I decided to let Riv go from his farce of a punishment, never being one for the idea of discipline by humiliation. He'd been out in the lobby for about an hour by the time of his release and surely that was enough for such a petty excuse of a crime, if one could even use such a noun.

Of course, the shadows forever looming behind me seemed to disagree. I could feel them staring daggers while I hugged my large, confused son, though looking up for a moment brought only an empty hall to my eyes. While he knew by now that something was up, he didn't know what that something could be. Given, too, how he referred to them as my staff...

...If only you knew. If only I could tell you.

Admittedly, even if I could tell him I don't know if I would want to. I didn't want to burden them with things so far beyond their reach of impact-- while they were growing so fast they were still children. Children shouldn't need to worry about adult problems; they should be allowed a normal, happy life by any means necessary.

Or so that's what I thought. There was a constant tug-of-war in my head about this notion as, while it was true they were children, this was still their life as much as it was mine, or as much as it was Daniel's.

What was the right answer? Was there one to begin with?

I didn't have examples growing up, so much of my parenting was by what my gut told me, supported by Daniel's guidance given his arguably more normal upbringing. Until today he never really had any complaints about my methods, though this was far from something I wanted to do. Just thinking about it made me nauseous all over again, but it was so hard to concentrate on my work with this part of my recent history.

After Riv stood back up in the lobby he turned to me with an open arm. I wasn't sure what this could be, but I cautiously took a step forward. Though his face bared no malice or ill-intent I was still wary, both due to his towering size over mine and how disgustingly unfair the morning had been. I wouldn't put it past him to try to take a swipe at me after that, but only because I wouldn't put it past anyone else.

Instead, however, he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me toward his front in another hug. I was stunned and unsure how to react. While something similar had already taken place not long prior I felt wholly undeserving, my head telling me to pull away and hide in shame. Even if that was what my head wanted I don't think I'd be able to release myself from his firm grip around my back.

"Hey," he softly said from above me.

I couldn't find it in me to answer, taking to little more than just looking up at him.

"I know you didn't mean it," he continued. "You just did it because you had to. It's fine."

From behind him I could see shadows growing along the floor of the hallway in shapes I didn't recognize. Immediately a chill crept down my spine and my grip on his shirt tightened, my feeble body pushing further into his.

"Y'alright?" he asked, his other arm coming around to try to stabilize me.

Oh so quietly stepped the staff from this morning, their eyes narrow with contempt and disgust. My own eyes widened and my tail bristled, my spine stiff as a board.

"Father?" Riv prodded.

Each member's ears pivoted back, their eyes unblinking as they stared right through me.

"...Y-Yes," I finally answered. "I'm...I'm fine. Just lost my...l-lost my balance for a moment."

"You eating and sleeping enough?" he asked further, those long arms still propping me up.

"...Please don't worry about me," I whispered. "I...need to get back to work. Daniel will likely get more milk sometime today, so...I do ask you s-stay in our normal kitchen this time."

"They stole ours," he said curtly.

"Wh...What?"

"I didn't steal anything, I was taking ours back," he remarked. "I ain't a thief."

The eyes in the hallway widened and I could see their ears pin back flat against their skulls.

"I got up early this morning because Connor did, that thing with little kids getting up at stupid hours. Sura was still pretty beat, so while Saffron took him to the bathroom I went downstairs to the kitchen to get him a glass of milk to tide him over until breakfast. When I stepped out into the hall down here I saw one of your staff walking out of our usual kitchen carrying something. After I got to the kitchen and opened the icebox, the milk was gone. We'd just got some the other day and I know for a damn fact it wasn't empty last night."

"...They--"

"Honestly I didn't think much of it, so I just kinda...went to the other kitchen to take it back?" he said with a small shrug. "Of course when I had it in my hands they showed up to pitch a fit about it, but since I was the only one who saw what I saw nobody was gonna believe me. They said the very same."

Their eyes narrowed again, heads lowering as they all stepped back out of sight.

"I'm...I'm so sorry," I squeezed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well...like I said, nobody was gonna believe me," he replied. "Given how eager they seemed for a fight I wasn't about to give them what they wanted. Don't want you or anyone getting hurt so I just...went along with it, I guess."

He picked up on more than I would like.

"I'll try to...make it up to you somehow," I said quietly, hoping to avoid being overheard.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he responded, letting me go. "You got work to do so I'll let you get to that."

As I was released the shadows in the hallway seemed to scatter and vanish. Their fear of my son was tangible. By the time he turned to enter the hallway not a trace of the staff remained as though they'd never been there.

