The Rochefort Group event hall had been transformed.

What was normally a formal space for board meetings and investor presentations had been reimagined for the year-end celebration. Strings of warm lights crisscrossed the ceiling. The stage at the front was draped in deep blue and silver, the company’s colors. Tables and booths were arranged throughout the hall, filled with employees and their families. The bar was open, the buffet extensive, and the atmosphere buoyant in a way it hadn’t been in years.

The revenue reports had exceeded every projection. After months of uncertainty following Alex’s death, the company had stabilized, then grown, then begun to dominate. The employees knew who was responsible. When Arianne took the stage to say a few words, the applause was genuine.

She kept it brief, thanking them for their work and acknowledging the challenges of the past year. She didn’t mention her own role in the turnaround—she didn’t need to. The numbers spoke for themselves.

When she stepped down from the podium, Franz was waiting near the back of the hall with the twins. He’d dressed for the occasion, dark suit, the same one he’d worn for their anniversary photoshoot. His hair had grown past the point he’d bothered trimming it.

"You were good up there," he said.

"I said a few words."

"Very good few words. Concise. Inspiring."

"You’re being ridiculous."

"I’m being supportive. There’s a difference."

Lily tugged at Arianne’s sleeve. "Aunt Aria, the lights are so pretty! Are those real crystals? They look like crystals. Leo, do they look like crystals to you?"

Leo looked up from his tablet. He’d been drawing the decorations, his stylus moving in careful strokes across the screen. The whale sat on the seat beside him, its button eyes watching the party. He studied the lights, then typed: GLASS. NOT CRYSTALS. STILL PRETTY.

"Leo says they’re glass," Lily reported. "But still pretty. Can we go closer? I want to see if they sparkle."

"After we sit down," Arianne said. "We need to find the booth."

The Rochefort family booth was set apart from the main crowd, positioned near the tall windows that overlooked the city skyline. Vincent and Amanda were already there. Vincent sat in a chair that had been positioned to give him a clear view of the hall without requiring him to move through crowds. His health was better now—the color had returned to his face, and his voice was steadier than it had been during his recovery—but he moved with the caution of someone who’d learned the hard way that his body had limits.

Amanda sat beside him, elegant in a dark blue dress, her silver hair pinned back. She looked up when Arianne and Franz approached with the twins, and something in her expression loosened into something Arianne hadn’t seen from her before.

"There you are," Amanda said. "Lily, Leo, come sit with us. We’ve hardly seen you all evening."

Lily immediately began telling Amanda about the lights. Leo settled into a chair and returned to his drawing, though his eyes kept drifting to the window.

"When do the fireworks start?" Lily asked.

"Midnight," Arianne said. "Fifteen minutes of fireworks to bring in the new year."

"What colors? Will there be blue ones? Blue is Leo’s favorite. Mine is purple, but blue is also good. Are children allowed to set them off? Can we try just one?"

"Children aren’t allowed to handle fireworks," Amanda said. "They’re dangerous. You can watch from here. This is the best view in the building."

Lily accepted this with the grace of someone who hadn’t really expected a different answer. Leo looked up from his tablet. He typed: WANT TO DRAW THE FIREWORKS. TOO FAST. CAN’T DRAW AND WATCH.

"Take a video," Franz suggested. "Then you can watch it again later and draw from the video. You’ll have all the time you need."

Leo considered this, then nodded. VIDEO GOOD IDEA.

Arianne took the seat beside Amanda. The older woman was watching the twins with an expression that was difficult to name, affection certainly, but something else underneath. Something that looked almost like regret.

"They’re happy," Amanda said. "Both of them. I wasn’t sure they would be. After everything."

"They’re resilient."

"Children often are. But resilience needs support. They’ve had that. From you and Franz." She paused. "I should have done more. I know that. With Vincent ill, I couldn’t—I couldn’t extend a hand the way I should have. I left their care entirely to you and Franz, and I knew how busy you both were. I’m sorry."

