Aurelia offered a wistful smile, saying, "Sheryl, being born into a family like ours is like starting life on third base. Whether you're a little smarter or a little less so doesn't really matter, does it? What's important is to keep your heart pure and untroubled. Look at our cousin Skyler who is always such a free spirit, childlike even. But I bet he's happier than ninety percent of the people in this world."
Sheryl fell silent. In her heart, she yearned for Mira to be like Nina, to take her side and help her keep Fredric from getting a divorce.
But Mira couldn't care less about their affairs, and she was too busy with her own fun.
To Mira, whether Fredric was around or not seemed to make no difference.
After a fruitless attempt at fishing, Mira trotted off to find Skyler, her little bucket swinging in her hand.
"Hey, Skyler, I can't seem to catch any. Can you help me out?"
"Take these," Skyler generously offered, giving her all the small fish he had caught.
Gleefully clutching her bucket, Mira ran up to Sheryl, "Mom, look, I caught some fish. One, two, three, four, I got four. Aren't I awesome? I caught more than Nina."
Sheryl was totally speechless.
Mira's laughter was pure and carefree, without a hint of deceit as if she truly believed she had caught those fish herself.
Sheryl thought, “Did she take me for blind, not seeing that Skyler gave those to her?”
She was about to expose Mira's charade and give her a piece of her mind when Aurelia intervened.
"Way to go, Mira! Keep it up, I’m rooting for you."
"Okay!" Mira nodded happily and scampered back to fish alongside Skyler.
Nina came over, unapologetically bursting Mira's bubble, "You actually took the fish Skyler gave you to show off to Mom. That's so not cool."
Mira stuck out her tongue in response, "If Skyler gives them to me, they're mine."
Nina pouted, "But you didn't catch them yourself. You didn't catch any. You're such a klutz."
Mira replied earnestly, "Why do I need to catch the fish myself? As long as there are fish in the bucket, it's all good."
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