the baby project — act two
" welcome to parenthood "
﹙ 𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗. ﹚

     AS NOVEMBER STRETCHED ONWARD, George Weasley became a bit of a hermit. He was just quiet at first, expressing how much he missed playing Quidditch. Then it got a little more serious when he told Fred to throw away his broom ("Or better yet, burn it"). Fred did not do as his brother had asked, but he did pass on this information to Addie.

     By the time December rolled around and everyone was getting ready to decorate for Christmas, hardly anyone saw George. He asked to look after Shelley because he saw her as a comfort in a way he didn't have to see any real person, and soon enough, Addie wasn't looking after her daughter at all. George woke up before anyone else, disappeared somewhere on the castle grounds, and went to bed before people had finished dinner.

     What alarmed Addie the most was not the fact that he had become all of her friends' dream dad but that he had become exactly the kind of person he never wanted to be.

     For his entire life, George Weasley had aimed to be the biggest personality in the room. This was always quite hard when there was a copy of him, but he learned that if it was he and Fred on making people laugh, then life was good. There was nothing more rewarding than the sight of someone cackling because of a joke he had told or someone giggling because one of their pranks was a hit.

     But now, George had become a shell of the person he once aspired to be. It was like someone had taken the light from him, drained him of all the energy he had spent almost eighteen years building up.

     And no one understood how he felt. Fred was disappointed he couldn't play Quidditch, of course, but he had always been the type of person to take things on the chin and move on. Not George ─ he took things to heart, always. And being without Quidditch felt like he didn't have a purpose anymore. He lived for people celebrating his plays and cheering him on. And not only had he cocked that up, but the swine that insulted his mother didn't even get punished.

     His sole purpose now was to rot away in bed.

     Addie was hoping one morning, he'd wake up feeling a little happier than the day before and then figure out that everything gets better eventually. But when another morning passed without George at breakfast, Addie broke her silence.

     "I'm worried about him," she told her friends over toast, as she stared up at the grand ceiling of the Great Hall.

     "You said he's been looking after Shelley for three straight weeks?" Laurie asked. Just saying the words out loud felt like a dream.

     "He's just become so isolated," Addie continued, more so like she was talking to herself and not receiving any input from the people around her.

     Jazz slapped her palm down on the table in front of Addie, but the girl hardly even flinched. "To confirm, he's offered to do all of the work?" This was a completely psychotic response to George's newly adopted parenting habits, according to Jazz Sanderson.

     "Should I say something?" Addie asked, still in her daze but at least now looking at her friends.

     Who then chorused instantly: "No."

     In their eyes, George's permanent retreat to his bedroom was a blessing. The only downside was that Addie continued to talk about him. Instead of complaining about him twenty-four-seven, she was now talking about how concerned she was for his well-being. The tables had turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

     "I keep trying to check o,n him, but Fred keeps saying he doesn't want to see anyone," Addie told them. Surely they had to understand that George Weasley, the George Weasley, not wanting to see people, was concerningly out of character.

     "Is he really mourning Quidditch so much he's morphed into a humble stay-at-home mum?" None of this quite made sense to Quinn, but maybe that's because she's never been on a broom and never plans to.

     Addie nodded gravely. Her friends, who still thought this was just some phase George would grow out of by now, slowly tilted their heads.

     "Oh my God, he's flipped," Bea said.

     "She's right," Fred chimed in, slurping on the last droplets of milk on his spoon, "my brother has become the complete antithesis of George Weasley."

     Addie's shoulders sagged in sadness. "And is no one going to do anything about it?"

     Fred's spoon clattered onto his bowl when his hands flew up to surrender. "I've tried!" He exclaimed. "Every day he says two words to me, mumbles something incoherent and then leaves."

     The creases between Addie's brows deepened. If he wouldn't speak to his identical twin, who would George speak to?

     She had been to visit George on multiple occasions, but he barely said two words to her before claiming he was busy and then leaving her alone in his dorm room. She wasn't his number one fan, but she at least thought they were on good terms. Just the day the ban was put in place, he looked as though he was going to be okay. Sad, but accepting.

     A couple of weeks ago, he was agreeing to spend more time with her, and now he could barely make eye contact.

     "I'm so confused about what changed," she told Fred. "He told me he'd get over it, that he'd be fine eventually."

