"Alara's upstairs getting ready. And the little one's in your dad's study with him. You want to see him, Reaves. He's wearing blue jeans and an old denim shirt. I wondered what was going on when I first saw him. But he explained that he fully expects to end this morning covered in glue, glitter, and goodness knows what else. Those were his exact words," she added with a laugh. "Oh, but wait—I assumed that you knew. You and Alara aren't expecting to take her with you, are you?"
He glanced back toward the hallway. "I think Alara expects to have to bring her. But by the sound of it, Dad's trying to make it easy to leave her behind."
Faye nodded approvingly. "I think that's the best call. Although, you and your dad should both be prepared to back down if she wants to take the little one with her."
"It’s okay. We're trying to make it easy for her, not take over and make decisions for her."
"I know, but it's a careful line to tread. But go on—if you want a word with your dad before Alara's ready to go, you should go and see him now."
"Thanks, Faye."
"You're welcome." She hesitated. "I probably shouldn't say it, but I'm enjoying having the two of them around. I hope…" She shook her head. "Well, I really shouldn't say it, but you know."
Reaves went and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I do. And I'm saying it too."
Faye patted his shoulder. "Good. Now go and have a word with your dad while you can."
When he arrived at his dad's study, he had to laugh. His dad was sitting on the floor on an enormous piece of paper—it had to be wallpaper or something—watching Zia dip her hands into an actual bucket full of glitter.
He looked up guiltily and shrugged. "Good morning."
"Morning, Dad."
Zia turned to smile at him, but for once didn't come running. Instead, she held up her hands, which were coated in glitter all the way up to her elbows. "Prince Daddy, I can't come to you. You have to come to me. Grandpa Grape is going to help me make glitter handprint pictures." She shot his dad a small scowl. "But part of the bargain is that until we're finished, we both have to stay on the paper." Her expression lightened as she asked, "Have you ever seen a piece of paper as big as this? I never have."
"I haven't," said Reaves. "It's just what you need for a good big glitter painting, isn't it?"
She nodded solemnly and made a handprint on the paper right next to where his dad was sitting. "Come on, Grandpa Grape. You haven't made any handprints yet."
Reaves bit back a laugh at the look his dad gave him. When he held his own hands up, they too sparkled from the tips of his fingers right up to his wrists. He looked a little shame-faced at first, but his whole face transformed as he waggled his fingers in the air before turning to make a handprint right next to where Zia was sitting.
Then he leaned forward and placed both his hands together on the paper, joined at the wrists, with the fingers spreading out. When he straightened up, he pointed to the shape he'd left. "What do you think, sunflower? Does it look like a butterfly?"
Zia tilted her head to the side, not entirely convinced, as she studied it. His dad pointed to the center and said, "If we were to draw a black line there for its body, and give it some little antennae—"
"Ooh." Zia nodded eagerly. "I'll go and get the—"
"No need," his dad said hurriedly, passing her a tub filled with crayons, pencils, and markers. "I brought everything we could possibly want, so that we don't need to leave the paper, remember?"
Reaves was laughing quietly to himself when he heard movement in the hallway behind him.
~ ~ ~
Alara's stride faltered when she noticed Reaves standing just inside the door to Charles's study. She hadn't realized he wasalready here. The sight of him silhouetted in the doorway like that made her wish, momentarily … But no. She didn't have even a moment to spare for thoughts like that this morning. She needed to get Zia ready so that they could go out.
He turned and greeted her with a smile as she approached.
"Hey."
"Hey." She loved the sound of his voice. It was so soothing—and soothing was exactly what her nerves needed. "I need to get Zia ready, I…"
Reaves surprised her by stepping back out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to check in with you. She and Dad already got started on a little project this morning, and I wondered how you'd feel about leaving her here with him."
"Oh no, that's okay. I'm sure your dad has other things he'd rather be spending his time on."
