1832

Henrietta and John certainly weren't taking it slow. The wedding date was already set in March.

Daniel wasn't happy about it, and he made no attempt to hide his displeasure. Why did it have to be her? Why did John choose a woman with eyes about as emotional as that of a snake's? Why Henrietta of all women?

He tried to stay out of the house for as much as possible. Hazel would be fine. He just couldn't stand being near his father. He had stopped attending to the studio, and John didn't call him out on it. At least he also could see how big of a traitor he was being to his own son. The clubhouse was benefiting greatly from the whole situation, though. Daniel's aggressions proved to be of advantage to the building. The haunt was starting to look like something again.

Just like Daniel was back to where he started, Serena was also in a bad predicament. Her new class was not at all better than the first. It was even worse. They had bullied her to the point where she no longer could stand to go back to the school any more. Her parents finally agreed to have her home schooled by the governess, but Serena knew that they were very disappointed with her, and her sisters as well.

Daniel felt furious. Not only were he and Hazel having it hard, but Serena was miserable. It was completely unacceptable. He pounded hard onto the wooden board with the hammer. The club would not fall apart due to loose nails this time, that much was certain.

The wedding sure was something. A lot of high class people that Daniel and Hazel didn't know showed up. The ceremony was held in the Canterbury Cathedral by Archbishop William Howley. He recognised Daniel and Hazel instantly. "Oh, aren't you the luckiest of children," he had said to them afterwards, "To bid such a brilliant woman into your family. You must be proud!"

Daniel didn't feel proud.

The rest of the wedding was celebrated in Henrietta's mansion. Daniel didn't make an effort to talk to anyone. The people attending were only Henrietta's friends. John apparently didn't deem his own drinking buddies from the working class worthy of inviting. Hypocrite.

Hazel was looking very pale the whole evening. She wore the dress she had gotten from Henrietta. Daniel kept asking her if she wanted to go home and sleep, but she declined. Daniel silently admitted to himself that he actually hoped she would accept so that he also had an excuse to leave.

Henrietta even had the nerve to take John's name. Daniel didn't want to share names with that woman. She was not a Wilkinson. She was not part of the family. He refused to accept it.

What was worse was that John soon set their house for sale. It was too much. Daniel couldn't live in the same house as her. It wasn't going to happen. But of course, arguing with John was as pointless as ever, and the whole contest of who could yell the loudest ended with a sore gut and back for Daniel. Hazel kept out of it and closed her eyes.

In April the whole family had settled in the mansion. Now the estate belonged to the name Wilkinson. It made Daniel sick. He didn't need a large house. He was perfectly fine with the shabby house he had grown up in. The house his mother once had lived in. Hazel constantly tried to cheer her brother up. "Come on, Danny, it's not half bad," she said with a tentative smile, "I mean, we don't have to share rooms any more."

Of course, that was a ridiculous argument. Daniel and Hazel had never minded sharing rooms. It was part of the reason why they had gotten such a close bond in the first place.

And as if Henrietta wasn't meddling in others' lives quite enough already, she also made sure to rearrange Daniel's everyday life quite a bit without even asking him how he felt about it. "I have signed you up for the King's School, Daniel," she said as she poured herself a cup of tea by the morning table, "It is a quite excellent institution. Very exclusive. You're starting this September."

John raised his eyebrows and smiled. "How wonderful! Isn't that just wonderful, Daniel?"

Daniel stared at her for a moment, unable to believe what he was hearing. "What? N-no!" he began, slowly regaining his ability to speak.

"Daniel…" John mumbled warningly.

"I can't go! It's a boarding school!" Daniel unintentionally raised his voice, "I can't stay away from Hazel for months at a time! How could you just sign me up without consulting me about it first? Are you completely out of your- ?"

"Daniel!"

He bit his lip to prevent himself from finishing his sentence and fisted his hands. Just like that Henrietta managed to invade, nay, infect all of Daniel's life – and of course he wasn't allowed to speak his mind. He was just supposed to nod and agree, no matter what. John always took Henrietta's side.

Things kept going downhill. In spring, Hazel caught a bad cold. It was worrying. Daniel was overly careful, so Hazel didn't fall sick often, and certainly not in the spring. Her health was fragile enough; she didn't recover as easily from such trifles as others. "Father, this cold has been going on for too long now," he had told John, when he was reading the newspaper one evening. Henrietta was seated in the couch, reading a book.

John didn't even look up from his paper, "And what do you suppose we do? Doctor Tate is not in town."

