In Love, Never Say Never

Thinking that Ashton had left to handle the issue with Nicolas, I headed downstairs to make a phone call.

It was only when I arrived at the living room that I saw him and the kids all sitting on a sofa, each one of them as quiet as a mouse.

My husband was holding a tablet, probably working. Gregory was having online classes with earphones plugged in, while Summer was reading a thick book. Even Audrey was keeping herself entertained by sitting down at a table and practicing her handwriting.

There was something amiss about the entire scene.

Ashton was the first one to notice my presence, putting his tablet down and walking over to place a kiss on my forehead. “You’re awake.”

“Mhm,” I nodded. “You guys…?”

Audrey immediately jumped up at the sound of my voice, loudly announcing, “Mommy! Daddy was being mean and didn’t let me talk!”

Summer quickly reached over to tickle her little sister in an attempt to get her to shut up. “That’s because you were being too noisy and woke Daddy up! It would be bad if you woke Mommy up too, you tiny monkey.”

“No, I didn’t!” Audrey argued through a fit of giggles, scrambling away from Summer’s hands. “Uncle John said—”

to expose her uncle, she instantly stopped herself short and

wasn’t that easily fooled by a kid who

sleep

in the morning and helped Audrey wash up,” Summer interrupted before he could say

John’s place and only slept

in

awkwardly shuffled towards the other side of the living room, mumbling in a small voice, “Don’t blame me. Audrey’s your biological child, so she ran

laugh behind my hand. “So you went back to sleep and left Ashton to

with him on that, and it seemed like

try and make Ashton go upstairs to rest for a while

though the day before

were no longer

surviving on three or four hours of sleep for

a rough time while being the Hall family’s cash cow for so

rest in the future,” he reassured. “But I