Too Late To Love Me I Already Left With His Twins (Lydia and Dave) novel Chapter 280

Third person pov

“Honestly, Auntie Anna outdid herself with this breakfast platter,” Ava said, staring down at the table with a smile that had slowly grown wider the longer she looked at it.

Eli nodded enthusiastically, already halfway through his dinosaur-shaped pancake.

“Obviously. Like, a lot of consideration went into this.”

Ava laughed.

“Consideration?”

“Yes. Look at it.”

He pointed his fork toward the different plates as though he were presenting evidence in court.

“There’s a T-rex. There’s a triceratops. There are stars. There’s a whole solar system. She even made the fruits look like planets.”

Ava picked up one of the little pieces of fruit.

“She remembered I like strawberries.”

“And she remembered I like pancakes.”

“You like everything.”

“That is not true.”

Ava raised an eyebrow.

“You ate vegetables on your plate just because Mom said you couldn’t have dessert until you finished them.”

“That doesn’t mean I like everything.”

“It means you were hungry.”

Eli laughed.

“She really is a sweetheart though.”

Ava nodded.

“She is.”

They both looked toward the door through which Anna and their dad had disappeared a few minutes earlier.

“She didn’t have to do all this,” Ava said quietly.

“I know.”

“She probably knew we’d be sad.”

Eli’s smile softened.

“Yeah.”

“And she wanted us to feel better.”

“She always does that.”

Ava nodded.

“That’s what I like about Auntie Anna.”

Eli looked at her.

“She actually cares.”

“Obviously.”

“She does.”

“I know.”

They fell quiet for a moment.

The conversation about their mother was still sitting somewhere beneath everything else.

It hadn’t disappeared.

It was simply buried underneath pancakes shaped like dinosaurs and fruit arranged like planets.

Eli looked down at his plate.

“I hope Mummy remembers her too.”

Ava’s smile faded slightly.

“Me too.”

“But even if she doesn’t…”

He paused.

“…Auntie Anna still knows her.”

Ava looked at him.

“Yeah.”

And somehow, that thought helped.

A little.

By the time Anna and Dave returned, most of the food had already disappeared.

Anna stopped at the doorway.

“Wow.”

She looked at the empty plates.

“I leave you alone for twenty minutes and you people have destroyed my artwork.”

Eli grinned.

“You made food, not artwork.”

“Excuse me?”

“It was good though.”

Ava laughed.

“Very good.”

Anna placed a hand over her heart.

“Thank you. Finally, somebody appreciates me.”

Dave walked in behind her.

“I think they appreciated the food more than you.”

Anna looked at him.

“Dave, please don’t start.”

The children giggled.

For a few minutes, the room felt lighter.

Almost normal.

Then, less than forty minutes later, the door opened again.

A middle-aged brown-skinned woman stepped into the ward.

She had a warm face, neatly styled hair and a calmness about her that immediately made the room feel less intimidating.

She smiled.

“Hi, Ava. Hi, Eli.”

Both children looked up.

Ava’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Eli tilted his head.

“Are you one of our mom’s friends?”

The woman’s smile widened.

“Possibly.”

“Your face looks familiar,” Eli said.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify