The rain hadn't stopped since the night before. The constant tapping of the drops on the plywood roof gently mixed with the laughter and conversations of children sharing stories about their favorite cartoons, recently acquired toys, and family outings. June, with her face pressed against the glass, watched the schoolyard melancholically. The swings, beaten by the downpour, swayed softly with each gust of wind. Beside her, Amanda shared the same somber contemplation.
"It's not working," Amanda whispered, her voice so faint it seemed she feared even her soft murmur might break the delicate charm of the ritual they had attempted.
"But we followed all the steps exactly," June replied, moving away from the window with resignation. The tip of her nose, reddened from the cold, retained a crimson hue for a few more seconds.
Amanda turned to her, her eyes reflecting a mix of frustration that soon gave way to a glimmer of hope. "What if we got it wrong?" Her question caught June's attention. "Maybe instead of doing the dance to stop the rain, we did the rain dance. Look, it's raining even more now," she whispered cautiously, worried if any classmate might scold them.
June blinked thoughtfully. "It's possible, but I followed all the steps Uncle Chris taught me."
Amanda frowned silently, and June shrugged. "Did he trick me?" she said with a furrowed brow, showing her irritation. "He once told me he was Santa Claus, and that was a lie. When I see him, I'll tell him he's a liar."
"My moms watched a movie called 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.' If that boy could tame the wind, why couldn't we tame the clouds?" Amanda suggested. "You can ask your mom if you can stay over at my house on Friday, and we can watch it together."
June's little blonde head nodded enthusiastically.
The end-of-recess bell rang, drawing complaints from the children, even though the bad weather had kept them from playing outside. June and Amanda returned to their seats just as the teacher began to erase the blackboard.
"Does anyone have a pencil sharpener?" whispered a child's voice.
Before Amanda could react, June searched her own case and passed the sharpener to the girl. It was the third one she had left in class, and it always disappeared. Discreetly, her green eyes followed the girl to the trash bin, keeping watch until she returned to hand back the sharpener.
"Thank you, June."
"You're welcome, Brenda," June smiled, storing her small possession back in the case. Beside her, a laugh made her turn to see Amanda, chuckling under her breath.
"Stuart, it's your turn to read the first three paragraphs. The rest of you, get your pencils and notebooks ready. We're going to write."
Scarlett was in a meeting with her talent agent, a meeting she had postponed twice because she already knew the topic of discussion: her recent rejection of several film offers that, according to her agent, promised to be blockbuster hits. Scarlett didn't doubt the commercial potential of these projects, but she was reluctant to accept the roles.
"I understand your fee has gone up, but he's a good director. He always generates box office hits, and the role isn't bad—you'd give it spark," her agent argued.
"It's not about the fee, Bryan. I've spent years fighting for roles that allow me to demonstrate my acting ability beyond my physical appearance. These roles would be a step backward, and they don't even have an interesting backstory," Scarlett replied firmly.
Bryan remained silent while listening to his client. He understood her point of view, but his duty was always to point out the potential box office success of a film. Seeing how certain Scarlett was and knowing she wouldn't change her mind, he closed the folder, ending the discussion about the rejected roles.
"Alright, we've reached a point in your career where we can afford to be selective. I just want you to know that my advice always aims for your best interest," said Bryan, closing the topic.
"I know," Scarlett smiled. "And I'll be happy to keep receiving offers until we find the right one. Is that everything, Bryan?" she checked her watch, eager to make it in time to pick up the girls from school.
"Yes, as soon as I have something more in line with your preferences, I'll let you know."
With that, the meeting concluded, turning out to be more positive than Scarlett had expected. She was leaving the building when she received a call from Harold, her lawyer. She valued his work, but every call from him tensed her up, knowing they would revisit sensitive matters.
"Scarlett, good news," Harold announced.
Scarlett blinked, maintaining the tension in her body.
"Are you there, Scarlett?"
"Yes, just waiting to hear those good news you mentioned," she responded cautiously.
"I just came out of the trial. In the Smith case, first-degree kidnapping, twenty years. And in the Perrys case, first-degree kidnapping and life imprisonment. This is fantastic, Scarlett, you can breathe easy now," Harold informed her, his voice laden with relief mixed with the sound of car doors closing.
