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“Oh, it’s so on,” Darryl said, dropping Penelope’s hand to chase after a now screa Mason
Penelope laughed, tucking her hands into her coat pockets thenher coat on the hook then ventured into the living roo Darryl toss a tiny snowball Mason’s hich hit hihed then threw another snowball Darryl’s way The kid had an arm
“You o
kay?”
Penelope sighed and glanced over her shoulder, finding Maisie behind her “Yes No” She shook her head “I don’t know, to be honest”
Maisie gave a pouty look then sidled in next to her, wrapping an arm around Penelope “Toled up as you do right now”
Yeah, tangled up, that explained it “We went to the hospital today Darryl’s dog picked up all the kids’ letters to Santa there”
“Ugh” Maisie’s ar”
“Incredibly” Penelope dropped her head against Maisie’s, staring off at the snow fluttering down fro there made me feel like an asshole”
“An asshole?”
Penelope waited for the luot this whole life where all I do is run fro that ive anything for a week, another day Hell, maybe even another hour” Her voice cracked, e her She quickly wiped away a tear “So, yeah, I felt like an asshole who had the only thing anyone in that hospital wanted—more time”
Maisie hugged Penelope’s arine any of that was easy today, but I’ Tyson made the kiddies smile”
“A lot, actually,” Penelope said, spotting Darryl running across the yard then tucking himself behind one of the trees, a smile on his face Penelope couldn’t help but wonder if some of this was to shake what he saw today too “Darryl’s a real sweetheart, isn’t he?”
Maisie sighed, stepping away to sit on thefraed a little after his divorce, but honestly, I think it was for the better He seems to have come out of his shell more; he does more for the community and stuff now”
Penelope kinda got that Hell, she’d been buying treats and drawing pictures, and she knehy She was trying to prove to herself she was better than her parents made her out to be,it over, she began to wonder if Darryl’s ood face after the pain of a failedlike his deadbeat dad