June 4th, 1894

The summer came quickly and Rosalind found that even though she had completely adjusted to Elizabeth staying with them, she still did not like it.

Robert had completely remade her study into a room for Elizabeth but the girl refused to sleep there. In the months since he had done so, she had done nothing but scream and cry until Rosalind agreed to let her sleep with her again. "All that money spent for nothing." she sighed. Elizabeth was fine playing in the room while Rosalind or Robert were there researching, but she refused to be left alone there.

When Robert had first shown Elizabeth the room, she'd stumbled about curiously. She climbed, she grabbed, she played with the toys he'd set out. But she refused to sleep there.

The first night Rosalind had attempted to put her to bed, she had cried until Rosalind had allowed her to sleep with her. Rosalind couldn't understand it. The bed was comfortable and large enough for her. She had her teddy bear in there as well. Was it too dark?

They left the desk lamp on during the second night but the same thing had occurred. Robert had been sure that she would eventually stop and sleep but it never happened. She slept with Rosalind then too. "Let's wait until she falls asleep with you, then we'll put her in her bed," Robert suggested.

That plan was unsuccessful as well. Robert had put her to sleep and slowly set her in the crib. They had thought it a success until he closed the door and the wailing began. That was how Rosalind ended up still sharing a room with Elizabeth 3 months later. Once she had pushed the crib inside, Elizabeth slept easily. "Small steps," Robert said. At least they were no longer sharing a bed.

And thus her study was now a partial playroom. It worked well enough for Rosalind, she and Robert could get plenty of work done and Elizabeth had everything she needed to keep her busy. Everything was working much better than she had thought it would.

Rosalind sat alone in the drawing-room as she waited for Robert and Elizabeth to return. He took her on walks almost every day after dinner and when they returned, she was usually tired enough to go right to sleep. "So you don't have to rock her to sleep anymore," he said.

Though she liked doing it, Elizabeth was getting bigger and heavier. In just 4 months, she had grown a lot. It made her wonder if Elizabeth was being fed correctly when she lived with Comstock. Perhaps he had been just as neglectful as his alter ego was.

"Are you feeling better now?" Robert asked.

"What do you mean?" Rosalind looked at him.

"You haven't been yourself since she arrived." He said, "I figured by doing all of this, it would help." Giving Elizabeth her own room, taking her on several walks so that she wouldn't have to rock her to sleep constantly. Rosalind would agree that it was all very helpful even if only half of his plan had worked.

But nothing would be better than getting rid of Elizabeth. Despite caring for the child for 4 months now, she still did not feel anything for her. She still had no desire to be a parent to Elizabeth and she wasn't sure how she could tell Robert that.

He seemed to love Elizabeth as if she were his own child but Rosalind felt no connection at all. "Is it helping?" he asked.

"It is." she nodded.

"It doesn't look like it." Robert sat down beside her, "You still look tired. Is she still keeping you awake?"

"Not as often," Rosalind said.

"Then what is it?" Robert asked, "Do you hate her presence that much?"

"I don't hate her at all." Rosalind said, "I just hate that I had no choice in anything that has occurred in the past few months."

"You have-"

"I didn't. You wouldn't have stayed if I didn't allow Elizabeth to stay. You decided to redesign the study without asking me because you knew I would not agree." She said.

"Is it really so bad that she's here?" Robert asked.

"She's completely changed everything," Rosalind said. She couldn't go out without hearing people whisper about her. They talked about how little she was seen with Elizabeth, about how she was a terrible mother. These strangers picked apart every part of her and treated Robert as if he were somehow better because he took Elizabeth out for a walk.

"For now." Robert agreed.

"You would not be saying that if you knew how they all look at me now." she said, "It's as if everything I did before no longer matters." She had raised this city into the sky and now she was treated as an outcast because she took her walks alone.

"It's only because they don't know how much you do for her," Robert said.

"That shouldn't matter." she said, "Obviously the child is doing fine. They've all created a narrative in their heads about me and there's nothing that can change that."