Scarlett allowed the news to sink in. As a mother and a victim of all that had happened, she hoped for much more, but under the circumstances, these were satisfactory sentences and, as always, Harold had proven to be a true friend and an exceptional professional.
"Thank you, Harold," she thanked him wholeheartedly. "Finally, some peace."
She exited the building while still listening to Harold talk about the dismissal of the complaint against June.
"Harold, are the sentences reviewable?" she asked, worried about the possibility of appeals.
There was a silence that Scarlett didn't like at all.
"Harold..."
"Look, it would be very complicated for that to happen, especially for the Perrys, Scarlett. It's not worth worrying about, that scoundrel is in jail and I highly doubt he'll ever get out," Harold reassured her, trying to calm her fears.
After hanging up the phone, Scarlett couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach. Despite the good news, the memory of that man threatening her little one haunted her. Driving to the nearest school of Rose, she parked the car and waited for her daughter to come out. When Rose saw her, she ran towards her with a radiant smile.
"Mom, you came!" she exclaimed, hugging her mother enthusiastically.
"Mom, I have something to tell you," she said as she waved goodbye to her friends and settled into the car, letting Scarlett fasten her seatbelt.
"Tell me, princess, what news do you have?" Scarlett asked after kissing Rose's forehead and sitting in the driver's seat.
"We're having a poetry recital! The teacher said we can all participate by creating a poem about any topic we want, and the poems will be voted on. The selected ones will recite their poem in the auditorium," Rose recounted, her voice brimming with enthusiasm.
"Honey, that's great news. Are you going to participate?" Scarlett inquired, anticipating the response with a smile.
"Yes! And then they give you a trophy for reciting, Mom."
"You know that if..."
"I know, if I don't win or if I'm not selected, it doesn't mean my work isn't good," Rose recited, repeating the mantra her mother had always taught her. "But I would like to win."
Scarlett smiled as she continued driving. When they arrived at June's school, she repeated the ritual: she got out of the car and waited with Rose until the teacher allowed June to come out. The little girl ran to hug Scarlett first and then her sister.
"Did you have a good day, little bug?" Scarlett asked, bending down to hug her.
"Yes, but it stopped raining and we couldn't go outside for recess. Also, Uncle Chris is a liar, Mom," June complained, crossing her arms over her booster seat. "That rain-stopping dance doesn't work; I did it with Amanda and it rained even more."
Scarlett struggled not to laugh, although Rose couldn't help herself, which annoyed June even more, who pouted and turned her face away from her sister.
"You believe everything, June. One day he'll tell you he traveled to the moon in a day and you'll tell Amanda."
"No, I wouldn't believe that because our teacher told us it took three days to get to the moon many years ago, so I wouldn't believe he could travel there in one day, maybe two with modern ships! But he would have to explain how he got to NASA," June replied with childlike logic.
Rose continued to laugh and June, not fully understanding why, tried to ignore her.
"Mom, can I stay over at Amanda's house on Friday?" June asked hopefully.
"Have her moms invited you?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow, surprised, as she hadn't received any call from them, which would be the usual procedure.
"Amanda invited me."
"Sweetheart, her moms need to talk to me. It should be them inviting you," Scarlett explained, despite June's obvious disappointment.
When they got home, Colin was already there playing with Cosmo. As Scarlett opened the door, her youngest son intercepted her enthusiastically.
"Mom!"
"How's my big guy?" Scarlett smiled, lifting him into her arms to cover him with kisses and make him laugh. "Are you having fun with Dad?"
"Yes! Dad makes funny faces," Cosmo tried to imitate one of his father's comical expressions, causing Scarlett to laugh while shaking her head, amazed that her youngest son was already showing comedic inclinations, following in his father's footsteps.
"June, Rose," Cosmo called to his sisters as Scarlett set him down on the ground. "Can we play?" he asked hopefully.
"I can't right now, Cosmo. I need to write a poem and I need to be in my room without interruptions," Rose replied, casting a significant look first at Cosmo, then at June, and finally at Colin.
"And what's that look for?" Colin asked.
"Because you're noisy," Rose specified, pointing at him while Scarlett subtly hid a smile. "This is important, don't bother me until dinner," she warned before slowly climbing the stairs, aware that running would earn her a scolding from her mom.