"I know he isn't!" Daniel spat. He regained control of himself as John sent him a warning glare. "But surely there must be other doctors!"

"Do you have money for a doctor, Daniel?" John said aggressively.

As Henrietta noticed the growing tension between the father and son, she spoke up, "I can pay for the doctor."

Both Daniel and John turned to look at her. John smiled endearingly and said, "Darling, that is so very generous of you."

Daniel clenched his teeth. Henrietta eyed him as she continued, "But she will have to see my physician. Doctor Barton. He excels in his field, I assure you."

"Isn't that wonderful, Daniel?" John said, "Aren't you going to thank Henrietta?"

Apparently, everything that Henrietta did was wonderful. Daniel's face remained expressionless. "Thank you, Henrietta."

Henrietta clearly wasn't satisfied, but she said no more. She wasn't at all as generous as John said. The look, she sent Daniel, spoke for itself; I hope you know that you will have to pay for this sometime.

Doctor Barton wasn't as bad as Daniel had imagined him to be. In his mind he had been an old, boring man that didn't know what he talked about, and definitely knew nothing of how Hazel should be treated. He was not at all as kind and attentive as Doctor Tate.

But Barton wasn't very old, he couldn't be more than ten years older than Tate. He seemed to know what he was dealing with, just like Henrietta had praised him for. He was very professional – but he still didn't beat Doctor Tate. "How long has she been ill?" Barton said as he felt Hazel's forehead.

"For three weeks," Daniel said. He felt Henrietta's eyes in the back of his head.

Barton scribbled down some notes in his journal, then he packed up. "The coughing medicine I mentioned earlier will suffice. It is only a cold, nothing to be too worried about. When she starts taking the right medicine, she should recover quickly."

"See? That's what I told you, Daniel," Henrietta said nonchalantly. Daniel ignored her.

"Are you sure? Her health is very fragile, Doctor," Daniel said as he handed Barton his glasses.

Barton accepted them, "Don't worry, son, she will be fine. Just call me in again if anything happens."

Daniel nodded reluctantly. He had a feeling that Barton wasn't taking Hazel's condition into serious consideration, but there was nothing he could further say to make the physician double-check. He was sensing the older man was beginning to get annoyed with his questioning.

Barton was right. Hazel felt better less than a week later. Daniel didn't like how smug Henrietta was acting about it. She was such a snob.

On his father's birthday, he went to do what the man himself always did to Hazel – he visited Evelyn's grave. He needed to vent out. "She's just a hag, Mother! Stupid! I can't stand her!" he said and kicked the ground. The wind picked up a little bit. It soothed Daniel's anger. He fell to his knees.

How am I supposed to live like this?

For a while, Daniel had really picked up his game and gotten the clubhouse a long way. It was more than halfway finished. But now the summer vacation was near, and the boy had apparently forgotten about the deal he had with Henry. The haunt had been missing a half wall and a roof for two months now.

Henry had heard all about it. John Wilkinson and Henrietta Evans' wedding had been all over the town's lips. Daniel and his little sister had already moved into the house. He was sure that Daniel was really happy now. That he had all that he could ever dream of. A big lavish house. Nice clean clothes. Servants that granted his every wish. And a whole lot of money.

Henry pounded his fist against the wall of the clubhouse, biting his lip as he felt the splitting pain rush from his knuckles all the way up through his arm. He immediately drew his hand back, his eyes welling up.

Daniel had better continue his work. He shouldn't think that he was free just yet. Henry would not let him off that easily.

Daniel put his backpack down in his room and started changing into some clothes more suitable for work. He had just gotten home from his last day of school; it wasn't anything special, and Daniel was glad that no one made a big deal out of it. Their classroom teacher had already told the class a while ago that he would be transferring after the summer vacation. He had been worried that Henry might decide to 'celebrate' his last day with something special, but the older boy had not neared him. It was a big relief. Daniel couldn't deal with him at the moment, he had enough going on.

He had to admit that his new room was very nice. It was bright and spacious with a light blue wallpaper, a closet, drawers, a desk and a comfortable bed. Only a madman would complain about a comfortable bed!

It only took him a minute to change. He ran out to the hallway and down the stairs to the front hall. Henrietta was there, talking to her housekeeper and servants. He ran past the group and started putting on his shoes.

"Daniel, where are you going?"

Daniel looked up in surprise. Henrietta glanced at him with suspicion. He frowned, "I'm going to work."

