The pages of the calendar continued to turn. It seemed like no time at all before the seasons changed again, Riv delighted for summer. The little boy was all too thrilled to have his window open and let in the fresh air again now that the weather was nice and warm.

Even through now he still remained with us in my big bed with Daniel and I. I guess he was happy for the company given how fleeting the other residents seemed to be. Even then he didn't seem terribly interested in the pure children, whether due to their own lack of interest or something else. He did, however, seem more open to approach than he had been a long time ago. I wonder if Tobias and Zuri helped alleviate some of that lingering anxiety.

Honestly, the other residents were usually so fleeting I could hardly keep up with them. I felt a little bad for it, for not really getting to know them too well as people, but the staff seemed so...dare I say obsessively involved in their care that my feelings stopped there. They were at least well cared for under my roof, and that's what mattered most. Riv still kept me company in the lobby, surely to the dismay of wandering staff, as Daniel and I prepared and helped him with his assignments. Though it was summer we still tried to encourage a couple sheets per week to keep on top of his academics. Fortunately some of the resident children were kind enough to let me see some of their own schoolwork from the system in town so I could check to see how well-in-line our homemade work was serving him. So far, so good.

He seemed quite interested in his art, so I'd put in some extra time here and there to save enough for some heavy paper and watercolor paints if I could on top of the usual expenses. I have to admit that the constant up-and-down of my wage was a little frustrating, but it was something I was willing to go through to keep us fed and cared for. At the very least I hadn't a need to worry about the pure children as their expenses were covered in full. Any relief is still a relief, and with the turn of seasons I had a bit more in my pocket from the extra daylight and warmth.

As time went on, though, I couldn't help but pick up on some odd gazes and whispers from the staff, even more than usual. For the longest time I couldn't tell what for, but they seemed most prominent from the staff stationed upstairs. They'd never cared for the three of us, but it really did seem like this resentment was only growing stronger. I couldn't really say why as nothing, at least as far as I could see, seemed to have changed aside from my father's trespassing. At least Heather was still kind enough to approach us, provided those other staff were looking away or not present at the time. With a little time and encouragement she'd come around quite a bit and even Riv had taken some liking to her. She did look quite similar to the one volunteer who brought him here so maybe that resemblance helped ease his nerves.

I tried what I could to pay it little mind. If they didn't like me, they could man up and tell me so. Until then I would carry on as I have been.

Morissey himself didn't seem terribly bothered by much in particular and was still just as awkward and hesitant around Riv as he'd always been. He was a strange man and I had a hard time reading him, but as long as he kept his thoughts about my child to himself I had little issue working with him. Maybe he would come around.

Over some more recent mornings and evenings, though, those gossips and whispers seemed louder than before. They were undoubtedly about the three of us, but one evening, instead of handwaving the matter I slowed my steps to get a better ear. I found myself creeping down the west wing to follow some voices coming from the far staff room.

"...sleeping with another man," I picked up from one.

"Is he even a man?" another giggled.

"Mm, good question," the other replied. "Such a small, frail thing. You might be on to something."

"I guess that might explain his...'tastes'?"

...What on earth?

I slowly crept up along the wall just outside of their staff room.

"You mean the bigger guy? Hmm, certainly possible. I'm surprised he had any knowledge behind his occupation claims-- he doesn't look like any nurse I'd ever seen."

"It's so gross how sweet they both are on each other, but maybe that's how kids like his are made, haha."

"You notice how they both sleep together, and even bring that little monster in with them?"

"Oh, who hasn't? First the two men and then the creepy kid? I can only imagine what sick shit goes on in there."

...That's enough.

With my hands behind my back I stepped into the light of the staff room, my back rigid. The three staff faced me with looks of concern, likely realizing by now I'd heard everything.

"Good evening," I said, heavy-lidded and unamused.

"...Good...evening," they slowly responded.

"Might I inquire the three of you about what's so funny down here?" I asked. "It must be an utter delight given the laughs and whispers I'm hearing."

They just looked to each other, afraid to say anything now that they'd been confronted. It was funny in a way, given my shape and size.

"Nothing at all?" I pressed on. "Nothing about, say, my child or our nurse? Maybe about me? Hm?"

Their collective ears raked back as I dug into them with my irritated stare.

"You know, I don't really care if you talk about me as long as your duties here are fulfilled," I said, trying not to clench my teeth, "but I'll be damned to hear such foul garbage about our nurse, or especially about my child."

I took a small step closer.