"We'll be going for another walk." Robert sighed, "Why don't you come along?"

It would be for the best if she went with them but she shook her head, "I'll make dinner." she said, "Just feed her before you go."

She stared at the door long after it closed and sighed to herself. It would dispel a lot of rumors if she just went for a walk once or twice with them. She was probably making the situation more difficult than it was by acting this way.

The door opened again and Comstock stepped inside. She should have locked it the moment they left. "Lutece?" he called out to her. Rosalind frowned and put her book down as he wandered into their home. There was no privacy when it came to Comstock.

"You'd like to use the machine?" she guessed.

"No." he shook his head. Then why was he here? "I'm here to talk about Elizabeth."

Rosalind narrowed her eyes but let him continue, "You plan to keep her?" he asked.

"What else would we do with her?" she asked, "Now that you've killed her off."

"I want to be sure." Comstock said, "You can send her back, can't you?" She could and in the beginning, she had thought about it several times. "People have begun to talk, I want to help you."

"Help me?" she asked.

"I'm releasing you from your burdens." he said, "Now that I'll have my son, you can send her back." Had he actually believed she had been waiting for his permission to send the girl back.

"I'm keeping her," Rosalind said simply.

"Oh?" Comstock was surprised, "Why?"

"My brother has grown quite fond of her," Rosalind said with a shrug. And that was the only reason that she allowed the child to stay in her home.

"I never took you as the family type." Comstock said, "You've turned down every suitor that comes your way."

"I'm not," she said. She never wanted to marry and have children. Comstock stood and stared at her before chuckling.

"You're a strange woman." he shook his head, "You claim to not want a family and yet you found another version of yourself so you can have a brother. And now you're raising a child? What do you call that?"

"Compromise," she answered. She had agreed to let Elizabeth stay only because she knew Robert would leave if she attempted to send the girl away. She had grown slightly fond of the child but not as much as Robert had expected her to.

Comstock didn't need to know that. "I see..." he scratched his graying beard. In the months since Elizabeth's arrival, a lot of his hair had started to gray at the roots. "So how about a photoshoot then?" he suggested.

"For what?" Rosalind forced herself to remain passive. Comstock was always ready for videos and pictures to be taken but she didn't care for it at all.

"The citizens will want to know that Rosalind Lutece officially has an heir." Comstock smiled. Rosalind could already tell how draining that would be for her. They couldn't keep Elizabeth presentable for more than a few moments. She was always pulling at the laces on her dress, or spilling milk, or even just trying to escape from her clothing in general.

"Fine." she agreed. She would take pictures if only to get rid of him.

Comstock lingered for a moment, glancing around at the blocks scattered on the floor. He cleared his throat and nodded, "She would be better with you here than with that sinner." he said.

Rosalind was not sure why Comstock acted as if Booker Dewitt was someone completely different. The crimes he committed as Booker Dewitt were not even a full decade in the past. "Right. Thank you," she said with a nod. Despite how much she disliked it, Elizabeth would be better off with her than with Comstock.

He bid her goodbye and she watched as he left. She tried to sit and relax but she couldn't. Why was she suddenly thinking about Booker Dewitt? The drunk man who had sold his child... "He changed his mind..." she sucked in a breath. That had not mattered to her before now. Was it possible that the experience would help him be a better father if Elizabeth was returned to him?

It was not something that was going to happen. Robert would never agree to it. But she still wanted to check on the man anyway.

Rosalind traveled from room to room, turning on the generators as she went. She was meant to be cooking something for dinner and yet... this was an itch she couldn't scratch.

She hadn't paid much attention to Booker Dewitt then. She had been so focused on getting Robert to make the journey that she had ignored the desperate struggle between Comstock and Dewitt. The man wanted his child back and Comstock had taken her anyway.

