“Hello, young man.” Gillian took Alexander’s hand and shook it as he tried to gnaw on her. “Oh my, someone is teething. Vexing, that.” She smiled at Alexander, who stopped his pursuit of her knuckle to gaze at her adoringly.

Todd waved at them.

“Last but not ever least are Andrew and Ella Copeland. Andy is Ben’s brother and his lovely wife, Ella, is an old family friend.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Gillian nudged Miles, who parroted her words.

“All right then. Miles, would you like to play a few video games or go out on the terrace and check the view?” Elise asked.

Erin took Miles’s hand. “None of the above. I’m going to show Miles my bass collection.”

“Hey!” Adrian got up to follow them, the siblings joking and bickering as they went. He was still holding Alexander, who patted his chest over and over as they disappeared around the corner.

Gillian grinned as she watched her son trail down the hall, listening to every word Erin said as if it were gospel.

“She’s so excited. Probably almost as much as Adrian.” Brody spoke in an undertone as he settled in across from Gillian.

“I suspect it’s the bass-guitar thing.” This would be good for her son, and that made her very happy. But this day had been illuminating for a whole new set of reasons. It had obviously occurred to her that there were differences between Adrian’s life and her own. She accepted there was no real competing with a dad who could drop the kind of money he had without thinking on high-end bicycles, electronics and remodels for his house. It continued here in this giant, open apartment that dominated an entire half of a floor of a building.

Money and power were adversaries she could not defeat. This had been with her since finding out who Miles’s dad was. But being confronted with it like this set her on her heels a little.

Some small part of her worried Miles would forget about their simpler life and crave this. Who wouldn’t? Would she lose him, then, to something she couldn’t begin to imitate?

Or would he be swallowed up by these people with their big, charismatic personalities? Would he lose himself in the midst of it? Feel bad? Her mother heart worried for him and that heart he wore on his sleeve, even as it loved him fiercely for exactly that and expected that everyone else should too.

It made her want to clutch Miles against her and rush away. Instead, she swallowed it back. She simply had to trust in what she’d built. Anything else wouldn’t allow her to do it at all.

So she’d do it and make the very best of this new direction her life had been thrust into and get over the fear with time.

Brody Brown was far more than an older brother. She saw it in the way he interacted with Erin and Adrian. And with the others in this tight-knit group. He was the one they all seemed to look to, the father figure for the whole crew. He watched her with eyes that held kindness and no small amount of respect. “I wanted to thank you for sticking with this. Even when it got unpleasant. You gave my brother something more important than anything else he’ll ever have or want.”

One thing this man was, was down to earth. She liked that about him. It countered the fear about this life going to Miles’s head. The Browns seemed to be grounded, humble people.

“Thank you. Adrian tells me you got in his face a few times to urge him forward.” She’d liked how Adrian was when he spoke of his family. At times he could be vary wary, but when it was about them, he was open and warm.

And she liked that Brody Brown had been on her side since the very start. She’d never mention that she knew to him. It would only make him uncomfortable. But she knew it just the same.

Elise came over and sat next to Brody, smiling at Gillian. The baby she held had Brody’s serious eyes, and that pale as sunshine hair her mother had.

“I hope we haven’t totally overwhelmed you.”

They were, she saw quite clearly, a team. A unit. Brody and Elise were so in tune and in love with each other and this life, Gillian could do nothing but smile at them.

Gillian looked around the room at the people gathered there. “This is good for Miles. That’s what’s important. Eventually he’ll be part of you all and he won’t need me to be around.”

Elise gave Brody a look and he snorted a laugh.

Elise explained. “I should tell you the Browns, Copelands and Keenans happen to hold family as very important. Miles is Adrian’s son. You’re Miles’s mother. You’ll always be part of this if for no other reason. That’s who they all are.”

It barbed into her belly for a brief twinge, realizing she’d begun to wonder if the thing developing between her and Adrian was something more than fleeting. Fear that it was for her and not for him. Excitement at that new-relationship feeling. Exhilarating and nauseating all at once.

“Would you like a drink?” the pretty redhead, Ella, asked from her place across the room. “We’ve got juice and water, soda, beer, wine, margaritas in the blender too. Not only is Andrew pretty to look at, he makes a mean margarita.” Her husband, the ridiculously gorgeous aforementioned Andrew, grinned her way.

Gillian looked back toward the hallway, trying not to worry about Miles. That’s when Brody took her hands in his, leaning forward.

“Miles will always be safe with us. I know the tattoos and piercings can be a little off-putting at first.”

Gillian couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Honestly, that is just not on my list of concerns. Not at all. I’m not bothered by the ink. I think it’s beautiful, actually.” She shook her head, hard.