I sighed, heading back toward my small wooden prison to carry out the remainder of a cruelly-long workday.

---

Hours went by, time all bleeding together as I scribbled through seemingly endless stacks of paper. It was as though I could watch the color of the sky change right before me, from a cheery blue to a bright yellow, eventually to a fiery orange as the sun began to set. Given it was the middle of summer the sun set very late, my having pushed through what was probably a twelve-hour workday by then and with only an occasional few minutes' break to use the bathroom. The moment I laid eyes upon the clock my stomach seemed to remember all the passing hours, twisting in a knot to punish me for ignoring it for so long.

A pleasant scent met my nose and I turned to my left. Upon the side shelf of my desk laid a plate of food, now cold, but still plenty edible. I grabbed the plate and tore into the contents faster than my head could formulate what it was I was eating. It wasn't until I was nearly finished that I realized what it was: Spiral pasta in a bolognese sauce and topped with grated cheese, with a side of bread doused in olive oil, pepper, and various other seasonings. Even cold it was all so amazing, my having not eaten all day.

I ate so fast that my breathing had to catch up, my taking a moment to pant as I set down the fork. The small clink of the fork against the plate seemed to catch someone's attention as I soon heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I braced myself, but was relieved to see it was Daniel stepping out into the lobby.

"Ah, you finally ate something!" he remarked as he entered my domain.

While normally I might roll my eyes I was warmed a bit by his concern, especially after what all went on today. Every part of me was just...drained, and the food I'd just inhaled wasn't about to make that any easier. I did at least feel better -- though a bit nauseous -- with a full belly.

He came forth to the side of my desk to grab my plate.

"D'ya want something to drink?" he asked. "Since I wasn't sure when you'd start eating I didn't bring you anything yet. Didn't want it to go bad if ya took a while."

"...I-I would like that," I said.

"Alrighty, gimme just a minute to deal with these," he turned aside, dishes in hand. "Milk sound good?"

...Heh.

"Yes...thank you," I replied.

He left with a sly little smile plastered upon his face, soon returning with a glass of milk and handing it to me while I stayed behind my desk.

"If it ain't evident I've gone and replaced the milk," he chuckled, leaning against my desk. "Still think it's a bit weird how fast that jug went, but I guess with four, or...shit, now five kids and us two, it'll go pretty quick."

I stopped drinking and just looked down into my glass.

"How're you feeling?" he asked, turning toward me. "You looked pretty rough this morning and I could tell you weren't feeling too good. Mind telling?"

I just continued to stare down into my glass, my ears slowly easing back.

"Ah," he whispered. "Still willin' to go out to the infirmary? It'll be just us."

"...I...will try."

"Remember that I'll need you to be open and honest as much as ya possibly can, alright?" he reminded, his hand offering to take the glass after I finally finished drinking. "I can't do anything about what you don't tell me and I can't do anything about lies. You've got a lot on your mind and it's plain as day, so please let me help you."

I sighed, but offered him the empty glass.

"I'll bring this back to the kitchen quick and then we can be on our way," he said, already walking back toward the hall. "At the very least I'll see what I can do for your headaches and soreness in the interim, but I think those have a deeper cause."

I quietly waited at my desk, my eyes easing toward the window after a short time. The bright orange of sunset was giving way to the deep blue of twilight and nighttime would soon be upon us. Another day lost to work that never seemed to matter.

"Okay, that's done," Daniel called as he returned to the lobby. "Are you ready?"

"...As ready as I'll ever be," I nervously answered, my hand gripping my other arm.

"It'll just be you and me, just like the other times," he said, lifting the desk arm to allow my release. "Everything is confidential and stays only with me."

I walked past the desk and he wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me into his side as we both left the workspace, walking across the lobby to the front door. He opened the door and I followed close by, our taking a right from the porch toward the smaller building on the property. He unlocked and opened the heavy door, inviting me inside before turning around and closing it, locking it tight.

It was just us.

Daniel gently took me by the arm and led me to a nearby cot, his taking a seat at his desk to grab a pen and fill out check-in paperwork.

"This'll be just a moment," he said, clicking the pen and quickly writing on some blanks. "I already had most of this filled out this morning, else it'd take a lot longer."

My chin dipped down and shoulders raised in an awkward sitting cower as my eyes turned to the floor. I was hoping to avoid all of this, but here I was.

After only about a minute or two his paperwork was finished and set aside on the desk for later.

"Okay, Sam. Let's begin."

---