Page 95 of Insta-Family (Forbidden Descendants 3)

She fetched Ava from Gray and tried the baby out in the pen, but Ava wasn’t a fan and preferred to be held, so Lucy took her back out and sat with the child on her lap until a blonde, carrying stacks of food, opened the back door and peered warily into the backyard.

“Hey, there’s the love of my life,” Gray announced, popping up from his seat and going to her to relieve her of the load in her arms. He kissed her before asking, “So what did you make?”

She laughed at the question. “Balsamic green beans with pearl onions and some snickerdoodles for dessert.”

Snickerdoodles?

Had she just said snickerdoodles?

I looked up, remembering those cookies, and accidentally met Lucy’s gaze across the patio. We both lifted our eyebrows, sharing the same thought. We were going to get our hands on those cookies before the night was over.

“Oh, hey. Vaughn…” Gracen called. “This is Yellow, by the way. She wasn’t there last week when we moved you.”

My hands were full with the grill lid and spatula, so I bobbed my head at her, saying, “Nice to meet you. Thanks for the cookies.”

She smiled and waved back, greeting me as well, but she was too interested in getting her hands on Ava to give me too much attention.

Turning away, I tested the steaks, and they had the perfect amount of blood pooling from the top, so I pulled them off, while Gracen and Lucy finished setting up the table, opening food containers, and passing out plates and silverware.

Lucy brought out the bouncer to try Ava in, and when she seemed happier in that than the playpen, we four adults sat and started our meal together.

Gracen was an avid talker, and Lucy was a pro at responding, but they were easily able to draw Yellow into the conversation. I mostly just sat and watched, soaking it all in unless I was addressed directly.

For so long, it had just been Duke and me at meals; we’d eventually stopped eating together at all. And after he was gone, I’d eaten alone. Until Lucy.

But being here, sharing a meal with even more people… It was nice.

Lucy caught my eye and lifted her brows as if to make sure I was okay. I smiled back, more than okay. This was exactly the kind of life I wanted.

The people I’d always expected to share my life with were different, but this right here was good too.

“So I’m a bit on the competitive side,” Gracen was telling me, pulling me back into the conversation as he turned my way.

Next to him, Yellow snorted. “A bit?”

“Okay, a lot competitive,” he revised. “Especially when it comes to my twin.”

“Wait.” I shook my hands and laughed. “Which one’s your twin?” I don’t think I even realized he was a twin.

“Bella,” he said, sending me a look as if I should know that by now, when honestly, her name sounded vaguely familiar, but I had no idea who Bella was. “So when she and Fox got engaged on the same night that Yellow and I did, it became an all-out battle over which couple was going to get married first, right?”

“Um, sure?” I answered hesitantly, glancing Lucy’s way to make sure I had the correct response. She rolled her eyes, letting me know she thought the whole story was insane.

“Right,” Gracen went on. “So we each refused to set a date because the other couple would then be sure to make theirs sooner.”

“And you ended up having a double wedding?” I guessed.

“Fuck no,” Gray answered, pointing at me. “I already shared a womb with that woman for nine months; she wasn’t going to steal my thunder on my big day. We put our names in a hat and drew. Yellow, who was the designated, unbiased name-drawer, pulled our name to get married first, and then she waited until Bella and Fox’s wedding day to confess that she’d cheated

and seen our names on the slip of paper all along before she picked it.”

“You cheated?” Lucy’s jaw dropped with a gasp.

“I know,” Yellow moaned and buried her face in her hands. “I’m so ashamed. I can’t believe I let Gracen draw me into the dark side with him like that. I just wanted him to get his wish granted.”

Gray grinned and slung an arm over her shoulders, claiming, “That’s my girl.”

I chuckled, enjoying all their different reactions.

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