"Mr. Cedric," Sofia whispered near the left side of him as he began stirring with the rays of morning sun drifting in through his window as well to wake him.
Cedric groaned and draped an arm over his eyes to guard against the brightness, but the cherub like giggle of his adopted child all but guaranteed he wouldn't be sleeping in this Sunday. "Sofia… it's too early… Go back to bed…"
"But you said you were gonna take me around the castle today," she reminded him, her tone pleading for him to hurry up and honor his word. "I'm too excited to sleep anymore."
"Of course," Cedric grumbled as he sat up to both stretch and yawn before noticing those big blue eyes were still focused intently on him. "…Well? What are you waiting for? Go get dressed."
"Yay!" She jumped up and off the bed, her bare feet lightly smacking against the stone floor as she ran back her chamber to change, leaving Cedric to do the same.
He heaved a sigh, one both of annoyance and relief. Granted, he didn't share the child's enthusiasm for such things such as early mornings and castle tours, but at least she was starting to accept him in the role as her guardian. He knew it would take a lot longer than five days for her to adjust, not to mention he still had to figure out what to do with her all day, but all factors considered, the transition was going better than he expected.
"I'm ready!" Sofia announced, running back to Cedric's room as he was finishing adjusting his tie in his mirror. She wore her short green dress again, minus the apron, and had attempted to do something with her hair with a hair tie and ribbon.
It looked a mess and Cedric couldn't help but chuckle and beckon her him. "As much as I appreciate your commitment to your independence, you do still need help with your hair, my dear."
"It doesn't look good…?" Sofia questioned as Cedric untied the ribbon and band before taking his own brush to it, smoothing the locks along her natural part.
"It was a good attempt, but you need more practice," he told her, gathering the coppery tresses towards the back of her head and tying it up high. He then threaded the green ribbon to the side of the ponytail and tied the bow off as nicely as he had his necktie. "There, that's better."
"Lemme see," Sofia insisted and Cedric obliged, picking her up so she could see her reflection in his mirror. She smiled, quite happy with the modest ponytail. "Hehe! Thank you, Mr. Cedric!"
"You're welcome," he said as he set her back to her feet. "Now, let's pop by the kitchen first and have breakfast and then we'll begin the tour, okay?"
"Okay!" Sofia trailed after him as he left his room, sans robe (he wanted it understood he wasn't on duty today), and followed at a step behind the entire time.
The cook and his staff were too busy preparing the royals their own breakfasts that they barely noticed Cedric grabbing two apples and a large croissant he promptly tore in half and gave one to Sofia while the other he immediately popped into his mouth. They ate on the go, Cedric not really having a defined route in mind for an official tour, but figured the throne room would a suitable enough place to begin while the royals weren't there yet. He sliced the apples with a spell before once again giving Sofia her share as they made the journey and were both nearly finished by the time they arrived.
From the throne room, they proceeded to the ballroom, Cedric pointing out what rooms he knew and which ones even he was unsure of. He doubted Sofia would be able to remember the layout of the castle after only one tour, but at least they made a full morning of it before continuing the tour outside in the gardens after a quick lunch under one of the gazebos unaware they were about to be interrupted.
"Cedric?" King Roland II's voice made the sorcerer choke on his sip of tea the instant it bounced off his ear drums.
Cedric whirled around in his chair to find the royal family and Baileywick approaching the two, Queen Olivia walking her children on either side of her. "Y-Your majesties!"
Sofia had her mouth full as Cedric turned to her and with wide eyes told her to stand and curtsy. She quickly did as she was told, giving her best curtsy as she swallowed the food in her mouth so she could give a proper smile as well.
"So it's true what Baileywick said," Olivia said as she bent down to get a better look at the little girl. "Hello there, I'm Olivia. What's your name?"
"I'm Sofia, your majesty," Sofia said with another bow of her head Cedric didn't need to prompt her for.
"It's nice to meet you, Sofia. These are my children, Amber and James."
"Hi!" James waved with a big grin while Amber shied behind her mother's dress with a small 'hello'.
"I-I-Is there something I can do for your majesties?" Cedric asked, figuring they wouldn't have crossed the yard for mere niceties.
"Mostly settling our curiosity, along with taking advantage of this lovely weather," Roland explained. "And I have to say, I'm surprised to see you out of your tower and robes no less. It's like sighting a mystical creature."
"Yes, as I have so much in common with sugar-winged pixies," Cedric said with thick sarcasm that went straight over Roland's head.
"No doubt it's because of this little one," Roland gave Sofia a kind smile and she smiled back. "How surprising of you, Cedric. I never would have suspected you were looking to adopt."
"O-Oh, well, you know, my prospects being what they are and all…" The sorcerer laughed nervously, not really sure how he was supposed to engage in casual conversation with the king of the entire realm.
"What? Winifred hasn't set you up on any more blind dates?" Roland laughed with no ill intentions, but Cedric felt them all the same. "But is this really a wise idea, Cedric? Being a single parent isn't easy."
Cedric frowned, wondering how many times he was going to have this conversation. "I'm well aware of the difficulties, sire, but I'm perfectly capable of meeting her needs."
