"You knucklehead, how could they have William if they're not married?" Nina said, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you see Aunt Aurelia

wanted to bring us over to see Uncle Arnold yesterday? Uncle Leopold was a bit miffed, probably because he was green with envy."

"What's green with envy?" Mira asked, puzzled.

"It means you get all upset when you see someone you like hanging out with someone else," Nina explained.

Aurelia was at a loss for words. Nina was too clever by half, understanding far more than she should.

Arnold caught the conversation and a gleam sparked in his eyes. He relished the sight of Leopold stewing in jealousy. Because no

matter what, he could never replace the place Leopold held in Aurelia's heart, nor could he stop her from caring about him.

Mira's mind turned to mush, completely baffled by adult complexities.

‘So Uncle Arnold has walked down the aisle twice with two former wives. One was Aunt Lisa, and the other was even Aunt Aurelia.’

Mira slapped her forehead, "Grown-ups are way too complicated."

Aurelia wanted to clarify that she and Arnold had never been married, but she knew Nina would dig deeper to know how they could

have William without marriage. And that was an even thornier conversation.

"Anyone up for ssoup?" she quickly changed the subject.

"No, thanks," the kids waved off the offer.

"Then let's head out for sfruit, and let Uncle Arnold get srest."

"Okay." Skyler herded the children out, with Aurelia carrying Nova, leaving Lisa to tend to Arnold.

Skyler tossed a cherry into his mouth, then queried, "William, you planning to hang with your dad and ditch us at the Stirling

Mansion for the next few days?"

William nodded, "Yeah, I need to take care of my dad."

"Alright then, we're gonna miss you," Skyler sighed.

Aurelia smiled, "Christmas is just around the corner, and William will have to cback for the celebration."

"Mommy, I want to stay here with daddy for Christmas. He shouldn't be alone," William said.

Aurelia stroked his hair, "Daddy's not alone, he's got Aunt Lisa and Nova, sweetheart."

William felt Aurelia was hinting that Aunt Lisa and Nova were the real family with his dad, not him.

His head drooped, and he couldn't fight back the sadness.

Though that was indeed Aurelia's implication, the sight of her son so downhearted softened her resolve, "What I mean is, after we

have a Christmas dinner, you can cback to visit daddy. After all, it's your first year celebrating with the Stirling family, and

Nova will be there too."

"Right," Nina nodded, "We've got to pay tribute to our ancestors as well."

Mira scratched his head, looking at Skyler, "What about Skyler? Can he celebrate with us?"

Aurelia nodded, "Of course, he's part of the Stirling family now."

Skyler grinned, "Will there be fireworks after the Christmas dinner?"

"There will be," Aurelia assured, though it would be her first tcelebrating with the Stirling family as well. But she had heard

from Leopold that fireworks were a tradition.

Skyler clapped his hands in delight, "I love fireworks. I've never celebrated Christmas before. It sounds like fun."

"It's a blast," Nina chimed in. "There are fireworks and other shows to see."

"And lots of yummy food," Mira added.

"Wow," Skyler was thrilled. "Elysium sounds amazing with all these fun festivals."

"Goldstone has its fair share of fun holidays too," William said. "And it snows there. Right about now, I'd be having a snowball fight

with Chirpy and Susanna in the yard."

Skyler perked up at the mention of Susanna, asking, "Isn't Susanna Kane's online friend?"

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