"We have left all of you very well enough alone while you have done nothing but bash and berate us behind our backs," I continued. "Daniel has taken utmost care of you even despite your horrible accusations and my child has posed no harm nor threat against you, just wanting to be granted the same courtesy as he has granted you. Is such a thing really this much to ask of you?"

They looked to each other once more, not knowing how to respond.

"Well?"

They slowly shook their heads in spite of their biting gaze.

"I heard everything you said about the three of us, your disgusting accusations," I glared. "Any adult I share my bed with is absolutely none of your business and you all know very, very well why I insist Riv stay in my room at night. You were there when that incident took place so do not pretend to be clueless."

"But--"

"No," I snapped. "Let me postulate: If someone broke into your house and tried to poison, perhaps even kill your child, would you not do everything in your power to keep your child close, safe, and accounted for? It's that simple. Wanting to keep my child safe does not make me a deviant and it's horrifying you'd even come to such a conclusion."

By now they seemed out of words and ideas, just staring back at me in a vague sense of indignation. Nobody likes getting called out on their behaviors so that much I could understand.

"You're free to feel however you want about us," I sighed, "but keep your thoughts in your head. I'm not asking you to like us, but I am certainly asking for your cooperation. I won't lie-- I'm quite upset by your allegations, but I'm...willing to look the other way if it stops here."

I turned to face the hall, looking back to them just once.

"Daniel and I partake in no 'extracurriculars', further. We are there to sleep, and I mean that literally. Please just let me raise my child in peace. That is all I want."

Without a second glance I disappeared back down the hall, leaving them to figure out for themselves how to handle this situation on their own sides. I didn't like confrontation, but...those accusations were especially horrible and I just could not let that slide without input. I returned to the nearby staff room where Daniel lounged reading a book now that Riv was cozy in bed for the night in our room.

"What was that about?" he asked upon my return.

"I had enough of their weird gossip," I said as I took my seat on the couch. "I don't really care what people have to say about me, usually, but when it involves my friend and child I'm not going to take that just sitting down."

"Uh, what?"

"They think we're...copulating, and somehow including Riv in the interactions because we all sleep in the same room," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my snout. "Even with our interpersonal gestures, to jump to that kind of conclusion? That's awful, that's disgusting. They know why Riv stays in my room, dammit, they were there when it happened."

Daniel slid a bookmark onto his current page and closed the text, sitting up and reaching his arm around my upper back. I leaned and rested my head on his shoulder as he rested the side of his face on my head.

"Gotta say, that's worse than what I recall hearing some months back," he recalled. "Most of it was just doubts about my work or your abilities running the house. Here and there something about finding Riv unsettling. Not sure if this is a new thing or you just happened to catch it this time."

"I don't know, either, and it worries me," I said. "I know the staff doesn't like us, but I'm willing to...overlook this matter if they can at least keep their thoughts to themselves, and if they just leave us be."

"I s'pose that's fair. People will think whatever, but as long as they keep their mouths shut there's no point in pursuin' anything."

I just sighed.

"Y'know, it's been a long day and dinner was filling, so why don't we turn in a bit early?" he suggested, rubbing the side of his snout against my hair.

"You don't...want to p-partake in those, uh, activities, do you?" I asked, my ears pulled back. "I'm...n-not really into--"

"Not at all, Reverend," he replied. "I never wanted those things. What I wanted is exactly what I have-- just nice affection with someone I care about. While I could understand some raised eyebrows toward our sleeping arrangement, that's still both a hell of a conclusion to jump to and not their business to begin with. If you'd rather, I could hole up in some other room instead. Ya just gotta let me know."

"I don't want anything to go to that extent, and from the sounds of it they'll just say whatever anyway," I exhaled, standing back up on my feet. "I'd hate that outcome and Riv would be crushed, so unless I absolutely have to I want things to stay as they are."

He sighed and stood up, grabbing his book to take with him. We returned to the room to grab some sleepwear and changed in the bathroom, ready to call it a night. With Riv sleeping soundly in front of me and Daniel's snout resting atop my head from behind we both drifted off to a thankfully pleasant sleep.

---

With the morning routine finished I took my seat at my desk, ready to start yet another day of monotony. I took a big yawn and grabbed my pen just as Morissey arrived, his face one of irritation. I wasn't sure what this could be about, but still set my finished work atop the edge of the desk for pickup as he made his way to my desk. All the while he eyed me, a strange glare I hadn't come upon before and I wasn't sure how to respond.

"Reverend, I'd like a word with you," he said once he reached my desk.

"...Did I do something wrong?" I asked, my ears cocked.

He just resumed his glare.

