Out of Season

Home for Now

Isabelle found herself inside another stranger's house. The couple she was unofficially adopted by were rushing around the house. As Simon went to leave he was swept off his feet, kissed and shoved out the door. Slightly dazed he ran to his meeting while clutching his papers in a baggy to protect it from the weather. Nicole slowed down a little bit and sat next her on the couch.

"Hey Isabelle, you want me to show you your room?"

She nodded and he took her hand, leading her to their spare guest room. Opening the door and turning on the light she was expecting something spectacular and amazing like the rest of the house. Instead she was meat with cream walls, a white sheet covered bed, and a desk near the window.

"Now we may need to get you a smaller bed, you need clothes, and we'll need to adjust things to where you can reach."

She nodded at him and saw just how big things were in the room. It all looked like it could fit a person twice her size, or a little smaller. As Nicole continued he looked at his watch and trailed off. He picked Isabelle up and took off with his satchel that could be compared to a woman's purse. He quickly rushed out of the house and ran to his father's office in the workshop that would be Nic's when he retires. He rushed through the snow and made it on time before getting knocked down by an warm winter spirit.

"WATCH IT!" Maybe not so warm.
"Sorry Ms Chris but I'm late! I have to see my dad at twelve!"
"You better hurry then, it's 11:58 and you have stairs to climb. Hey their chump."
"Hey Sunny, bye Sunny."

The two females greated one another as Nicole ran past. He ignored their interaction and went up the stairs in record time. He ran down the halls lined with pictures and came to a stop infront of a plain but beautifully designed door. He gave a knock and a candy sweet voice came from the other side.

"Come in."

Nicole entered and greeted his father with a wave and saying hello. He started to speak before he was interupted. The rounder male stood from his chair and approached the pair. He kneeled down the to short girl's stature and patted her head, the young girl not sparing a smile for the jolly old fella.

"Hello there, I'm Noel, may I get your name young lady?"
"Isabelle."
"Well, Isabelle, may I ask why such a young girl is here in my office?"
"She's here wi-"
"Nicole, I asked the young lady, not you."
"..."

The older man who could be mistaken for a grandfather waited for an answer but didn't get one. She silently stared at him, not sparing a a smile when he offered one to her. Her face looked collected and ready for anything. Noel stood up awkwardly and turned towards his son.

"W-what were you saying Nicole?"
"She's here with me dad. He name is Isabelle and if we can't find her mom soon then we'll need to find her a home. She's staying with Simon and me for now though."
"I see, well take a seat you two! I'll have Xander make us some hot chocolate and cookies!"
"Actually, I think just hot chocolate for us will be fine. I don't want her spoiling her dinner for tonight."
"Son, it's only mid day?"
"Right, then I wouldn't want to spoil her lunch. Actually, could I just get a cup of milk? Sweets make me feel sick."

Noel found it hard to talk with Nicole when he would randomly lose his train of thought. He would subconsciously start to fidget or whisper the same word or sentence repeatedly before completely focusing on a task or zoning out fully. At points he would change his mind suddenly and want something else, though he was right about sweets making him sick. He could never really eat a cookie as fast or easily as his father, and ate it over a long period of time causing many not to give him meltable sweets very often. This caused the tiny rift between the father and son to tear more. They started speaking again, being handed their cups moments later.