Lunch time, everyone! Out of the pool!”

Aimee beckoned Nadia and Natalya. “Better grab food before the horde descends.”

Nadia guided Zelie back to her mother and joined the adults gathering around the grill. She gave Thomas a plate and his arm slipped behind her, his fingers sliding to rest in the back pocket of her shorts. He followed her over to the makeshift buffet line.

“Thanks for coming,” Aimee said quietly, spooning potato salad onto her plate.

“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Nadia said. She shared a smile with Aimee.

The past year had been filled with careful conversations, tearful confessions, and a gradual rebuilding of the trust that had been fractured. There were still tense moments, but they were learning to navigate around the wounds with the kind of care that came from nearly losing something precious.

Everyone settled around the tables with loaded plates. Conversation flowed as easily as the lemonade Aimee’s daughter poured. Thomas, seated between Nick and Marcus, gradually relaxed. And Julian regaled them with his predictions for his league’s upcoming surfing competition while Aimee’s son, Fenwick, argued passionately about which Avenger was the strongest.

Most of the kids returned to the pool after lunch, joined by Ian and James. Nick and Thomas claimed lounge chairs in the shade, deep in conversation while Nadia helped clear the tables, falling into an easy rhythm with Aimee and Kristen as they stacked plates and stored leftovers.

“This was a good idea,” she said, closing the lid on a pasta salad.

“The best. Look at them all.” Kristen glanced around the yard with satisfaction.

The afternoon stretched on in lazy contentment until the sliding glass door to the house banged open and Caty burst onto the patio, clutching a picture frame in her hands. “Mom! Look what I found in Uncle Nick’s office.” She rushed to Aimee’s side. “He has the same picture.”

Nadia recognized the photo immediately. It was a duplicate of the one Caty had framed for her mom, which Aimee had reluctantly displayed in her office at the café. The six of them as kids, floating on brightly colored rafts in a pool not much different than this one.

Julian hoisted himself out of the pool and dripped his way over to investigate. “Whoa, Papa, is that you?” He pointed at James in the photo. “You look like Marcus!”

James treaded to the edge, leaned his arms on the coping. “Let me see.”

Soon, all the kids gathered around, exclaiming how much their parents looked like them.

“You should recreate it!” Julian suggested suddenly. “Like those then-and-now photos everyone posts on Instagram.”

“Oh, I don’t think—” Aimee began.

“Yes!” Caty clapped her hands. “Get in the pool, Mom!”

“Yeah, come on!” Kristen’s oldest daughter, Nicole, cheered them on.

Nadia exchanged looks with the adults that ranged from amused to horrified.

“I’m not even wearing a swimsuit,” she protested.