Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“It wasn’t Opposite Day, Kinney Hale,” Lo tells her strictly. “The answer was no.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Well you didn’t say I couldn’t try again.”
“It’s a good presentation,” Winona argues. “Please, please just let us have a chance to try to convince you.” She extends her arms. “Open your minds.”
Audrey chimes in, “We put a lot of work into it, Uncle Loren.”
Rose waves them on. “I’d like to see it.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to see it, Rose,” Lo snaps. “I just said the answer is no. It’s a tour bus, not the Magic School Bus.”
“We can argue after their presentation, Loren,” Rose says with less heat than usual. It hasn’t been completely extinguished by the recent fallout, but it’s not as scalding.
Lo eases back. “Fair.”
“You can begin,” I tell Winona.
She clicks a button, and the next slide appears after the first dissolves away. It’s followed by…music. I frown, trying to place the voice. And then I realize. It’s Taylor Swift.
My brows arch.
REASON 1: WE SHOULD NOT BE PENALIZED FOR BEING YOUNG.
“Age is a construct,” Audrey begins.
“I’m going to stop you there,” Lo says, holding up a hand. He leans in his seat so he can look at me. “This is your fault, love.”
I do take blame. I’ve said the words Audrey has said. Many times. And my children, nieces, and nephews have used them against us, but I always believe context is a very important thing.
I can feel Ryke’s glare on the back of my head.
“Context, Audrey,” I say. “You’re not being penalized for being young. You have school unlike the older kids.”
“Which brings us to point 2,” Audrey says.
Winona clicks the button and the slide transitions with a whoosh.
REASON 2: WE CAN MAKE UP SCHOOL WORK. IT’S JUST MIDDLE SCHOOL.
“Just middle school?” Rose says like that’s absurd.
“It doesn’t count towards high school grades or college admissions,” Kinney says. “I could get C’s and make all A’s in high school.”
“Which poses the question: Does middle school even matter?” Audrey says with a sneaking smile.
Rose eyes our daughter like Audrey has inhaled lethal mischief.
Winona is smiling like they’re making great points. “Food for thought.” She gesticulates at the PowerPoint so we keep our eyes on the words.
“I mean, they’re kind of right,” Lily mutters.
Lo’s brows furrow like he’s also thinking hard on it. Darling.
“It’s a foundation,” I tell the girls. “Building blocks in your education are just as important as high school grades.”
“Oh! We have a question,” Winona says and points out at us. “Mom?”
I turn around and see Daisy raising her hand. “I vote to remove Vada from consideration since your Uncle Garrison and Aunt Willow aren’t here to listen on her behalf.”
“Hear, hear,” Lo says.
“Agreed,” I say.
“One second.” Winona holds up a finger. The three girls form a huddle to whisper with each other.
Rose leans into my shoulder. “A+ effort on the PowerPoint.”
“The music is distracting, and the transitions are clichéd,” I say.
She scowls, a fierce look that I’ve missed these past days. I hold her fiery gaze.
“Take it back,” she demands.
“I won’t.”
Her lips purse. “It’s worthy of an A+.”
“C.”
Her breath catches. “You gave our daughter a C?”
I put an arm around Rose’s shoulder. She doesn’t jerk away, and I lean closer. “And that is why I’m the unbiased one, darling.” I kiss her temple.
She doesn’t deny. “You’re horrible,” she says the words as she snuggles deeper into my side.
I grin down at her.
“Alright,” Winona says, drawing our attention again. “We accept those terms, and we’ll revisit this point with Aunt Willow and Uncle Garrison at a later date.” She clicks the next slide.
REASON 3: THE EXPERIENCE IS ONCE IN A LIFETIME.
“When will this ever happen again?” Kinney asks. “You have Jane, Moffy, Charlie, Beckett, and Sullivan on tour. To get those five together for four months is just freaking unheard of.”
“And we’re missing it,” Audrey says.
“Sulli and Beckett definitely aren’t going to do another tour after this,” Winona adds.
No one in the theatre seats argues with this fact.
Winona clicks to the next slide and it does a rotation before spinning off the screen. I raise my brows to Rose. She avoids my gaze and when I don’t look away, she pushes her hand against my face. “Stop staring, Richard.”
I smile underneath her palm before I turn to look at the screen again. Her hand drops to mine.
REASON 4: FAMILY IS EVERYTHING.
“Aren’t you all always saying this to us?” Winona asks.
“Well, guess where our family is?” Kinney adds.
“On the tour bus,” Audrey answers.
“Not all of them,” I say. “Ben, Eliot, Tom, Luna, and Xander are all staying in Philly.”
“They’re all in high school,” Kinney rebuts.
“Refer to Reason 2,” Audrey nods.
They have thought this out at least. I can give them that.
“But we’re also your family,” Lily says. “And I’d miss you all soooo much if you were gone for four months.”