Apparently his answer didn't please her. "You don't have to work," she said and narrowed her eyes, "Not any more."

Who did she think she was? Did she really think that Daniel would just give up every aspect of his former life to her money? There was no way that he would let her control him. He didn't want to owe her anything. Daniel glared at her. "Well, I will anyway," he spat and went out the door.

Henrietta wasn't the only one who had expected Daniel to be content with the fortune his family owned now.

Daniel arrived at the mill just in time for his usual shift to start; he was always very punctual. Miller was instructing some of the other young men working for him when he saw Daniel coming his way. "Ah, Daniel," he said, "I thought I would see you around soon. We can go talk in my office in just a minute." He turned away from Daniel to talk to the boys.

Daniel frowned, not sure what was going on. "Talk? About what? I came to work."

Miller turned towards Daniel again, his large hands on his hips. "You mean you didn't come to quit your job?" he said.

"No!" Daniel said, feeling shocked. Was Miller going to fire him?

The man's bushy eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh. Well, I guess there's no problem then. You can just get back to work."

Daniel stared at the man, not sure how to respond or if he even should. But Miller turned towards his young employees again, dismissing Daniel, so he decided to just do as he was told.

He worked for way longer than he was supposed to. He just didn't feel like going home. Henrietta was waiting there, probably with more questions. It was as if privacy had suddenly become a crime! Daniel helped one of the younger boys with grinding the corn. There was almost nothing left to do any more, but he needed to keep himself busy. When the small boy went home, Daniel knocked on the door to the miller's office.

"Come on in."

He opened the door. "Is there anything else I can do, sir?" he said.

Miller turned to look at Daniel. "Boy, are you still here? You've been working the whole day, you must be exhausted! Go home!" he ushered, staring at Daniel with incredulity.

Daniel unintentionally got a pleading look on his face. "No, it's fine, really," he said, "I'm not tired. What can I do?"

The big man laughed. His deep voice made it feel as if the whole office was booming. "Oh, Daniel," he said, wiping a single tear from his small eyes, "You're a workaholic, do you know that?" Daniel didn't get the chance to answer. "Tell me one thing," Miller leaned forward, looking at the young boy with a raised eyebrow, "Why are you even working? Your family has money now. Lots. You don't have to."

Daniel's eyes scanned the small office, avoiding looking at his chief. It was cramped and messy, and dust covered the floor. Books and documents filled the space on the desk. Miller didn't spend time organizing anything else but his corn and flour orders. "I just..." he paused, feeling hesitant, "I don't want to depend on anyone." His eyes drifted to his boots.

Miller nodded, stroking his moustache. "That's the right attitude, boy."

Hazel glanced at the big grandfather clock out in the hallway. It was visible from the bathroom, right from where she sat waiting. The bathtub was filled, the water slowly becoming colder and colder. It showed nine o'clock in the evening. The seconds ticked by, almost mockingly, tick, tock, tick, tock.

She sighed, her hands grasping onto her nightgown. He promised. What was taking him so long?

"He won't be home in time, Hazel."

Hazel looked up. Henrietta stood in the doorway. As the girl sat on the floor looking up at the tall majestic woman, she felt even smaller than usual.

Henrietta strode into the bathroom. "You need to go to bed soon. I'll just bathe you instead."

Hazel didn't feel comfortable about that. She stood up, looking at Henrietta. "N-no, it's quite all right," she said with an uneasy smile, "I'll just wait. Daniel will be home soon, I'm sure."

Henrietta narrowed her eyes. She did it the way that Daniel hated. Hazel had heard her brother complain about their new stepmother many times, especially about her eyes. He said they were cold and soulless. Hazel didn't want to agree, even though that look of Henrietta's did intimidate her.

"If you're so sure," she said, her voice dragging on every syllable as if trying them out to see if they would prove her point sufficiently, "then why have you been waiting for more than an hour?"

The small girl didn't answer. She looked down at her naked feet, fidgeting with one of her messy braids. Her hair was so thick it was hard for the ribbon to keep it in place. Multiple strands of hair had already loosened themselves.

Henrietta let a small smile form on her lips, and she closed the door to the bathroom before sitting down on the chair beside the tub. "Let's clean you up, shall we?" She grabbed Hazel's arm and began unbuttoning her dress.

Hazel was going to let her bathe her, even though she usually only let Daniel do it. Henrietta was also female, just like her. And she was not a stranger. She was her stepmother. It should be fine.

But something inside Hazel couldn't do it. As Henrietta removed her dress, she began to struggle. "N-no!"

