“We’re not six yet,” Ava corrected immediately.
“Technically,” Eli added dramatically, “we are six adjacent.”
Madam Eloise laughed softly.
“I stand corrected.”
Then she turned toward Ava.
“What’s your favorite subject in school?”
“Reading,” Ava answered instantly. “And science. And history sometimes if nobody ruins it.”
Madam Eloise blinked slowly.
“What does that mean?”
“Some teachers explain history like boring people,” Ava admitted honestly. almost choked on my drink.
Then Madam Eloise turned toward Eli.
“And what about you?”
Eli thought deeply for a moment.
“Lunch.”
“That is not a subject.”
“It emotionally is.”
The woman laughed so hard tears entered her eyes.
Then Ava immediately started explaining the mystery puzzle crate.
“It has encrypted clues and hidden compartments and invisible ink and layered problem solving.”
Madam Eloise nodded seriously like she was attending a board meeting.
“That sounds impressive.”
“It is,” Ava confirmed proudly.
Meanwhile Eli leaned closer conspiratorially.
“I also think pigeons are suspicious.”
Madam Eloise paused.
“…Pigeons?”
Speech
“You two changed my life before you could even speak properly. And every single day since then, you’ve continued teaching me things I never expected.”
I looked toward Ava.
“You are thoughtful in ways that genuinely scare me sometimes.”
She laughed immediately while hiding her face.
Then I looked at Elit
“And you…” I smiled helplessly. “You make life louder and brighter and more ridiculous.”
The guests laughed softly.
“I hope both of you grow up knowing one thing very clearly,” I continued quietly. “You were loved loudly from the very beginning.”
By the time I finished, I was dangerously close to crying publicly.
Which was humiliating.
Then somehow the twins gave their own speech too.
And honestly?

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Too Late To Love Me I Already Left With His Twins (Lydia and Dave)