"I can’t help it..." Karl said with a sniff, holding Milo’s arm tighter like a child begging for protection. "Fifteen words, Milo! She gave fifteen whole words! Do you know how many that is?"
"Um... fifteen?" Milo blinked innocently.
"Exactly!" Karl cried like he had just revealed a national tragedy. "She gave fifteen words and a broken spirit!"
Milo, completely overwheld, offered weakly, "I... I can help you write them if you want?"
Karl looked up instantly, teary eyes sparkling like stars. "Really?? Would you save like that??"
Milo nodded like a scared puppy.
"Alright! I’ve put the pen and book on the sofa... please, Milo, write in my handwriting," Karl said with sparkly eyes, already imagining his flawless escape.
"...Okay... but, Brother Karl, where are you going?" Milo asked, looking suspiciously at him.
"Oh—my stomach hurts! Suddenly! It hurts a lot!" Karl clutched his belly dramatically like he was about to faint, then took off running before Milo could say another word.
Milo stared at his back as Karl disappeared down the hallway like a human escaping a haunted house.
He trudged to the sofa, sank into it with a sigh, and muttered, ’He fooled again.’
Still, with a little sigh, he opened the notebook and looked at the blank page. "I can’t always help him," he whispered.
His fingers moved across the page, and he began to write...not in his own neat style, but in Brother Karl’s famous ssy, slanted, chicken-scratch handwriting.
But instead of the actual fifteen words Ruby had assigned to Karl, Milo ended up writing a completely different set of words...sweet words like "Love," "wife," "baby," "dream," and even "kiss."
"Sorry Brother Karl..." Milo mumbled again with a tiny grin on his face. "But if you can trick ... I can trick you back a little too."
To make it even more believable, Milo switched the pen to his left hand, the one he wasn’t comfortable writing with and carefully wrote with wobbly lines and crooked letters.
Now that was a masterpiece of mischief...
***
"I want to divide this part... and maybe that corner too," Ruby said, her voice thoughtful as she gestured toward different areas of the space.
Annie nodded while jotting things down quickly, her eyes following Ruby’s hands. "Alright, Miss Ruby. I’ll make sure it’s exactly how you envision it."
Their conversation continued in quiet tones, filled with little smiles and the kind of shared understanding that only happens when two people are excited about building sothing special.
After that, they carefully parted ways.
Ruby began her walk back ho, a slight ache in her legs from all the walking, but her heart felt oddly full. She thought about the place she just finalized—the company space. All her earnings from the fair were going to be poured into renovating it, buying furniture, and setting up the foundation for her dream. It made her a little nervous, but it also filled her with hope.
She missed her phone more than ever. There was so much to plan, and keeping track of everything was tiring. But still, she rembered she’d told Rowan and Eilas to keep working on robes. She also had to pay Ethan for the supplies. And she hadn’t forgotten the most important things...pocket money for her husbands and books to help them learn reading and writing better.
Despite the tiredness, Ruby felt a spark of excitent—especially when she thought about seeing if Karl had written the howork she gave him. That silly man could be a handful, but he made her laugh. He brought a kind of chaos she oddly enjoyed.
Oh wait—if he had written sothing, he’d definitely ask for a reward. Probably food. She stopped walking for a mont, sighed, then made a quick U-turn back toward the market. She ended up buying so fresh snacks and pastries for all of them.
Hope they like it, she thought as she carried the bag and headed ho again.
When she rang the doorbell, it was Julian who opened it. His mossy green eyes softened as he saw her.
"Co in, wife. You must be tired," he said gently.
Ruby smiled and handed him the bag of snacks. "For you guys," she said warmly.
A genuine smile broke across Julian’s face as he held the bag. "Thank you, wife..."
"But don’t show it to Karl," Ruby quickly added, wagging a playful finger, "not until I check his howork."
Julian chuckled softly. "Got it."
Just then, a door creaked open and Karl’s excited voice echoed down the hall.
"Wifeeeeeeeee!" he shouted, practically skipping out of his room, holding the notebook in both hands like it was a golden trophy.
He skidded to a stop near Ruby and presented the book proudly. Ruby raised a brow and took it from him. She walked to the sofa, sat down, and Karl plopped beside her like a puppy waiting for treats.
Milo and Adrian ca out next. Milo’s eyes sparkled with excitent, and he clung to Adrian’s arm as if he couldn’t wait to see Karl’s fate unfold. He had already told Adrian everything and the mischief in his eyes said he was dying to watch.
Ruby flipped open the notebook. The handwriting... was very much Karl’s.
She glanced sideways at him, and he winked at her sweetly.
Her eyes scanned the page.
Love. Baby. Wife. Dream. Kiss. Cute...
She blinked. Her frown slowly deepened, and her gaze turned to Karl.
He bead like a child who handed in his art project.
Ruby’s ears turned red.
Then making her face serious, Ruby fixed her eyes on Karl and held the notebook tightly in her hands.
"So," she said in a low voice, her tone strict and unamused, "do you even rember what you wrote?"
Karl blinked innocently, his lips parting slightly as if surprised she’d ask.
"You might rember one or two... maybe even guess..." she narrowed her eyes.
He looked away guiltily.
"Let’s see if you really learned anything," she added, tapping her finger on the notebook. "Repeat each word you wrote, without looking. Go on. Say them."
Karl’s expression tightened. He knew he was caught. Milo quietly snorted behind Adrian, trying not to laugh, while Julian leaned on the kitchen door fra with a small, knowing smile.
—To be continued...🪄
Reviews
All reviews (0)