The afternoon drifted slowly, and there were a lot of events to keep every single one of them busy. They played game after game, darted between stalls, and collected an embarrassing number of prize tickets that no one quite knew what to do with. At one point, Alex found himself standing on a water tank, arms folded, glaring playfully down at the children and Sophia, who were quietly laughing at him. Beside him there were a couple of other fathers who were in the same situation. “Please tell me Addie would at least get the giant stuffed panda and that I didn’t just get soaked for nothing.” At the same time he said so, one of the volunteers in orange walked over to them and handed them a big white giant stuffed panda. “That throw was magnificent. Where did you learn that, Adeline?” The female volunteer asked. Addie smiled proudly, and her gaze darted to her father; they both shared a look, and then she said, “It’s a secret.” This made the young lady smile warmly. Sophia collect
The moment the boy noticed the people walking over in his direction, particularly Addie and Aiden, he was already scrambling to his feet, awkwardly brushing imaginary dust off his jeans, his eyes darting between the twins. Addie spun around with the kind of bright enthusiasm only she could pull off, her curls bouncing with the movement. “This is the new boy! He’s a transfer student. He came two weeks ago and sat near me during reading time!” Aiden crossed his arms and rolled his eyes dramatically. “You mean you stood up from your seat and marched over to his side.” “Well,” Addie huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “My point is we sat next to each other. Who went over to whom doesn’t really matter.” Aiden scoffed, clearly not impressed at all. His jaw tensed, and he glanced at the boy like he’d just been asked to shake hands with a lizard. He didn’t like him—and he wasn’t even trying to pretend. The way his sister was clinging to the new kid annoyed him and made him uncomfortab
“What about the picnic basket? Please don’t tell me we forgot to pick that up from the kitchen counter.” Sophia cast a worried look in Alex’s direction, adjusting her sunglasses as the car continued moving, the light ahead turned green, and he eased them forward with one hand on the wheel and the other still resting on Sophia’s thigh, his thumb tracing circles against the seam of her jeans. Alex pressed a button, and the tinted glasses cracked open just slightly, enough to let in the sunlight, catching in the loose strands of her blond hair. Sophia was dressed in a light brown button-down, soft and loose, tucked just enough into her jeans to look put together. Her hair was tied back messily with one of her caramel-colored scrunchies. In fact, she made sure everybody was dressed in a little bit of something brown before they left the house. Addie had a light brown ribbon tied around her ponytails, bouncing with every excited movement. Aiden wore a simple beige-brown hoodie, sleeves p
The word was so soft, Sophia almost thought she imagined it.But the way Alex froze told her otherwise. He didn’t move, he didn’t even breathe, as if the world had stopped just for him.Then came a small smile. Unsure at first. But it grew, slow and full of something that made her throat tighten. He looked at Aiden like he was seeing him again for the very first time.“Hey, buddy,” Alex said, his deep voice too low, like speaking too loud might scare the moment away.Alex looked up finally, and their eyes met, and Sophia knew they both felt it.Aiden had called him Daddy.And it was so natural. It didn’t sound like he had forced himself to say it. It was just a soft, probably subconscious word that slipped out of his lips due to surprise.Alex didn’t say anything else. Though Sophia could see the way his fingers curled slightly at his side, like he was stopping himself from reaching out. His eyes stayed fixed on Aiden, blinking a little too fast.And then, just like that, the moment p
The days ran by so fast, and soon it was the eve of the fun fair. But compared to how excited about the event Addie had been, she was sourly in a grumpy mood that night, she couldn’t eat, and at first had been asking about her father.Unfortunately, Alex hadn’t arrived yet, and Sophia had been trying to reach out to him for the past couple of hours, but the call kept taking her to voicemail, and slowly she grew worried because she had spoken to him earlier that morning, and he had told her he was arriving at Evermore that night. And now she couldn’t reach him.Addie had been uncharacteristically grumpy all evening. Her mood was so sour that even Aiden was affected by how down his sister looked. Every time she said something and he retorted, Addie would simply roll her eyes instead of saying anything in return. That was as unusual as it sounded, and even Sophia couldn’t hide her worry anymore.The little girl sulked on the bed beside Sophia, her arms folded across her chest and her bro
Alex pulled the car to a stop in front of the hospital, he killed the engine and his gaze shifted to Sophia at the same time she glanced over at him. After dropping the kids off at school, he drove straight to the hospital. “Are you sure you won’t get late for your flight?” She had insisted on taking her car instead while Alex headed straight to the airport for his flight, but he had insisted on dropping them off himself. She did try to persuade him by mentioning the fact that she would need her car later that day after her shift ended and she needed to go home, but Alex told her he already handled that, and a chauffeur would come pick her up when she was done with her shift. Alex shook his head, and his gaze dropped to the watch strapped to his wrist, “I won’t be. And I still need to drop by the office before heading to the airport.” Sophia nodded in understanding, then she pursed her lips, totally unsure of what to say anymore. A minute passed, and when none of them said a