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“A raccoon?” I asked.

“It was in a tutu!”

I paused at her wording. Weirder things had happened in Strawberry Springs. But for my own sanity, I needed to believe that it was something of their imagination, and not an actual raccoon in a tutu.

If it was, I needed to have a talk with Jackie. She kept them as pets, which was something I would never understand.

“That sounds fun. How about we don’t play with random animals in our room?”

“It was in a tutu, so it was friendly.”

Gabriel definitely had his hands full with these two.

“All right then. How about we don’t argue about raccoons and go get breakfast?”

“Yes!” both of them yelled.

“Good. Let me put a bra on.”

“What’s a bra?”

“Evil, that’s what they are.”

“I want one!” Beatrice yelled.

“No, you do not.”

It didn’t take long for me to get all of us ready and to the diner.

Taking them to the diner was easier than I expected. Tammy remembered their orders. She gave us all coloring pages, and I entertained the girls by showing them how to properly color inside the lines.

We were halfway through our food when the door opened and a tall man with long, dark hair walked in.

I knew he was coming back today, but seeing Gabriel walk through the doors made me choke on my food.

Time slowed as I saw him. His hair was up today, and he looked messier than usual, but it was him. He was here and he was real.

I was standing before I could stop myself. The diner melted away, and I felt like that eighteen-year-old kid wanting him to come back. I ran over to him, launching myself into his arms.

The entire diner went silent. I didn’t care.

Gabriel stiffened for a second but recovered far faster than the last time. His arms wrapped around me, and it felt like something broken inside of me snapped back into place.

“You came back,” I said.

“I told you I would.”

I was torn between being snarky or begging him to never leave me again. Instead, I settled on silence.

Eventually, Agnes broke that silence.

“Dad!” she yelled as she joined us. “You’re back!”

“I am,” Gabriel said. I pulled away, content to go hide in my closet, but his hand stayed on the small of my back. Even to this day, it grounded me. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Yes!” Agnes said.

“How were they?” he asked.