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Caitlyn’s heart raced Her nepheas now as high as the goal, and he easily dropped the ball through the hoop His teaave Howard an incredulous look "Did you see that? He just jumped ten feet in the air!"

"Well, yeah I told you he has solanced out theagain The guys were playing in a nore had just happened

A chill tickled the back of her neck This was too weird "Is this related to the reason my dad told me never to come here?"

Hoinced "Please don’t tell your father what you saw He uy’s heart Tino’s a great kid - "

"Who can fly?"

Howard frowned as he opened the door "It’s not lanced inside at the cheerful balloons and happy people The chill on her neck skittered down her spine It’s just a birthday party for a little boy No big deal Then why did it feel like she was about to tumble down the rabbit hole?

It’s an adventure You love adventure She squared her shoulders and strode into the cafeteria It was a large roo the courtyard, the basketball court, and landscaped gardens in the distance

Howard ifts, and she set her cru there The next table boasted a punch bowl and trays of finger food Across froe chocolate sheet cake with Happy Birthday, Constantine written in bright red icing Another table was topped with tubs of ice containing bottles Beer, she assumed, for the adults

Finally, she reached the tables where people were sitting All female, she noted as she searched for her sister Her eyes widened at the sight of one woman with purple spiky hair She esti with each other A handful of younger girls sat with them

But no Shanna

"You must be Shanna’s sister!" A beautiful brunette stood and hurried toward her

"Yes I’m Caitlyn" She smiled briefly as everyone at the tables hushed and looked at her

"Where’s Shanna?" Howard gruht back," the brunette continued in a crisp British accent "She’s in the washrooed" She grinned and extended a hand to Caitlyn "It’s so lovely to odmother"

Did you know he can fly? Caitlyn refrained fro the question out loud and shook the woman’s hand

"I’ll head back to the security office," Howard grumbled

"Thank you," Emma told him "Be sure to come back later for a bit of cake"

"Will do" Howard smiled a farewell at Caitlyn, then lumbered froan calling their names, but there were too many for Caitlyn to keep up with at once She sreeted her

"And this is your niece" E "Sofia, this is your Aunt Caitlyn"

"I’m happy to meet you, Sofia" Caitlyn’s heart squeezed in her chest as the little girl gazed at her ide blue eyes She was beautiful Her eyes were like Shanna’s, but she must have inherited her black, wavy hair frolanced over her shoulder at Eht you were irl’s hair over her shoulder "I’m a pretend aunt Caitlyn is your real aunt"

"I don’t have any aunts," one of the other little girls ht She tried to recall the girl’s name She was one of Tino’s classirl and touched her shoulder "Coco, I would love to be your aunt"

"Me, too" The wo

All the women echoed a desire to be Coco’s aunt

"Me, too!" Sofia cried "I want to be an aunt"

Caitlyn s friends Fro way they interacted with each other, it was obvious they were a close-knit group

With a small jolt, Caitlyn realized these people were Shanna’s fae of annoyance needled her She’d only been nine years old when Shanna had turned fifteen and taken off to a boarding school across the world Caitlyn had sorely missed her only sister She’d written letters, but never received a response Shanna had simply left her family behind And she’d acquired a new one

Caitlyn knew she should be happy for her sister, but dah for Shanna? She’d spentlonesome and abandoned It was clear her father didn’t approve of Shanna or her new family And he didn’t even know the full story - that her son could fly

"Here’s Shanna now" Emma motioned to the double doors

Caitlyn spun around, her heartbeat shooting to a fast pace Tears threatened at the sight of her sister Shanna was acco another woman, and each carried a baby

Shanna still looked much the same, with her strawberry blond hair and blue eyes She’d matured some, naturally, since Caitlyn had last seen her, but the years had only added a warlow

Shanna’s face lit up "Caitlyn!" She rushed forward and passed the baby she was holding to Ereet the sister she hadn’t seen in years, but her aard hesitation quickly passed when Shanna threw her ar

A few tears escaped as Caitlyn held her sister tight It had been so long, but finally, she had her sister back

"Look at you" Shanna leaned back and tears glistened on her cheeks "You’re all grown up And so beautiful"

Caitlyn wiped the tears froht you were the beautiful one I ain "Did you hter’s precious"

"I totally agree" Shanna grinned "You need tobasketball"

And flying up to the hoop Caitlyn needed to get her sister alone so she could ask a few pertinent questions

"Oh, you haven’t met Heather" Shannababy in her ar her with the twins, Jean-Pierre and Jillian"