The second day came gray but dry. The girls woke early, too excited to stay in bed. I heard them whispering in the side room before the first light fully touched the windows.
By mid-morning they had already asked three times when Mira and Thorne would be back.
Cassian knelt beside Elara in the herb garden. "They said before dark. That means we have a whole day to fill."
Nova tugged my sleeve. "Can we make something for when they get home?"
"What did you have in mind?"
She thought hard. "A welcome picture. A big one."
We spent the morning at the table with charcoal and paper. The girls drew a yellow house with a red door and four stick figures in front. Then they added two smaller stick figures between them. "That's us," Elara said. "In the middle. Because we're all together."
When t
