Chapter 183

Ruby was still comfortably trapped between her Mommy and Mama after their discussion about sad chapters.

Her tiny brain, however, was still working.

Very hard.

“Mama had saddest chapter…”

Lisa nodded.

“Yep.”

Ruby turned toward Jennie.

“What about Mommy?”

Jennie raised an eyebrow.

“What about me?”

“What’s your happiest chapter?”

Ruby immediately answered her own question.

“Your wedding!”

Lisa laughed.

“Reasonable guess.”

Ruby nodded confidently.

“Because wedding is happy.”

“It was very happy.”

“Then that’s your answer!”

Jennie smiled.

But then she shook her head.

“Nope.”

Ruby froze.

“Huh?”

Lisa immediately started grinning.

Because she already knew the answer.

Ruby looked betrayed.

“Not wedding?”

“No.”

“Not when Mama proposed?”

“No.”

Ruby gasped.

“Not when Mama first kissed you?”

Jennie laughed.

“Nope.”

Now Ruby was completely confused.

“What is it then?”

Jennie looked at Lisa.

Lisa was already smiling softly.

Then Jennie looked down at their daughter.

“My happiest chapter was the day I found out Mama and I were going to have a baby dumpling.”

Silence.

Ruby blinked.

Then blinked again.

Then pointed at herself.

“Me?”

Jennie nodded.

“You.”

Ruby looked absolutely shocked.

“More than wedding?”

“Much more.”

“More than marrying Mama?”

“Yep.”

Ruby turned to Lisa.

“Mama?”

Lisa immediately nodded.

“One hundred percent agree.”

Ruby’s mouth fell open.

“Really?!”

The two women exchanged fond smiles.

“Really.”

Ruby couldn’t believe it.

“But wedding is huge!”

“It is.”

“And romantic!”

“Very.”

“And pretty!”

“Also true.”

Ruby frowned.

“Then why me?”

Jennie gently brushed Ruby’s hair away from her face.

“Because that was the day everything changed.”

Ruby listened carefully.

Jennie smiled at the memory.

“I remember holding the test.”

Lisa immediately groaned.

“Oh no.”

Jennie laughed.

“You should’ve seen your Mama.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up.

“What happened?”

Lisa buried her face in her hands.

Jennie was already laughing.

“Your Mama stared at the test for about three minutes.”

“I was processing!”

“You forgot how to speak.”

“I did not.”

“You absolutely did.”

Ruby giggled.

“What did Mama say?”

Jennie dramatically imitated Lisa.

“‘Baby…'”

Another pause.

“‘Baby…'”

Another pause.

“‘BABY!'”

Ruby burst into laughter.

“That’s it?”

“That’s literally it.”

Lisa pointed accusingly.

“I was emotional!”

“You looked like your brain stopped working.”

“It did stop working.”

Ruby laughed harder.

Jennie continued.

“Then your Mama started crying.”

“Mama cries a lot.”

“I do not.”

Ruby and Jennie immediately gave her identical looks.

Lisa sighed.

“Fine.”

Jennie smiled.

“I cried too.”

Ruby blinked.

“You cried?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

“Why?”

Jennie hugged her tightly.

“Because suddenly you weren’t just a dream anymore.”

The little girl immediately became quiet.

Jennie’s voice softened.

“For years, Mama and I talked about having a family.”

Lisa nodded.

“We talked about what our baby would look like.”

“And if the baby would be stubborn.”

Lisa snorted.

“The answer was yes.”

Ruby grinned proudly.

Jennie continued.

“We talked about tiny shoes.”

“Baby clothes.”

“Baby toys.”

“Baby names.”

Ruby gasped.

“You already had my name?”

Lisa smiled.

“Actually, yes.”

Ruby looked delighted.

“Really?”

“We loved it immediately.”

The little girl practically melted.

Jennie kissed her forehead.

“But on that day, suddenly all those dreams became real.”

Ruby hugged her plushie tighter.

“So Mommy was really happy?”

“The happiest.”

Lisa wrapped an arm around both of them.

“I’ve never seen your Mommy smile that much.”

Jennie laughed.

“I’ve never seen your Mama cry that much.”

“Rude.”

“True.”

Ruby giggled.

Then she became curious again.

“What happened after?”

Jennie smiled.

“We spent the whole day talking about you.”

“But I wasn’t born yet.”

“We know.”

“Then what did you talk about?”

Lisa immediately answered.

“Everything.”

“What if she likes dancing?”

“What if she likes singing?”

“What if she likes ducks?”

Ruby gasped.

“I LOVE ducks!”

Jennie pointed dramatically.

“See? We were right.”

“What if she loves cuddles?”

Ruby immediately climbed onto Jennie’s lap.

“I do.”

“What if she’s Mommy’s baby?”

Lisa groaned.

“Unfortunately.”

Ruby beamed.

“Definitely.”

Jennie laughed so hard she nearly cried.

Then Ruby looked between them.

“So…”

She pointed at herself again.

“I’m your happiest chapter?”

The room went quiet.

Jennie and Lisa exchanged a look.

One of those looks that only happened when it involved Ruby.

A look filled with love.

Jennie cupped Ruby’s cheek.

“No, baby.”

Ruby’s smile faltered.

“Oh.”

Then Jennie kissed her forehead.

“You’re not a chapter.”

Ruby blinked.

“Huh?”

Lisa smiled.

“You’re the whole reason we love the story.”

For a second, Ruby simply stared at them.

Then her face scrunched up.

And tears appeared.

“Oh no,” Lisa laughed. “Why are you crying?”

Ruby threw herself at both of them.

“Because that’s so nice!”

Jennie immediately started laughing.

Lisa was laughing too.

Their dramatic little dumpling squeezed them both with all her might.

And as Ruby sat there sandwiched between her Mommy and Mama, she decided something very important.

Her teacher was right.

Stories had sad chapters.

Stories had happy chapters.

But her favorite chapter?

It was this one.

The one where she got to be cuddled by her two favorite people in the entire world.