"Let's play, Cosmo," June took his hand and they headed to the rug. "We'll build a tower that reaches the sky, but this time don't put them in your mouth, okay?"
Cosmo shook his head.
"Paint," he demanded.
June's eyes lit up and she ran to fetch the colors to fulfill her brother's wish.
Midway through dinner, Scarlett's phone started ringing. Initially, she wasn't going to answer, but seeing that it was Lauren, one of Amanda's moms, she decided to take the call.
"I'm sorry if it's too late. Sandra couldn't call because she was with the girls, and I just got here. Could June come over for a sleepover on Friday? We'd pick her up from school, and you could have her back Saturday morning or afternoon, or you could come by, whatever you prefer."
Scarlett looked at her daughter, who had seen the name on the phone's display and clearly wanted to go. Letting her daughter stay with Lizzie, who was June's godmother and like a sister to her, was one thing; leaving her in the care of, quote-unquote, "acquaintances" after everything that had happened was another. Lizzie had only spoken highly of them, and from the little Scarlett had interacted with them since June started school, they seemed like good people. Lauren was a police officer, and Sandra an interior designer.
"I don't know, I also don't want it to be a bother," Scarlett finally said, seeing how her daughter's shoulders drooped.
"It's no bother at all, June is a darling and Amanda won't stop talking about her best friend. I understand it might seem a bit sudden. Would you like to come over one afternoon before Friday? That way you can see the house, get to know us a bit more, and then decide if you're comfortable with her staying over on Friday, no pressure," Lauren suggested.
Scarlett looked at her husband.
"I'm busy tomorrow, would Wednesday work for you?"
"Of course, I start in the evening and will be available."
After saying goodbye, Scarlett turned to her daughters.
"We'll go to Amanda's house on Wednesday afternoon."
June clapped.
"Yes! Rose, Amanda told me she has a really big Barbie house and lots of movies," she shared with her sister, happily including her in the plan.
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Scarlett was being interviewed live on Instagram by an influencer about her skincare brand. Meanwhile, Colin was at work, Cosmo was with his grandmother Melanie, and Lizzie had kindly picked up the girls from school and taken them out for a snack, anticipating that the meeting would conclude in time for their arrival.
However, there were delays and the interview started later than expected. In the middle of the conversation, the door opened and the sound of children's voices filled the room. Scarlett kept looking at the screen, but her real focus was on what was happening behind the laptop: two girls covered in chocolate smudges and Lizzie's apologetic look as she realized the meeting was still going on.
"Sorry for the noise, my daughters have just arrived," Scarlett smiled at the camera, while the influencer laughed and assured her it was no problem. "Girls, Mommy's in a meeting, go play in your room," she instructed.
June and Rose dashed upstairs. Lizzie couldn't stay any longer; though she wanted to help, she had her own meeting with a publisher, which she had already postponed for two hours.
Half an hour later, June came down upset and interrupted the interview.
"Mom!" she pouted, approaching, and Scarlett, whose hand was out of camera view, gestured for her to stop. She wanted to prevent her daughters from appearing on the live stream, mindful of their privacy.
Just then, June moved forward slightly to hold her mom's hand with tears in her eyes. Soon after, Rose came down.
"Mom, Rose won't let me play with her dancing Barbie," June complained.
"The last time you broke a dress!" Rose defended herself.
"That's not true, it was already torn," June retorted, increasing her crying.
"No!" shouted Rose.
"Yes!" June matched her intensity.
"No, you squeezed it too tight," insisted Rose.
"No, you were the one who had that cake party, and then the dress wouldn't fit," June countered. Laughter could be heard from the computer, and Scarlett, trying to maintain her composure, smiled continuously.
"Sorry, being a mom is a 24/7 job," Scarlett apologized, standing up to approach her daughters and calm the argument with a firm but gentle look. "Mom is in the middle of a meeting. Leave the Barbies and play Dobble Kids until I'm done."
Without a reply, the girls went back upstairs, and Scarlett returned to the meeting, apologizing again. The session ended twenty minutes later, and the house fell into infinite peace. This prompted Scarlett to hurry upstairs to find the girls asleep in Rose's bed, surrounded by gummies scattered across the sheets—a usual hiding spot for Rose's favorite sweets.
