The families gathered in the large family compound for the first time as one complete group. The Cross family — Jake and Lirien — and the Stormwind family — Caspian and Seraphina — had already been living together for months. Their household had settled into a comfortable daily rhythm. Now Cassia and Nyla were being gently folded into that life.
Jake and Lirien met Cassia first. Jake recognized immediately from things Runar had shared earlier that Cassia was not a simple acquaintance. She had been like a mother to Runar in his second life, which made her family in a way that didn't have a simple word for it. He handled the introduction with the practical warmth of a man who had decided that complicated family situations were fine as long as everyone treated each other kindly.
Lirien looked at Cassia with gentle curiosity. "So you helped raise him? In the other universe?"
