Page 99 of Sleeper: The Palisades Edition

“It’s us! Trick or treat!” Summer and Lucky say in unison.

I drop to my knees to hug them. The scent of their baby shampoo and the feel of their little hands andarms on my back is confirmation of something I haven’t been able to admit to myself, even though I’ve known it for two months—that I want my home to be wherever these three people are. I want it, and I’m going to let myself have it.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I say to the twins, in between kissing their cheeks.

“We took the red eyes plane!” Lucky exclaims. “It’s called that because everyone on the plane is tired, not just Daddy.”

“And we got to miss school today because Daddy’s sick!”

“Oh no.” I look up at Shane, who is walking up the steps. “You’re sick?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Sick of missing you.”

The kids go inside the house while I melt into Shane’s arms. “You could have just sent me a text begging me to come home, you know? It didn’t even have to be dirty.”

“Ahh, but then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of leaving the red carpet to get home and get two five-year-olds out the door in time for the red eyes flight to Detroit.”

“You rushed to the airport for me? That’s so romantic.”

“Didn’t feel very romantic, with two tired kids and a grouchy nanny in tow, to be honest.”

I pull him inside the house and glance out at the car parked outside. “Where’s the grouchy nanny?”

“At the hotel in Detroit, sleeping. I hired a driver to bring us here. Didn’t want to risk driving in my state.”

“Which state is that?” I shut the front door and wrap my arms around his waist.

“Michigan, I think.”

Summer and Lucky are in the living room, talking to Grammie, who has that elfish glint in her eye. “Welcome to Michigan, Shane Miller. You’re a little late.” While Shane hugs her, she looks over her shoulder and winks at me.

Summer and Lucky run over to me, pulling little boxes out of their jacket pockets and holding them up to me.

“This is a present for you!” Summer says, opening the box herself. “It’s a pretty necklace!” She takes the gold necklace out of the box and holds it out for me. “It has a heart on it like the ones you have, ’cept this one’s mine. For you.”

Lucky holds his little box out to me. “And mine too. You can open it yourself.”

“Thank you. It’s so pretty.” I take the necklace and box from them. “Thank you. I’m going to wear them all the time.”

“Why don’t we give these two kids some privacy, Mr. Lucky and Miss Summer. Come to the kitchen with me.”

“I’m hungry,” Summer says. “What kind of snacks do you have?”

“Prunes.”

“What are prunes?” Lucky asks.

“They’re dried plums that relieve constipation. You’ll love them.”

Summer looks back at us, pouting.

“I also baked some chocolate chip cookies last night. Would you like those instead?”

The twins cheer as they follow Grammie out of the room.

Shane helps me put my new necklaces on. I lift my hair up, and the touch of his fingertips on the skin of my neck almost makes my knees give out.

“If you’re going to do something disgusting to me to make up for how sweet this is, we should at least go into the guest room.”