𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞; 𝐚𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐫

𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

Ada's POV

5 years later.

"And the final one, how do you spell...Mischief." I look up from the spelling sheet, and to Coco. She scribbles down her answer on the paper, then throws the pen onto the table with a satisfied grin.

"Done." She says triumphantly, leaning back in the dining room chair, "Those were easy."

I hum, grabbing her paper and skimming through the spellings. All correct. I look up at her in astonishment, "I mean wow, Coco. These spellings are 4th-grade level, you're not supposed to be able to do those yet."

She takes a sip of her juice, looking over the rim of the cup, "They were supposed to be hard?"

I shake my head with a sigh, dropping the paper onto the table, "Well you're certainly the smartest 1st grader I know. I just can't believe-"

"Can I go now?" She interrupts, "I have stuff to do."

I should have known that her being spoilt her entire life would come back to haunt me.

I shrug with a sigh, "I suppose so, but don't get too worn out, you and Jack have soccer practice in an hour remember."

Her hand stills on her juice, "Is Aaron refereeing again?"

"Yes. Why?" I question slowly. He always did during the holidays.

She slips off the chair, "Last time he refereed, he gave me a red card for no reason."

I narrow my eyes at her, "Coco, we were all there, we know there was a reason."

She walks past the table and collapses onto the sofa, raising her voice so I could still hear her, "Okay, maybe there is a reason, but it's not my fault."

I drop my head into my hands, "Colette, how could it have been anyone else's fault?"

"Well technically," She calls out, "My behaviour is based on 2 factors, environment, and genetics. My genetics is you. My environment is you. So, it's your fault."

If she wasn't being so difficult, then I think I'd be impressed.

"Look, Coco," I stand and walk over to where she now lies on the sofa, "Aaron and I have forgotten about the incident, the little boy has forgiven you, we apologised to his parents, and we paid for the surgery. Now, it's time for you to move on too."

She bites her lip, but eventually nods, "Okay. I forgive you."

I clench my eyes shut. This girl was really going to be the end of me.

"Is this Coco's spelling?" I turn around at Aaron's voice. He stood leant over the dining room table, studying her homework.

I walk over to him with a smile, leaning into his side to look at the work again, "That it is."

He blows out a breath, wrapping an arm around my back, "I don't know whether to be impressed or scared."

I rest my head on his shoulder, "If she starts to move things with her mind, then we panic."

"I mean I wasn't suggesting she was a mutant." He replies, putting the paper back and looking down at me, "How are you doing today?"

I smile, "I'm okay. Excited about tonight, it'll be nice for Coco. I think seeing all those old videos of Emmy will be really special, I'm just so glad we found them."

Today was the anniversary of Emmy's death. A few weeks ago, Aaron had a sort through the attic at our old house and found loads of family videos from when we were growing up. I haven't watched them yet, but I thought it would be really nice to show Coco how similar she and her mom really were; we talk about it, but I think seeing it on camera will really solidify the connection for her.