Chapter 145: Family Dinner

Third Person

While sitting up on the kitchen counter and eagerly showing April all her childhood pictures from the album, June suddenly noticed several dark red marks scattered across her big sister’s exposed neck.

Angel was over by the dining area, quietly helping August set the dinner plates and silverware on the table for everyone.

"What is that right there on your neck, big sister?" June asked, leaning in closer to take a better look.

"What?" April blinked, momentarily confused by the question.

"Red, dark red marks, and this specific one right here is round..." June said, gently tracing her small index finger directly over the visible bite marks on her older sister’s skin.

Angel, casually overhearing those exact words and seeing those obvious marks from across the room, couldn’t help but let out a massive, proud grin directed straight at the girl. She paused her movements at the table just to see what sort of clever lie April was going to come up with to tell the innocent little girl.

April immediately frowned at her girlfriend, who happened to be the sole cause of every single mark currently painted on her neck. It wasn’t even just her neck that was covered, but literally her entire body beneath her clothes.

April looked down at the little girl waiting patiently on the counter for an answer.

"A very, very wild mosquito did this to me..." April said smoothly, trying her best to keep a straight face, but June definitely didn’t look convinced by the weak story at all.

"Even this big mark right here?" June asked, squinting her eyes as she pointed at the center of April’s collarbone. "This looks way more like a wild beast bit you. The mark is practically shining....."

"Let’s just say it’s a red wild beast then..." April sighed, giving up on the insect story.

"Cough, cough... red wine..." Angel corrected out loud from the table, clearing her throat with a smirk. She wasn’t even attempting to deny it at all and didn’t care in the slightest that April called her wild. Angel had long already accepted the fact that she was a total wild beast when it came to her girlfriend.

"Daddy! I officially have a new quest!" June shouted, standing straight up on the kitchen counter and pretending to hold a giant invisible sword like a brave hero out on a grand fantasy adventure. "I want to find the evil red wine beast that did this awful thing to my big sister and slay the beast forever!"

"Okay, my brave baby girl... good luck on your brand new quest," August played right along with his daughter’s wild imagination, though his amused eyes were focused directly on Angel.

He already knew the full truth about who the wild beast actually was in this room.

Angel left the dining table completely and slowly moved over toward the kitchen counter, folding her arms with a playful glint in her eyes.

"Do you also want to see my own marks?" Angel asked the little girl, raising an eyebrow. "A mean, four-eyed beast did them all to me..."

"Let me see, let me see!" June jumped up and down on the counter in pure excitement, eager to inspect more beast marks.

Before June could lean over any further, her father stepped in, grabbed her around the waist, and started spinning her around the living room floor in big circles.

The little girl was laughing loudly, clutching his shoulders and screaming out, "Again, again, do it again..."

"Now I really see why you like your father so much..." Angel said softly to April, stepping up beside her as April rested her head comfortably on Angel’s shoulder.

"Yes, he used to be my hero back when I was small, and now he is her hero..." April muttered, watching her father spin June with a mixture of warmth and soft nostalgia in her chest.

"He is definitely still your hero," Angel said, wrapping her arm around April’s waist and kissing the top of her head. "He clearly has a lot of love to go around for everyone... even for someone like me. I’m honestly thinking about calling him Daddy now..." Angel smiled genuinely at the sweet scene playing out in the living room.

"Fine..." April smiled back, letting out a small laugh. "I still can’t believe my little sister is actually this cute."

"Yes... now that is someone I can actually accept and call my real sister. She is officially our sister," Angel stated firmly.

She had never once accepted April’s biological mother but little June? She completely accepted that sweet little girl as her actual sister without a single second thought.

On the other hand, there was finally someone whom Coco happily allowed to touch and hold her without throwing a fuss. Coco was peacefully playing with baby Julie on the floor, while Percy stayed planted right by April’s leg, his white fur brushing against her ankle.

Suddenly, the front door unlocked from the outside, and someone stepped into the house carrying groceries.

"Mommy is finally back!" June announced loudly, jumping down from her father’s arms and running toward the front entryway.

"Honey, welcome home," August said, stepping forward to greet his wife. "Look who is standing in our kitchen right now..." August hugged his wife gently, then stepped aside to show her April standing by the counter.

The very second August’s wife saw April standing there, pure happiness washed over her face.

She immediately dropped her bags and ran forward to wrap her arms around the now-grown-up girl in a tight embrace.

"Honey, please be careful..." August warned nervously, rushing up behind her. "Remember that you are pregnant..."

"Oh, April! I seriously can’t believe this is really you!" the woman exclaimed, stepping back slightly to hold April’s cheeks, showering April’s face with endless warm kisses. "You are so big and grown up now..."

"And you are looking so chubby now, Ms. Cecilia..." April replied with a genuine smile, hugging her back.

Ms. Cecilia was the well-known school history and sports teacher back at Kanoe Academy.

A little while later, while they all sat down to enjoy dinner together at the table, Ms. Cecilia talked constantly about how her husband, August, always brought up April in conversation every single day without fail.

"It was always ’My daughter April this, my daughter April that’ every morning," Ms. Cecilia laughed, shaking her head as she served the food.

Even the month of April was treated like a special celebration inside their household every year.

Just like back when April was attending school, Ms. Cecilia was literally the only teacher who always went out of her way to ask April how she was doing whenever she saw her walking down the hallways.

Now April finally understood the real reason why. Ms. Cecilia wasn’t just asking on her own behalf back then. It was her father constantly asking through her, desperately wanting to know if his daughter was safe and happy.

Looking around the table at the happy, warm family sharing a meal together, both girls secretly wished in their hearts that they had grown up in a normal, loving home just like this one.

When Ms. Cecilia shifted her gaze across the table and looked closely at Angel, her eyes suddenly widened as she recognized her face from somewhere.

"I finally remembered where I know you from..." Ms. Cecilia said, pointing a finger in realization. "You’re the girl who won first place in that surfing championship five years ago! Angel Morningstar, if I’m not mistaken..."