     Fred sucked in a breath. "Yeah, well, that was before the letter."

     By how quickly they all went quiet, it was like Fred had just told them the secrets of the universe.

     "What letter?" Quinn asked.

     Fred was still chewing when he explained what he was referencing, which told Addie he had clearly handled the contents of said letter a bit differently than his twin brother. "Mum obviously found out about what happened and went fucking bizzerk. I think George's disappointed that he was just trying to stick up for her and somehow she's the mad one, not dad."

     Addie also wasn't happy that George's first reaction was violence, but she was still understanding of where George was coming from. Could Molly Weasley not do the same?

     "And you think this was the trigger for his . . .," How was Laurie supposed to word this? "Depressive episode?"

     "Oh yeah," Fred nodded. "I'm fine about it, though. Look, I don't like it when my mum doesn't even try to understand us, but she's not here. Don't get me wrong, I love going home for the holidays, but we're a big family. Hogwarts is like a getaway three times a year."

     Addie knew George thought the same. But, seemingly, Molly had infiltrated George's haven, and now, not even Hogwarts was his home away from home. Maybe George needed to get out. He was a free spirit, and it was possible Hogwarts was suffocating him a little. He might just need to leave life behind for a little bit, and hopefully he'll crack right open again.

     It hit Addie like a pile of bricks and she wasted no time getting to her feet and encouraging the others to do the same.

     "I have a plan."

༺༻

     "SO YOU'RE BATSHIT CRAZY?"

     Maybe Addie was, but that wasn't going to stop her. She was going to acquire Muggle train tickets and she was going to transport her friends to Edinburgh even if the universe wanted to do everything in its power to stop her.

      And it felt nice to be so determined to do something well that wasn't school or Baby Project related. She felt invested in something and she wanted to see it through. See George be himself again.

     The practicalities of her plan, however, were less wholesome.

     After lessons were done for the day, Addie called for meeting. She had managed to recruit most of her friends and gathered them in the Hufflepuff common room to put their brains together. Quinn was smart and Jazz was practical ─ surely, together, they could figure this out.

     Addie shrugged, "I prefer the term optimistic."

     Her friends stared back at her from the opposite side of the coffee table from where the five of them had squished onto one sofa, leaving Addie with the opposite one to herself.

     They had taken out a few books from the geography section and were searching through Muggle maps simply to humour Addie on her rather impossible mission to cheer George up. It wasn't the cheering up of George that was the difficult part ─ it was the figuring out of Muggle transport to get them all to Edinburgh for a day trip. 

     Addie had explained her logic and why she thought exploring a new city would be good for George, and they all understood perfectly. However, there were quite a few obstacles in their way if this was all to run smoothly. Their lack of understanding of Muggle trains, their lack of Muggle money, their kids, the whole it being against school rules thing, just to name a few.

     "I really don't think my brother is worth all this," Fred told her. "I love him and everything but . . ."

     "But what?" Addie asked. "You said it yourself, George is easily cheered up with a packet of droobles. If that's not working, we have to think bigger."

     "And somehow you landed on leaving Hogwarts for a big, foreign city?" Gia loved her best friend and admired Addie's intelligence. This was not one of those circumstances.

     Addie knew her friends just needed her to explain the logistics. It sounded mad on paper, but they just needed to plan it out. Addie wasn't a spontaneous person, after all.

     "Need we remind you we have a bunch of children?" Jazz pointed out. She looked the most appalled out of all of them, like she hated how Addie was slacking off from her responsibilities as one of the smart ones.

     "We can get our partners to look after them," Addie said before they all collectively sagged in disappointment. Addie then cleared her throat, realising her mistake ─ most of them were partnered up with people in the friendship group.

     She gulped and continued, feeling as though she was trying to pitch her business idea to a bunch of hungry millionaires. "And, as for the others, I'll see if Reid can recruit some of his friends to help out."

     Laurie scoffed. "Yeah, because our little brother would just love to look after our children."

     Quinn was trying her best to understand Addie's logic (or lack thereof), and even she was nodding along with the plaintiff.

     "I'll pay him if I have to," Addie defended, desperate to get them on board since she thought that would be the easiest task of them all.

     "You won't just pay him, Addie," Laurie replied, "you'll be in his debt forever."

