Do you get bonus points if I act like I care?

Hallie usually did most of the reading while Tavio added dramatic voices whenever the opportunity presented itself. Talani loved every minute of it. Her giggles often interrupted entire pages.

Eventually, exhaustion always won. Her eyes grew heavier. Her blinks slower. Until finally she drifted off, safe beneath her blanket while her parents quietly slipped from the room.

The strange thing was that neither of them ever seemed tired afterward. Instead, the evening simply shifted into something else.

Sometimes they put on a movie and completely failed to watch it. Twenty minutes later neither could explain what had happened on screen because they had spent the entire time stealing kisses and making each other laugh.

Other nights they disappeared beneath a shared blanket on the couch, whispering nonsense, teasing one another or simply lying close together while the world outside faded into background noise. It felt effortless. Like home.

Then, for four days, everything changed. Hallie had to attend a professional training course overseas. It was an opportunity she could not realistically refuse and both of them knew that. Still, knowing something was necessary did not make it easy.

The house felt different the moment she left. Emptier.

Tavio did everything he could to keep life normal for Talani. He prepared meals, read stories, played games and carried her around the house whenever she wanted attention, but Talani noticed immediately.

She was still too young to understand what four days meant. She only understood that her mother was gone. Every evening became a battle. She cried for Hallie constantly, her small voice breaking Tavio’s heart again and again. He held her, rocked her gently and whispered reassurance into her hair.

“Mama will come back.”

But Talani could not yet understand promises about tomorrow.

Many nights stretched unbearably long. Sometimes she cried until pure exhaustion finally pulled her to sleep. Afterwards, Tavio sat alone in the silent house, missing Hallie almost as much as their daughter did.

Those were four very long days. When Hallie finally returned, the reunion felt almost unreal. Talani spotted her first. One second she was playing in the living room. The next she sprinted toward the front door as fast as her little legs could carry her. Hallie barely had time to put down her bags before a tiny whirlwind crashed into her.

The hug lasted forever. Tavio joined moments later and suddenly all three of them were laughing, talking over one another and refusing to let go. The house felt complete again.

That evening, after Talani finally fell asleep, Hallie rested her head against Tavio’s shoulder.

“Let’s not do that too often,” she murmured.

“Deal,” he replied immediately.

Neither needed further explanation.

One day later, another milestone arrived: Talani’s birthday.

The little girl who had once fit easily into her father’s arms suddenly seemed much bigger. More confident. More expressive. Curious about absolutely everything. She grew into a bright, energetic child with an endless supply of questions and enough enthusiasm to fill every room she entered.

Tavio and Hallie watched her throughout the day with identical expressions. Pride, wonder and disbelief. Time had moved far too quickly.

Yet somehow, standing together in their small house near the beach, watching Talani step into the next chapter of her life, they both knew one thing. No matter how much she grew, she would always be the little girl who taught them what it truly meant to be a family.