She let them rest for another half-hour while calling her mom to see if she could bring Cosmo or if they would wait for Colin to pick him up. Then, she prepared the bath for the girls and went to wake them.
While they played in the tub, Scarlett knelt on the carpet and stared at them intently.
"Mom is a bit upset with you. Do you know why?" she asked seriously.
June seemed more interested in the toy boat floating in the water than in her mother and remained quiet.
"You were in a meeting, and we interrupted," Rose responded shyly.
"Exactly. June, look at me," Scarlett spoke firmly and waited until her middle daughter's face lifted to look at her guiltily. "You know I love you very much and that you're the most important thing to me, but interrupting Mom at work because you can't agree on how to play is not acceptable."
"Mom, Rose called me Wreck-It Ralph because I broke the dress," June revealed, pursing her lips in a pout. "And I'm more like Vanellope, and I didn't mean to break the dress."
"Rose, that wasn't right. I know you were upset that the dress got torn, and breaking other people's toys is wrong," said Scarlett. "But your sister didn't do it on purpose."
"But I'm not sure if it was me," continued June.
"Either way, this argument ends here. If not, neither of you will play with the Barbies again. Agreed?" Scarlett concluded firmly. Her two daughters looked at her with their mouths agape and nodded in unison.
On Wednesday, leaving school, a hesitant Scarlett found herself following Lauren, Amanda's mother, to an upper-middle-class neighborhood. She parked in front of a meticulously kept single-story house. Sandra greeted them with pastries and coffee, creating a welcoming atmosphere from the start. The two mothers were very attentive and offered Scarlett a tour of the house while the girls already played happily in the room. Scarlett liked the atmosphere, and while her daughters played, she had a moment of bonding with the hosts, during which she shared her fears about what had happened with June.
"I'm not going to lie, I knew something about the situation, but I didn't want to bring it up because it was sensitive," Lauren confessed as soon as Scarlett finished briefly sharing the ordeal, carefully selecting what to share and what to omit. "I understand your hesitance. If we were in your place, we'd probably act the same," Lauren commented, looking at her wife, who nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's too soon, we can let some time pass, and when you feel things have normalized, we can talk about having June stay over. In the meantime, what we can do to keep the girls from getting upset is to have June come to play a few hours in the afternoon; we wouldn't mind if it were Amanda."
Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief, considering it a good plan. The conversation continued naturally, until Sandra shared experiences that, while not as severe as those Scarlett had experienced, also affected her daughter.
"The first school Amanda went to was utterly discriminatory; you can't imagine the cruelty that can exist in such small bodies," Sandra explained.
"It's what they see from their parents. If they are intolerant, how do you think the kids will be?" Lauren interrupted.
"All because Amanda has two moms. Even the teacher had an ugly gesture on Father's Day," said Lauren, visibly upset. "It took us a while to help our little one come out of her shell, but we finally found this new school, which is LGBT-friendly. She started going happier, made friends, and well, with June it was quite special; she says she's her best friend."
By the end of the afternoon, Scarlett was glad she had come to meet them, thinking they might even become friends.
On Thursday morning, June's art teacher announced that some artworks created over the past months had won a competition against nearby schools. June remained absorbed with her brush, focused on a canvas that seemed larger than she was.
"I'm proud to announce that two classmates have been selected to have their drawings displayed in the art gallery," the teacher said, capturing the attention of all the children except for June, who continued to refine her stroke and chewed on her tongue in frustration.
"Congratulations to Samuel Williams and June Johansson!" The class clapped enthusiastically and in high spirits as they received their consolation prize: a bag of gummy candies and a basic set of colored pencils.
"June," whispered Amanda, and then, raising her voice, "JUNE!"
The class turned towards the source of the shout as June, surprised, lifted her chin and saw all eyes on her.
"What happened?" she asked, puzzled.
Laughter erupted while June looked around bewildered, assuming she had accidentally painted her face as had happened before. However, when the laughter died down and the teacher repeated the announcement, June burst into tears.
"Oh, sweetheart," said the teacher, moved. "What do we do when a classmate cries, kids?"
"Group hug!" they all exclaimed in unison, moving in to envelop June in a warm and comforting embrace.
