Page 18 of Her Embarrassed Bear Mate

"Sorry. I was just thinking this is so weird."

"What is?"

"You, me. This ridiculousfamilyholiday. Even if your mum is marrying my dad, you're not family. No offence."

"None taken. I agree with you. It's all way too fast. And it's not that I want my mum to be single forever but she has a tendency to fixate on the man she's dating instead of looking after her children." Alix gestured to her little sister. "I don't mind looking after Trixie but sometimes, I feel like I'm the parent."

Veronica hummed to indicate she was listening. She didn't have the same experiences, there wasn't a big enough age gap between her and her youngest brother for that, but she felt for Alix. From the few interactions she'd had with Alix'ss mother, she could tell that it all seemed to be about what Diannewanted. On that front, Dianne and Veronica's dad were a good match. Selfish and self-absorbed.

They stopped walking while the Pomeranian dropped a poop in the grass and Alix picked it up with a bag. She scanned the area, presumably looking for a bin.

"Can I ask something strange?" Veronica asked.

"The poop feels warm and squishy but you get used to it. It's just part of owning a dog," Alix said with a little grin.

Veronica snorted. "That's not what I was going to ask, but good to know."

"What do you want to ask then?"

"When did your mum and my dad start dating?" Veronica asked, trying to ignore the queasiness in her stomach. She wasn't sure if she was ready for the answer but she had to know if this relationship had gone on longer than her dad said. If that was the case, it would explain why they were getting so serious so fast.

It would also mean her dad had likely cheated, but that was a whole different problem.

Alix was quiet for a bit. "She first told me she met someone new about a month ago. That was after she'd just been to that speed datingevent."

"And had they been chatting online before that? Did they know each other already?"

"No, I don't think so."

Veronica felt deflated. "So they really went from zero to a hundred in a month?"

"Sounds like it." Alix studied her. "Why are you asking? Did you think it has been going on longer?"

"I wondered. My parents only separated two months ago."

Alix's eyebrows almost lifted off of her forehead. "Wow. That's... wow."

They continued walking in silence. Princess did another poop and made intense eye contact with Veronica while she did so. After they picked that up and threw it in the bin, they returned to the playground where Trixie was trying to climb on the roof of the playground house.

"Trixie! Get off! That's dangerous!" Alix shouted, quickening her pace. Princess barked along and tried to run in the opposite direction.

As expected from a child who would climb a playhouse, Trixie didn't listen and climbed even higher, giggling with her height advantage.

"Get down!"

"But this is fun! I can see the whole world!" Trixie stretched her arms out.

Alix squealed, clearly panicked. Princess only barked louder which sounded like she was challenging Trixie.

Veronica observed from a slight distance. The whole thing reminded her of her job. The sick kids weren't usually the ones causing trouble though, the ones acting out were their neglected siblings who were dragged along.

"Oh no, we should go back or they're going to eat all my ice cream," Veronica shouted up. She hoped she wasn't overstepping but as long as she could get the little girl down, she was sure it wasn't a problem.

"What ice cream?" Trixie shouted back.

"My brothers messaged that they're eating all my ice cream. I need to go back to the house so I can stop them or there won't be any left. If you help me, I'll share it with you."

Trixie's face lit up and she clambered down with the agility of a monkey. "I can help!" She didn't wait and raced back to where they came from, whooping loudly.

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