"I have heard stories about you threatening my staff," he growled. "Might I remind you that the staff stationed here are mine, not yours, to command."

"What?" I asked, bewildered. "I did no such thing!"

"That is not what they have told me and thus I will be replacing them with other staff to fill those positions," he continued. "I will not allow my staff to feel threatened here, regardless of whose house this is."

"I didn't threaten them, Morissey," I retorted. "They have been saying disgusting things about our nurse, my child, and I. The most I did was ask them to keep their thoughts to themselves."

"I'm unable to humor this given your position and lack of corroboration, whereas all three of them came to me with the same story. That other matter is another issue I'd like to bring up with you."

"...What?"

"I don't care what vile acts you commit with other adults, but involving children? Are you insane?"

"Excuse me, what?" I stood up from my chair. "Morissey, I have never partaken in any acts of the sort and absolutely not with my child present. How could you even humor such a disgusting, baseless accusation as truth?"

Daniel and Riv turned the corner from the hallway into the lobby, seeing this awkward standoff.

"Is...something wrong?" Daniel asked, holding Riv's hand as the boy hid behind him.

"Those staff told Morissey the same things they've been saying about us," I cried from my desk, digging my nails into the wood of the rim.

"What?" Daniel replied, his eyes wide. "Morissey, I assure you nothin' weird has gone on here. Those staff, among others, have been saying nasty things about us for months now. We'd tried to look the other way about it, but it came to a head last night."

"And so Reverend threatened them?" Morissey asked, his fiery eyes narrowing.

"What? No!" Daniel snapped back. "I was just down the hall when it happened and there wasn't so much as a raised voice. If they've got some vendetta that is absolutely their problem, not ours. Nothing scandalous has ever occurred between Reverend and I, and certainly not with Riv. You really tryin' to say that two people can't share a bed without it magically meaning something else is goin' on? Really?"

Morissey took a step back from Daniel, his intimidation growing on his face.

"Morissey, we've been keeping Riv in our room overnight since the issue with my father, because I want to keep him safe," I said, returning to my chair.

"So you can't trust my staff?" he inquired.

"Obviously, no, I can't, and you know exactly why," I growled back. "And if you are actually so concerned about him -- which I have a hard time believing, might I add -- why don't you ask him yourself? I assure you he's a happy, healthy child raised with love and care, but you seem strangely unconvinced."

Morissey released a slow, irritated sigh before turning back to Daniel and Riv.

"Riv," he called from his post. "I would like to ask you something."

Riv just poked his head out from behind Daniel, but was unwilling to go any further. He clung tight to Daniel's hand and the taller man tried to reassure the small child by wrapping his frizzy tail around Riv's back.

"Riv, I will be right there with you if anything happens, okay?" Daniel said from above. "Just follow me. You'll be safe."

With a small nod they both walked closer, standing just a short distance from my upset employer. Morissey took a breath and bent down a bit to face this child he feared.

"Have either of these two men hurt you in any way?" he asked the boy. "Perhaps touched you in a place they shouldn't or made you watch something inappropriate?"

Riv's face turned to sheer confusion and he rapidly shook his head.

"Are you telling the truth?" he pushed on. "If they have hurt you in some way I need to know about it."

"They never hurt me," Riv finally spoke. "They only hurt the people who've tried to hurt me."

Morissey looked to Riv, then to Daniel, and finally to me, and conceded. He stood back up straight, his face still angry and confused, likely conflicted with who to believe. After all, it was between his trusted staff and some nobody. He took the folder of work and handed me a new one, but took a moment to think before leaving.

"I prefer you sleep in a bed separate from your charge as that is terribly inappropriate," he said, flipping through some bills in his wallet. "It may be your house, but there are others here all the same. Word travels, as I'm sure you've noticed, and I need not my reputation be tarnished from your strange habits. Those things will come right back to you. To solidify my point, I'm cutting your pay by five percent-- if you continue to work hard I will increase it back to your base pay."

He placed a few credits on my folder before turning back to the door.

"For your troubles," he said. "I will see you tomorrow."

After he left I just sighed, burying my face in my hands at my desk and pulling at my hair.

"...Thank you, Riv," I said, harshly raking my fingers back through my hair. "You were very brave and I'm proud of you."

He looked up to me with an unsure smile before following Daniel to his small table to pass the morning.

By now, for all I knew Riv was tired of sharing a bed and lacking privacy at night, anyway, and if so I couldn't blame him. Even then it would be...strange not to have him in bed anymore, but I couldn't afford many more of these mishaps.

If I lose my employment, we may as well be done for.

---