Henrietta frowned, "Hazel!"

"No! Daniel bathes me! Only Daniel!"

Hazel broke free of Henrietta's grasp and pulled her dress up again, but she didn't get far before Henrietta grabbed on to both her arms. "Hazel, behave yourself! Daniel cannot bathe you, he is working!"

"He'll come home soon! He always does!" Hazel cried, the pitch of her voice rising. Henrietta's grasp on her arms hurt her, and she felt her eyes tear up.

Henrietta wasn't pleased. Hazel had never seen her face contorted in such an angry expression before. She nearly hissed, "Hazel!"

"Don't worry about it, Henrietta, I'll take care of it."

At once Henrietta let go of Hazel, and they both turned to look at the door. There stood Daniel, panting, having just climbed the stairs in the main hall in a full-fledged run. "Daniel!" Hazel said, running to her older brother. He crouched down and embraced his sister while looking at Henrietta with nothing but resentment.

Henrietta took a deep breath so her whole chest rose and fell in a very distinct manner. The whole time her eyes remained narrowed. "Glad you made it, Daniel," she spat and walked out of the bathroom.

"Will you tell me about it?"

Sunlight shined down in the clearing. The shade from the trees kept the youngsters cool on the warm day. The only sounds were those of the nature; birds singing, wind whistling through the trees and cicadas calling for mates.

Serena sniffed and sat up straight, wiping her face with her dress sleeve. "It was really horrible, Daniel," she said with a thick voice, "What they did to me..."

Daniel leaned forward, placing his hand over hers to show his support.

"I-it was just a normal day like any other, and I wasn't disturbing anyone, just minding my own business…" Her eyes welled up again.

Another warm sunny day. Another day alone.

The break was such a lonely time. She walked by the lakeside, picking flowers. In this serene and peaceful place of the school, she could be left alone.

"But they didn't leave me alone. I don't know why, I guess they were bored..."

She turned around as she heard voices and cheering. They were coming. She wanted to leave, but they didn't just come to enjoy the view of the lake. They surrounded her, they were yelling.

"Bastard child with a bastard mum!"

"Go home to where you came from!"

"I heard that they do voodoo in the Indian land! She's a witch!"

"You and your family are not welcome here in England!"

Small pebbles hit her arms and legs, and it hurt.

Serena grabbed on to her arms, covering the small bruises. "They hate me," she whispered, "They wanted to kill me."

She tried to escape the scene, but they had her encircled. They closed in, continuously throwing rocks at her. The girls were laughing. She did her best to keep the tears from falling. Regina had told her not to let them see her cry. They would mistake her for being weak. One of them pulled at her hair, and another at her dress. It tore.

"Look at how cheap that is!" they laughed, "Can her father not even afford some decent dresses?"

She couldn't just let them insult her family. "My father has much more money than any of yours! You should watch your mouths!"

They became angry. "Oh, so you think you're better than us?" one of the girls said and pushed her, "Just because your family is the wealthiest?"

Another one pushed her even more aggressively than the other. "How stuck up you are! How dare you!"

"We thought you just wanted to be one of us? That you didn't want special treatment!" a third spat, pulling so hard at the poor girl's hair that she screamed. She didn't even notice that she had gotten so close to the lakeside. Her nice shoes slipped in the mud. She grabbed onto one of the girls' arms to keep her balance, but then they laughed and pushed her again.

Next her body was immersed in cold, green darkness.

The tears streamed down Serena's face without her even noticing. She stared blankly at nothing. "I could still hear them laughing," she whispered.

She could swim, but that wasn't enough. The dress was too heavy. She heard the girls laughing. They thought it was hilarious. Whenever she finally managed to get her head up to the surface, they just pushed her back in.

She couldn't breathe. Everything around her was dark. Her body was tired. This was it.

And all the while she still heard them laughing.

"But Professor Jones came and pulled me up, just in time," she said and looked down at her hands, her shoulders trembling, "I guess they were all very disappointed."

Daniel stared at her. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. His fists were shaking. He was furious. Serena covered her face with her hands and started sobbing again. It was painful. Daniel didn't know what to say. She was so upset and he couldn't even do anything about it. No matter how much he wanted to change her situation and protect her, he couldn't. It was hard to face that fact.

He took a deep breath to get a hold of his anger before he put his arms around his friend and pulled her into a warm embrace. "I would've been very disappointed if Professor Jones hadn't pulled you up," he said quietly and rested his head on top of hers.

