Heart-to-heart.

It was hard to bring it up to them. We were sitting at a table in the food court, with people, families, walking past us and sitting around us. Not only that, but we still had a few hours left here, if we wanted to. Bringing it up now… Well, didn’t matter. If this didn’t turn out well, the day would be soured anyway.

“Hey, guys, can you… give me a moment? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Violet and Robert looked up from their plates, looking up at me curiously. Cole, however, tensed up. He likely had a feeling what this was about. Still, none of them said anything.

“Your big sister and I… Some time ago, I asked her if she’d live with me in my new house and she said yes. I know she told you already, but Sarah and I will be moving in together some time soon. Or… That’s what I hope, at least. I wanted to ask you what you thought about it, hopefully get your approval?”

Rober’s face fell and Violet looked down to hide her grimace. Cole kept looking at me with a scowl.

“Our approval?” Robert asked, his voice soft.

“I… I don’t want Sarah to go away,” Violet said.

“The thing is… Your sister loves you three. She loves you so, so much. And it’s obvious how much she means to you, too. I realized I made a mistake. I should’ve asked you three how you felt about it. See… Your sister… She means a lot to me as well, but I don’t mean to take her away from you.”

“B-But… But she’s going away…” Violet said, holding back her sobs.

“Why does she have to move out?” Robert asked, looking at me with genuine confusion.

“We’re… about to enter university. It’s a stage in school where people our age start to learn more about living on our own. Your sister and I, when we were talking about what we’d do, we came to the conclusion that if we were going to move away from our homes, then we would like to stay together.”

“So… She’s going to go anyway?” Robert asked, his mouth turned upside down.

“Even if it’s not with you?” Violet asked.

“In the end, it really is up to her. But what I wanted to tell you is… I know you three love your sister, and I wanted to ask you if you’d let me love her with you. I won’t ever take your big sister away from you, but… can I love Sarah, too?”

I felt lightheaded. I wasn’t sure if my feelings were getting through, I worried that I was being too vague for them. Talking to kids about something as complex as love… I was out of my depth. But despite that…

“...Sarah would be sad if we said no,” Cole said, looking down at the table. “B-But you have to treat her well!” he told me firmly.

I nodded. “I promise.”

“Will… Will she come back to see us?” Violet asked, rubbing the tears out of her eyes with her wrist.

“Of course. Just ask her. And you can visit her at our house whenever you want.”

“Really?” Robert asked, eyes brightening.

“She’d love to have you. And so would I, really. I like hanging out with you guys.”

Robert and Violet looked at each other and giggled. “Then… It’s okay,” the girl said. “I don’t want her to leave, but if she has to…”

“It’d be great if you could tell her that yourselves. She’s been feeling really guilty lately. She doesn’t want to leave you, either. If she had your approval, she’d feel a lot better.” I looked at Cole as I said that, and I think he understood.

He was quiet, which got me a little worried. Actually, that none of them said much made me think they didn’t fully understand what I was saying, but… Maybe they did and simply didn’t know what to say. I know what that’s like.

Sarah came back a moment later, and this time I was the one who excused himself to go to the restroom, leaving her some room to talk to them. Maybe we should’ve talked to them together, but I didn’t want them to feel like two ‘grown ups’ were ganging up on them and forcing them to accept something.

I still felt my heart racing, but after I went back to them and we exited the food court, Sarah gave me a quick kiss on the cheek while her siblings weren’t looking. That said a lot.

“I don’t know what you told them, but I think they’re more comfortable with the idea of us moving in together now,” she told me.

“I don’t know. I feel like I blurted out too many things and was worried I confused them.”

“Hey, they’re my brothers and my sister. They’re smart.”

I chuckled. “I suppose they are.”

“It’s not like they’re suddenly over it, but as time passes they’ll come around to it. I’m sure the first few months will be hard on them, but… You told them they could visit?”

“Yeah. Of course they can.”

Sarah smiled. “Thanks.”

Thankfully, the mood wasn’t totally ruined. After going on a few more rides, the kids had mostly forgotten about the conversation and were just focused on having fun. Cole tried to play the part of the brave older brother and insisted we go into the haunted house. Robert and Violet didn’t dare to go, so I took that as my excuse to stay away from it, too, while Sarah and Cole went in.

Sarah didn’t say anything, but given her smirk, Cole had bitten off more than he could chew. We didn’t tease him, though.

We left when the sun started to set. They dropped me off at my house before they returned to theirs. Then, as I was having dinner with my family, I got a text from Mr. West.

-Mr. West: Thank you for today. The kids can’t stop talking about everything they did.

-Oliver: It was my pleasure. They’re good kids.

-Mr. West: Feel free to visit whenever you like, okay?

At least knowing I had her parents’ blessing was a huge weight off my shoulders.

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