Page 146 of Made for Mayhem

“You can call me whatever you want, sweet girl,” Emmy said, then leaned down to hug Junie. “But I’m thrilled to call you mine.”

Junie beamed, then looked up at Daisy. “This is cool. Now I have two aunts.”

Daisy stood a little to the side, arms wrapped around herself, but smiled. “That’s right, cutie. The cream of the crop, too, if you ask me.”

Emmy stood and hugged Daisy next, squeezing her tightly. Daisy’s eyes never left mine, even when she hugged my sister back. “I know I could never replace Violet, and I never want to, but I’m so happy to call you family, too.”

Daisy’s smile slipped off her face, tears brimming in her eyes as she hugged Emmy tighter. “I may be too selfish to deny that offer.”

I leaned back against the wall, unsteady. The adrenaline from the hearing, the relief, the shock—all of it hit me at once.

Emmy backed away, wiping tears from her face, heading toward the exit. Her phone lit up in her hand, and she glanced at it before smiling up at me. “I have to go, but dinner tonight. We need to celebrate.”

“Emmy…” I warned, but my sister grinned wider, then spun and walked out of the courthouse.

Daisy turned toward me, Junie’s hand in hers, and smiled. Not a bright, masking smile. Not a polite smile. This one was soft, sure, and meant only for me. Like she knew what she’d done for me.

My breath left my body in a slow, shaking rush.

She’d chosen this.

She’d chosen me.

Not by default.

Not by convenience.

Not because she had to.

But because she wanted me in Junie’s life forever.

My throat locked up. My eyes burned. I pressed the heel of my hand against my brow and tried to hold it together, but emotion rolled through me too fast to catch.

Daisy stepped closer, her voice low enough that only I could hear. “Hey,” she whispered. “You okay?”

I let out a shaky breath. “I don’t… I don’t know what to do with any of this.”

She smiled again, small and gentle, and reached up to cup the side of my face.

“You don’t have to do anything,” she said. “You already did it. You loved Junie in all the ways that mattered long before today made it official.”

My eyes closed, holding back the wave of emotion pulling me under.

She stepped a little closer, her thumb brushing across my jaw. “Ty, look at me.”

The moment I opened my eyes was my undoing. Daisy was looking at me like she’d never look away again. Like she meant it when she said she wasn’t going anywhere. Like it wasn’t Junie in my life forever, it was her too.

“I love you. We love you.”

Junie tugged on my jacket until I picked her up, sandwiching her between us in one more hug.

This was my family.

My little girl.

The woman I loved.

The life I never thought I’d have.