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“A school.” Agnes frowned.

“Mommy mentioned a school!” Beatrice said. “It was a pre . . . pro⁠—”

“Private school,” I finished for her.

“That,” Beatrice said. “Are we going there?”

“In a few months,” I replied. “Remember my apartment there?”

“The one with the fire?”

I nodded. “Yes. They’re still working on it. It’ll take a few months because of the damage.”

“Oh.” Agnes frowned again. “Because of us?”

“Yes.”

“Are you mad?”

“I was,” I said slowly. “But I also know you two are going through a hard time.”

“Mommy would be mad,” Agnes said quietly.

“Yeah, probably.”

“I’m sorry we did that.”

“I’m not,” Beatrice said. Agnes met her with a harsh look. “Okay, I kind of am.”

I looked between the two of them. Never in my life did I think they would apologize, but it was just proof that things were finally getting better.

“Thank you for saying you’re sorry,” I replied. “And I know finding out who I am is a big change. It had to be scary, and I knew it would take time for you guys to adjust to it.”

They remained quiet and I gave them time to take it all in.

“Some of the kids here are going to school now,” Beatrice said. “Will we go too?”

“I’m working on that. There’s an elementary school here⁠—”

“Yes!” Agnes said.

“I wanna go!”

“You . . . want to go to school?”

“The kids here are fun!”

I could only blink. Then I forced myself out of it. “I’ll look into it.”

“I wonder if Eric will be there!”

“Oh, will we have the same class too?”

They continued theorizing about school while I watched them in shock. It wasn’t lost on me that they were more excited about going to school in Strawberry Springs than they had been about the private school.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. I was still waiting for an answer from the private school, and I’d make sure they did what Alice planned for them. It would be good for them in the end.

But in the back of my mind, I wondered if they would miss Strawberry Springs as much as I would.