AVERY’S POV:
Her words touched a nerve, and my chest grew tight as she repeated calling me mom—so naturally, as if the words had been waiting inside her all along, just waiting for the right moment to be spoken.
I knelt beside her, helping distribute the small gifts I had picked out. Baron had taken me shopping without a single question, letting me pick whatever I thought Sea might need. He didn’t make me feel like a prisoner, didn’t hover over my every move like the others. With him, I had a sliver of freedom, something I hadn’t had in years. It was strange—liberating, yet unsettling, like I had forgotten how to exist outside of someone else’s control.
As we handed out the last of the gifts, Sea beamed up at me. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For coming.”
I brush