One thought of how Elizabeth looked then should have been enough. She had been pale and skinny. Wrapped in a thin blanket that had not been washed ever. Rosalind remembered the smell of alcohol as she put pressure on the girls bleeding finger. Comstock had taken her away and Rosalind had focused completely on Robert after that.

Booker Dewitt had not been a good father to her in the few months that he'd had her. There was always the possibility that he could have changed, in fact she was sure that there was a world where he did. But would this Booker have changed in time? Or would the girl have wasted away? Would he be a better father if they returned her now? Was it even right for them to keep her?

She'd never wrestled with the morality of it at all. But she needed to see now. She needed proof that she'd made the right choice. "And if you didn't?" she asked herself. The choice was either to keep Elizabeth and Robert or lose them both.

What would she do with the information? If Booker was somehow different now, would she tell Robert? Would Robert want to make things right and send her home? Or maybe she needed to be given back before Booker could begin to change.

With all generators on, she went back to the machine. She had only opened a tear to a specific point once. The rest were just guesses. On the night that Robert and Elizabeth came to Columbia. She had needed Robert on the other side to produce the tear but maybe... She just needed to see.

She repeated the steps she had so many months ago and waited. Robert could be back at any moment...

Rosalind pulled the lever and held her breath as she felt the tingle of the universe splitting so close to her. The feeling usually brought nothing but pride and intrigue but it was different now. She felt nothing but worry as the tear opened. The gray window opened slowly and she released her breath.

Booker Dewitt sat at his desk, slumped over it and seemingly unconscious. It was much like Robert described it. Alcohol bottles littering the floor, crumpled pieces of paper, and mice scattering about. No place for a child.

Rosalind swallowed as Booker shifted and moaned. He opened his eyes for a moment and blinked at the tear. "Hey..." he squinted his eyes. "Hey... Hey I know you..."

She didn't respond, instead, she waited with her hand on the lever. "You took her, you're one of them." he slurred. He didn't move from his seat, instead he picked up a bottle from the floor and took a long swing. "Through that hole..."

She waited for a long time before sighing, "Do you want her back, Mr. Dewitt?" she asked.

"Want her... back?" he frowned. It seemed as if he hadn't even considered that she could ever return to him. He put the bottle down and stood.

He stumbled a bit before finding his balance and moving closer to the tear, "Give her back..." he was angry but the amount of alcohol he'd ingested kept him from getting to her before she closed the tear. Was that even the same Booker they'd taken her from?

She stepped away from the contraption and turned around. In the doorway stood Robert and Elizabeth.

"Why did you open that tear?" he asked calmly. He stared into her soul and she found herself hesitant to even answer.

"I was just looking," she said.

"why?" he asked.

"Why not?" she responded.

"No." He shook his head, "Don't do that. Why would you open a tear...to him?" She could see the anger in his eyes even though his face remained calm.

"I wanted to see if he'd changed," she said truthfully.

"And if he had?" Robert asked, "What then?"

She had not planned that far ahead because she had known that she wouldn't need to. Well, she'd theorized it at least, she'd needed visual proof to ease the guilt in her chest. "I don't know," she admitted.

"We agreed to keep her," he said. She could see his knuckles tightening on the handle of Elizabeth's pram. "If I had left her here with you... You would have sent her back." He wasn't asking her, he was stating it as if it were fact.

"No." Rosalind shook her head, "You know I wouldn't have-"

"What? You would have opened a tear to him, shown him his child, and closed it?" Robert asked. He reminded her of their mother when he was angry. He spoke fast and was not willing to listen at all. She knew immediately that there was no way she was going to be able to explain herself until he calmed down.

"Is she asleep?" she asked.

"She is." he nodded, "She wanted to see you but couldn't stay awake."

"I'll put her to bed then," Rosalind said. She could see how reluctant Robert was to let her take Elizabeth but he said nothing as she lifted the child from the carriage and took her up into the bedroom. She changed Elizabeth into her gown quickly and placed her in her crib.

Robert was in his room by the time she finished and Rosalind wondered how she would make him understand...