Charlotte hurriedly answered the phone.
Ruby went straight to the point after some greetings. “Timothy has transferred to another school. When will Ellie return? It’s been a while since she last came to school.”
“I’ll let you know after talking this through with the kids.”
After hanging up, Charlotte felt unsettled. That mother-daughter duo may have committed all sorts of atrocities, but the child is innocent.
She really didn’t like it when children became caught up in their parents’ affairs.
But still, even if Hector is now a lost cause, the Sterlings still have a solid foundation. They won’t fall that easily.
Hector’s parents probably chose to send the child elsewhere so that the boy wouldn’t suffer.
Thinking about all this, Charlotte slowly felt better.
She returned home to find Mrs. Berry caught up in an array of tasks—making toast and cooking oatmeal while the three kids called out to her.
“Can you braid my hair, Mrs. Berry? My hair is all over the place!”
Ellie’s squeaky voice came from her bedroom. The child had such long and thick hair that she couldn’t wash up before braiding her hair first.
“Coming!” Mrs. Berry answered while adding some toppings into the oatmeal.
“Mrs. Berry! We’re out of toilet paper,” Jamie shouted in a panic. “I haven’t cleaned my butt yet!”
“But there was still some left this morning! Robbie must have used it all up,” Mrs. Berry replied hastily. “I’ll get you another roll in a bit. Give me a second!”
“Where did Fifi’s breakfast go, Mrs. Berry?” Robbie’s loud voice came from the balcony. “She’s so hungry that she can’t stop crying! I’ve been looking everywhere for her food.”
“I just took another pack out yesterday! Isn’t it on top of the washing machine? Be patient, now. I’ll be there right away.”
Mrs. Berry lowered the heat on the stove before hurriedly taking a roll of toilet paper to the bathroom. Then, she headed to the balcony to hand Fifi’s food to Robbie.
After washing her hands, she rushed into Ellie’s room to braid her hair.
Ellie sat in front of the dressing table, braiding her Barbie doll’s hair while talking to it.
“Be good at school today, Deedee. Drink lots of water, and don’t eat too much candy, or you’ll get cavities. It’ll hurt if you have to visit the dentist.”
Then, she gave another doll a change of clothes. “Be a good girl too, Lulu. We’ll be having art classes today. Don’t get paint on your dress, okay?”
“Haha! So you’ve named this one, too? You still have a few more in your closet, do they all have names?”
Seeing Ellie behave in such an adorable manner seemed to completely energize Mrs. Berry, who was standing behind the girl to braid her hair.
“Yeah! I’ve already named like five of them!”
Ellie tilted her head and giggled. “When Mommy comes back, I’ll introduce her to our new family members!”
“Well, of course!”
“Mommy’s home!”
At this moment, Charlotte walked through the door with a few bags of breakfast items in her hand. “Robbie! Jamie! Ellie! Look what Mommy’s brought back!”
“Mommy!”
The three children rushed over.
Robbie still had some bird feed in his hand, and Fifi was eating out of his palm.
Jamie ran over while clutching onto his pants, not realizing that there was toilet paper beneath his foot. He ended up leaving an entire white trail behind him as he ran.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Ellie only had one side of her hair braided, while the other side hadn’t been tied up yet.
Mrs. Berry chased after her with a hairbrush. “Don’t run, Ellie! I haven’t tied one of your braids yet!”
“Mommy!”
“Oh, my! Slow down!”
Charlotte knelt on the floor with open arms and stumbled backward upon receiving the three children. Once again, she had been knocked to the ground.
Her butt hurt, but her heart felt warm.