The next morning, Maisie and I woke up late and had a slow Saturday.

We made pancakes with way too much food colouring in the shapes of Frozen characters…because that's what Maisie wanted. Who was I to deny her!

As we sat down on in front of the TV to eat our interesting pancakes and watch the morning news, I grabbed a bit of pancake and was about to stuff it into my mouth when Maisie shrieked "Daddy! You can't eat Elsa's head!"

I grinned and stuffed it in my mouth. The look of shock on her face was priceless.

After breakfast Maisie went off to do some painting on the back porch and I made some phone calls to the hospital to follow up on patients I had seen last night. They were all recovering well so I decided to tackle the issue of Maisie's nanny, Jessica.

We went to dinner at my parent's house in the early evening. Maisie was almost visibly bubbling with excitement when I told her that we were going. She was always showered with affection and attention when the family was together. My parents and siblings doted on her, being the first grandchild and all.

Poor old Maisie was going to have to get used to sharing the attention sometime soon though, as Emmett and his wife Rosalie were expecting their first child soon.

My little girl was full of questions on the drive over to the house.

"So you know how Auntie Rosie has a baby inside her tummy, Daddy?"

"Yes munchkin,"

"When will it come out?"

"Um…December, I'm pretty sure."

"But how long, Daddy?"

"That's about three months I suppose."

"Hmm." She was quiet, lost in her thoughts. A little frown was creasing her forehead and it took so much to keep my eyes on the road and not be lost in her adorableness.

"Daddy?"

"What is it darling?"

"Is that where all the babies come from? People's bellies?"

"Yep. Everyone comes from their Mommy's belly."

"Even me?"

"Yep, you too, Maisie."

We pulled up in my parent's driveway and I helped Maisie out of her booster seat.

"But I don't have a mommy. I only have a Daddy. Did I go in your belly then, Daddy?" she asked, giving my stomach a completely serious inquisitive stare.

I would have been laughing if I weren't so confused about how to answer the question. I crouched down so I was eye to eye with her.

"Hey how about we talk about all of this later, Little One? Look, we're about to go inside and see everyone…"

As if on cue, my energetic sister bounced down the grand front steps of the house and sprinted to my daughter, swooping her up and swinging her around, eliciting a beautiful fit of giggles from the girl in her arms.

Dinner was uneventful, as usual. Cheerful chatter filled the dining room and I felt content, surrounded by my family. Alice's new boyfriend seemed nice enough. A little shy if anything, but sure to come out of his shell as he warmed to the family. Ali was infatuated, and as much as it was amusing to see, I prayed to god this infatuation wouldn't end in heartbreak. We'd all have to bear the brunt of it if it didn't work out.

I heard a voice coaxing me out of my thoughts – my father, was asking me,

"Did you hear about her? Edward?"

"Who?"

"The girl involved in the three vehicle accident on Traine Street. She came in on Thursday."

"I was with students all day Thursday. Why?"

"Oh nothing really. It's just Alice's friend."

"She's due to be discharged tomorrow.", said Alice.

I nodded, confused about how this friend of Alice had anything to do with me.

"I'm worried about her." she continued.

"Well if she's being discharged she must be – "

"No Edward, not like that. I'm worried about her up here", she said, pointing to her head. She leaned in closer to me and whispered, "Those three vehicles involved in the crash, none of them were hers. She wasn't even in any of them."

"And? She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught up in it."

"Maybe. But four witnesses, including two of the drivers, are testifying that she threw herself in front of one of the cars."

"So you think she was attempting suicide?"

Alice shrugged, shaking her head and taking a sip of her wine.

"I don't know what to do. She's been really off the past…well, year really. It's odd. And then last month her dad went and had a heart attack, then she lost her job at the school…" she paused.

"I think I'll offer her my couch. She says she's fine but I'd bet she's not making the rent.", she said.

Alice had a kind heart, but she was really going to far here. Alice lived in a teeny-weeny one bedroom apartment on the bottom floor of a crappy inner-city apartment. It was bad enough that she lived there, heaven forbid she share it with anybody else.

"Ali, you can't do that. You've got no space to breathe as it is."

"Well what else am I going to do? It's not like I'm not going to let her rough it on the streets."

We paused for a moment, the grisly thought of a young, broken girl becoming homeless silencing us.

"Alice, did you say she worked at a school?"

"Yeah she taught at the adjoining kindergarten. Loved it there. They laid her off because of state-government budget cuts."

"And she's looking for work?" I asked.

"Mmhmm." she replied.

I was just about to mention the possibility of the girl working as Maisie's nanny when I stopped myself. The girl could be a nutcase. I didn't want to get Alice's hopes up so I quickly changed the subject to her favourite topic at present, Jasper. Alice's face lit up as she enthusiastically recalled Jaspers' agreement to go shopping with her tomorrow. I gave him a sympathetic glance. Poor man had no idea what he was in for…

Maisie fell asleep in the car on the way home, and thank heavens she didn't wake up when I took her to her bedroom.

"Night Munchkin. Sweet dreams, I love you.", I whispered, bending down to kiss her soft hair.

As I was closing the door, I heard a small but clear voice whisper back, "Wuv you too, Daddy."

Those four words made my heart melt.