Serena grasped his shirt tightly. Her breathing stilled a bit. "Thank you, Daniel."

Daniel kept silent for a short while, feeling useless. He could do nothing but comfort her. He couldn't actually fix anything. He couldn't save her like Professor Jones did. If he had been there, he would've never let those girls near his darling Serena.

But he hadn't been there. He was never there.

He didn't notice that Serena had stopped crying. Suddenly she sat up again, wiping her swollen eyes. "So..." she began, forcing a gentle smile, "Tell me about Henrietta and the new house. How is it?"

Daniel caressed Serena's dry cheek. "It's horrible," he said, letting out an ironic laugh by the thought of how stupid it sounded. After Serena's story, his new way of living seemed like a vacation.

Serena also laughed, smiling a bit more sincerely this time. "It surely cannot be that bad?"

"She signed me up for a boarding school," he snorted, "Some prestigious one."

She frowned at him, "A prestigious boarding school? Wow, that does sound like a nightmare."

Daniel nudged her as she laughed. "You don't understand!" he said, though he couldn't hide his amusement himself, "It means that I won't be able to look after Hazel."

Serena's laughter subsided. "Oh," she said, giving him an apologetic look, "I see. That is no good."

"Exactly!" Daniel said, pouting, "Besides, my summer vacation will also be shorter now. I won't return home until late July."

"Oh no! Will we not be able to celebrate your birthday together then?" Serena said, looking genuinely horrified.

Daniel pulled at her arm to make her lie on his chest. She made herself comfortable as he put his arms around her once more, "I don't know yet."

Serena didn't stay to watch the sunset; she said her parents wanted her to be home for dinner. They probably had guests over.

Daniel wandered around the Blean for a while, not feeling like going home. He couldn't stop thinking about Serena and the horrible bullying she had been a victim of, so Henrietta was the last person he wanted to deal with right now.

He didn't spend so much time at home any more. He hated not being able to care for Hazel as much as he used to – especially after the bath incident – but he couldn't stand being near that woman for too long. She always meddled in everything he did! Maybe it was just that Daniel was used to his father being so careless. Either way, he would rather remain independent than having Henrietta stick her nose in his business all the time.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice someone coming up from behind him; he jumped when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. "Wilkinson!" Henry said, his voice roaring in anger.

Daniel looked behind him, noticing instantly that his former classmate wasn't in a very pleasant mood. "Oh, hello Henry! How are you?" he said, feeling a bit nervous.

"My haunt," Henry narrowed his eyes, "I've noticed you've been slacking off. You didn't think that just because you're some rich kid now, you're suddenly exempt from your duties, right?"

"Slacking off?" Daniel snapped, "I would have been done by now if it hadn't been for your little tantrum last summer!"

Henry grabbed Daniel's collar and brought his face very close to his. "Don't act smart with me. I'm getting very impatient, Danny. Unless you want the whole town to know about your girlfriend, I suggest you finish it!"

He thrust Daniel backwards rather aggressively and spat on the ground between them before walking away. Daniel fisted his hands so hard his knuckles turned white. He considered for a moment if he should give in to his fury and punch Henry or keep cool and avoid trouble. When Henry walked out of sight, the decision was made for him.

Daniel didn't call Serena out on being busy the whole summer. He utilised the time to build Henry's clubhouse instead. He didn't even have fun building it any more. It had become nothing more than something to be over and done with. Some other ridiculous chore.

Henrietta asked him where he was going every time he went out. His answer was always the same; he told her that he was going to work at the miller's, even though most of the time he went to work on the clubhouse or see Serena. She was always so suspicious of him. Daniel didn't really care if she trusted him or not, but it would be nice if she would get off his case. He didn't know why she didn't just give up, he wasn't going to answer differently.

At least John wasn't home to reprimand Daniel every time he snapped at Henrietta. Daniel didn't know where he was; the old studio in the village had been closed down, so he couldn't be out there working. But it didn't even matter, for Daniel couldn't care less. John was nothing but a big traitor. He didn't need a father anyway.

Daniel didn't tell Henrietta that it was his birthday. He just went out to work on the clubhouse like he had been doing for most of the summer vacation. He was sure that she would have forced him to stay home if she had known. He would rather spend the day building Henry's damned house. The only good thing about the haunt was that it was an effective way for Daniel to vent out his anger. He didn't realise that he was pounding so loudly onto the nails.

"What in the world are you doing to that poor playhouse?"

