This was Abigail’s late day for clinic, and she wanted to catch her before she left. On her late days she dropped the kids off, then went home for a nap before heading to work. They usually were able to spend a few minutes alone even though Abigail’s parents were still living with them. She was glad, since Abigail’s dad was overseeing the construction of an addition to the house, so everyone would be comfortable. She didn’t want a repeat of what had happened to Cain when they had to remodel their house. No one who wasn’t personally vetted by her was allowed on the construction site.

“Hey, baby,” Abigail said, looking up when she walked in. She was sitting in the kitchen with her mother having coffee, still wearing her sweats and a T-shirt. Liam was sitting in her lap having juice, but he seemed to perk up when he noticed her. The youngest of the Eaton children had a sort of radar for Fin whenever she was in the house. No matter where, he found her and liked engaging in long conversations.

“Fin!” Liam got down, ran to her, and wrapped his arms around her leg. “Look.” Liam held up a picture. She picked him up and sat down next to Abigail and kissed her, then admired Liam’s masterpiece.

The crude drawing had seven stick figures and what appeared to be the lake behind the house. The people had to be her, Abigail, his grandparents, and his siblings, but it was his name that captured her full attention. The preschool they were sending him to was showing him how to write his name and he hadn’t quite gotten the scale down, but he’d spelled Abbott correctly.

“Wow, buddy, this is a beautiful picture. Is this your homework?” she asked, trying not to cry.

“Me and Vicky want to be Abbott, like you. I wanted to show my teacher.” He kissed her cheek and went with his grandmother when she said it was time to go to daycare. “That’s okay, right?” He turned and ran back. This kid was so earnest she had a hard time saying no to whatever he wanted.

“We’ll have to check with your mom, but that’s okay with me.” She walked them to the door and waved as they pulled out. Abigail put her arms around her waist as she stood in the doorway.

“Before you accuse me of anything, he and the girls came up with that on their own. It’s the name the girls wanted to put on their school records when I signed them up last week, and how they introduced themselves today when I dropped them off.”

“You dropped them off in this?” She plucked Abigail’s T-shirt before picking her up and letting her wrap her legs around her waist. It was clear she wasn’t wearing a bra, and she doubted she wore underwear.