Chapter 16 That’s Too Bad
Dusktown was the best town to live in in the nation. It was scenic, and the temperature was agreeable. It was perfect for the kids. They were at a growing age, and she wanted them to have a place to call their own. Then, she would pick a good school for them, and they could make friends. She wanted them to live like normal kids and grow up happily.
But Dusktown’s houses were expensive. She didn’t have much money, so she couldn’t buy anything good. She had only arrived in Dusktown not too long when she went to talk business with Harold, all so she could make more money. It was a pity Harold looked like he had a few screws loose. I lost that deal. I could have made a million. Well, too bad.
Of course, she might be poor compared to the Harts, but she was well off compared to most people. She had managed to save some money thanks to her working herself to the bone over the last few years. She couldn’t get herself a luxurious manor, but getting a small bungalow near a school area was not a problem.
She wouldn’t let her kids suffer either, and her fridge was always stuffed with food.
She took a shower and changed into casual attire before she went to cook dinner for the kids. She asked the kids what they wanted, and she made two meat-based dishes, two vegetable-based dishes, and a bowl of soup.
Cooking was her forte, and the kids loved her food. They always praised her whenever they had her cooking.
All her frustrations and fury were swept away as she watched her kids smile. As long as they were fine and happy, everything else was nothing for her.
She took them out for a stroll after dinner, and the kids stayed around her all the time, frolicking about. They were smiling cheerfully as if nothing in the world could bother them. Madeline smiled, feeling fulfilled and fuzzy.
They went back to their house at nine, and Madeline helped them bathe.
Then they changed into their pajamas and lay on the bed. They listened to the little robot recounting a bedtime story while she went to take a shower.
After she got changed, she lay between the kids, and they turned the robot off before they rolled into her arms. They kissed her and said goodnight before drifting off to sleep.
The room was dimly lit, but that didn’t stop Madeline from watching over her sons greedily.
She actually slept in a different room from the kids for some time earlier in the year.
Most kids in Worrick would sleep in their nursery from the day they were born instead of sharing a room with their parents. Sleeping in separate rooms only when her sons were five was considered quite late in that nation. One day, not long after she slept in a separate room from her sons, she was woken up by the sounds in the nursery, and she dashed over without even wearing her slippers.
When she got there, she saw Phoebe and two men trying to catch Buddy in the room. The boy was curled up in a corner of the bed and was calling out to his mother in terror. Aldo was holding a Swiss army knife, kneeling in front of Buddy. He held the hilt tightly, glaring daggers at Phoebe, threatening to use violence.
Phoebe was angrily ordering her men to quickly get a hold on Buddy so she could take him away.