     Addie decided to take their criticisms in her stride. If that was what it took, so be it. She had always wanted to go to Edinburgh, since they were so close to it, and that was definitely the only reason she wanted this to work so badly. 

     "So it's settled," Addie said, "Reid will take the children and, with a bit more brain power, we'll figure out how to get the train there."

     Jazz looked utterly disgusted at the prospect; Clayton winced; Gia and Fred shared a dubious look, while Quinn tried her best to smile. 

     Laurie wondered what spell George Weasley had put on her sister to make her act this way, so she just shrugged. "Put it this way, I'm expecting big things for my Christmas present this year."

༺༻

     A FEW DAYS PASSED SINCE ADDIE'S INITIAL PLAN HAD BEGUN TO BREW, and George was only just starting to show himself more. The colour was still drained from his cheeks, but he did show up for breakfast one day.

     Addie took this as even more incentive to execute her plan flawlessly, because, if George re-entering society meant one thing, it meant he would be more willing to follow her onto a train without her telling him where they were going.

     So she kept her distance. Everyone let George do his thing, even if that still meant wallowing away in his room. They became more on board with Addie's plan as the days passed and she continued to mastermind her way to Edinburgh. They wanted a day off from being parents more than anything, but if that meant they all pulled strings to get them to the Scottish city for the day, Addie didn't care.

     Fred was particularly good at rule breaking and getting shit past the professors to they could successfully cover up their day trip. Laurie worked on wearing down Reid until they recruited enough second years to babysit their robots (another thing they had to hide from their teachers). Quinn was on research duty, figuring out the best spots for tourists in Edinburgh, while the others tried to convince her to do their homework ahead of time so they could sacrifice a whole Saturday to Addie's plan.

     They all seemed to contribute something, even when that was Jazz cornering George to make sure he didn't commit to anything on the chosen day. Quinn's project partner, Felix, was a Muggleborn and had spent his entire life surrounded by the British pound, so while he supplied not only the knowledge of how to get there but also funded the entire thing, Addie had something else up her sleeve.

     There was only one Scottish person they all knew, and George quite well. After trying her luck sending a couple of owls here and there, she finally located his current address and, with the mysterious helper, tracked down and, happy to be of assistance with her now not-so-batshit crazy plan, they had all the information they needed for this to go ahead.

     The last thing they needed to do was get George to trust them. Fred reckoned Addie was the person for this job mainly because it was her idea in the first place. All Fred had to do was wake George up early on the designated Saturday morning, which was easy since Lee, their other roommate, was playing along anyway. Then, while some of the others prepared their escape plan, and others dropped off their babies and gathered supplies for the journey from the breakfast spread in the Great Hall, Addie cornered George in his room.

     He was still in his towel.

     "Oh."

     "Addie, what the fuck."

     The girl blushed at the sight of George's exposed, still-wet torso and quickly turned around. She could have sworn she heard Shelley giggle. Traitor. 

     "I thought you would be dressed, I'm so sorry." She really meant she assumed he would be dressed because being alone with a half-naked George Weasley was so mortifying that it never occurred to her that his showering in the morning was a perfectly reasonable circumstance.

     He couldn't see her wincing, and she couldn't see him smiling. And while it would be dreadfully awkward to have a conversation with him face-to-face while he was more or less completely exposed, she should have turned around since it was the first proper smile he had given in weeks.

     George ran a hand through his wet hair. "Clearly not."

     Not wanting to stay on the topic of George's lack of clothes, Addie took a deep breath and said, "I need you to come with me."

     Addie had never been nervous when speaking to George, and he found it rather wholesome that she was nervous now that he was more or less naked. "Do you want me to get dressed first, or would you rather I stay half-naked?"

     She could hear the smirk in his voice, and it gave her the confidence to turn around. George was teasing her again. Just like normal. "Dressed. Obviously."

     "Nah, it wasn't obvious," George said, folding his arms over his chest. "I saw you checking me out."

     Bar the raise of his eye brows, George's expression stayed flat, so while he was poking at her, he wasn't smirking. Some progress from his school-wide silent treatment, but still not the complete transformation Addie wanted. 

     "You can think whatever you want, Weasley," Addie said, mirroring his stance. "Just get dressed and meet me in the common room in five minutes."

     George's face turned curious. "Do you have something to do with Fred forcing me out of bed at six o'clock on a Saturday?"

