“Mom.”
A short woman with dark hair intercepted them halfway into the room. “Jacob.” She reached for his face and pressed a long kiss to his cheek, then looked at him with emotion-filled eyes. A mother’s love.
A man with thick gray hair and a baby in his arms joined them. “Hi. You must be Paige,” he said. “I’d shake your hand but my arms are full.”
“Your father is a baby hog,” his mom said, smiling at her. “I’m Marge.” She took Paige’s hand between her own. “This is my husband, Joe. And who’s this?”
“This is my daughter, Casey. It’s nice to meet you both.”
“You too. This is Lily,” Marge said, adjusting the elastic sleeve around the infant’s tiny arm. “Andrew’s newest.”
“Uncle J!” A boy and girl ran over, same height, both with light brown hair and striking hazel eyes.
“Hey, Cole Man. Hi, Caroline. These are Matt and Abby’s twins,” he told Paige as he knelt with Casey.
Her daughter hadn’t been around many kids, not because of her leg, more location and time. The trailer park in Texas was mostly older people now, not a lot of playdates going on.
“I’m losing a tooth,” the boy said.
“I already lost one,” Caroline followed, pulling at her gums to show off her empty space.
“Very nice,” Jake said. “This is Casey. She’s about the same age as you. She’s going into kindergarten. Casey, this is Cole and Caroline.”
Casey laid a hand on Jake’s thigh and edged deeper into the shelter his big body made.
“We already did kindergarten. We’re in first,” Cole said.
“About to be in first,” his sister corrected.
“JT’s our uncle,” Cole announced, staking a claim.
“He’s my best friend,” Casey countered. “We have the same leg.”
She stuck out her pink and white tennis shoe, showing off the new prosthesis below her ruffled knee-length skirt. “Me and Jake and a robot made it and Jake has one too.”
She’d gone with a black and purple socket at the top and a silver pylon with a small, hot-pink ring of titanium where the pylon joined the foot, her own design choice. So far so good. She loved it. Jake had done that, Paige thought, her heart nearly bursting as it had done when he’d given it to Casey. Caroline and Cole stared at the prosthesis Casey so proudly showed off, and Paige held her breath.
“Why do you have it?” Cole asked.
“My other one didn’t grow right, so when I was a baby they cut it off.”
Cole’s eyebrows rose and he looked at Casey, then her leg, his expression clearly that of a six-year-old boy impressed. “Cool.”
Cool obviously trumped blood relation in the eyes of a six-year-old, and Cole was now way more focused on Casey than on Jake.
“Want to play?” Caroline asked her.
“Okay.”
To her amazement, Casey followed Caroline and Cole across the room and around a corner without even looking back.
“Well,” Jake said straightening, a touch of disappointment on his handsome face. “I think I’ve been replaced.”
“Send Paige in here,” Hannah called out to him from the kitchen.
Jake sent her a questioning look.
“I’m good. I’ll go do…girl stuff.” Whatever that was. She passed the line of men walking out, looking like they’d been exiled, and joined the women in the kitchen. They scooted their stools over at the island to make room for her.
“Here, taste this.” Hannah slid over a dish of some hot, cheesy dip, and she grabbed a chip.
“Mmm. That’s delicious.”
“I know, right? Marge brought it.”
“I feel bad I didn’t bring anything,” she said.
“Please. You’re our guest. Thanks for putting up with us. Maybe not what you had in mind when you agreed to go on a trip with JT.”
“What? No. I didn’t have anything in mind. It’s for Casey.”
“Right,” Beth said, and the women exchanged smiles and knowing looks.
A group of kids came through, saving her from more speculation. They gave Paige a job of putting serving spoons in all the side dishes, which made her feel less awkward. She listened to the women talk about recipes and their kids’ eating habits. They seemed like sisters, yet except for Lizzie they’d each married into this family.
Minutes later, Stephen joined them and circled behind Hannah. “Why aren’t you sitting down?”
“Because I feel fine standing?”
He kissed her neck, whispered something against her ear that made her laugh. His free hand came around and caressed her belly, and she angled her head back to smile at him again.