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I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. They really wanted to do this, and I did not. Coming back here would be like ripping open an old wound, but Agnes’s words stuck with me.

She was right. Oftentimes, I kept them in the apartment. Today was an exception when we went to the playground, and they’d really enjoyed that. The only time they acted out was when I brought them back home and didn’t give them enough to do.

I let out a long sigh. “Fine.” Both girls cheered. “But there are rules. We don’t own this land, so we have to be respectful.” They frowned and I knew they were about to argue. “I’m not kidding around here. I know you want to see this, but you have to understand that someone else owns this and they may not want us to come back if you guys mess it up.”

“We won’t mess anything up!” Beatrice huffed.

“You broke one of my plates.”

“That was Agnes!” she said, pointing to her sister.

It had really been both of them, but Agnes would never admit it. My body tightened, and I knew we were heading into a fight.

Then Agnes shocked me.

She looked up at me, eyes soft and eyebrows raised. “Please?” she asked quietly.

Beatrice stared at her with wide eyes. I was pretty sure I did the same thing.

“Will you be respectful?” I asked. “No dropping trash. No tearing things up.”

“I just want a rock!” Beatrice said.

“I won’t break anything.”

“Okay,” I said. “We’re also gonna be going through a forest without an official path. You have to stay with me.” My voice turned firm and there was a harsh tone that I didn’t often use with the girls.

Their eyes went wide as they heard it, and they nodded.

“Good. Then let’s see if the spring is still here.” I held out my hands to each of them in a foolish hope that they’d grab on. I fully expected them to roll their eyes and grab each other’s hands as they usually did. But being in the forest must have made them see things differently. Their smaller hands slid into mine, one on each side of me.

It was the first time either of them let me hold their hands. A strange emotion bubbled up in my chest, akin to what I felt for Jade, but not exactly like that.

Was this a version of parental love? Was this pride?

Maybe it was a mix of both.

Agnes turned to me, eyebrows furrowed and her bottom lip poking out, and I knew she was getting frustrated with how long it had taken me to process them grabbing my hands.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and guided them the way that I remembered. Since it was late summer, everything was overgrown, but there was a small dirt path that I knew like the back of my hand. Obviously, someone had been continuously walking here. I had a feeling that it was Jade.

I heard the spring before I saw it, and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. We came to the clearing with all the rocks and both girls gasped. It was exactly how I left it, though after living in a concrete jungle for too long, it was far more impressive.

There was so much greenery growing out of every part of the ground. The only part that didn’t have plants was the sheer cliff face of gray rock. It was a perfect day to be here. The sun was low in the sky and there wasn’t a single cloud. This was the kind of day that Jade and I would have agreed to meet up here. I was sure of it.

“Rocks!” Beatrice called. They let go of my hands and rushed to the edge of the water. I was about to call for them to slow down when they stopped and fell to their knees, looking at every rock they could get their hands on.

“Do you guys like it?” I called.

“Yes!” Beatrice said.

“We’re never leaving!” Agnes added.

“We’ll have to for dinner, but you guys have a little while before we have to go.”

They whined for five seconds until they were distracted by a water bug in the distance. I laughed and walked over to the rock that Jade and I used to always sit next to. I didn’t have a blanket, and this would mess up my pants, but I didn’t care.

Agnes and Beatrice were content for one of the first times under my care. I was going to enjoy every second of it.