Page 98 of Lose You Twice

I tie off Lily’s ponytail and step back. “Is this okay?”

The question is for more than the hair.

Wren hears it.

Her eyes soften for one dangerous second before she hides it by looking at Lily. “It’s good.”

Lily nods. “Thank you.”

Daisy slides off her chair and runs for her backpack. “Can Hockey Kai come every morning?”

“No,” Wren says quickly, and I can’t help but chuckle.

Daisy stops. “Rude.”

I bite the inside of my cheek.

Wren points toward the hall. “Everyone move. Shoes, backpacks, folders. We are not late today, but we still have to put your boosters into Kai’s car.”

The next eight minutes are a controlled disaster. I carry lunch boxes to the car while Wren finds Daisy’s library folder under a couch cushion.

We finally get everyone buckled and ready to go, Wren hopping into my passenger seat. Pulling out onto the road, we head toward the twins’ school, my mind replaying the last thirty minutes that felt more like an hour or more.

I used to know this version of Wren in pieces.

Morning Wren, running late with wet hair and too much sarcasm. Passenger-seat Wren, bare feet on my dashboard until I told her for the hundredth time to put them down. Family Wren, answering three people at once and somehow knowing exactly who needed food, who needed a ride, and who needed someone to pretend not to notice they were scared.

I lost access to all of this.

No, I gave it up.

That distinction sits heavy in my stomach.

By the time we pull up at the elementary school, the twins are louder than they were when we started. I park along the curb, and Wren unbuckles. “Come on, gremlins.”

Daisy climbs out, then turns back to me. “Are you going to be there when we get home?”

The question hits before I can prepare for it.

She asks it like I am part of the morning now. Like I might be part of the afternoon too. Like showing up once means I could show up again, easy as that.

Lily peers around her sister. “Because Wren burns our snack after school too sometimes.”

“I do not,” Wren says.

“You burned waffles.”

“That was one time.”

“Two times.”

“Out.”

Daisy keeps looking at me.

My throat tightens.

I can feel Wren watching from the curb, her hand on Lily’s backpack strap.