Daniel turned around in shock. He had not expected this. For a moment he didn't know what to do with himself, but eventually he stammered out, "I-I'm building it."

Serena raised her eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips. "It looks more like you are tearing it down," she laughed, "With the way you are hammering, you are certainly going to crack the boards!"

He looked down at his hand holding the hammer, pursing his lips. She laughed again and shook her head. "Happy birthday," she said as she walked closer to him and pulled him into a hug.

He smiled and put his arms around her, feeling incredibly relieved. He hadn't even realised how much he had needed this. "Thanks."

Serena pulled back and began to examine the house. "Why are you even building this?" she said, "Another one of your father's crazy ideas?"

"No," Daniel sighed, "It's not my father's idea. I'm doing this for … eh, a friend."

She looked at him with a pout. "I thought I was your only friend!"

Daniel laughed and charmingly put his arm around her waist, a wry smile on his lips, "Are you jealous?"

Her cheeks blushed a bright pink colour as she tried to loosen Daniel's grip with her hands, "Why would I be jealous? Is it a girl?"

"Would you be jealous if it were a girl?" Daniel asked, playfully biting his lip.

Serena looked up at him. He could tell that a million thoughts were running through her head, it was unmistakable when looking in her eyes. She kept silent for a short while, then she turned around with a dismissive gesture, "As if!" Daniel laughed and shook his head. He loved teasing her.

She knocked on the half finished roof. "So, are you really going to spend your birthday building this thing?"

"I have to," he said with an apologetic smile, "It's a belated birthday gift."

Serena frowned. "To you? How is it a gift if you are building it?"

He laughed, shaking his head, "No, for the friend. He requested this more than a year ago..."

"Aha!" she said and pointed an accusing finger at him, "So it is not a girl!"

Daniel crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Can we just move on?"

Serena laughed and picked up a nail from the toolbox. "All right then, let's get started!"

His eyes widened; he hurried over and grabbed her wrist. She looked at him with confusion. "What exactly do you mean by that?" he said, eyeing her suspiciously.

She merely laughed and took the hammer he was holding, "That we should start building, of course! You are such a dummy sometimes, Daniel."

"No way!" he said sharply, grabbing her other wrist, "You're not going to build anything!"

"Why? What are you going to do, tell my mother?" she said and glared at him.

That was a good point. He didn't have anything he could hold against her. His bottom lip started quivering and his cheeks flushed. Serena couldn't contain her laughter by the sight. Daniel let go of her wrists and turned his back to her with crossed arms, clearly annoyed. "All right, then! Just don't come running to me when you break your nail and you need someone to kiss it better!"

Serena giggled as she put her arms around his neck from the back and rested her chin on his shoulder. "As if you wouldn't want to kiss me!"

She let go immediately afterwards. That comment had turned Daniel's knees to jelly for some reason he couldn't explain. He waited till he was sure that the blush on his face had disappeared completely before taking a deep breath and turning around to see what Serena was doing.

She picked up a wooden board and handed Daniel his hammer, "But it is no fun if we aren't going to do it together. You must've been insane if you thought that I was going to let you build this alone on your birthday!"

He smiled. This was Serena in a nutshell. Never missing out on Daniel's birthday. She had once told him the reason why she valued his birthday so much.

"It's a special day because you came to the world! It should be celebrated!"

His existence should be appreciated. She wanted to express how glad she was that Daniel was born.

You should have been born.

Daniel grabbed the hammer, "Let's get to work."

He couldn't believe it. He had never thought that he would be able to finish it so quickly.

Daniel lay on his back and looked up into the roof. Serena was by his side, also eyeing their beautiful creation. He had managed to do it. He was finally free of Henry's blackmail.

Daniel had never even considered that it might actually take much less time if he had someone to assist him. He and Serena had spent the whole day building. Serena wasn't capable of doing much, but she handed him the tools, held the boards in place and just generally made the whole process much easier – and of course, a lot more fun. He sighed and closed his eyes. The sun hadn't even set yet. He still had time to spend with Serena. He felt so thankful.

"It has turned out quite all right, has it not?" Serena said with a gentle hum. They were both very tired.

Daniel merely nodded, not opening his eyes. He felt her move closer to him, and he put his arm out so that she could cuddle up to him. "It would be really nice if it were ours."

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She had her eyes closed, too. Her voice was merely a whisper now. "Happy birthday, Daniel…"

As Serena drifted off to sleep, Daniel was thinking. He liked the idea more and more. He smiled.