With an invitation to the gallery for the coming Friday in hand, June left the class. Seeing her mother waiting, she ran to her and allowed herself to be lifted into her arms, receiving a flood of kisses. She got into the car, excited to share her news, especially since her older sister was there too.
"I've got something to tell you, Mom," said June with a smile.
"Now that June's here, I can say it!" Rose interrupted, eagerly.
"Tell me, princess, you've got me intrigued," Scarlett encouraged, smiling as she drove back home.
"I'm going to recite my poem in the auditorium!" exclaimed Rose, brimming with joy. June clapped, aware of the effort her sister had put into her poem. "Next Friday, Mom! You have to be there, you don't have anything on your schedule, right?"
June swallowed and pocketed the invitations, feeling suddenly sidelined.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Sweetie, what did you want to tell me?" Scarlett asked her younger daughter.
"Amanda might adopt a puppy," June responded, grasping at the first thing that came to mind, though it wasn't a lie since Amanda had mentioned it that afternoon.
"That's wonderful, darling," replied Scarlett.
For the rest of the drive, Rose continued to share how pleased her teacher was with her and the praise she had received for her poem. Meanwhile, June clasped her hands and stared out the window. Upon arriving home, she ran to the upstairs bathroom, ignoring the likely scolding for running. She closed the door and, in a gesture of despair, tore the official event invitations into tiny pieces, throwing them into the trash can. Then, she climbed onto the stool to splash her face in the sink, trying to hide any sign of crying, though her nose and cheeks were red and her eyes shone with a feverish brightness. Exhausted, she got into bed, claiming to be tired and having a stomach ache. She spent time staring blankly at the bedroom wall until the night wrapped her room in darkness that made it impossible to discern the actual color of the wall.
Scarlett was worried. In recent days, June seemed particularly downcast, and she feared it was a sign of a relapse or that the sessions with the psychologist weren't having an effect. She tried to lift her spirits by organizing family games, but only managed to elicit fleeting smiles before her expression darkened again.
Concerned, Scarlett called Amanda's mothers to see if June had confided anything to her best friend, but they also knew nothing about it.
Melanie came to pick up her granddaughters along with Fenan and Cosmo, as Scarlett had called her, realizing that work would keep her late and that Colin wouldn't return until the evening after recording a show.
After their snack, they set up the table for the children to distract themselves by molding air-dry clay. With the help of Rose and June, Cosmo shaped a vase to give to his mother as soon as he saw her. The vase was far from perfect, but it bore Cosmo's fingerprints, adding a priceless personal touch.
"We need flowers to make it prettier," commented Rose, looking at the lopsided vase.
"Yes, we need flowers, and Cosmo, paint it to add more color," suggested June. Soon after, Cosmo finished with his fingers and part of his clothes—and his sisters'—covered in paint.
"Shall we go to the park?" Melanie suggested.
"Yes!" exclaimed Rose enthusiastically.
Melanie tidied up the children as best she could, and along with Fenan, made sure none of them strayed too far. After the previous scare of losing Cosmo, Melanie was hesitant, but she didn't want to let fear limit her grandchildren's freedom, who needed fresh air and to socialize.
On their way back, without any mishaps, they passed several private gardens. On a whim, June and Rose plucked a few flowers until the owner caught them red-handed.
"You should be ashamed," the woman scolded Melanie. "Is that how you teach children? To damage other people's property!"
The woman's voice rose so high that several passersby stopped to look. Fenan gazed at his mother with wide eyes, while Melanie saw her granddaughters on the verge of tears, still holding the flowers in their hands.
"I'm sorry, the girls didn't mean any harm. Girls, apologize to the lady," Melanie instructed, taking control of the situation.
"We're sorry," they said in unison.
"That's not enough, it's disrespectful. That's the problem with the world today, people have children and don't raise them properly," the woman continued, relentless.
"Listen, I think you're going too far," Melanie interrupted firmly. "The girls have apologized; I will scold them appropriately when we get home. But they are well-raised. It seems like you're the one who needs some self-control, or maybe you were just so bored you can't let the matter go. Come on, girls, let's go home."
Back at home, Melanie watched her granddaughters sitting on the sofa, heads bowed, still holding the flowers.
"Girls..."
"I'm really sorry," said June with a pout. "It was so Cosmo could have pretty flowers in his vase."
