Little by little Sura seemed to grow more comfortable, and surely with the help of Riv it wouldn't be long before it was like she'd always been here. After another day of three square meals and hobby indulgence, before we knew it, it was Monday again.

Blinking awake I turned to the clock. Despite the eventful weekend I woke up a bit early, carefully removing myself from under Daniel's arm to let him sleep a little longer. With a gentle nudge against his forehead I scooted to the edge of the bed and hopped off, grabbing my work clothes and comb. After a much-needed stretch of the legs I made my way to the door and entered the hallway, the staff on the other side eyeing me as I did so. My ears slunk back as my head turned, but I kept my eyes on them all the same as I continued to the bathroom to change and comb my hair.

I passed by the mirror on my way to a stall, the motion catching my attention. Turning to look my reflection stared back at me-- messy hair, unkempt fur, and sleepy eyes, but a little smile that shone through all of it. Even with the judging eyes of the staff in my home I still clung to the hope that my roommate and children gave me, the torch passed to them from Esmé.

Taking a stall I took care of my business and changed into something more presentable for work, stepping out and over to the mirror. Comb in hand I vainly attempted to sort out my hair, though had the usual luck. With a shrug I left the bathroom to skip over to Riv and Sura's room, quietly opening the door to check on the two of them. Each child still slept peacefully in their bed, so I closed the door and let them sleep a little longer. With my sleepwear still in my hand I briefly returned to my room to fold them up and put them aside before grabbing the children's schoolwork papers.

Over on the bed Daniel had already collected the spare part of the comforter into a makeshift pillow, clinging to it in my absence. I gave a little giggle before returning to the hallway and closing the door behind me. Carrying the schoolwork I soon found myself down in the lobby, placing two worksheets at Riv's little table before heading all the way back to the smaller kitchen.

I opened the icebox to retrieve a box of blueberries and a couple eggs, then found the bag of sugar in the cupboard. Tossing the blueberries in a small saucepan I added some water and a generous scoop of sugar, putting it on the stove to simmer. Tapping on my chin I grabbed the cloves and cinnamon, figuring it might taste nice. While that pan heated up I warmed up the skillet, greasing it with a pat of butter. I cracked the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork before dunking slices of bread and placing them in the hot skillet.

Before long I heard a beat of soft footsteps coming my direction and I'd be joined in the kitchen by my two children. Riv stuck to my side while Sura stayed a little farther away, sitting at the table. After turning over the toast in the skillet I looked back to her and opened my arm, and after a moment she hesitantly came up to me to snug against my side just like Riv. Both of them watched the sizzling toast in the pan as I scratched their heads, Riv getting me a plate so I could scoop out and assemble the first helping. As I gave the plate to Sura he poured her a glass of milk, carrying it to the bench for her.

"I'm not sure if you like blueberries, but I don't know of anyone who doesn't," I said to the little girl as I prepared two more slices of bread. "Of course, if you don't like it, I can make you something else. Please don't hesitate to let me know."

"I like it," she said while chewing.

I turned to look back at her as she ate her breakfast, and nothing in her expression seemed to disagree with her words. I took a moment from the stove to rub my snout atop her head as she ate, proud of the progress she had made in such a short time.

As I returned to the stove I heard that familiar heavy rhythm of the nurse's footsteps advancing on the lounge, his stopping in the doorway to stretch and yawn. I served up Riv's plate and set it on the bench for the boy to tear into as Daniel came up to me, wrapping his big arms around my front from behind and rubbing his soft snout in my hair. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Got started on the day early, I see," he mumbled into my hair.

"I wanted to make something nice for everyone this morning before work if I could and I happened to get up a bit earlier than usual," I said, putting more egg-covered toast in the pan. "If you'd like some you could sit down and this next helping will be for you."

"Do I have to sit down?" he asked with a whine. "I'm quite comfortable right here."

I smiled and sighed, saying nothing as I pushed around the bread and he stuck close to my back. I flipped the bread over in the skillet and he leaned his face against the back of my head, arms still wrapped around my ribs in a warm hug. It was a bit awkward trying to maneuver this way but I managed to put together a helping for the man glued to my back with enough concentration. With reluctance he did finally relent and take the plate, sitting at the bench as I readied my own serving.

By now the staff walked by with the current pure charges, heading to the other kitchen. Heather followed at the tail end of the crowd, the staffmember before her turning his head to look back at me with a sneer. It was the same one from a couple days ago, likely not happy about Sura staying here. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me a bit uneasy, but I tried to just ignore them. She wasn't going anywhere, and neither was Riv. That was final.

With my serving I took a seat next to Daniel and dug in, hungry from the long night. It turned out pretty well, I thought, and the other three seemed to agree. Everyone finished their breakfasts with enough time to spare to deal with dishes before I walked out front to start my shift, the others following close by.

Riv and Sura were situated at the small table and Daniel took a seat to start helping them with their schoolwork as I took my own behind my large desk. I set my previous workday's folder atop the edge of the desk in wait for Morissey's arrival, which took only another minute or two.

Morissey stepped through the doorway and took immediate notice of Sura sitting beside Daniel at their work table, slowing his pace as he came up to my desk. The two children paid him little mind, though I could tell they were still put a bit off by him from how their ears tilted back as he passed through.

"...I see you have another," Morissey observed once he reached my desk.

"I do, yes," I replied. "Her parents brought her here Friday evening."

"Her parents?" he asked, eyebrow raised. "Why did you take in a...child from their own parents?"

