The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Isaiah quickly picked up on the teacher's confusion and took the initiative to speak up as Vivienne and Percival approached, "Dad, Mom." Vivienne ruffled Isaiah's hair, "Have you been waiting long?" Isaiah shook his head, his grip firm on Juliette's hand, making sure she stayed.

Vivienne glanced at Juliette, then approached the teacher, "Sorry for holding you up." "It's okay," the teacher said, waving it off before adding, "But as their teacher, I must emphasize, no matter how busy work gets, make tfor your kids. It's too late for regrets if something happens." "We slipped up today, won't happen again. Sorry for the trouble," Vivienne said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. The teacher was taken aback.

She had braced for a difficult conversation, not expecting such a warm response.

After a moment's pause, the teacher smiled, "No worries, it's part of our job. Since you're here, I'll head back.” After saying goodbye to the kids, the teacher left. Vivienne lifted her daughter, Percival following suit with his son.

"Juliette, Isaiah, I'm sorry. This was my mistake," Vivienne said earnestly.

Isaiah and Juliette exchanged incredulous looks. Did they just hallucinate? Mom apologizing? To them? Both kids saw disbelief and a hint of doubt that they might be dreaming in each other's eyes.

Seeing their silence, Percival said, "My fault. Got caught up with your mom and ot. How about we hit that kid-friendly diner we missed last time?" The kids remained silent.

How could he admit to etting them so nonchalantly? So, it's all about mom and dad's love, and we're just...extras? Isaiah sighed, looking at Juliette, "You wanna go?" Juliette nodded after a moment.

The family of four headed to the diner, with Percival trying to engage Juliette in conversation. However, she wasn't having any of it and led the way into the diner.

Once inside, Isaiah turned to his parents, "Where did you book?" After getting the room number from Percival, he ran after Juliette, "We'll head there first, hurry up!" Watching their kids disappear, Percival took Vivienne's hand, "How do we make it up to her?" "You promised to pick them up, ot?" "Yeah." "We barely spend twith them as is. Your sudden appearance at school, seen by their classmates, doesn't help. Leopold tellsthey miss us, and skids even tease them." Vivienne's voice was tinged with guilt.

Percival's expression fell, and Vivienne patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, just start picking them up from school. Juliette will get over it eventually." "Alright." Hand in hand, they walked to their room.

Inside, Isaiah squatted next to Juliette, trying to cheer her up, "Why the anger at dad? He's been trying to make it right." Juliette poked his cheek, "You have no idea what Floyd Walker said, claiming our dad was an actor because he didn't show up! Said the actor we 'hired' was unprofessional!" en.kikistories SW Her face flushed with anger, "I held back from hitting him all day, only for dad to actually not show. Had I known, I'd have taken care of that jerk from the start!" Isaiah was at a loss. Juliette wasn't just upset; she was furious over the teasing.

"Well, shall we confront him tomorrow?" Isaiah suggested.

"Deal!" Juliette's eyes sparkled with resolve.

As Vivienne and Percival entered, they caught Juliette's fleeting smile.

"Mom, I'll start with the steak," Juliette said, bounding over to Vivienne.

"Sure, let your dad order it," Vivienne redirected to Percival.

Juliette gave Percival a sweet smile, "Thanks, Dad." Just like that, all was iven? Vivienne shared an approving glance with Isaiah, impressed by his peacemaking skills.

Percival was equally surprised, realizing he had much to learn from his son.

Isaiah thought, 'Making up with her means getting into a fight, no thanks!' The family settled at the table, with dishes arriving one after another. Just as Juliette was about to eat, Vivienne tapped the table, making Juliette pause with a guilty look.

"It's not your brother's fault," Vivienne said, sharing the peeled shrimp with both kids.

Juliette set her chopsticks down, pouting at Percival, "Sorry, Dad, for ignoring you earlier." Percival lifted her into a hug, "It was my mistake for etting." Vivienne couldn't help but notice Juliette's cunning smile. She shook her head, knowing who was really in charge.

After dinner, the family returned home, with Vivienne taking the kids to their room, planning to tuck them in early as usual.

But it seemed like she had otten one crucial detail - Juliette's energy levels were beyond her wildest predictions.

Watching Juliette still bouncing off the walls nearly two hours after they had returned, she leaned against the doorfrin defeat. "Whose child is this, anyway? How can she still be so fult of beans after or so long?" en.kikistories wny Vivienne did the mental math; from the tthey left the diner, it had been three hours. Three hours of play and still hyper? Percival emerged from his hoffice just in tto catch Vivienne's soft grumbling. He chuckled lightly wrapping an arm around her waist, "Well, she must take after you. Always full of energy, it's good for a little girl to be spirited." en.kikistories Despite her reluctance to admit it, Vivienne knew Percival was right.

"Looks like looking after kids is quite the workout. I wonder how Leopold manages it all," she mused, reaching for her phone to give Leopold a call.

Leopold had been enjoying a rare couple of days off. With Mr. and Mrs. back, he and Griffin had finally gotten suninterrupted couple time.

Yet the sight of Vivienne's call made him tremble with apprehension. Was it too inhumane to call him to soothe the child at this hour? Vivienne's retort was swift: Do I really need to be humane with you? Griffin, puzzled by the flashing phone screen, asked, "Why aren't you picking up?"