Somewhere in Time

XXVII. It Started With A Click.

18+ Only Explicit Content

We stepped out of her room together a little while later, quieter now but lighter somehow, like we'd shed something heavy and ugly and left it back in the wreckage of that dinner.

The house had settled into a hushed rhythm, no more footsteps pounding through the halls, no raised voices, no Grace lurking with a fake smile. Just the sound of a cartoon humming from the den and the occasional giggle from one of the kids.

"Go ahead," Olivia whispered, nudging me gently. "I'll hang back a second."

I nodded, brushing my thumb over her knuckles before letting her go.

I walked down the hallway toward the den, where Prince and Paris were huddled under a throw blanket on the floor. Blanket was curled up in the middle of the couch with a half-eaten chicken leg in one hand and a juice pouch on the coffee table.

They all looked up at me when I stepped in, wide-eyed like maybe they'd done something wrong.

"Everything okay?" Prince asked.

"Yeah, buddy," I said softly. "Everything's fine now."

Paris stood up and walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my leg. "Is Olive okay?"

"She's okay," I said, smoothing her hair down. "She just needed a little break."

"She's nice," Paris added. "I like her."

I smiled. "I do too."

"Are you gonna marry her?" she asked suddenly, blinking up at me with the audacity only a child could get away with.

I laughed under my breath. "That's a big question, sweetheart."

She shrugged. "You love her, don't you?"

My heart thumped. "I do."

Blanket piped up from the couch. "Then that means you have to make her pancakes."

I blinked, caught off guard. "Pancakes?"

"Yeah," he said seriously, wiping a crumb from his mouth. "When Olive made us pancakes, it was love pancakes. So you gotta make her some too."

I chuckled, glancing back toward the hallway where Olivia would probably be laughing her ass off if she heard this. "I think you're right.."

Grace walked by with folded towels in her hands, saying nothing this time. Her face was unreadable. She didn't look smug anymore. She didn't look pleased.

She looked... unsettled.

Good.

She passed me without a word, disappearing into the guest bathroom to prep things for the kids. I gave it a beat, then turned back to the kids.

"Alright, team," I said, clapping my hands. "Time for bed. Olive says no staying up past nine or your eyes will go square."

"No she didn't!" Paris squealed.

"I'm pretty sure she did," I replied, picking up Blanket and setting him on my hip.

"Nuh uh," he mumbled, already half asleep.

I laughed. "Come on, you three."

We got through brushing teeth, changing in pajamas, and settling into the bed that Olivia had made up for them earlier. Grace came in to check that everyone was tucked in, keeping her distance from me but nodding stiffly. I didn't say a word. I'd already said all I needed to.
Back in the hallway, Olivia was waiting in the shadows near the wall, arms crossed, a tired smile on her face.