~Chapter One~

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Sophie and Keefe sat in a field together, picking dandelions out of the grass and blowing the seeds off, giggling with each other.

"Sophie! Keefe!" Edaline called from the picnic table behind them. "Can you grab some marshmallows from the kitchen so we can roast s'mores?" She asked.

"Okay, mommy!" Sophie called back, standing up and walking past her mother to get to the kitchen pantry door. Keefe opened the door, and their faces lit up when they saw the marshmallows. Keefe grabbed the marshmallows, and since it was heavy, they helped each other. (They're toddlers, even a bag of marshmallows is heavy)

"Thank you, kiddos! You're so helpful." Edaline complimented when they gave her the marshmallows. "Now, make sure you don't lean too close to the fire. I'm gonna help you learn how to roast them."

"But... I wanna just eat them plain." Keefe complained, pointing to the marshmallows. Edaline grinned in amusement.

"Trust me, it tastes better when they're gooey from the fire." Edaline promised them. "If you don't think so, I'll give you an extra one, not roasted."

"Deal!" Keefe exclaimed enthusiastically.

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"These are... Delicious!" Keefe admitted after licking the gooey marshmallow off his lips. Edaline and Grady smiled.

Although Keefe's parents always dropped him off at Sophie's house because they were too busy for their son, Keefe felt happy being away from his parents and with better adults that actually took care of him. Grady and Edaline didn't mind, either. They loved having another child in the house, and so did Sophie. They were all family.

"I told you." Edaline replied smugly. Keefe didn't seem to notice her attitude, though, because he was distracted with the task of trying to scrape the sticky marshmallow off his shirt.

"Oh, excuse me, I need to take this call." Grady said, his phone ringing as he stood up and walked into the house to have some privacy. Edaline distracted them with funny marshmallow animals until Grady came back outside, his expression looking grim.

"Daddy? What happened?" Sophie asked, sounding concerned. Grady sighed heavily, his eyes finally settling on Keefe.

"Your parents said they are going to be busy for the rest of the week. So... You're not going to see them. I know you really wanted to, kiddo." Grady mumbled. Keefe's expression changed completely, from happy to disappointed and hurt.

"I... Sorry." Keefe said quietly. He didn't say anything else as he got up from his chair and ran into the house. Sophie glanced at her parents before running after him. She found him sitting in a little cubby that was underneath the staircase. Sophie sat next to Keefe, scooting closer until Keefe was leaning on her.

"It's gonna be okay." Sophie whispered. "I'm here."

"Thank you." Keefe mumbled, fiddling with his sticky shirt. "You're a really good friend."

Sophie's grin lit up her whole face as Keefe wiped the tears off of his face.

"Come on. We're going to make this the best week in your whole life." Sophie promised him, holding out her hand for him to take it.

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