     And then she was nervous again; nervous he would hate her idea that she had spent so long planning. It made her realise how she had been so focused on not looking at his chest that her eyes fell to his exposed skin. "Maybe?"

     "What is it then?" George sighed, flirting forgotten. "I have a lot to do."

     Addie suddenly was less nervous. Instead, she was energised with a newfound anger. "Too busy moping around? Speaking to no one?" She said, sizing him up, no longer bothered that he was half-naked as she approached. Jazz had already confirmed his schedule was cleared anyway.

     George was taken aback. "Actually, I . . ."

     She watched as he floundered, searching for something to say. "You what, Weasley?"

     He scratched the nape of his neck. "I have to . . . go and . . ."

     Addie just stared at him, feigning patience because they both knew George had jack-shit to be doing today. And he himself saw the irony in it ─ how not long ago he was desperate to find any excuse to hang out with Addie Sweeney (conveniently a baby fell in his lap) and now he was racking his brain for any way to get out of spending time with her.

     Just like that, something snapped in George's mind. Maybe he was broken. And maybe she just wanted to fix him.

     Addie flicked her wrist to look at her imaginary watch. "Okay, Weaslebee, you now have four minutes to g─"

     Weaslebee? Nope, that was it. "Okay, okay, I'll come."

Addie smiled. Her eyes found his dripping wet and very toned torso again. This time, she didn't blush. "That's more like it."

     Step one: Complete.

༺༻

     GEORGE WAS TERRIFIED, THE WHOLE WAY TO THE MUGGLE TRAIN STATION. Even as they boarded ─ everyone terribly relieved the tickets worked ─ and settled into an empty compartment, George felt like he was being pranked. Which he didn't like. He was so used to being the pranker that being on the other side of it was . . . disturbing.

     "If you're taking me to some kind of therapy, I really think you should reconsider," George said as the countryside flew past them and he watched the Hogwarts castle become a mere speck of dirt on the window pane.

     "Shit," Fred said sarcatsically, "the cat's out of the bag."

     "Why on earth would we take you to therapy?" Gia questioned.

     "Because you think it's some kind of last resort?"

     "So you admit you need our help?" Addie queried, crunching on the biscuits they brought in their oversized picnic basket.

     George huffed before turning his head to look out the window and ignoring everyone until they admitted what they were doing to him. He decided it was best to sit in silence for the remainder of the journey, feeling trapped and still rather scared, while the others (Addie and Gia. Fred, of course. And then Lee. Jazz, Clayton, Quinn, and Felix) amused themselves with various games, gossip, and snacks.

     At one point, towards the end of the journey, George looked over at Addie as she reapplied some lip balm using a pocket mirror, and when she noticed him looking, she returned the favour, nodded once with a polite smile, before returning to her appearance. That short moment of acknowledgement reassured George, if only for a moment. He became unusually intrigued by the prospect of having been on the train for so long and took up a new outlook on this outing.

     George noticed the sign at the train station as they pulled in, and he also heard the announcer recall where they had arrived, but he continued to act unbothered as they led him out into the open, even when the idea of being in a bucket-list city of his excited him.

     But what excited him the most was the brunette boy waiting for the group of friends on the other side of the barriers.

     "Oliver?"

     "No, it's your brother Charlie. Yes, it's me."

     George rolled his eyes but didn't hesitate any longer to put his shock to good use, pass through the barriers, and embrace his old friend. Fred and Lee did the same, but no one was as pleased that this reunion went well as Addie was. She had told Oliver everything in her letters, and, what with Quidditch being his entire life (and even his career now), he was entirely sympathetic and wanted to help out anyway he could.

     Oliver and his girlfriend, Morgan, were located in Dorset after doing long-distance for a while, but it just so happened that they were visiting his parents just outside of Edinburgh the following week. So with a date set for their day trip, and the other details looking manageable, Addie thought it was all a little bit of magic.

     George was already feeling better. His old Quidditch Captain, a taste for the old days, and a day trip to a fascinating new city.

     "What the fuck are you doing here?" George asked Oliver as they exited the station, arm thrown over the latter's shoulder.

     Oliver's eyes drifted to Addie pacing behind them, and he smiled before looking back at George. "Heard you needed some help."

     Hearing it out loud for the first time was humbling. But in a good way. George had spent so much time wallowing away on his own that he had almost relented to doing it for the rest of the year. But it was his last year at Hogwarts and, even if he wasn't the one to realise it, it should really be spent in the best way possible: with friends in a big, wide city.

