“I know what she needs,” Aurel said, his voice low.
Maisie looked up in confusion as he put her hand in Lo’s. “It’s nothing love, they’re just talking about food, now… how about we count out all the fruit for the week, yeah?” She smiled at her before shooting a glare at Aurel and walking off to grab a bag for some pears.
“I really appreciate you being around,” he continued, as calmly as ever. “And it’s not how you look – it’s what you do that makes me nervous. Élodie might trust you, but she’s reckless. She trusts people too easily because she can. But that doesn’t make me less worried that you might tell the ministry about Maisie. I don’t want to lose her,” he was sincere when he said it, obviously worried. “A week and I already love her… even if I can’t cook. She’ll have plenty of interaction with other humans,” Aurel assured Fred. “There’s a boy down the block that she’s played with a few times, and she’ll be enrolled in school next year. I know that I seem overprotective to you, but she’s gone through a lot recently, and you don’t have to hear her cry at night.” He frowned, “It’s only been a week – you need to give me time before you assume that I’m holding her too tightly.”
“I don’t want you to be in a different country,” he added. “You seem nice – it’s not my fault that you can sense my apprehension – I’m trying to hide it.”