Chapter 213

Athena

The backyard was full of chaos—the beautiful, loud, messy kind of chaos that came from having a joint first birthday party for twins.

I stood on the back porch, watching the scene unfold before me with a smile that felt permanently fixed on my face. Colorful balloons bobbed in the October breeze, tied to every available surface.

Two high chairs sat at the head of a long table decorated with streamers and a banner that read "Happy 1st Birthday Adrian & Arianna!" in glittering letters.

The guest list had gotten completely out of hand, of course. What had started as "just family" had expanded to include both...