     Speaking of, Edinburgh seemed to stretch out so far ahead of them, hundreds of unexplored streets and hidden gems for them to adventure through. Cobblestone paths, exposed brick, old-timey buildings. Window displays decked for Christmas, and fairy lights strung between street lamps. Trees freed from the once present autumn leaves and a shy sun, cowering behind harmless clouds speckling a grey sky. The pavements were scattered with the last dying signs of Autumn, but it was the frost that illuminaed the city in a chilly glow that called for hot chocolates and peppermint-flavoured treats.

     "This took over a week of planning, so you better like it," Addie said to George as they began to ascend a hill signposted towards the city centre. Fred had now ambushed Oliver, and they were already deep into conversation about Oliver's new job working at Puddlemere United. It reminded George that Quidditch didn't end with school.

     Hogwarts was a big place. But it often felt very isolating ─ wandering the same halls, seeing the same people, the proximity to the wonders of Scotland and yet the restrictions to truly experience them.

     As George watched his friends hop and skip away from them, he took a second to watch them. To really watch them. And he gently grabbed onto Addie's arm before she could get any farther away from him, so she could do the same.

     The group laughed, and he swore the sound was palpable, out in the open air, like it had been trapped away somewhere for so long. It was like they were toddlers, experiencing the real world for the very first time. It reminded him that life was so much more than the time he spent locked away in a classroom in the dungeons. That there was a big, wide world out there and Edinburgh was just the start.

     "What is it?" Addie asked, glancing down at where his fingers were wrapped around her arm.

     He jerked his head to indicate she should shuffle back a few paces. She joined him at his side and soon picked up on what he was getting at. Addie took in the moment just as George wanted her to, and she saw her friends in a whole new light. They pointed at buildings that probably didn't appear all that spectacular to the average person. Their jokes became infinitely more funny in this novel setting. And away from Hogwarts, if only for a day, made everything seem more exciting.

     George then leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You're mad for this, you know that, right?"

     Addie took this as a compliment. After all, there was really nothing else she could ask from him. "Maybe," she told him, turning to face him so that her neck craned up to look at him. Their grins were identical. "But once upon a time, so were you."

     He knew what she meant ─ George had lost part of himself. The part people loved; the part he loved. And it was about time he got that part of himself back.

     If it meant Addie Sweeney would show him the world, George Weasley would be mad forever.

༺༻

     GEORGE WEASLEY HAD ALMOST FORGOTTEN WHAT FUN FELT LIKE. His brush with depression was nothing short of horrible, and Addie had reminded him that he was allowed to be sad, but if he didn't even try to be happy again, he never would. The idea of never playing Quidditch again for his house before graduating still lay somewhere in the back of his mind, but as he watched his friends try every single sweet on display in a little candy store tucked away on the corner of a street, George cared a little bit less.

     While Fred paid for an industrial-size bag of fudge, Addie cornered him, handing him a strawberry pencil. "Try this," she said, placing the long sweet on his tongue.

     George was taken by surprise but eventually succumbed to her instructions and took a bite out of the red pencil.

     "It's delicious. And doesn't turn your skin pink," Addie told him, sparing a knowing look as they both began to imagine the total psychotic junk you could buy in Honeydukes. Unlike Wizard candy, Muggle sweets were totally normal and didn't make you feel like you had to watch out for warts or sudden forced animal noises.

     George swallowed the sweet, taken aback by its violent sourness. "Where's the fun in that?" He teased.

     "So it's confirmed then?" Addie poked at him with the remainder of the strawberry pencil. "George Weasley can still recognise fun."

     "Shut up."

     Addie took a bite of the pencil. "Never."

     The next stop was Edinburgh Castle. Towering over the rest of the city, it was like it was plucked out of a fairytale, completely void of any real magic, unlike their Scottish castle not so far away, and yet so full of it. The entire time the group of friends were inside the castle, they completely forgot about the wands in their coat pockets and started living the life in front of them.

