The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

However, Howard beat Suzy to it, already holding Penelope in his arms. He smiled at Suzy and said, "I've got this. You take a break." Suzy went along and said sincerely, "Thanks."

"Anytime."

Everyone headed back to the living room for dinner. The dining table was a little cramped for all of us, so we ended up splitting into two tables.noveldrama

Penelope and Willow sat together at one of the tables, talking nonstop as soon as they started eating. Every once in a while, they'd pause and ask questions if something didn't quite make sense. The house was buzzing with life.

I really liked this vibe. When I was living at Steven's, he hardly had time for me. Even after Zachary was born, Steven would only leave him with me when he was a handful.

Once Zachary got a bit older and could feed himself, Steven would take him out for nice dinners in the evenings, leaving me alone to sit in the living room.

Back then, I never imagined I'd have so much talking and laughter in my life. It felt amazing. I finally had someone to hang out with.

After dinner, Willow came running over, her eyes lighting up as she said, "Mommy!"

I ran my fingers through her hair and asked, "What's up?"

"Can we play freeze tag?" she asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

I nodded. "Of course!"

Penelope's job was to convince Suzy. And since Suzy was a mother who adored her daughter, she wasn't going to say no to anything Penelope asked.

Suzy and I exchanged a glance, both of us with helpless smiles. The house was packed, and there were plenty of people around who'd be happy to hang out with the kids. So, we headed out to the yard.

Zane took on the role of "it." He was usually pretty serious and was not the type to show much emotion, but now he was making silly faces, running around, and teasing the kids playfully. He had this burst of energy that was totally unlike his usual self.

We ran around, trying to avoid him. Whenever he tagged Willow or Penelope, I'd hurry over and untag them.

Willow and Penelope couldn't stop giggling. Hearing them laugh, I couldn't help but feel lighter. It hit me just how easy it was to make kids happy. They were so easily entertained and content.

After about ten minutes of playing, everyone started getting too tired to keep going. Willow and Penelope still wanted to keep playing, but then the teacher that Zane had arranged for them showed up.

She was in her early 40s and wore glasses. Her hair was all neat, and she had a pretty serious vibe.

Leah Zeller turned to Zane. "So, which two girls want to learn how toy planes work?"

Willow and Penelope were still at the age where teachers made them nervous. They were scared of how serious Leah looked and went to hide.

Willow grabbed onto the hem of my

shirt, peeking at Leah from behind

me. She was worried that if she didn't get what Leah was saying later, Leah might snap at her. So, to avoid that, Willow made up her mind

to pay extra close attention from then on.

Meanwhile, Penelope didn't even dare look Leah in the eye. She found her pretty scary.

Zane scooped up one of the girls in each arm and carried them over to Leah. "These are the ones."

Leah could tell both girls were afraid, so she forced a smile and said, "Alright, you two, go ahead and bring out your toys."

"Huh?" Willow looked surprised. "We get to play with our toy planes?"