The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 786

"Don't wake her up."

"Look at her, she's sleeping like a little piggy."

"You're the pig."

"Hey, has she always been this cute?"

"She was even cuter when she was a baby."

"Send me some of her baby photos then."

Piqued with interest, Natalie pulled out her phone and sent Marico a few photos of a younger Kristin.

"This one is from when she was one month old. I took her to a studio, and the photographer said she'd definitely be a beauty when she grew up."

Marico zoomed in on the photo. "Her eyes were already this big at one month?"

"Yeah, they looked unusually big, but she grew into them as she got older."

"How old is she in this one?" Marico pointed to another photo.

"A year and a half. She had just learned to walk."

"It took her a year and a half to learn to walk?"

"She took a couple of steps at one year, but she fell and bumped her chin. She refused to walk again until she was a year and a half."

"That bump must have hurt a lot."

"She cried for a long time."

The two chatted as they looked through the photos. It was unclear who fell asleep first, but the three of them ended up sharing the large bed for the night.

Natalie was woken by quiet voices. She opened her eyes to see Kristin with her back to her, chatting happily with Marico, even kicking one leg up in excitement.

"There's this boy in my class named Jimmy. He always likes to follow me around. Wherever I go, he follows."

"Jimmy is a boy?"

"Yeah."

"Do you dislike him?"

"He's okay. He always secretly gives me candy."

"From now on, I'll buy you lots of candy. We don't need his."

"But he'll be sad."

"We sleep in separate beds after we're done, obviously."

It wasn't appropriate to discuss this in front of Kristin, so Natalie didn't press it, though she didn't buy a word of it.

Kristin looked left at Marico, then right at Natalie, her little feet kicking happily.

"Mom, Marico, we're like a real family!"

Natalie knew Kristin had always longed for a father figure. She felt terrible that adult issues had kept her from fulfilling this small wish.

"Kristin, from now on, the three of us are a family."

Kristin's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Like Penelope, Hubert, Julian, and Uncle Handsome? A family like theirs?"

"Yes."

Kristin bounced on the bed in pure joy. "Wow! Marico is our family now too!"

Marico froze. He was a terrible family member. He only knew how to cause trouble and make everyone worry about him, which was why they hated him. He was angry about it, but also thought he deserved it. Yet, even with how awful he was, someone actually wanted him to be family.