How convenient for Verity that their household already had at least one person who was (willingly) functional in the mornings!

Liam's expression sobered a little at the mention of the kids leaving; that was always a real solid emotional gut-punch. And maybe a little too serious to get into on what was supposed to be a fun evening with friends, so:

"And if you're here long enough to get repeat visits, things don't seem to always operate on the same... timeline, or whatever. The first two years, the kids who visited Verity and I were pretty young. This year? Teenagers."