Gladys answered on the first ring this time, which told Aria everything about how closely her mother had been watching her phone since, expecting the call.
"Baby, is it true? Are they finally going to meet him?"
"Today, if you can manage it." Aria pressed the phone to her ear, watching Damien pace the length of the garden a few feet away, phone pressed to his own ear, jaw tight with whatever Marcus was telling him about the unknown text. "Can you bring them?"
"I've been packing their good clothes for a week," Gladys said, and Aria could hear the smile in her voice even through the nerves underneath it. "Just in case. I wasn't going to jinx it by telling you."
Aria laughed despite everything despite the message still glowing on her screen, despite the tightness in Damien's shoulders twe
