"Happy returns," she says with a broad smile, setting aside her plate for a moment so she can take Marcus's hands and kiss his knuckles like that was a blessing all its own. It was, as far as she was concerned. She might just be a cousin or little sister in the scheme of things, but family, by blood or choice, was family.

"I feel like I should have been a little nosier," she admits, only a little teasing. "Thank you for inviting me, I promise I'll only interrogate him politely."