As the group hug dissolved into laughter, Evelyn turned to Sophia with warm eyes. “So you’re the one keeping our daughter alive down there. Thank goodness - I was already planning what to wear to her funeral. You know, from forgetting to eat and all.”

“Mom!” Juniper protested, but Sophia was already laughing, her head swiveling between them all with delight, her blonde curls catching the firelight as she took in each face. Her gaze bounced from Evelyn’s knowing smirk to Lillian’s performative wink to Jacob’s gap-toothed grin, like she was collecting snapshots of this perfectly chaotic family moment.

“Someone has to make sure she remembers humans need food to live,” Sophia agreed, her smile brightening the room more than the twinkling holiday lights ever could.

Sophia’s eyes lingered on Juniper, cataloging the changes. She’d been seeing too much of her friend’s mask lately - the perfect posture in court, the calculated responses, the way Juniper held herself like every moment was a cross-examination. But here, surrounded by tinsel and childhood memories, that mask was slipping, revealing glimpses of the friend Sophia had first met, before Roma and depositions had carved new edges into her smile.

She glanced sideways at Juniper with that familiar mix of exasperation and affection. “Though I can’t take all the credit - she’s actually pretty good at pretending to be a functional adult most days. When she remembers to check her messages.”