"I certainly hope so. To be both a king and a good father means to put your people's and children's needs first," Roland explained some where between a boast and a lecture, Cedric wasn't sure, but either way he was annoyed and grateful when Queen Olivia put a hand to Roland's shoulder and suggested they continue their walk to which the king agreed meanwhile Cedric was now in a bit of a mood and in no desire to meander through the gardens with the royals about.
"But Mr. Cedric…" Sofia whined as he marched back to his tower, giving the girl no choice but to follow him if she didn't want to get lost.
"Another time, Sofia," he grumbled and avoided talking to her the rest of way to the tower where he promptly slumped over his desk and contemplated what he should work on to feel better.
Sofia knew something was wrong, but got the sense he didn't want to talk about it if asked. She paused by the red curtains that separated his living quarters from the workshop and watched him open of his spell books and began muttering off the list of ingredients.
Wanting to be helpful, she walked back into the room and stood behind him, listening for something she recognized and knew the location of. The potion cupboard was the easiest one in reach, and he just needed a couple beakers and a flask. The empty brewing supplies were kept on the top shelf and were easily plucked up by little hands and carried over to the table where she slowly stood on her tiptoes and reached up to set each one.
Cedric only noticed on the third glass item and turned to glance down at her, his gaze scolding, but gentle. "You aren't supposed to touch anything in this workshop, Sofia."
"I'll be careful, Mr. Cedric, I promise."
"Promise or not, it's dangerous – and I'll not give anyone cause to think me an unfit parent. Go to your room and play."
"But I want to help. I helped my mom cook dinner and stuff. I'm a great fetcher and holder."
"It's not necessary," Cedric informed her, pulling out his wand from his sleeve to flick and summon the rest of his necessities to the table.
"Oh…" Sofia's head dropped in disappointment.
"Run along now," he encouraged, ushering her back through the curtained doorway.
"…Okay…" Sofia nodded sadly and went as she was told, but she didn't really feel like playing. All she wanted to do was crawl up on her bed and sleep away these bad feelings, but after a few minutes of tossing and turning, she realized she wasn't tired enough for such an easy solution.
So, she slipped off the mattress and onto the floor and pulled out her coloring utensils and turned to a blank sheet in her sketchpad. She was hesitant at first with her idea before determination to see it through took over and she began drawing, taking her time to make it her best drawing ever since she planned on giving it to Cedric when she was finished.
It took her a good hour before she was satisfied with the details and hurried back down to the workshop to show him. "Mr. Cedric!"
A small explosion answered her from beyond the curtain and Sofia gulped as she pulled it back to find the sorcerer and his raven caked with soot and their hair and feathers blown back.
"A…Are you okay?" Sofia asked slowly.
"Peachy," Cedric said sarcastically, brushing off the soot and tousling his hair back into place while Wormwood simply fluffed himself out a few times to fix his appearance. "What is it?"
"Um, I made you something," Sofia stepped toward him holding out her sketchpad which he begrudgingly took to examine if it'd get her out of his hair sooner.
However, he paused upon seeing the child's drawing of what was clearly him and Sofia with a crudely drawn castle and tower behind them, a black bird flying in the sky that he assumed was Wormwood, and a bunch of pink and red hearts surrounding it all.
"It's our first family portrait," Sofia explained, rising up on her tiptoes and clutching the robe material at his thigh to keep herself up as she pointed. "See? That's you, and that's me, and there's Wormwood, and there's the tower."
Cedric's frown melted into a smile and he moved his hand over to the girl's head, rubbing it affectionately and earning a giggle from her. "Thank you, Sofia. I'll have to get it framed so we can hang it up properly."
"Really?!" Sofia beamed, now trying to crawl up onto his lap which Cedric finally helped with.
"Sorry if I seemed cross with you, Sofia," Cedric apologized, nodding his forehead against hers and heaving a sigh. "I don't deal with certain things very appropriately…"
"Did the king really say something 'bad' to you?" She asked, able to put two and two together better than Cedric expected.
"It's not that it was 'bad', but… oh, I don't know… It had me thinking maybe… maybe you'd be better off in a home with a mother and father. I shouldn't keep you because of my own selfishness. If I really wanted to make you happy, I…"
"You don't want me…?" Sofia's voice turned shaky.
"No!" Cedric hugged her closer before those thoughts could sink in any deeper. "I want you! I haven't a clue why, but what… what do you want, Sofia? I'm sure we could find you a really nice family, one that would know what more to do with you than I do."
"I wanna stay with you…" She whimpered, clutching his robe tightly. "Please…"
"Done," he smiled. "Then we'll never speak of it again, alright?"
Sofia nodded her head into his shoulder before snuggling into him as close as she could.
Cedric chuckled and released her to pull open the lapels of his robe. "Here. Crawl in."
"Huh?"
"It's magic," he winked and watched as Sofia stuck a hand towards his burgundy vest only to watch it slowly vanish. "It's a pocket dimension for storing all my magic knick-knacks when on the go."
Sofia's eyes lit up and she dove right in. "Fun!"
Cedric adjusted the lapels just as Sofia's head alone popped up under his chin.
"Can I watch you work?" She asked.
"If you insist," he chuckled, figuring it would safe enough as she could easily turtle her head back into the dimension if need be. Besides, the lavender scent from her hair was soothing to his senses, returning him to a calm that didn't lead to any more accidents that day.
Author's Note: It's just so frickin' cute, isn't it?