They sat in the lobby of the ice rink drinking hot chocolate, unlacing their skates and putting them back in their bags. The ice rink had been too full so instead of playing hockey they just skated around. Regardless, the kids still had fun, as did Sydney and Michael. Zoey, who had only learned to skate 3 months ago, still fell, but Evan helped her to get more balance and feel better, so by the end of the three hours she was skating perfectly and hadn't fallen for the last hour or so. Sydney definitely knew she had two future hockey players on her hands, especially if Michael had anything to say about it.

Once they were done with their hot chocolate, they made sure their skates were in their bags before grabbing them and walking back out of the ice rink and across the parking lot. They got back in the van, Sydney and Michael both making sure that Evan and Zoey were strapped up properly before Sydney pulled out of the parking lot. Looking at her watch, Sydney discovered that it was almost 5 pm.

"Does everyone want to go out for dinner?" she asked, looking back and forth between the three faces occupying the van besides herself.

As if a volcano were erupting, the noise rumbled out of all three of their mouths at the same time, "Yeah!" Sydney had to smile, her whole life was in this van, it might sound pathetic, but her whole life was contained between these three people. She couldn't believe how much her life had changed, she barely thought about her old life anymore, except when Michael would come home from work and talk about new CIA cases that were happening. But after thinking about her old life, she had to smile about her new life, she loved staying home with Zoey all day long while Michael was at work and Evan was at school. Her and Zoey would bake, play, they even had a designated time each afternoon that they took a nap. All in all, they just had a really good time together. And she was determined to not make Zoey or Evan for that matter to have to grow up without a mother for most of their childhood, or for that matter a father either. She didn't care what it took, but she was going to make sure her kids never went through the heartbreak of losing a parent, like both her and Michael did at a young age. She would protect them, no matter what it took.

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