The truck arrived just after mid-morning.
Arianne was already aware of it before the doorbell rang. She had been standing near the window in the sitting room, reviewing a document on her tablet, when the movement outside caught her eye.
She lowered the tablet.
Behind her, the house held for a moment.
Then—
"Is that for us?"
Lily's voice came first, light and immediate, cutting through as she moved quickly across the room, steps uneven with excitement. Leo followed a second later, not rushing the same way but faster than usual, his tablet already lit.
Arianne didn't turn immediately.
She had known it would arrive today. She had arranged it herself — the order placed, the time confirmed, the room prepared. None of that had made the moment of hearing it any easier to stand in. There was a particular weight to choosing something you'd spent years not choosing, and it didn't go away just because the choice had finally been made.
