— After leaving Aurora in her crib, Mallory walked over Diaval, with the tip of her heel she poked his ribs a few times, until he began to move.
— Diaval it's late, I'm sorry, I should have called.
— Hey, Mallory... what time is? —he asked rubbing his eyes and a few strands of hair away from his face.
— Almost midnight. Sorry, the girl who was your replacement today made some mistakes and I had to stay.
— I see, well then I'll go now, I will come tomorrow before you leave for work.
— It's late, you can stay I mean... — Mallory began before trailing off. Diaval knew it was not a matter of time, or guilt that had Mallory wanting him to stay. It was the matter of it being the first night she would have with Aurora, and to take care of a baby you could barely look at seemed difficult.
— Right miss.
— Tomorrow please start looking for a full time nanny.
— Yes miss —Mallory was leaving the room, when suddenly she turned on her heels.
— One other thing, who chose the decor?
— Me... Of course, I had a little help from a retail girl and five moms.
— Well you seven have good taste. Thanks by the way —Mallory left the room, and Diaval couldn't imagine everything that woman was keeping, she had just lost her sister, her only family (of course apart from Aurora), and now was responsible for that little girl and she was so stoic. He removed the remnants of sleep and went to Aurora, which was located in the center of the crib, he moved to her feet to touch the base of it, according to a recommendation he had read in the internet. He sat beside the cradle, reading parenting blogs, and other details that would otherwise seem insignificant, could make the difference between a happy baby and a baby in the hospital. Fragile creatures.
When his eyes started to get worn out, he looked to Aurora one last time. Diaval never got tired of seeing the girl. It was a strange feeling, a mixture of pity, tenderness, and something still unidentified, a warm feeling ... almost familiar. He left the room and returned to the living room, leaned back on the couch, estimated that in a half hour Aurora's going wake up, to eat.
Mallory was trying to sleep but even after a quick, warm bath she still couldn't seem to relax. She wanted to sleep, but her brain would not stop. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts of the night before. At least when she had been working, she could forget everything for at least a few moments. At least until Diaval called and brought her to reality. And now she had a part of reality in the room down the hall. When it was silent and she went to see what was happening, she found Diaval leaning on the couch. He looked tired and until then she had never realized how young he was. And she thought of all the things that she was unaware, of all the things she did not know. As strange as it seemed for two people who spent so much time together, they never talked about their private lives and she knew very little about him. Meanwhile he knew a lot of details about her, the kind of details that people learn after years of coexistence, insignificant things like how she took her coffee, though she supposed those were important to some extent. But on more important things like her broken heart and the truth about her past with Aurora's father, that he did not know. It was the closest she had to a friend and to Mallory that seemed somewhat pathetic, as she had to pay the man to spend time with her. Aurora's crying of broke the silence of the night was loud and Mallory froze instantly. Diaval sat up abruptly, without even noticing her presence and he ran to the room. The crying quickly stopped and she followed quietly, peeking through the open door. He was carrying the baby while feeding her a bottle of milk. Mallory closed the door and went to her room, curled up on herself and thought about how she could not do that alone. That girl could not have fallen into worse hands. How dare Leila leave her with that girl after everything.
When Aurora was asleep, Diaval went back out into the living room. He was sure he seen Mallory in the darkness, but then again maybe that had been a dream. That would be the first of many nights in which they buried themselves in a rut without words. Diaval practically lived there, went home only to change his clothes, ate what she brought after work, and then he played with Aurora while Mallory worked on her computer and pretended that she wasn't looking them. Moreover, he did not understand her resistance to love the girl while Mallory did not understand the bond between Diaval and Aurora, and more importantly didn't understand the feeling of exclusion and loneliness that their relationship brought her. He looked tired and he was, since Aurora was too restless at night. Diaval told Mallory a few times that it was like the girl knew exactly when he had reached a deep sleep and would begin to cry. Eventually Mallory would start complaining that he was doing too much because sometimes she had a hard time bearing that he didn't do it any of this for her. He didn't stay up all night for her, he hadn't changed his whole routine for her. It was for Aurora. All of it was for Aurora. And meanwhile the office was slowly becoming a mess.
— I need you to hurry with the issue of the nanny. So far this month, I already changed assistants five times.
— Well, if you stopped firing them... — Diaval told her. Mallory just looked at him as if he was ridiculous.
— Well, if you'd stop rejecting all the babysitters. — Diaval only shrugged his shoulders, the truth is that he believed in the saying that if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself. He was growing more and more attached to the child and with that came the feeling that no one would be able to care for her as he did, but already had several candidates if Mallory decided to have him return to the office.
— About that... I could, y'know, stay here and take care of Aurora. I could also work from here, I mean I don't think it takes someone talented to take coffee to the office. That's work anyone else could do.
— Yesterday someone brought me a coffee with cinnamon — Mallory told him flatly, narrowing her eyes at him when Diaval started laughing too loudly. Mallory had never heard him laugh so hard! Of course, she had seen him smile and laugh but not like this. Diaval continued, the tone of seriousness with which she said that, was too much for him. He knew she hated cinnamon, but not that much. Mallory started laughing too, it was his cackling more than anything else. Diaval on the other hand had only seen Mallory smile a few times (always for him could be added with some pride) and could only think that Mallory was even prettier when she smiled, her whole face lit up.
— Just say you want me there —Diaval said with a smile. Mallory swallowed, of course she wanted him there, but the exasperation in which he said it told her he didn't really want to return to the office. Besides, why was he being so stubborn about wanting to take care of the beastie?
— I want you in a place where you are useful — She said finally. Diaval just shook his head, almost ignoring her. It was Mallory's nature to always want to have the last word. She watched him as he held Aurora while she grabbed onto one of his fingers. And Diaval looked at her like the most precious thing in the world. The girl was always looking at her though, smiling and trying to reach up to her, but Mallory usually managed to evade having to hold her. Diaval would always throw her disapproving looks that she pretended not to see, but the baby just kept smiling. In the month that she had been there, Mallory had only been in charge of Aurora on two occasions.
One day while Diaval was playing with Aurora, she began to babble things, ten months and Aurora seemed to want to start talking.
— Look how cute you are, you'll be a heartbreaker I'm sure, yes you will be.
— After eighteen, I hope —Mallory said when she entered the room.
— Don't tell me you not let going to let her have boyfriend until she have 18? Isn't that a little excessive?
— Not really. She will go to a boarding school just for girls, zero boy for miles around. She will come out when she's 18.
— Boarding school?
— Yes, very exclusive in Europe, I already fixed it all, she already has a place reserved. Must be set aside years in advance.
— Are you serious? A boarding school?
— Of course. At six.
— Six? Are you kidding right? At six, children still need their parents! ... I mean their family ... it seems a bit excessive, it's one thing is that you had problems with her mother but she's not at fault —Mallory got a little rigid, Diaval knew that look, and knew he had crossed a line.
— This is none of your business, I accepted that child because she had nowhere else to go, didn't say in the papers that I had to love her or want her here. As for you, please do not meddle in our affairs —the voice of Mallory had been so quiet, so lethal that Diaval had put Aurora in her crib, then took his coat, his computer, and began to walk toward the door.
— Tomorrow morning will come a babysitter, Miss Moore. I will return to my usual activities tomorrow in the company—he left, without slamming the door or even closing it hard, but to Mallory, it seemed to be a hard sound to bear.
And a big thanks to magnificent-mal for being the beta of this work in the English version, and do a magnificent job. (Without her this version of the story would have been impossible because I'm a horrible translator).
