The dining room fell silent for three full seconds.
"You agreed to what?" Con asked, holding his spoon and turning to her in shock.
"I agreed to date Ned! Didn't you ask me about this before?"
Sandy's fork clattered onto her plate, her face full of disbelief. "I thought you would choose…"
Hale was the first to react. He jumped down from his chair, ran a full circle around the living room, and shouted excitedly, "Yay! Mommy chose Daddy! That's awesome! That's awesome!"
Ella put down her tablet and looked up at Sophie with the serious expression of someone evaluating a company's financial report. "Have you really thought this through? He's our daddy, so we have no choice. But as a partner… he's too wooden and too cold. He's hard to warm up."
Sophie looked at her, somewhat speechless. "Yes, I've thought it through. And aren't you a bit too mature for your age, little adult?"
This didn't feel like talking to a daughter at all — it felt more like their roles had been reversed.
