"Why can't girls set off fireworks? Hmph, mom, you're discriminating against women!" Curly retorted sharply.
"Women? You're just a little kid." Sienna Johnson gently poked her forehead, joking.
"I'm not a little kid, Hugo's the little kid." Curly considered herself a big child now.
"Listen to yourself talking like you're much older than your brother."
Curly stuck out her tongue at her mom, and Sienna smiled at her dotingly.
Seeing Pauline Briggs enter the kitchen, Sienna followed to help out – with so many family members, there's so much to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.
It had always been Pauline and Rose Collins bustling around, and Sienna didn't want them to overwork, so she joined in to help.
In the kitchen, the three women chatted and laughed, finding joy even in preparing the feast.
"Adrian Desmond isn't returning to Abyanabad?" Rose Collins asked.
"Yeah."
Rose Collins was pleased, "That's great. You guys are so young, always being apart isn't a good thing."
