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“Do I really hear all of my favorite people down there?” Art said, appearing at the top of the stairs.

“Daddy!” Merry cried, popping up out of the basket like a jack-in-the-box. “Is the storm over? Meg said you wouldn’t be home until after!”

“It was a little gnarly on the bridge, and the car got really wet, but I made it in one piece,” Art said, grinning at Merry.

It wasn’t really funny, but Viv caught my eye and suddenly we were bent over double, laughing from the sheer relief of having found Merry safe and sound and not stuck somewhere terrible out in the rain.

Art caught my eye as I straightened up to catch my breath and winked as he mouthed, We’re staying, and suddenly, instead of laughing, I was sobbing as the enormity of what I’d almost lost crashed into me. He crossed the laundry room in two large steps and swept me up in his arms as I sobbed helplessly.

I buried my face in his chest and surrendered to the tears pouring out of me. In the safety of his arms, as he held me tight, rocking gently, and whispering, “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you,” for possibly the first time in my life, I didn’t try to hold any of my feelings back.

“Is Meg okay?” Viv asked.

“She will be,” Art replied. “It was a rough day. She just needs to let out all the fear and sad now that she knows we’re all safe together.”

My tears and sobs had been slowing down, but the kindness and understanding in the matter-of-fact words unlocked a fresh wave of tears that I was powerless to stop, especially when Viv’s hand settled on my shoulder, and she leaned in to hug me along with her dad.

“You did good, Meg,” she whispered. “We found him thanks to you.” She chuckled when her words triggered a sob so loud it made me snort. I laughed a little wetly along with her.

“I want to hug Meg too!” Merry cried, tipping the basket over with a crash as he clambered out. Undaunted, he threw himself at me, wrapping his little arms around my shoulders from behind. “We love you, Meg!”

“Uh-huh,” Viv agreed.

“Yeah, we do!” Art cried. “We love our Meg.”

“You seriously drove through that to come home?” Viv stared out the window at the driving rain and shot her dad an impressed glance.

“Zero out of ten, would not recommend,” Art said, shaking his head and laughing as Viv groaned. “But it was worth it to get home to you monkeys. I bet you wouldn’t have saved me any ice cream if I hadn’t gotten here in time.”

Merry shook his head solemnly. “Nope. It would have been all melty because there’s no power. That would have been a waste.”

“Uh-huh,” Viv said, arching an eyebrow at her little brother. “Unlike all the ice cream you’ve wasted by getting it all over your shirt.”

As Merry looked down, he accidentally tipped the cup of mostly melted chocolate ice cream onto his lap. Laughing, he shrugged and said, “Whoops!” and then proceeded to try to scoop some off his lap with his spoon.

“Okay then!” Art said, getting to his feet and clapping his hands. “I think we’re all done here! Wouldn’t you agree, Meg?”

I looked Merry up and down and shrugged. “Eh, I don’t know. There are a couple of spots he missed.”

With a devilish laugh, Merry grabbed his spoon and got to work spreading the ice cream to the few remaining clean spots on his shirt.

“Definitely done,” Art said, scooping his son up and tossing him over his shoulder. “Bath time. Lucky for you, the water here is gas-powered.”

“What’s that mean?” Merry asked.

“Means no ice bath for you!” Art cried.

“Aw man! Ice bath sounds fun!” Merry replied, pouting.

“Hey, Viv,” Art said, stopping a few feet from the table and turning back. “I called your teacher. We had a good chat, and I told her everything you’ve been working on here that has kept you from your schoolwork. She agreed that if you pull together a detailed report for the work you did saving Rory, and for what you’ve been doing for the shop’s social media, she’ll give you a pass on the stuff you didn’t send in.” He shot me a sheepish grin. “I know you said you’d handle it, but I figured you had your hands full over here. Sorry I didn’t loop you in.”

When Viv sat up, her eyes shining with relief, I realized just how much it had all been weighing on her. “That’s pretty cool of her. Hey, I bet she’d even let you turn in a video report.”

“You think?” Viv asked, nearly vibrating with excitement. “Oh, maybe Davie could help me! Do you think that would be okay, Dad?” she asked, spinning in her seat to ask Art.

“I think that would probably be great,” he replied with a grin. “Now it’s off to Bathlandia, Sir Merlin!” he cried, galloping off toward the bathroom, Merry giggling hysterically on his shoulder the whole way.

“Hey, Meg?” Viv asked as I stood up to gather the sticky ice-cream dishes.