Untold Moments: Never Enough Time

It was early. All of Caleb’s girls were still asleep. He didn’t expect either of his daughters to be up for a while, yet. Lucy had stayed up late the night before; she was becoming more and more nocturnal as she got older, which was making school difficult for her. He hoped it would settle down when she started high school. By then she’d be old enough to take the cure. Mariah’s new boyfriend, Avery, stayed the night last night. Caleb was overjoyed to see his oldest daughter so happy after everything she’d had to overcome but he’d still rather not think too hard about what went on between her and Avery in the privacy of her room at night. In any case, he expected them both to sleep in this morning.

Untold Moments: Anna’s Assignment

Annaliese Silversweater allowed the drafty dorm room she called home to become her personal concert hall. Her fingers delicately plucked at the strings on her harp with an effortless grace; she was not a master harp player. Far from it. She occasionally plucked the wrong string, resulting in an unpleasantly jarring note that didn’t play well with the others but that didn’t make Anna’s movements any less graceful. She loved this harp. She loved all instruments, really, but there was something almost meditative about the delicate sound of a harp that took her to another place and time. A place and time where she lived in a home with a family that loved her and wanted her for exactly who she was. Something she had never known. This kind of travel was something her magic couldn’t make into a reality. But music could, even if just until the melody ended. In a way, music was its own type of magic.

Complementary Colours: Everything I Want

Pearl sat curled up on the couch in the living room, wrapped up in her favourite comfy blanket with some sheet music in her lap. She had to learn this composition in time for her recital next week. It was her first violin solo in the orchestra and she was incredibly nervous about it.

She looked up and smiled when she heard the sound of the key in the lock and the front door swinging open. That was her favourite sound in the world; the sound of her husband coming home to her.

Untold Moments: A Crumplebottom Birthday

Today was a special day for Erik Crumplebottom. It was his birthday. His mum had invited all of the village children to his party; a sleepover under the stars. He and his mum had spent all day turning the cow and llama paddock into the coolest backyard campout. There was a big blanket fort with sleeping cots, trays of graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows to make smores over the campfire, a huge bedsheet strung up with a movie projector, a swing set, and so many toys. Everything was perfect.

Well, perfect except for the fact that Erik was the only kid there.

Untold Moments: Sugar, Spice, and Everything Lucy

Lucy sat on her bed and looked sadly around her room with a feeling of gloom hanging over her.

Her parents had redecorated her bedroom and gotten her new clothes for her birthday… but no one asked her what kinds of things she liked. They just bought stuff that they liked for her. Her clothes and her room didn’t feel like hers at all.

Untold Moments: Always a Vatore

“Mom! Pops!” Mariah laughed and threw her arms around her parents.

Cassandra and Caleb held her as if they might lose her forever if they dared let go. Three months ago, they almost did lose her. But today?

Today, they were bringing her home.

Untold Moments: The Lily and the Opal

Today was the day. It was finally the day when Ebony and Lilith Goth became moms.

“Here are the adoption papers. Once you both sign them, Charlie, Diya, and Magnolia will be legally your children,” Caretaker Walsh said as she pushed the papers across the desk towards them. “I know I’ve said this before but three toddlers all at once is a lot for first-time parents to take on. If there are any second thoughts–“

Untold Moments: Saving Mariah, Part II

At the hospital, Caleb steeled his courage and made the call no one ever wants to make. He didn’t even get a chance to speak before he heard his wife’s panicked voice.

“Caleb! Did you find her?”

“Yeah,” Caleb said. “I found her.”

Untold Moments: Saving Mariah, Part I

Caleb and Cassandra were just getting their baby tucked into her crib for the night when the call came in.

Caleb felt his phone buzz in his pocket; it was always on vibrate these days to avoid waking up Lucy when she was asleep but a call this late at night was unusual. Normally it was Elodie calling him about the restaurant but Sapore Di Casa had closed for the day hours ago. Something in his gut told him something wasn’t right.

Untold Moments: Welcome Home, Mrs. Goth

Bella stared down at the divorce papers on the table, her hand hovering over the dotted line where she was supposed to put her signature. But no matter how loud her brain screamed at her hand to just write her name down and get it over with, her hand couldn’t obey.

She was scared.