Page 91 of Joker

I’m tired.

The third was the truth dressed up just enough to pass.

Crowds still make me nervous.

Unfortunately for me, the women in this clubhouse are not easily discouraged.

Emma leans against my doorframe with the kind of calm certainty I’m starting to realize is her default setting, one arm folded under the other while she watches me braid Lexi’s hair for bed. Mac is beside her, grinning like she already knows exactly how this conversation ends. Kya sits cross-legged on the chair in the corner, Jason half asleep against her shoulder while Gio and Amy argue quietly in the hall about whether a fort counts as a “sleepover structure” if blankets are involved. Casey is somewhere nearby because I can hear her bossing someonearound with the confidence of a child who’s never once doubted she’s right.

“It’s not a big thing,” Emma says.

“That’s exactly what people say right before it becomes a big thing,” I mutter.

Mac laughs. “It’s music, drinks, people dancing badly, and at least three brothers who are going to embarrass themselves before the night’s over. You’re not exactly walking into a war zone.”

I tie off the braid and smooth a hand over Lexi’s head. She tips her face up to me, blinking sleepily, Bunny already clutched under one arm in clear preparation for bed. “Can I sleep in Amy’s room?” she asks.

Amy, hearing her name from the hall, appears in the doorway. “She can. Casey too. We’re doing a movie.”

Emma glances at me. “See? Built-in supervision.”

“Built-in corruption,” I say.

Amy grins. “We’re gonna watch the good movies.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”

Gio, from somewhere behind her, says, “If they pick the princess one again, I’m sleeping in the other room.”

Casey’s voice floats in immediately after. “No one asked.”

It’s chaos.

Warm, familiar chaos, even though I’m still not sure how anything here can feel familiar so quickly.

Lexi turns in my lap and gives me a look that’s far too hopeful for a three-year-old who should absolutely know better than to weaponize her face against me. “Please?”

That’s unfair. Completely unfair. Also effective.

I look at Emma. “You’re all doing this on purpose.”

“Obviously,” Mac says.

Emma’s mouth curves slightly. “The kids will be fine. Amy and Casey take babysitting very seriously. Gio will complain, but he’ll still help. Jason’s already asleep half the time anyway. And you,” she points a finger gently in my direction, “are leaving this room for at least an hour.”

“I don’t need—”

“Yes you do,” she corrects.

I close my mouth. Because the truth is, I do. That’s the irritating part.

I do need a minute.

A little breathing room. A little distance from my own head. A little time where I’m not measuring every sound and every exit and every possible thing that could go wrong before it happens.

I hate how much I want that. I hate even more that these women can see it.

Kya shifts Jason a little higher on her shoulder. “Come sit with us. Have one drink. If you hate it, you go back to your room and no one says another word.”