Mari smiled softly to him and patted his back as he got up. Nodded at his comments, giving a small hum when he moved to get up. Once he'd left, she got up and ready before trotting downstairs happily. She felt a soft smile cross her face after a moment, a little bit of relief rushing over her as she started her jobs again. It stopped her from thinking too much. Soon, though the kids came in and she got breakfast out. She set them up happily before wandering outside to hand Sage a plate.

Sage had worked on just filling up the water buckets and things, and handed the feed out to all the horses. When Mari wandered over with his plate, he thanked her happily and moved to perch on a hay bale and down his breakfast while the horses were all eating as well. It always did amuse him when he did this...eating with the animals. he wasn't really sure why, but that's how it worked out sometimes. Either way, he was back at working with them soon enough, letting them out in their paddocks and such, and working with the foals to get them used to a halter, and the two year olds used to a saddle and bridle.

Mari brought his empty plate inside before going to get her jobs done for the day. It was so quiet. She wasn't sure what she'd been so worried about. She sighed and moved to sit down after a while, Liz coming to sit next to her while Silas did... something. He always just did his own thing now. Liz rested her head on her lap, and Mari just moved to run a hand through the girls hair as she attempted to read her mother a story. She was getting pretty good. Better than she had been, anyway.

Sage had worked with the horses but was done relitively quickly, since he was tired and it looked like it was going to rain. He could feel the electricity in the air that meant a storm was coming....which was sort of good. They did need the rain. It would be good for the grass, and their gardens. So, he wandered back inside, finding mari and liz reading, so he sat down next to them, humming a soft "whatcha reading," to liz as he settled in next to mari.

Mari stayed settled with their daughter for a while, a small smile across her face as she tried to get through the book. Mari had come to realise just how bright the child was. She was probably a lot more clever than most kids her age. Silas had been great, but he wasn't the most academic. Mari helped her when she got stuck on some bigger words, but she was reading pretty fluently. Mari glanced up when Sage came in, and let him settle next to the two of them happily. Liz popped her head up to her dad, a big grin across her face. "Beauty and the best!" She chirped, her big smile stretching across her little face. Mari smiled and let the girl sit up a little as she moved to perch on her lap.

Sage gave the younger girl a wide grin when she chirped her words over at him, nodding his head up and down. 'Ah, a classic," he noted lightly, pretending to peer over at the book as if to read the page she was on. In truth, the girl could read better than he could....but the kids didn't need to know that. He had always pretended to be able to read, and he could get away with it since he knew how to figure some things out. But Liz had talked about this story enough for him to get the basic plot line....a princess' dad got captured, and she saved him and fell in love with the beast, then the bad guy got shoved off a cliff and she told the beast she loved him as he lay dying. Cheery, right? Of course, they couldn't leave it at that because it was a children's book, unlike the real fairytale, so the beast magically turned into a healed young man and they married and lived happily ever after. It sort of reminded him of him and Mari, though he'd never mentioned it since it was sort of dumb.

Mari wrapped her arms around the girl after a moment, pecking the top of her head softly. She nodded in agreement to Sage, a little smile across her face. She had read the same story when she was young, too. Only, it wasn't very child friendly back then. Mari wasn't overly concerned by it at all, but this was definitely better for the kids now. She watched Sage peer over at the book, a slightly amused hum escaping her as she moved to peck him on the cheek. He was always very good at hiding things he didn't want the kids to see. They didn't even know half of what their father had gone through, and with any luck they never would. They never really asked about his scars, she supposed they'd grown up with it. If they ever did ask, they just made something stupid up like he'd ran into something. They never asked more than that. It wasn't long before Liz lost interest at the end of the chapter, asking Mari to put a book marker on the page before she stood up and ran off to find Silas.

Sage watched the young girl interact with her mother happily, a faint smile on his face. He really did have the best little family...he couldn't be any happier. Watching them just sit there and read seemed to make his heart swell in a way he couldn't quite explain, even after all these years. But he certainly didn't dislike it. It was good, he knew that much. They were all so happy here, and it made all the hard work, everything he'd gone through to get this far all worth it. Every little bit. Once Liz ran off, he settled back down with Mari with a chuckle, watching her move happily to where Silas was. "They really are perfect, aren't they," he sort of hummed, wrapping an arm around Mari loosely.

Mari watched her scoot off, a little chuckle escaping her as she set the book to the side. She glanced back at Sage when he spoke, a little grin crossing her face as she looked back towards their children. "They are," she hummed softly, looking back at Sage with a grin. "They're perfect," she repeated. She didn't know many kids like them. They were so bubbly, so kind and so did everything the best they could. They were perfect. The best of both herself and Sage, she thought. She glanced out the window after a moment, her brows pinching together as the black clouds rolled in, the sound of distant thunder cracking. She sighed and went to lean against Ssge, watching the kids as they ran up the stairs, little giggled following them up the stairs.

Sage nodded as Mari spoke, watching the kids run upstairs happily, and wrapping his other arm around Mari as she snuggled in. He followed her gaze to the storm rolling in and hummed softly. "We need the rain," he mused after a moment. "This'll be a nice downpour I hope," he added after a moment. It wasn't tornado season or anything, so there wasn't much of a worry.