"Yes, we didn't think it would be such a big deal," Rose added.
"Girls, that garden belonged to that lady. You know we shouldn't touch other people's things, and you don't pull flowers out like that," Melanie gently scolded. "But I know my girls are good and won't do it again. Now, let's put some water in that vase and place the flowers."
A smile blossomed on Scarlett's face when she received the vase Cosmo had created for her shortly afterward. Her emotion nearly turned to tears at such a beautiful gesture. Melanie, feeling it wasn't the right moment, decided not to mention the flower incident. Once at home, Scarlett placed the vase in a prominent spot, where Cosmo watched it with a gleam of pride in his eyes.
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"Mom, we can't be late!" Rose exclaimed from the hallway. It was the big day of the recital and anxiety had barely let her sleep the night before.
June, though less excited, knew how much the event meant to her sister and didn't want to ruin her big day by feigning an illness.
In the auditorium, the Johansson family was fully present, with Lizzie and Robbie in the back row accompanied by Melanie and Fenan. The only absentee was Chris, who was filming in Los Angeles at the time.
Colin was getting ready to record the event, both to preserve the memory and so that Rose's father, who couldn't attend, could watch it later.
June, sitting in the audience, nervously moved her legs and intertwined her hands. At that very moment, her drawings were being exhibited in an art gallery in New York, available for purchase. She glanced briefly at her mother and felt the urge to cry, but she pressed her lips together and looked forward again just as an upperclassman stepped onto the stage to introduce the recital.
Scarlett's phone began to vibrate on silent mode. Shortly afterward, Rose nervously approached the podium, cleared her throat, and looked up.
"Good afternoon," her voice was barely a whisper. Scarlett smiled, sending all her support and positive energy from a distance.
"I'm Rose Dauriac Johansson, and my poem is titled 'My Forest, My Family,'" she announced, and after pausing to smile at her gathered family, she began to recite.
With a trembling voice at first, but gaining confidence as she progressed, Rose recited the verses she knew by heart, thanks to the countless times she had practiced.
In the forest by my home,
where the trees are my friends,
Mom is the sun that always shines,
and Dad, the river that sings endlessly.
My brother is the wind, rushing and never tiring,
my sister, the flowers, coloring all the way.
We play among the leaves that crunch,
beneath pines reaching for the sky,
every tree, a story,
every stone, a laugh.
The forest keeps secrets,
in every corner, a story,
like my family, a treasure,
in every heart, a memory.
A forest is an embrace of branches,
a family, an embrace of souls,
and in this forest I call home,
together, we will always walk.
Blushing, Rose concluded her recital to applause from all attendees. June stood up, smiling and clapping for her sister, still surprised and moved that Rose had mentioned her in the poem. She was deeply glad she had attended and not made up an excuse to miss it.
After the medals were awarded, Rose couldn't hide her huge smile as she received hers; she was radiant and posed for all the photos with evident pride.
Meanwhile, Scarlett's phone kept vibrating. Once the event was over and while parents mingled, she decided to check her phone and found numerous missed calls from Lauren and Sandra, Amanda's mothers. Worried something had happened, she called them, stepping away from the noise but keeping an eye on her daughters who were hugging happily.
"Scarlett, where are you?" Lauren asked when she answered.
"At the recital event."
"There's a lot of people, but where exactly?"
"Did you come to see Rose's recital?" Scarlett was confused.
"Recital? We're at the art gallery."
"What?" Scarlett was baffled.
"The gallery, Scarlett. June's drawings, where else would we be? It's the regional art competition, June was selected to exhibit alongside Samuel Williams. The event started a while ago and there's a chance to buy the paintings; I think I've even seen some familiar faces..." Lauren explained, looking around the crowded gathering.
"Where exactly is it?"
Once she got the address, Scarlett quickly excused herself and hurried back to her family. "Hurry up, we need to go somewhere else, follow me," she said impatiently. The family, somewhat confused but compliant, assumed they were heading to dinner together.
"Are we going to dinner, Mom?" Rose asked, as her mother drove and Colin cast worried glances at his wife.
"Yes, sweetheart, we'll go later," Scarlett responded, keeping her eyes on the road.