"They brought her here, Morissey, to enroll her into the home residence. They wanted to get married but didn't want to do so while keeping her. Her home life was clearly negligent and lacking and I did not feel comfortable turning them away just because of a technicality."

He sighed.

"Well, unfortunately you know what this means," he said, his tone disappointed.

"I was wondering if I may be able to reason with you on that," I said, putting my hands together under my chin. "You did say you weren't beyond such a thing."

"...Go on."

"Both of the children share a room, thus they occupy the same amount of space. The only resources they consume come from my pocket and the space they occupy was already taken up through now. Would you be willing to decrease the cut?"

His ears crept back as he turned to the children at their table, Daniel helping Sura with some of the bigger words on her worksheet. Riv looked up and over at Morissey and scooted closer to the nurse.

"...I'm not sure if I can do that, Reverend," he mumbled.

"I would still appreciate the consideration," I returned. "We are raising her as our own child, taking care of her needs and education, and I have already paid the dropoff fee. I am not asking for much--"

"Why did you pay it? That's on the guardian party."

"Because I wanted them to leave instead of saying more horrible things about their own child. I care far more about my children than I do about their money."

He took the folder from atop the desk, putting it under his arm as he placed a new folder of assignments. Patting it twice, he seemed to be thinking about something.

"...I like your work and motivation, so I will consider it," he said, remarkably quietly. "I will have an answer for you by Friday."

"Thank you, that really does mean a lot to us," I said as he turned away.

As he walked by the small table I noticed Daniel eyeing him all the way to the front door. Morissey opened the door, looked once back at all of us, and left with a conflicted expression on his face.

That didn't go as bad as I expected. Maybe even someone like Morissey could still surprise me, and not in a bad way. After that last horrible encounter just about anything was a nice change. I grabbed the new folder, took out the assignments, and grabbed my pen to get started on today's work.

---

The day proceeded slowly and was overall pretty ordinary. As I worked on my assignments Sura was picking up reading fairly quickly and Riv was learning some more math, long division this time. The two of us were as encouraging as we could be with the latest progress, nuzzling our children and supporting them with each passing little milestone. We couldn't be more proud.

We took a break at noon while Daniel went to prepare lunch and I went to grab some books from upstairs for the youngest to practice. Soon the nurse would carry out some plates of sandwiches, nuts, and vegetables for each of us. Both of us watched Sura carefully to ensure she was eating, patting her head to help ease her worries. Though it was a little chilly Riv was adamant to go outside, so he and Sura did so under Daniel's supervision while I continued working.

Not long after I went back to work I felt a strange presence in the room. Looking around I didn't immediately notice anything, nor did I see anything or anyone of interest outside. I looked down to the work in front of me and rubbed my arm, feeling a bit disturbed and uneasy. Putting my pen to the paper again I kept working, but that feeling just wouldn't go away.

Some sound caught my attention and I looked up toward the hallway corridor to see one of the daystaff staring back at me-- the one from before.

"...Can I help you?" I called from the desk.

He just kept staring from where he stood, staying silent.

"Sir?" I called again.

Still nothing. By now my discomfort was likely showing as he pulled himself back into the shadows of the hallway, his blazing orange eyes narrowed in contempt. I couldn't help but think something about him seemed familiar, even at this distance, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps I was just being paranoid.

---

Before we knew it the day was over, our spending time together in the staff room after a filling dinner of pork loin and potatoes. Both kids hopped off to take showers as Daniel and I stayed behind on the sofa, my leaning against the larger man while he read. I briefly sat upright and stood up to check for any staff, but the only ones I saw were all the way on the other end of the hall.

"Daniel," I said in a whisper, "have you noticed anything...strange about the daystaff at all?"

"Not off the top of my head," he responded. "Did somethin' happen?"

"Not...exactly?" I said, pulling at my sleeve. "Just wondering."

"And you say I'm a horrible liar," he laughed, closing his book. "C'mere and tell me what's goin' on."

With a defeated sigh I turned back and took my seat, that big arm coming around and pulling me into his side. His hand reached up and gently scratched my scalp to keep me calm and relaxed.

"Tell me what's on your mind," he said.

"Just...noticing one of the daystaff," I answered. "...It's nothing serious, just unnerving. Please don't worry about it."

"They bein' creepy again?"

"...That's one way to put it, I suppose. I'm sure the staff aren't terribly happy about Sura being here, but...this is my house, and she's my child just like Riv. I don't want the staff getting in the way; the children aren't doing anything to them."

"Well I'll keep my eye on them and see if I pick up on anything of note, but given they seem a bit afraid of me I'm not sure they'll be so willin' to show those colors when I'm around. Maybe that's for the better."

"I just want the kids to be safe."

He rubbed the side of his snout against my head, continuing to softly scratch my scalp to reassure me.

The two kids soon returned, both of them tired and ready to call it a night. Daniel and I accompanied them to their room to fulfill the nightly routine, Sura growing a bit more receptive to our gestures with each passing evening. She was such a sweet and quiet girl, rather shy, and it pained me that she'd come from such a horrible place. When I had a bit more money I'd see about getting her some more clothes and a stuffed animal or two of her own, maybe some new bedsheets. I wanted to give her the things her parents refused and help her develop and grow. She deserved at least that much.

With both children in bed for the night we took our leave, reentering the hall as I passively checked for Kuri's presence. Sure enough he was there, relieving some of my nightly anxiety before we, too, would turn in for the night. I turned around once to look back down the hall to the three staff looking back at us. Though their expressions lately bared little malice I still opted for us to spend the rest of our evening in the bedroom, passing the rest of our night in private.

---