Nearly a month had passed since the incident with Lilith.
Rosalie had long since stopped arguing with Dean about it.
After his so-called apology, she had acted like everything was fine. In truth, he hadn't really apologized at all. Instead, he made excuses and twisted the situation until it almost sounded like she had overreacted.
He had even tried to convince her that he only asked her to give Lilith part of her inheritance because he was worried about family.
Rosalie almost laughed when she thought about it now.
It had been borderline gaslighting, but in the end she still pretended to forgive him.
It wasn't time for revenge yet.
So she swallowed her anger and acted like she believed him.
She even went as far as telling him she would try to get some money out of the trust to help Lilith.
Of course, she had absolutely no intention of doing that.
But the lie bought her time.
More importantly, it kept Dean from becoming suspicious after the explosive reaction she had shown earlier.
For now, she needed him calm and unsuspecting.
Over the past month, Rosalie had been taking her children out more and more often.
If the apocalypse was coming soon, then she wanted them to enjoy being children while they still could.
She bought them toys.
She took them to fun places.
She bought all of them brand new clothes.
In her past life, things like that had been rare.
Not because she couldn't afford them.
But because she had always been trying not to upset Chloe and Caleb.
Those two children had thrown temper tantrums anytime Rosalie's kids did anything fun or went somewhere special.
And somehow, it always became Rosalie's fault.
Her parents, Lilith, and Dean would guilt her endlessly whenever she did something nice for her own children.
After all, poor Lilith was a single mother.
That was the excuse they always used.
If Rosalie took her children somewhere fun, they would complain that Chloe and Caleb couldn't go.
If Rosalie bought her children something nice, they would remind her that Lilith couldn't afford those things.
But everyone conveniently forgot that before Lilith wasted all of her money, Chloe and Caleb had done plenty of fun things themselves.
Still, somehow it was always Rosalie and her children who were made to feel guilty.
One memory stood out clearly in her mind.
In her past life, she hadn't even been able to celebrate Seth's fourth birthday.
February 7.
It had been the last birthday any of her children celebrated before the apocalypse began.
But that year, Chloe and Caleb had been "sick."
Because they were sick, they couldn't attend the birthday celebration.
So the entire family decided it would be unfair to celebrate without them.
Rosalie still remembered the look on Seth's little face when he was told there wouldn't be a birthday party.
That memory had haunted her for years.
But this time…
Things were different.
This time, Rosalie took all of her children out to celebrate Seth's birthday properly.
The day started with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, Seth's favorite.
After breakfast, they went to the aquarium, where Seth pressed his face against the glass and excitedly watched the fish swimming past.
Then they went to the mall, where Rosalie let each of the children pick out something they liked.
After shopping, they had lunch at the restaurant Seth chose.
It wasn't fancy, but he was thrilled to be the one making the decision.
When they finally returned home that evening, Rosalie made Seth's favorite dinner—macaroni and cheese with dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.
The children gathered around the small table as Rosalie placed the birthday cake in front of Seth.
Candles flickered softly in the dim kitchen light.
"Happy birthday to you…"
The children sang loudly and happily.
Seth's eyes shone with excitement as he leaned forward and blew out the candles.
It was such a small thing.
But it was something none of Rosalie's children had truly been allowed to enjoy before.
Ever since Chloe and Caleb had been toddlers, they had always taken over every birthday.
They picked the cake flavor.
They insisted on blowing out the candles.
And the adults had always allowed it.
Rosalie clenched her hands slightly as she remembered.
But not this time.
This time the day belonged entirely to Seth.
Dean wasn't there for the celebration.
He was busy helping Lilith take care of Chloe and Caleb, who were—once again—sick.
Thinking about it now, Rosalie wasn't even sure they had really been sick in either lifetime.
More likely, they had simply wanted to pull the attention back onto themselves.
But this time…
Rosalie didn't care.
She wasn't going to worry about hurting the feelings of two spoiled six-year-olds.
Instead, she focused on the sound of her children laughing.
For the first time in a long time, Rosalie simply enjoyed the freedom of spending time with her own children.
And this time…
She wasn't going to let anyone take that away from them.