The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman) novel Chapter 975

“You’re the one who picked out Emmie’s name, but now you won’t let us use it?” Flynn complained, only half-joking, as he turned away, defeated, and reached for Nancy instead. “Nancy, come here—let your second uncle get a hug.”

Nancy wasn’t having it. She wriggled out of his reach and dove straight into Anastasia’s arms. “Mommy smells nice. I want Mommy to hold me!”

Flynn shot Herman a look. “Man, you’ve got yourself a little rival for Anastasia’s attention.”

Honestly, Nancy was the only other guy in the world who could lay claim to Anastasia without raising eyebrows.

Herman just glanced over. “What are you doing here so early?”

Flynn remembered why he’d come. “It’s about Joseph and Dad wanting him to call him godfather. From the way Dad was talking, it sounds like he’s not giving Joseph much of a choice. He was out the door first thing this morning.”

Herman looked unconcerned. “Joseph won’t agree to it.”

If Joseph had his mind made up, there was no changing it.

While the guys started their conversation, Anastasia stood up. “You two chat. I’ll take Emmie and Nancy to check on Pattie’s lesson.”

Herman nodded, silently telling her to go ahead and take the kids.

Pattie was having her lesson in the next building over. Herman had bought this massive place—nearly 10,000 square feet, with sprawling front and back gardens, and two houses joined together. The smaller, two-story side house was set up just for the kids, with classrooms and playrooms.

Emmie and Nancy had their early learning sessions upstairs; Pattie’s classes took place on the ground floor.

And honestly, this wasn’t even the largest property Herman owned. For someone with the Lunsford family’s kind of wealth, this house was just a tiny piece of the pie.

There were six nannies to look after the three kids, plus three drivers. The Salstrom family was actually considered pretty modest and low-key compared to others in their circle.

Anastasia peeked into Pattie’s math lesson, then took Emmie and Nancy up to the early learning room for their activities.

All of Pattie’s classes were one-on-one with her tutors.

Anastasia hadn’t realized until she married into this world just how seriously these people took their kids’ education.

Sure, there were some spoiled rich kids around, but more often than not, the children here grew up with private tutors and Ivy League dreams.

Born at the top of the pyramid, with every resource imaginable—unless they were truly hopeless, there was no way they’d turn out average.

She was little now, mostly at home, but as she got older, her world would shrink. Her confidence would take hit after hit.

Anastasia tightened her grip on her phone. “James, if it were you, would you do it? I want Pattie to live a normal life, but I’m scared.”

James’s tone was serious. “I can’t make that call for you.”

Anastasia sat there for a long while, thinking about when Pattie got into a fight with Layna—how she couldn’t speak up for herself. Finally, she took a deep breath. “James, go ahead and schedule the surgery. I trust you. And I know Pattie wants a chance to speak, too.”

She wouldn’t let her own fear hold Pattie back and leave her with a lifetime of regrets.

She believed in James as a doctor. Even if things didn’t work out, at least Pattie would be safe.

If they tried, there was hope. If they didn’t, there was none.

James asked, “What about Herman?”

“He feels the same way. We’ve both been worried. We were waiting until after Pattie’s birthday to decide, but after what happened at her party… If we don’t do this, I’m afraid she’ll only face more heartache down the road.”