Page 105 of Made for Mayhem

Mikko didn’t answer. His gaze swept the group, landing on Shannon. Her smirk faded as she sat straighter.

Beckett lowered the fire pit he was holding. “Everything alright, buddy?”

Mikko swallowed. “I—” He looked down, then up again. “I have a daughter.”

He dropped into a chair we hadn’t folded up yet, elbows on his knees, hands in his hair. Beckett crossed the distance and crouched in front of him.

“What’s happening?” Daisy whispered.

Emmy didn’t look away. “If you’d asked me five minutes ago whether Mikko had a kid, I’d have said no. He hasn’t even been in a relationship for years. Which means nothing—but this is new.”

Shannon helped Lori into her wheelchair, the walk to the cars too much for her Parkinson’s disease. Her eyes never left Mikko.

“So… like a baby?” Jace asked.

“You know as much as I do,” Emmy said, smoothing a hand over Junie’s back. “And yes, I heard that.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Jace said. “Thanks for the cousin… I guess.”

I watched as Beckett pulled Mikko into a hug. The big man folded into it, then lifted his phone, speaking rapidly in Finnish.

Mason and Tate headed toward the parking lot with Lori and Shannon. Stevie and Luke ushered their kids away with help from the team, leaving just us.

“Go,” Emmy said gently. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“Don’t let your mom carry the fire pit,” I called to Jace.

He scoffed, then grabbed the handle Mason had carried earlier.

“Goodnight, you three,” Beckett said, mischief back in his voice. “Go home.”

I flicked him off over my shoulder. Daisy laughed.

When my hand dropped back down, she slid her fingers into mine, and I couldn’t help but think this was what home was supposed to feel like.

23

The house was quiet after a long, perfect day.

Junie was in bed, her hand resting against the stuffed cow she’d insisted on dragging into her room. I brushed a hand through her hair, smiling at how quickly she was falling asleep again after we got her inside.

“Big day, huh, cutie?” I whispered.

Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t answer. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead, letting my lips linger before straightening again.

All of this—today, the carnival, the laughter, the people—was more fulfilling than I could’ve imagined. I’d been so afraid of stepping back into this place, of being the outsider, the new girl in a town where everyone had known each other since kindergarten. Where every time someone looked at me it was with pity in their eyes and sadness in their tones, knowing what I was going through.

But that wasn’t what happened. No one skirted around Violet’s name or tiptoed in conversations. They were just friendly, supportive, and understanding when I occasionally needed a moment to myself.

Still, nothing had prepared me for Junie shouting Dad! across the park.

It kept replaying in my head—the way her face lit up, how natural it sounded, as if she hadn’t even realized she’d said it.

And the look on Ty’s face… Shock, sure. But also this quiet, stunned joy I’d remember forever. Like she’d handed him the most precious gift of all.

I wasn’t sure how it made me feel.

It didn’t hurt. It didn’t feel wrong. If anything, I was sure Violet would’ve loved it. She’d always said she wanted Junie to grow up surrounded by love, that family wasn’t just who you were born with, but who you chose.