"Well, that's good," said his dad. "Now we can get the ball rolling on getting you better."
Zia, however, studied her mom closely. She came all the way to the edge of the piece of paper before stopping.
"Are you okay, Mom?" she asked, in a tone Reaves hadn't heard her use before.
Alara just stared at her for a moment, and Reaves caught his breath when he recognized the same flash of fear on Zia's face that he'd seen on Alara's the first time she admitted to him that she was scared.
"Maybe you need a nap," Zia suggested. "You feel better after you take a nap." She glanced back at his dad. "I think we're done playing. Aren't we, Grandpa Grape?"
His dad nodded.
"I can go with you," she told Alara. "You like it when I nap with you, even though I'm too big now."
Alara seemed to waver on her feet beside him, and he rested his hand at the small of her back, wanting to give her all the support she claimed she didn't need.
She smiled brightly. "I don't know about a nap. I think what you need is a shower." She shot Charles an apologetic look. "We'll try to leave as much glitter here as we can, so we don’t track it all through the house. We’ll give you a good dusting off, Z. But I think your next stop has to be the shower."
"Okay." Zia started to brush herself off, and when she'd removed as much as she could, she turned back to his dad. "Do you think I'm safe to leave our paper island now?"
"I do. And I think your mom has the right idea. I'm going to head for a shower myself."
"Okay. We'll see you later. And thank you. This was so much fun. We should play again tomorrow."
Reaves bit back a laugh at the look on his dad's face as he said, "We'll definitely play tomorrow. But perhaps we should try a different game."
Zia surprised him when she came to him before her mom and held her arms up. He scooped her up, and she planted a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll see you later, Prince Daddy. I wanted to play with you this afternoon. But…" She glanced at Alara. "Mom needs me now."
She wriggled and he set her down. All he could do was watch as she went to take Alara's hand and led her out of the room, as if somehow, in this moment, she were the adult.
After they'd gone, his dad looked at his armchair before looking down at himself. He made an attempt to dust off some more of the glitter, then removed his denim shirt to reveal a white T-shirt underneath. Giving Reaves a rueful smile, he lowered himself stiffly into the chair.
"I was hoping not to spread this stuff around everywhere, but I'm afraid my need for comfort is greater than my desire for a glitter-free armchair."
Reaves chuckled. "Are you okay? You didn't spend the whole time on the floor, did you?"
"I did, and I'll pay for it. But it was worth every moment. That child…" He shook his head with a smile. "She's quite a character." His smile faded. "How did it go?"
Reaves went to sit in the other armchair. "I really don't know."
His dad frowned. "She didn't tell you anything?"
"All she said is that she had to have some bloodwork done, and she'll need to go back in a week."
His dad nodded. "That sounds fairly standard, doesn't it? Where did you take her?"
"You're not going to believe this. It wasn't my suggestion. She chose herself, from the doctors in her network. And she chose Henry."
His dad smiled. "Really? That's good. Henry will take good care of her." He nodded. "I'll have a word and make sure he does."
"Do you think you should? I mean…"
His dad sat back in his chair. "I was about to say, of course I should, but… no. Perhaps you're right. We're doing all that we can for her, but I understand. A young woman in her position needs to feel as though she has her autonomy." He paused. "How did she feel about him being a friend of the family?"
"I didn't mention it."
"Why not?"
