Veronica sits across from the twins at the dining table. She just picked them up from kindergarten. Ben rests his head in his hands as he listens to his sister talk about her day.

"I drew another picture for you Ronnie but I forgot it in kindergarten. You can have it tomorrow" she says.

"Thank you Ella, that's very nice" Veronica smiles as she cutes two sandwiches in half and hands them to the twins before she begins to make a sandwich for herself.

"Thank you Ronnie" Ben smiles and takes a big bite.

"You're welcome Benny"

"Thank you" Ella mumbles with her mouth full toast.

"You're welcome too" Veronica giggles. "What about some fruits too. Apple or banana?"

"Apple!" Ella squeals.

Ben looks at his sister and then at Veronica "But I want banana"

"No apple!" Ella protests.

"But-" the little boy starts but Veronica interrupts. "I can do both. No need to start a fight" She grabs a banana and an apple from a bowl on the kitchen counter and sits back down. She cuts the fruits into little pieces on a plate and pushes it to the middle of the table so everyone can reach it. She takes a piece of banana and puts it into her mouth.

"What do you want to do after lunch?"

"Oh can we go into the pool?" Ella asks excitedly "it's sooo hot today"

"Can you guys swim?"

"Yeah" Ben says. "We're four. Of course we can swim!"

"Oh I'm sorry for asking such a mean question" Veronica giggles. "We can go swimming but we need to reapply sunscreen and since we just had lunch we have to wait a little"

"Okay" Ella groans "Daddy always says the same"

About 20 minutes later the kids jump into the pool in their bathing clothes and reapplied sunscreen.

Veronica sits on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water.

Ella climbs on a unicorn float and giggles when Ben begins to push her around.

"Ronnie come into the water too" she says with a wide smile on her face.

"Not today honey. I'm not wearing my bathing suits and I washed my hair yesterday"

"Then wash your hair again" Ben grins and swims towards her. He places his little wet hands on her knees and looks up to her. "Please"

"But I'm not wearing my bathing suits. When I have to go change, you two need to get out of the water"

"Why? We can swim"

"I won't leave you two in the water without supervision"

"Okay" Ben groans and climbs out of the pool. His sister jumps from the unicorn float into the water, swims to the latter and climbs out.

"Can we stay here though?"

Veronica sighs. "I trust you but you have to promise me you won't go into the water. If you do it anyway, we won't go into the pool for the rest of the week and I will never leave you two alone again, okay?"

"Okay" Ella nods.

"You can trust us. We won't go" Ben says to support Ella's statement.

Veronica nods. "I'll be right back"

She runs inside and upstairs onto her room. She doesn't feel so comfortable with leaving the kids alone near the water but they would make the house all wet when she took them inside and she can see them from the window of her room.

They lie on their backs in the grass and look at clouds. It makes her smile. They are very cute and she loves them so much already.

She puts on her bathing suit and grabs an oversized shirt to wear when she gets out of the water. She quickly walks back to the backyard. Ella jumps up when she sees her.

"Can we go back in?"

"Yes" Veronica giggles.

"Come on Benny!" Ella says and pulls him up. They both run towards the pool.

"Don't run!" Veronica says loudly. "You'll fall"

But it's too late. Ben slips on the wet tilers, surrounding the pool. A scream of pain leaves his mouth. "Daddy!" he cries. Tears stream down his cheeks. Veronica runs over to him and sits down next to him. Blood runs down his leg.

"Oh sweetheart, can you move your leg?"

Ben nods. He reaches for Veronica's hand and holds it close. "It hurts so much Ronnie"

"I know honey. Ella do you know where the first aid kit is?"

"Yes but I can't reach it"

Veronica sighs. She picks up the little boy who wraps his arms tightly around her. Tears continue to run down his cheeks. Veronica follows Ella into the bathroom. She points to the bathroom cabinet over the sink. Veronica sets Ben down on the floor before she gets the first aid kit. Ben sniffs.

"Do you feel a little better?" Veronica asks as she sits down and wipes the blood away with a paper towel.

"Mhm" he nods.

"I need to clean the wound"

"Will it hurt?" the little boy cries.

"No sweetheart I'm using water it won't"

Ben nods but still reaches for his sister's hand as Veronica cleans the wound. After that she dries it and puts a big band aid with little teddy bears on it.

"There you go" Veronica smiles "all good but no more pool for you today honey. You can't swim with that"

Ben nods. He gets up and wraps his arms around Veronica. He sniffs and his eyes are closed as he plays with the ends of Veronica's hair to calm himself.

"We can still go outside though and you can still play. You just can't go into the water with the band aid on" she says. She kisses the side of his head a few times and runs her fingers up and down his back.

