I had to pry, so it was harder on her than it needed to be. She just needs some rest. We already have a way forward. Cover for me at the office. I wan... her to wake up in my arms. She needs to start healing, and having me abandon her isn’t what she needs.”Kim finds her voice, saying, “What the hell are you doing here then? Get your ass back in there. We will leave you some breakfast.”“You can tell Carol but nobody else. I want you girls to treat her like I never told you. The last thing she. ”Owen hugged McKenzie from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. “I guess her promise was only for the first child,” he suggested.“I don’t remember making any vows when Kenzie was born,” their mom made an excuse.“I guess I'm not special enough,” McKenzie continued pretending to be offended.“Blame your father. He didn’t keep any of the promises that he made when Owen was born so I figured it was pointless.”“What promises did he make?” Owen asked.“He promised to balance his work and home. . at the floor ... out the window ... at the ceiling again ... counted on her fingers and said, “Fourteen million, one hundred forty one thousand, one hundred forty dollars.” She looked stunned for a bit ... sat down with a thud ... got back up ... looked at us both.“Okay ... who did you kill?”“Nobody.”There was a long drawn out pause ... with a lot of heavy breathing and looking anywhere but at her ... and I said, “But we did lie to a government official.”And Jim said, “Not exactly.”“How not. She realized then how hungry she was after the long flight. She felt so much at ease here already.She asked her father if she could help.“Yes, my princess. You can chop the salad.”“You’re funny, I’m not a princess. You haven’t called me that in years.”He had been so busy with his company; they really hadn’t been together much in several years. She loved the attention. He seemed so much more relaxed now. Before, he worked six and seven days a week, leaving early in the morning and returning late.