My Pace

Chapter 52

Holt's POV
Charlize showed up the next day. She said everything that was going on. I gave her the advice I had.

"Besides that...I have no idea."

"I'm so stressed out."

"I bet."

I heard a little sniffle.

"Daddy?"

I looked and saw Ariella. She was hugging one of her favorite plushies.

"Hi sweetie."

"I'm sad."

She walked up to me with her head down. I picked her up and put her next to me on the couch.

"Why are you sad?"

I wiped a tear away.

"I miss Alice..."

"Awww. I know. I know. We all do. She's always with you though."

"She is?"

"Yeah. She's in your heart. You have memories of her."

"It's not the same..."

"I know. She'll send you little signs, that she's still with you. You'll hear her voice out of nowhere. And there's this saying about red cardinal birds, "Cardinals appear when angels are near."Every time you see one. That's her. She's coming to visit you. When you see one, you should stop and say "Hi"."

You need a sister...

You really do...

"Alice...would want you to be happy. She would want you to make more friends. It's okay to be upset."

Ariella crawled into my lap. She nuzzled up against me. She started crying more.

"Awww princess...do you just want snuggles right now?"

She nodded while she rubbed her eyes.

"Okay. You can have some snuggles. Is mommy and your brother, still sleeping?"

Ariella nodded.

"Okay."

"Wow. She's really having a hard time?"

"Yeah. It's horrible."

Ariella moved her hair out of her face.

"Are you cold? Do you want a blanket?"

"N-no."

Me and Charlize changed the topic of our conversation.

"How's everything been with Luca?"

"Pretty good."

Ariella started covering her ear.

"Is it too loud?"

"M-mhn..."

"Okay. Go get your headphones and phone. You can play Genshin or Honkai: Star Rail or watch something or just listen to your music. Okay sweetie?"

"O-okay."

She hopped down then walked away with her head down.

"Now that she's gone, really quickly, how has Ariel been at night?"

"Oh god. She's scared to sleep alone."