Dinner arrived the way it always did now — quietly, efficiently, Aunt Mary moving through the kitchen with Aurora balanced on one hip while she stirred something with the other hand, refusing every offer of help until the food was actually on the table.
Penelope sat where she always sat, across from Kai, beside the empty chair that usually belonged to Ben when he and Aunt Lucy joined them. Tonight it stayed empty. Ben's voice had drifted through earlier, muffled from down the hall — something about Aunt Lucy wanting to try a new recipe in their own kitchen, something about giving everyone a night to just breathe. Nobody had argued with that logic.
Killian sat where he'd started sitting without anyone officially deciding it — beside Penelope, across from Erik, close enough to the door that old habits apparently never fully switched off.
