Serenity let her daughter stand on the bed as she helped her out of her pajamas and into the little dress. Once dressed, Lil’ Pie insisted on being carried to the mirror to admire herself.

“Such a little diva. My Lil’ Pie looks beautiful in anything.”

Serenity tapped her daughter’s cute little nose but indulged her anyway, carrying her to the mirror. After a moment, Serenity asked her daughter, “Pretty, right? This dress was a gift from Aunt Jazz.”

“Pretty,” Callia answered seriously. “I’m pretty.”

Serenity could not help but laugh at her daughter’s confident and vain earnestness.

After changing Lil' Pie’s shoes, Serenity took her hand and led her out of the room. “Come on, let’s go wake your brother up.”

Heath’s room was next door. At six years old, he was too old to sleep with his mother. His father had insisted he move to his own room by the age of three.

When he was first banished to the nursery, the little boy had cried for a long time, often dragging his pillow and blanket