“Yeah,” I said, my voice cracking. “I do.”
“And they know that more now.”
Now. The honesty of it stung a little.
CJ pointed at a fountain. “I believe that fish is plotting against me.”
I laughed under my breath.
Winnie was watching them with an impossible tenderness that made my heart ache in a way I didn’t entirely understand anymore. No. That wasn’t true. I understood it perfectly. That was the problem.
The gardens buzzed softly around us, spring on full display.
Jade should’ve been here. That thought still existed. But somehow, another thought existed beside it: I was glad Winnie was here.
I checked my watch just to ground myself. “Oh,” I said. “We should head out to our next stop.”
Immediately, three children materialized directly in my face.
“Where are we going?” CJ demanded.
“Yes,” Bianca added suspiciously. “Reveal the itinerary.”
“It’s another surprise,” I said.
All three groaned loudly. Amusement danced across Winnie’s face as the kids started to interrogate her. She betrayed nothing.
CJ narrowed his eyes. “You both have conspiracy energy right now.”
Bianca pointed accusingly. “You’re doing coordinated smiling.”
“Oh my god,” Billie whispered. “Are we joining a cult?”
Winnie adjusted her sunglasses calmly. “Get in the car, Billie.”
Billie shrugged. “That’s not a no.”
Downtown looked a lot different on Sundays. It was much less frantic with far less traffic. I liked it.
The city softened around the edges when lawyers, bankers, and overworked professionals briefly stopped pretending they enjoyed email. Parking spots appeared. Crosswalks became survivable. People spilled out of restaurants, and sunlight bounced off old brick buildings that had somehow survived every modernization attempt thrown at them.
CJ pressed his face against the car window as I parked along the street. “Father,” he said solemnly. “Have you brought us to the financial district as oursurprise?”
“No.”
Billie was already halfway unbuckled before I stopped her with a look. “Can I ask a question?”
“You’re going to regardless,” I said.
“True. Is this educational?”
“Sort of.”
Bianca narrowed her eyes at me from the back seat. “You’re being overly sentimental.”
“That’s a rude thing to say to someone on Mother’s Day.”
Winnie sat beside me in the passenger seat, her hands resting on her knees. There was something softer about her today. Less guarded. Maybe because she’d agreed to come not as their nanny but as herself. Maybe because grief made strange companions out of people.
