“What is that?” Arron asks, pointing to a chest of golden coins.
“Pirate treasure,” I tell him. “That’s where it got buried by the Pirate Captain. He had to put it on the map, so he remembers where it is.”
“And that?” he asks, tracing his fingers over a red dotted line.
“That is a pathway that shows you how to get to the Mystical Caves way up here,” I follow the pathway to the top of the map near a mountain range.
For an hour, we page through the book, and I tell them short stories I make up about the different graphics on the maps. The children are riveted, and I am so happy to have them sitting with me that I don’t even notice the time passing or how the room is slowly growing darker as the sun begins to set.
When Selene walks into the room, the twins have both wedged themselves onto my lap and look very comfortable while still talking about the maps.
I don’t see her until she is standing right next to us.
“What is going on?” she asks with a cold edge to her voice.
I look up. “We are looking at Pirate Maps,” I smile.
She frowns at me, as though she’s trying to understand what I’m really up to. She pulls her mouth tight in disapproval until Arron looks up from the book and grins at her. “I want a sea dragon, Mommy,” he says.
A quick smile spreads over her face.
“Where will you keep it, baby? You will need to live on a boat.”
Arron looks at me with eyes wide and hopeful. “Can we get a boat?” he asks.
I chuckle, loud and genuine. “Sure. Let’s get a boat and a sea dragon!”
“Yay!” Solenne shouts, jumping up and falling off my lap onto the soft carpet.
“Um, I think story time is over,” Selene says, taking Solenne’s hand and pulling her to her feet.
“But mom,” Arron groans, reluctant to climb off my lap.
I lift him up, not wanting to cause more drama between Selene and me. I stand and swing Arron in the air. “Aren’t you guys hungry? I’m starving after all that reading,” I say.
“I’m hungry!”
“Me too!” Arron says.
“Well then, let’s go cook,” I say, looking at Selene with a smile on my face.
She frowns again, still searching my face as though she’s looking for something.
I decide to ignore her distrust. If anyone has the right to be distrustful, it’s me. Not her. I never lied to her about who I was. I never stole our children and hid them away.
I never pretended to be in love just to spy.
Arron is still in my arms as I walk towards the kitchen. When I get there, I set him down in the high chair at the counter. “Do you want to help me cook?” I ask him.
“Really? Am I allowed?” he asks, knotting his brows.
“Have you never cooked before?” I ask, confused.
“No way, we did not allow in the kitchen ever!” Solenne says dramatically.
I glance at Selene, who has followed us in and is standing in the far corner, out of the way but watching.
She says nothing.
