Aria's POV.
“You should stop bouncing—you just ate,” I said, helping Hope into her costume. She’d been buzzing with excitement since this morning, already calling Marcel twice. He said he’d be here. That was twenty minutes ago.
Please, Lord. Just this once… let him show up.
I kept the smile on my face, refusing to let her see how nervous I was.
“I can do it myself,” Hope said sharply.
Independent four-year-olds were a different kind of chaos. They thought they could do everything alone.
“Yeah, you can,” I said, fighting a smile. “But then we’d spend one hour doing what we can finish in three minutes.”
She huffed, crossing her arms while I adjusted her tutu.
“Do my hair like yours,” she said suddenly.
“Why should I?” I asked, trying to detangle her curls.
“Because he’s always look