"Okay" Ben says and nods. He pulls back slowly but reaches for Veronica's hand.

"What about some ice cream?" she smiles.

"Yes!" Ella squeals. Ben nods with a grin.

Veronica walks into the kitchen with kids and hands them both a popsicle. They go back out and sit down in the grass. The kids both wear cute caps. It protects their faces and their eyes from the hot and bright sun.

When they're finished, Ella takes the sticks and throw them away.

"Do you want to build a sandcastle with me Benny?" she asks as she points to the sandpit next to the swings.

"No I don't want to" he mumbles.

"Okay, then I'll do it on my own" she says and walks away.

Veronica lies down on a blanket in the grass underneath an umbrella but she makes sure she can keep an eye on Ella. Ben sits next to her. He stares at his sister for a while before he lies down. He rests his head on Veronica's stomach and places his right hand next to his head. He taps his little fingertips softly against Veronica's rips. It makes her smile. She grabs her phone and text Archie about Ben's bruised knee before she puts her phone away and begins to play with his hair. The little boy quickly falls asleep but it takes Veronica a little while to notice that.

•••

The kids change out of their bathing clothes and into some comfy clothes while Veronica prepares everything for cooking dinner. She looks up when she can here a key turn in the lock. She quickly walks to the front door so she can talk to Archie before the kids do.

"Hi Veronica" he smiles "how was your day?

"Good but I'm so so sorry about Benny, Archie. I told him to be careful but he slipped so he fell and bruised his knee. I'm so sorry" she sniffs with tears slowly filling her eyes.

"It's okay Veronica"

"No, no it's not. It's my first day of work and he already got hurt"

"Veronica" he chuckles and takes her into his arms as he can see that more and more tears run down her cheeks. "It's okay, really. He's a kid. Stuff like that happens. You told him not to run, he did it anyway so a bruised knee is simply a natural consequence. Next time he will be more careful"

She sniffs and nods against his chest. It makes Archie chuckle. He pulls away and then wipes the tears off her face. "It's okay. It's just a little bruise. He'll be fine"

"Okay" she says.

"Daddy! You're home!" Ella squeals and runs to his father with her arms up to greet him. Ben follows. Veronica quickly wipes her hands under her eyes to get rid of the last few tears but the kids already saw.

"Ronnie why are you sad?" Ella asks. She wraps her arms around her legs and looks up.

"Uhm" she says.

"Ronnie is a little sad because she thinks it her fault that Benny got hurt" Archie starts. "You two have to listen to Veronica the same way you have to listen to me. Benny she told you not to run and I guess she told you too Ella because you could get hurt, you didn't listen so Benny fell"

"I'm sorry daddy" the little boy mumbles.

"Don't apologize to me honey. Say sorry to Ronnie"

Ben turns to Veronica. He looks up with an upset look on his face. He takes a step closer to her and wraps his arms around her legs just like his sister. "I'm sorry Ronnie. I should've listened to you. It was not your fault"

"It's okay" she smiles and runs her fingers through his hair. "I just don't want you to get hurt. You scared me a little"

"I'm sorry" he says again. He gets on his tiptoes and gestures her to lean down to him so she does. He kisses her cheek and whispers into her ear. "Don't be sad. My knee doesn't even hurt anymore"

His sweet voice and the little kiss make her giggle. "Okay" she whispers back. She kisses his forehead before she pulls back. She wasn't sure first if kissing his forehead was too much too soon but the little boy grins widely. He leans his head against her stomach and wraps his arms tighter around her.

"So since we solved that problem, what about dinner now? We can cook all together" Archie suggests.

"Yay!" Ella squeals. She grabs Veronica's hand and Archie's and tries her best to pull them to the kitchen.

"Benny and Ella my beloved kids" Archie starts "You went swimming in the pool today so you know you two have to take a shower or a bath after dinner"

"A bubble bath with a lot, a lot of bubbles?" Ella asks.

"All the bubbles you want my love" Archie smiles as he lifts Ella onto the kitchen counter. He then turns to Ben and lifts him into his arms. He carefully takes his leg so he can take a look at his knee.

"Ronnie put a band aid on it"

"It looks pretty cool buddy"

"Can I take a bath with that?"

"I think we have to take it off but you can have a new one when you're done"

"Okay"

Archie holds him close and kisses his cheek a couple of times. "I love you so much buddy"

"I love you too daddy" the little boy giggles.

Veronica smiles. She loves the bond between Archie and the kids. She admires how much he loves them even though they're not his biological children. She was never really close to her parents especially not her father. He was always really strict. There was not much love. Seeing how much love Archie has for his kids, kind of heals the broken little girl in her heart.