“Has your sister ever hit you?”

Austin freed a hand to adjust Louis's hat and scarf. He also tugged at Phillip, gesturing for the little boy to follow in his older cousin’s footsteps. The cold wind was howling, and he feared these two little ones might be blown away by the strong gusts.

The two little boys replied in unison, “She has hit us, but it’s really rare. She really loves and cares about us.”

“She only hits us when we make a really big mistake,” Louis added, afraid that Austin might think Isabella was a bad person. He quickly said, “She does it for our own good.”

Austin laughed. “I really didn’t expect that someone as well-mannered as your sister would actually raise a hand on you. It shows just how big a mess you two must have made.”

Austin thought this was good. It was necessary for the two boys to have someone they feared. Otherwise, if they were spoiled too much, they would become unruly, and as they grew older, the messes they made would only get bigger, which wou