The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Chapter 450

However, Howard beat Suzy to it, already holding Penelope in his arms. He smiled at Suzy and said, "I've got this. You take a break." Suzy went along and said sincerely, "Thanks."

"Anytime."

Everyone headed back to the living room for dinner. The dining table was a little cramped for all of us, so we ended up splitting into two tables.

Penelope and Willow sat together at one of the tables, talking nonstop as soon as they started eating. Every once in a while, they'd pause and ask questions if something didn't quite make sense. The house was buzzing with life.

I really liked this vibe. When I was living at Steven's, he hardly had time for me. Even after Zachary was born, Steven would only leave him with me when he was a handful.

Once Zachary got a bit older and could feed himself, Steven would take him out for nice dinners in the evenings, leaving me alone to sit in the living room.

Back then, I never imagined I'd have so much talking and laughter in my life. It felt amazing. I finally had someone to hang out with.

After dinner, Willow came running over, her eyes lighting up as she said, "Mommy!"

her hair and asked, "What's

tag?" she

I nodded. "Of course!"

to convince Suzy. And since Suzy was a mother who adored her daughter, she wasn't going to

both of us with helpless smiles. The house was packed, and there were plenty of people around

type to show much emotion, but now he was making silly faces, running around, and teasing the kids playfully. He had this burst of energy that

to avoid him. Whenever he tagged Willow or Penelope, I'd hurry over and untag

lighter. It hit me just how easy it was to make kids happy. They were

everyone started getting too tired to keep going. Willow and Penelope still

wore glasses. Her hair was all neat,

two girls want to learn

made them nervous.

grabbed onto the hem

peeking at Leah from

was worried that if she didn't get what Leah was saying later, Leah might snap at her. So, to