“You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand how much you rely on Antonella? How else would I ever get our spa times together if it weren’t for Toni arranging it for us?”

“It’s not that.”

“You don’t want to have to deal with Kyle and Oriana on a daily basis? I fully understand that. Perhaps we can put them, Troy, and my demon spawn in an apartment together, and leave them there . . . forever. You’d have the rest of your kids and I’d still have my boys . . . it could work perfectly.”

“Don’t you see?” Jackie demanded. “I’m losing my baby girl!”

“Losing her? You mean she’s growing up.”

“Whatever. All I know is that my baby, my first born, is leaving me to—”

“Start her own life? Her own family?”

“Don’t give me that tone, Irene Conridge. Like I’m being irrational.”

“You are letting your emotions override your reason. That would be considered by many as irrational.”

“Irene.” Jackie sat down on her bed. “I don’t need rational, logical Irene. I need the Irene who takes her kids to IHOP without telling her husband.”

“They like the waffles.”

“Wolves like waffles.”

Irene sat down beside her. “I understand this won’t be easy for any of you. But you have to let her go. You have to give her a chance to find out what her own life can be even if it’s not going to be as groundbreaking as her siblings’.”

“I never cared that she’s not a prodigy. Toni is special to me.”

“You never cared about that, but she does. She doesn’t tell you, but I think part of her feels like she’s . . . let you down.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Of course it is. But if she can shine at this job—and from what I heard from Ulrich, she was tailor-made for this position—she’ll realize how special she is just by being Antonella. Sometimes that’s all someone needs.”

Jackie stared at her friend. “My God, Irene.”

“What?”

“That was . . . beautiful.”

“I’m not heartless, you know.” She thought a moment, then added, “I can be, of course . . . but I chose not to be at that moment.”

“I appreciate that.” Jackie took a deep breath. “Irene . . . will you help me do this?”

“I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”

“I know. I know.” Jackie threw her hands up. “I’m pathetic. Asking you to help me manage my own children.”

“No. That’s not what I mean.”

“It’s not?”

“No. I meanif it hadn’t been for you, all those years ago, always making sure the pantry was stocked with peanut butter and crackers, that the electricity bill was always paid, and that I got a good four to five hours of sleep at least every other day . . . I probably would have died a tragic but senseless death.”

“Or you would have just gone to the McDonald’s down the street from our old house and worked out of your office when the electricity was shut off.”

“Not without you suggesting it. You kept me alive until I met a wolf shifter with a whole pack of people who ensured I didn’t starve to death in a darkened room. So you don’t ever have to ask me to help you manage your brilliant but extremely narcissistic children.”

Jackie sighed. “They are a bit narcissistic, aren’t they?”

“A bit?”

Toni sat on a nice leather couch in one of the many rooms on the first floor. The house was beautifully furnished. The wild dogs had done a great job. Although Toni still thought her mother was paying too much for this place, but there was no point in telling her that. Instead, Toni just sat on the nice leather couch and gazed witlessly across the room.

Her phone vibrated and Toni swiped it off the end table. It was a text from Ulrich.

On jet heading to Germany. Still need an answer. In or out Jean-Louis?

Toni stared at her phone, unsure what to do. Because this was the chance of a lifetime, right? That’s what her father said. But what about her family?

“Dad said they could take care of themselves. Maybe I should just believe him.”

She typed the word “In,” her finger about to hit SEND, when Zia ran by screaming. Not really surprising. Zia had always been a bit of a screamer. But then Zoe came charging after her . . . holding a steak knife in her hand and chanting, “Kill, kill, kill, kill!” A few seconds after that came Cherise. She hard-charged past the couch and across the living room, chanting, “I’ll get her! I’ll get her! Don’t worry!”

Finger still waiting to hit SEND, Toni watched her siblings bolt out of the room.

“This is why you’re trapped,” Coop said as he dropped onto the couch beside her.

Toni glanced over. Her brother ate a sandwich and stared at her. “Why am I trapped, O wise giant-headed one?”

“Because you spend every minute trying to save us from ourselves.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do here. Notice that I didn’t move. I know Cherise can handle this.”

Zoe ran back through the living room, still holding the steak knife. But now Zia had gotten her little hands on a big pair of scissors and was in hot pursuit. Cherise, though, was still trying to catch the youngest members of their family.