"Alright, alright... that’s enough," she said gently, placing a hand on each of their heads.
"It doesn’t matter who did more. What matters is that both of you took care of your baby sister."
Her smile turned warm and proud.
"And for that... I’m really proud of you both."
She leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on each of their foreheads.
"You did an amazing job."
Both girls imdiately bead at her praise.
Then Ivy leaned back slightly, a playful glint appearing in her eyes.
"Anyways girls..." she added, drawing out the word.
"I brought sothing back for you."
Aria and Lila froze.
Then slowly...
Their eyes widened in excitent.
"A surprise?" they asked in unison, their voices filled with curiosity and anticipation.
"What’s the surprise, Mommy?" Aria asked, raising a curious brow, her excitent already bubbling over.
Instead of answering imdiately, Ivy simply smiled to herself.
Without a word, she turned and walked into the kitchen, grabbing two plates of the sa design from the counter. Her movents were calm, almost teasing, as if she was deliberately building suspense.
"Tell us now mummy. We’re really curious now"
"Yes please tell us. We really don’t know how to guess."
"What is the surprise?"
Aria and Lila kept asking, unable to hold their joy at the word surprise.
Ivy then finally returned, while both girls were watching her closely, their curiosity growing by the second.
"Why don’t you girls co with to find out?" Ivy finally said, her smile widening just a little.
Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed toward the door, stepping outside.
Aria and Lila exchanged a quick glance—
Then imdiately ran after her.
The mont they stepped out—
"Bark! Bark!"
Golden’s cheerful barks rang through the air, her tail wagging wildly as she spotted them.
"Mama!!!"
Lila was the first to react.
Her eyes lit up instantly, and without hesitation, she ran straight toward the dog. She dropped to her knees in front of Golden, her small hands eagerly reaching out to touch the soft golden fur.
"You got us a dog?!"
Aria exclaid in shock and excitent, quickly following after her sister. She knelt down beside Golden as well, her face lighting up as she began petting the dog gently.
Golden responded imdiately, wagging her tail even harder, clearly delighted by the attention.
"Well..." Ivy began, her tone calm as she walked closer, "I didn’t exactly buy her."
She crouched slightly, placing the plates down beside her before opening the can of dog food.
"I rescued her."
Her voice softened as she spoke.
"She was abandoned... and injured."
Carefully, Ivy poured the dog food into one plate, then filled the other with water. Once everything was set, she placed the plates down in front of Golden.
Golden didn’t hesitate.
She imdiately began eating, though her excitent made her a little ssy.
"Rescued?" Lila repeated softly, her expression shifting.
Her cheerful face turned into one of sadness as she looked at the dog.
"She’s a rescued dog...?" she murmured, her voice filled with sympathy. "Such a poor baby..."
Aria’s expression also softened, though there was still excitent in her eyes.
"Can we keep her, Mommy?" she asked eagerly, looking up at Ivy. "Since her owners didn’t want her anymore..."
Her brows furrowed slightly, determination creeping into her tone.
"We can’t abandon her the sa way they did... right?"
Ivy let out a quiet sigh, folding her arms lightly across her chest as she looked at the two girls.
"Well..." she began carefully, choosing her words.
"That depends."
The girls imdiately grew attentive.
"If her owners co back looking for her," Ivy continued, "then she still belongs to them."
Her tone remained gentle but firm.
"So for now, I can’t say she’s officially ours... not until we’re sure no one is coming back for her."
Lila’s shoulders slumped slightly at that, but she nodded in understanding.
Aria, however, frowned.
"I hope they don’t co back," she muttered, her lips forming a small pout as she continued to gently stroke Golden’s fur.
"For them to leave her like that... they don’t deserve her."
Her voice softened, filled with quiet anger and sadness.
"Heaven knows what she’s been through out there all alone..."
She glanced down at the dog, who was eating eagerly.
"Hey... gentle," Aria added softly, adjusting her tone as she patted Golden carefully. "The food isn’t running away, sweetie. You can eat slowly."
Golden didn’t fully listen, still munching excitedly, though her tail wagged happily at the attention.
Ivy watched the entire scene in silence, her arms still folded.
Then—
She let out a light chuckle.
Her eyes softened as she looked at her children, warmth filling her chest.
"...You two are already completely attached to her, aren’t you?" she said with amusent.
Neither Aria nor Lila denied it.
Instead, they both stayed right there beside Golden—petting her, talking to her, and watching her eat like she was already part of the family.
And Ivy...
Ivy simply stood there, watching them, a quiet sense of peace settling over her heart.
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