Arianne looked at her. Amanda had never apologized for anything in all the time she’d known her. The coldness that had existed between them since the hospital visit, since before that, really, since the wedding Arianne hadn’t invited her to, had seemed immovable. Something had changed. Age, perhaps. Or Vincent’s brush with mortality. Or the passage of time.

"You don’t need to apologize," Arianne said. "We all did our best for the children. That’s what matters."

Amanda nodded. Then her expression eased, the seriousness giving way to something lighter.

"Speaking of children." Her voice dropped, turning confidential. "When are you and Franz planning to have one of your own?"

Arianne had known the question was coming. She’d seen it in Amanda’s eyes the moment she sat down. "We plan to have one. But we’re not in a hurry. We’re letting things happen naturally."

"Good. That’s good. Don’t rush. You have time." Amanda paused. "But you do want one. That’s what matters."

Arianne hesitated for only a moment. Then she said, "Whatever inheritance the twins have from Rochefort Group and from Alex, Franz and I have discussed this, our children won’t compete for it. The twins’ legacy from their father is secure. I wanted you to know that."

Vincent, who had been listening from his chair, spoke up. His voice was firm in a way it hadn’t been since before his heart attack.

"We view our grandchildren equally. All of them. Franz’s children aren’t less than Alex’s. There’s no hierarchy in this family. There never has been."

Arianne met his eyes and nodded.

Amanda, perhaps sensing the weight of the moment, leaned forward with a new expression, something almost mischievous. "You said children. Not child. Plural."

Arianne blinked. "Did I?"

"You did. Children. As in more than one." Amanda’s eyes were bright. "Are you planning to have more than one?"

"We haven’t planned a specific number. If fate permits, we’ll welcome whatever we have. That’s not entirely in our control."

Amanda laughed. It was a warm sound, genuine and surprised.

"Well. When it happens—when you’re with child—you must inform us at once. This time, I’ll help. I couldn’t be there for the twins the way I should have been, but I’ll be there for your children. For all of them. However many there are."

Vincent made a low sound that might have been amusement. "The Rochefort family rarely has only one child. It’s not in our nature." He looked at Franz, then at Arianne. "I look forward to seeing more children in this family. Whenever they come."

Franz’s hand found Arianne’s under the table. She didn’t pull away.

Outside the window, the first firework streaked into the sky.

It burst in a shower of gold, the light reflecting off the glass and painting the booth in warm, flickering color. Lily shrieked with delight.

"They’re starting! Uncle Franz, the fireworks are starting! Leo, look!"

Leo was already scrambling to the window, his tablet forgotten, the whale clutched under his arm. Franz reached over and turned the tablet toward the glass.

"The video," he reminded him. "Don’t forget."

Leo fumbled for the camera app, his small fingers moving quickly. He held the tablet up to the window just as the second firework burst, blue this time, then green, then a shower of silver sparks that cascaded down like falling stars.

"Gold!" Lily narrated, her face pressed to the glass. "Blue! Green again! That one looks like a flower! That one looks like a star! Leo, did you get the star one? It was the best one so far!"

Leo nodded without turning from the window, the tablet held steady in his hands. The screen showed the night sky, bursts of color appearing and fading, the video recording everything.

Amanda watched the twins with a soft expression. Vincent had risen from his chair, moving with care, and stood behind her, one hand resting on her shoulder. They looked, Arianne thought, like people who had finally remembered what mattered.

Franz moved closer to her. His arm brushed against hers, warm through the fabric of his jacket. "Happy new year," he said, under the noise of Lily’s narration and the distant boom of the fireworks.

"It’s not midnight yet."

"Close enough."

Outside, another firework exploded, red this time, then gold again, then a brilliant purple that made Lily gasp. The city skyline was painted in light and color, the twins silhouetted against the window. The year was ending, and the family was together.

"Happy new year," Arianne said.

Franz’s hand tightened on hers. The fireworks kept falling.