Vivi’s eyes are wide as she watches the chocolate melt slowly in the little copper bowl that Auden holds out over the fire. He uses long tongs to keep the bowl suspended so that the flames just barely lick the bottom. Niall watches closely, his eyes moving between his father’s steady hand and the bowl itself.
My daughter stays concentrated on the treat. “Can we eat it yet?”
“No!” I say, laughing as I kneel next to Auden, likewise watching, loving this. “It has to get all melty, and then we can add some cream, and then dip the fruit into it –“
I gesture over to the plate of fruits that I ordered up to the room, ready and waiting on a towel spread on the floor. Coco lays next to it on a pillow that Vivi set there for him, innocently pretending that he’s not sneaking a strawberry every tim
