"Thanks, Faye. You're the best."
He smiled at the way Zia nodded. She was watching Faye carefully now, as if trying to assess whether she really might be a fairy godmother.
He loaded up his plate and laughed when his dad gave him a stern look.
"Don't take everything." He turned to Alara. "You should get some more steak before he eats it all."
"Thanks, but I couldn't. I've eaten so much already."
"And you need to," said Faye. "Steak will give you iron. So will the spinach. Do you want another glass of orange juice? And there's cheese in the eggs."
Reaves winked at Alara as he loaded steak and eggs onto his plate, not feeling guilty in the least. There'd still be food left over even if another three people joined them.
Zia held up a pancake. "Have you ever met a green pancake before?" she asked.
He risked a look at Faye, who narrowed her eyes at him, saying, "You can't taste the spinach."
He chuckled. "No, Z. I've never met a green pancake before, but I'm going to have one as soon as I've eaten all this."
"And you should eat yours, Zia," said Alara. "Don't play with it, eat it."
Zia set her pancake back down and picked up the little plastic bear full of honey. "Does honey have good things in it?" she asked Faye.
"It does," Faye said with great authority, looking as though she was daring Reaves or his dad to challenge her. "It might be sweet, but it has more going for it than plain sugar. And those little bees work so hard and put all kinds of flower goodness into their honey."
As if to prove her point, a bee bumbled past the table on its way to the lavender at the foot of the steps.
Zia grinned and proceeded to drown her pancake in the stuff.
"That's enough, Z," Alara warned.
Zia set the bear back down. "I'll eat it all, Mom, I promise."
Alara laughed. "That's what I'm worried about."
His dad set his napkin down on the table and leaned back in his chair. "That was wonderful, thank you, Faye." Reaves loved the way he winked at Alara. "Of course, I don't love that you need it. But I am very glad that your diet requires so much good food." He leaned closer to Zia. "It'd be too bad if we all had to eat liver and onions every day."
Zia paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, honey dripping off the pancake and onto the tablecloth. She looked thoughtful for a few moments before she said, "It wouldn't be nice. But we'd eat it with her, wouldn't we?" She looked at Alara. "We'd do anything to make you better."
Alara looked so stricken that Reaves couldn't help it. He reached for her hand under the tablecloth and gave it a squeeze.
She took a breath before smiling at Zia. "I know you would. But I'm just as glad as you are that we don't have to." She turned to Faye. "And I'm so grateful to you. This is…" She shook her head, looking at the spread on the table. "You don't have to do this, you know. It's… I can…"
Faye waved a hand at her. "Of course I don't have to. You can ask either of these two how things go when someone tries to tell me I have to do something I don't want to."
His dad chuckled. "I'm going to plead the Fifth on that one."
"And well you should," Faye told him with a smile. "My point is, Alara, we've all been so worried about you ever since you arrived. You have to think about us too, you know. It's a relief to know…" She glanced at Zia. "That you're going to get better, and that we can help you do it. I'm glad that I have something concrete I can focus on now. I'll make sure that you get all the nutrition you need."
Reaves nodded. "And I'm going to make sure that you get to every appointment you need to go to."
His dad smiled. "And that works out well, because I was already intending to appoint myself as the enforcer of rest."
Reaves almost felt bad at the way Alara gripped his hand tighter and tighter as they all spoke.
It was Zia who released some of the pressure by grinning. "I can just play with you, Mom. And I'll take naps with you if you want me to. I have these guys to help look after you now."
Reaves held his expression neutral, even though Alara's fingernails were digging in so hard they broke his skin. He could understand it, and he felt bad for her. He knew Zia had been scared, but he hadn't realized until now just how much weight that little girl felt as though she'd been carrying all by herself.