June blinked as they passed by the art gallery but kept her mouth shut, visibly uneasy. After parking in a nearby lot, Scarlett took June's hand and led the way briskly to the gallery. Rose ran to take her mother's other hand, while Colin carried Cosmo in his arms.
The gallery was quite crowded, but they managed to spot the pair of mothers slightly away from the throng. Seeing June, Amanda shouted her name excitedly, lighting up the night even more with her enthusiasm.
"June, where have you been?" Amanda asked as she reached her.
"I was at Rose's recital; she recited her poem and won a medal," June replied, initially shy but then smiling proudly at her sister.
"June, one of your paintings has sold. Mom told me that's what the little red dot means," Amanda pointed to the painting in question.
"Rose, don't stray from the group," said Scarlett, lifting June into her arms to look for the gallery owner. They soon found him; his eyes lit up at seeing the actress, almost seeing dollar signs dancing before him.
"Mrs. Johansson, are you an art lover? We have some really interesting pieces that you might..." the gallery owner began.
He was immediately interrupted. "I want that painting," Scarlett pointed to her daughter's drawing that was still for sale.
"Are you sure? It's a school painting that..." the man tried to explain.
"Don't go on," Scarlett cut him off sharply. "These are my daughter's first paintings to be displayed. One has already sold and I want to buy the other."
The man turned as red as a tomato, realizing he was about to make a mistake. "Of course."
Soon, another red dot appeared. Scarlett then made her way through the crowd to a less busy corner.
"June, why didn't you tell me about the art competition?" she inquired.
June looked down. "I forgot, and then, when Mrs. Müller announced I had won, I was going to tell you, but then it was Rose's recital day," she pouted with shiny eyes. "I couldn't be in two places at once. Rose was so happy and I didn't want to see her sad."
Scarlett hugged her little one. "Sweetie, we would have made it work, just as we did in the end. From now on, don't hide these things. Your event was just as important as Rose's recital. Both of you are my talented girls."
After returning with her family, they spent another half hour at the gallery before going out to dinner to celebrate both Rose's recital and June's exhibition, which Amanda's mothers joined after being invited.
Next to the shelf where Cosmo's vase was displayed, two framed pieces now stood: Rose's poem and the drawing Scarlett had purchased for June. These artworks remained on display, witnessing the passing months. The only change was to the flowers, which, upon wilting, were replaced with fresh ones, keeping the beauty of the children's achievement corner alive.
On a quiet morning, Melanie was enjoying her coffee while the news played in the background, thinking about waking Fenan soon. Suddenly, a news story captured her full attention:
"The body of Nick Perry has been found in his cell, the prisoner who murdered a police officer in the line of duty during a kidnapping operation involving two girls."
Melanie choked, and coffee spilled from her mouth as her eyes fixed on the image of the man who had kidnapped her granddaughters and shot one of them. With trembling hands, she immediately called her daughter.
"Mom, it's not a good time," Scarlett answered, her voice rushed and children's laughter echoed in the background.
"Sweetie..." Melanie was at a loss for words, unsure how to continue.
"We're celebrating, making cookies and a cake, the girls are helping," Scarlett explained, her voice brimming with joy, while Melanie's stomach tightened with anxiety.
"What are you celebrating?"
"Life, Mom. Isn't it wonderful? Do you and Fenan want to come over? Mom, I have to go, the girls are already starting to eat the dough. Hey, you two, hands off!" The sound of children's laughter filled the air before the line went dead.
Melanie sat motionless, staring at the television, until the news shifted. The report about Nick Perrys had shaken her deeply, but the joy in her daughter's and granddaughters' voices reminded her that, despite the dark memories of the past, life moved forward with moments of pure happiness.
And sometimes, there are things better left unknown.
Hi, wonderful people! ! 🌻 "The Missing Piece" has come to a thrilling conclusion! 🎉 A million thanks for embarking on this adventure with me and for all your incredible support! From the bottom of my heart, I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I enjoyed creating it. If you loved it, light up my day with a star and share your thoughts in the comments! 🌟✍️
But wait, there's more! Very soon, I'll start "Shattered Heart," chosen by 18 votes. 💌 "Spotlight Strain" will follow with 16 votes. I'm preparing lots more surprises and news that you're sure to love! So, stay tuned and don't miss a thing! 🚀💖