Unfortunately for Athena, her plans for a hot bath, good food, and sleep—in that sequence—were interrupted when she stepped into the living room of the Thorne's mansion and saw that there were visitors chatting at the dining table.
It was only the mere addition of Antonio, Cedric, and his fiancée, Victoria, but it was enough to give her a headache. She didn't want more than she had been expecting: Old Mr. Thorne and his wife, her kids, and then her two friends.
Any more was a crowd, and she wasn't in the mood for it, not even when one was her new boyfriend. And from Ewan kissing his teeth, Aiden's heavy sigh, and Susan's short whistle, she knew that they, too, thought that the three were a crowd.
"Mom!!!" The twins' shouts dragged Athena from her melancholic thoughts to her children, who were hurrying toward her with wide, laughing mouths and twinkling eyes.
