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Chapter 164

There'll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you
Both of these things can be true
There is happiness

— Taylor Swift, Happiness

. . . .

Violet's POV

*Five Years Later*

I finally walk through the door to the apartment after a long day of being at my placement at the clinic. George runs out from the bedroom at full speed, his paws forcing him to slide against the wood floors when he tries to stop himself. I drop my things off on the counter and drop down to scratch his head. He playfully barks and jumps side to side. He lunges forward with his butt in the air and a wide grin on his adorable face. Rolling over on his back, I scratch his belly and hold his left paw.

Once I'm done playing with him for a few minutes, I give him some food and fresh water before taking my work to the coffee table then heading back to the bedroom to change out of these stiff clothes.

I'm currently doing my placements before I graduate next August

. I'm working at the local clinic to learn the ins and outs of being in an environment that gives me first-hand experience of what I'll be doing once I become eligible to practice the information I'm learning in a work setting. During the week, I work alongside certified psychologists that aid individuals in mental illnesses that include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and so on. The experience is very eye-opening and definitely helps correlate the time spent at the clinic to what I'm learning in my classes. I've met some incredible people that have taught me a lot about what I'll do one day once I'm finished at Oxford and work in my own office to help people.

Being in a professional environment, the dress code requires me to have a more sophisticated approach to my clothing styles. I take off my heels followed by my pencil skirt and light blouse. I change into leggings and a t-shirt to finish up on a paper that's due Sunday night that I won't be home to complete.

I put on some music and look over my notes to finish up the last two paragraphs on my near twenty-page paper I've been working on every night for the past week. It takes me an hour or so to complete it and do a proper spell and grammar check before submitting it online. I cross it off in my planner and organize all my schoolwork.

There's a knock on my door while I'm putting all my notes and rough drafts together. I slide on my socks a bit when I reach the door and pull it open. Alec and Noel stand on the other side. She's holding a thermal tote with the food she made to bring over for our weekly dinners. Noel stands beside her holding their one-year-old daughter Sydney on his hip. He lets her down when she points at George and babbles. She toddles off towards him and hugs her buddy. Alec starts taking the dishes out of the bag while I grab the plates and silverware.

"Thanks for making dinner...again."

"You know I don't mind," she answers.

She prepares Sydney's food first consisting of mini oranges, tiny chunks of grilled chicken, and sliced strawberries. I fill her sippy cup with water and walk over to the tiny child holding onto George who's drunkenly soaking in the attention.

I kneel down to her height and hold the cup to her. She takes it into her tiny hands and puts the silicone spout into her mouth, gulping down the water and swaying side to side slightly. Her extremely fine, light brown hair is tied up in short pigtails at the top of her head on either side of her part. Noel says it's the only hairstyle he can do for her that doesn't look like a mess. Nevertheless, the simple hairstyle is endearing on the little girl. She stops sipping on the cup and pushes it back into my hand, then staggers over to her dad. He lifts her up and kisses her cheek. The two stand at the windows and look out. He points at a few birds sitting on the ledge right outside, and she giggles and squeals when the one bird flies away.