Adelinde woke up in the morning and immediately noticed Rene wasn’t in bed with her. She still got ready for her day, getting dressed in something fitting for the summer weather, then going to the room where they put Tara.
The door was still open, with Rene sitting just inside and Tara still sleeping in one corner, albeit on the floor rather than the little bed.
Rene looked up at Adelinde when she came in.
“I didn’t mean to stay the night,” Rene said. “I just…dozed off making sure the kid could sleep.”
“It’s all right,” Adelinde replied.
Rene stood up and offered a light kiss. “At any rate, I should get ready. Take over for me.”
Adelinde nodded and Rene left; Adelinde came a bit closer to Tara, noticing how the girl slightly moved when she came closer. Adelinde bent down next to her, lightly tapping the floor instead of nudging her awake; considering she was wary of letting them touch her last night, she may be sensitive to it.
“Tara,” she said nicely. “It’s morning now. Would you like to eat something? Then we can take you back to your parents.”
The girl cautiously opened one eye, recognized Adelinde, then sat up. Adelinde wished they could’ve gotten a change of clothes for her—she couldn’t entirely tell if the clothes were large, or if the girl was so small that it just seemed that way. She’d given most of Matteo’s old clothes to friends who had an immediate use for them.
Tara blinked at her for a moment. She still didn’t make any sounds; it worried Adelinde, to an extent. She knew each child was different, but she’s never seen a toddler so quiet; even the shy ones spoke up after knowing they could trust you.
Adelinde stood up and Tara did the same, following behind her in a half-walk half-crawl whenever she couldn’t hold on to anything to stay steady. She waited at the top of the stairs while Adelinde knocked on Matteo’s door.
“It’s time for breakfast,” she said. “Head downstairs when you’re ready.”
“Okay!” Matteo called back. “I will!”
With that reminder done, she returned to Tara by the stairs as Rene left their room and met her there. Tara didn’t accept Adelinde’s help—she looked wary of the stairs, like they were something new to her—but she let Rene take her hand and give her some support.
Adelinde went behind them, with Matteo partially running down once the others reached the bottom. When they got to the kitchen, Tara—despite Rene’s slight gesturing and Adelinde’s kind attempts to convince her—went to the same corner she chose the night before; the other three, as per a kind of tradition, entertained some conversation while each doing their part in preparations or cooking.
“Matteo’s heading over to the palace today, right?” Rene asked. She was in charge of the cooking largely because Adelinde could—in Rene’s words—‘only make hot chocolate and cookies well.’ Adelinde, instead, set out plates and let Matteo place them on the table.
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“He is,” Adelinde replied. She gave Matteo four plates, giving a quiet instruction for him to give one to Tara before continuing. “I’ll ask after Tara while I’m there.”
“Is there any kind of…procedure or something for when a kid isn’t with their parents for a while?” She took out some ingredients and a bowl to mix them in. “I’d assume there’s something for larger cities, at least.”
“If nothing else, should parents lose sight of their child—especially if said child is young—and can’t find them, they’re supposed to report it,” Adelinde explained. It was another change made during her grandfather’s rule, mostly to ensure children were raised in good conditions. That way, the law protected both those who didn’t have parents and those whose parents didn’t care for them.
She didn’t want to assume she would find nothing, but considering how Tara looked…she doubted it. She still acted slightly protective over Matteo, four years after she started learning to trust people again; she couldn’t imagine anyone—in San Asari, at least, although she could picture it in the smaller villages where the support might not be there—leaving their child alone for hours, even if the city was one of the safest.
Rene finished mixing everything, lighting the stove and pouring small portions of the dough onto a pan. Adelinde took out the rest of what they would need—forks and cups—and let Matteo choose what he wanted to drink.
“While I’m out,” Adelinde said, taking out some water for herself and Rene and milk for Matteo and Tara, “Do you want me to check the train station for an August trip?”
“It would save me a bit of time later,” Rene replied. She glanced back at her. “Should I cook something else for Tara?”
“Just cutting it up into smaller pieces will be fine.”
Rene murmured some agreement, and after a few minutes was done cooking. Adelinde brought the serving plate to the table while Rene picked up Tara’s plate to put one of the pancakes on it and cut it. Unlike the night before, Tara hesitated a few seconds until she saw everyone else eating.
Tara finished eating before anyone else, partly due to Matteo entertaining some conversation by asking how long he’d be at the palace and if he could still play with friends while there. Adelinde only partially noticed that Tara moved from her spot until Rene looked down from her chair over at her.
Adelinde couldn’t quite see, sitting on the other side of the table with Matteo to her right and across from Rene, but could still watch Rene’s response.
“Do you want more?” Rene asked the girl.
Tara still didn’t make any sounds, but she must have made some kind of motion that meant she did. Rene glanced at Adelinde for a moment for a kind of permission or assurance, then after Adelinde’s nod took one of the other pancakes and tore off a small piece, offering it to the girl.
She didn’t go back to the corner, instead sitting down somewhere close to Rene.
Although silent for a second watching the girl, Rene looked back up at Adelinde.
“I’m not sure how long work will take,” she said. “Two places need me and I don’t know if each one will take more than an hour or two. I’ll definitely be done in time to make dinner, but I can’t promise lunch.”
“That’s all right,” Adelinde replied. “I’ll likely be preoccupied most of the morning anyway.”
Rene nodded, then a moment later carefully stood up so she didn’t disturb Tara. Despite the effort, the girl still went back to the corner as soon as Rene offered Adelinde a parting kiss and left.
Adelinde asked Matteo to bring her the dishes so she could clean them, then rounded up both children and had them follow her. Tara didn’t seem quite as willing to walk as she had with Rene earlier, but also seemed a bit too wary of the people around them to wander far away.
She couldn’t quite decide if Matteo had been overly adventurous when he was younger—even now he wandered as far ahead of her as she allowed, although he knew the way to the palace or back home if he got too far—or if Tara was abnormally close. Considering how the children of Matteo’s former caretakers were, in addition to any of her friends who had their own children by now, she was inclined to think it was the latter.