Page 57 of Liam

“Think we fooled her?” I whisper.

Benny sighs. “No chance.”

I chuckle.

He shifts closer, whispering, “When I was little?—”

“You’re still little.”

“When I was littler… she used to say she had eyes in the back of her head.”

I turn to my side, face him completely. “Maybe she does.”

“Nah,” he says. “I pretended to brush her hair once to look.”

I scrunch my nose. “No eyes?”

“Nope. Just your average head.”

“I have eyes everywhere,” Mia interjects as she opens the door.

Benny and I start snoring again.

“Oh no,” she says, a humorous, teasing lilt in her tone. “The boys are asleep. I guess I’ll give Benny this in the morning.”

Benny shoots up, flicking on his lamp. “Give me what?”

“I thought you were sleeping.”

“Mama, you woke me when you came in!”

I smother my chuckle into the pillow while Mia hands him a picture frame.

“Yesss!” Benny cheers. “Look, Uncle Twinny.”

“He’s been asking for it for weeks,” Mia tells me.

I sit up, taking the frame from him while Mia settles at the edge of the bed. It’s a photograph of the first day we met, two Halloweens ago.Allof us are in the frame. My entire family. Mia’s, too. Even her best friend, Holden, was there. I remember setting up the camera on the tripod and adjusting the timer.

It only took one attempt to capture the perfect shot.

We’re all standing in front of the house, Benny and my niece, Katie, dressed up for the day—Benny as a cop and Katie as a?—

“Princess is so cute in this,” Benny says.

I smile. “So are you.”

Benny takes the frame and sets it on his nightstand. Then he turns to me. “Did you ever dress up for Halloween when you were little?”

“Sure did.”

“What did you dress as?”

“A fireman.”

“Really?” Mia asks, her smile so pure it almost breaks me.

“Yep. Every year until I was ten.”

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