     They stared at knights in armour; skipped down red-carpeted hallways, their voices bouncing off the old stone walls. They trudged up hills, where, every now and then, one of them would be halted by the promise of an adorable shop and the rest would have to follow suit. They ate sandwiches on the top of Arthur's seat, red-cheeked from the strenuous exercise, but smiling because of the view. George tucked Addie's hair behind her ear when the wind blew it across her face, and they went halvesies on a scone with jam and cream. The group raced all the way down the tumbling grassy hills and rewarded themselves with hot cups of tea at a quaint cafe. They played cards over cake and argued over who won. They people-watched (Muggle-watched) from wooden benches along the street. They made memories.

     Most importantly, however, they had fun. They were young, and they refused to let each other forget that.

     George had never been so grateful for anything in his entire life.

༺༻

     DESPITE A FUN DAY COMING TO A CLOSE, it was all smiles on the train ride home. Saying goodbye to Oliver was the hardest part, but they agreed to stay in touch, and the Weasleys eagerly made a comment about how Glasgow could be their next tourist adventure, and Wood happily signed on to be their guide.

     As the Scottish highlands rolled by and they got closer to Hogwarts, the sky shifting to black, Addie would admit she felt a flutter of nerves streak through her stomach at the thought of getting caught, but she didn't let anyone know that.

     When their stop was announced to be next, George discreetly nudged Addie and got to his feet. Everyone was far too involved in their own conversations that they didn't notice him hinting at her to follow him, and a minute later, the two of them were in a compartment of their own.

     "So what's this then?" Addie asked him. She had noticed him go quiet as the train journey chugged onwards, but she just interpreted it as tiredness. Perhaps he was going to say something to confirm her suspicions that maybe the day didn't do him any good after all.

     Addie took up the seat next to him. "Didn't want to cry in front of everyone?"

     George huffed a laugh. He couldn't have been all bad. "Like I'd choose you to be the one out of everyone to see me cry, Sweeney."

     Addie rolled her eyes before waiting silently for George to explain in his own time. Surely there wasn't anything he could say in front of her but no one else.

     "Why did you do all that?" George asked.

     She could hear the sincerity in his voice and saw no point in joking. "Wanted to make you feel better," Addie shrugged.

     "And that's it?" He asked, noting how she didn't try to object and claim the day out was a group effort.

     "Isn't that enough?"

     George liked the timid smile on her face; it told him it wasn't forced. But his shoulders still drooped, and it became apparent he wanted more of an explanation of that.

    So Addie just sighed. George just needed to hear about what Hogwarts life was like without him around. And while she had spent her entire six years there trying her best to avoid George Weasley, somehow she still felt the effect of his not being there. She wasn't going to tell him he was the life of the party or something stupid like that, but what she was going to (reluctantly) confess to him was that Hogwarts wasn't the same without him.

     "You really want to know?"

     George's head hung low, but his eyes slid over to he,r and he nodded.

     "I'm going to admit to something I really don't want to, but because I think it's right you hear it, I'm going to be the bigger person and say it."

     Finally, George sat upright. "Addie, what are you on ab─

     "I miss you."

     His jaw practically unhinged. It was like the whole train was screeching to a halt. Not even the whizz of green beside him could convince him the world hadn't shifted off its axis. "You miss me?"

     "Yes."

     George wasn't completely convinced this wasn't a wind-up, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why?"

     Addie just shrugged. She had made peace with the truth, and she knew he'd benefit from hearing it. "You make me laugh," she told him.

     "Is this your version of a joke?" George retreated slightly.

     "Nope. Totally serious. I miss you and your jokes, and I want you to return to society. That cool?"

     George thought it was more than cool, but what wasn't cool would be him admitting to that. He tried to play it off nonchalantly, but he feared the widening smile stretching the skin on his face would be a dead giveaway. "Meh, that's fine. But I'm never letting you live this down."

     "I figured."

     They got to their feet then, and Addie knocked her feet against his in an attempt to knock him off balance. She failed, the height difference not working in her favour, but the movement nonetheless made him realise how much he had missed being around people. Spending time to himself may have been what he needed, but he certainly overstayed his self-isolation. George didn't comprehend how much he had been craving human interaction until he found himself staring down at Addie.

     "Since when did you get so great?" He asked, returning the gesture and knocking his foot against her shoes. She swayed a little but still smiled.

     "I always have been," Addie replied. "You've just been too distracted to notice."

     And right then, George promised himself he'd start paying more attention.

𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗜𝗘'𝗦 𝗧𝗜𝗣 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 ━━

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