THEN YOU CAME BACK [mcd]

chapter four

For some strange reason, Elizabeth loves going into town. I cannot put my finger on the reason why, but she begs me to allow her to come with me when I go in. She has friends that live in the main part of Phoenix Drop, but she's far too young for Garroth and me to allow her to travel there on her own.

I can't leave Holden by himself, so I'm bringing him to town with us. Elizabeth is happily skipping her way to Garroth with a small basket of lunch swinging in her hand. She had me dress her up, so she can look her best when she gives Garroth her food. I'll change her out of these clothes when she is back home to play. I don't want to try and revive a dress from the dangers of tall grass.

Last night, we tried our hardest to tell Elizabeth about Laurance. She didn't understand at first. I expected that she wouldn't. She's three and being told about something that's complicated to understand. She understands about Zack and Travis, but they've been in the entirety of her life.

"Where would daddy be?" She asks me, stopping in her place and letting her basket fly forward. My eyes widen at the thought of its contents spilling onto the ground, but they stay inside with the cloth covering them. Elizabeth giggles out an oopsie before expecting an answer from me.

"We can catch the guard tower. If your father isn't there, we'll just have to leave the food and see him when he comes home."

She isn't pleased by my answer, but she slowly begins to trudge forward. The entire time, she whines that she wants to see her father. She constantly tries to battle me for attention from her father.

At this point, Elizabeth knows her way to the guard tower. We come here often, so she's started to pick up on where certain places are. She also knows where Kawaii~Chan and Dante live, but that has its downsides when she demands for cake on our walk back home.

"There's our favorite little girl." The sound of the voice comes from behind me, and I turn to see Liochant. He smiles and bends down to get to Elizabeth's level. She smiles up at him before allowing him to look into the basket.

"Hello to you too, Liochant," I say, chuckling at the little interaction between him and my child. I look over to Elizabeth as she stares up at me. Her smile brightens as she reaches into the basket. "Elizabeth made extra cookies for you guys."

Elizabeth's outstretched hand holds onto a package of cookies. Liochant takes them from her with a "thank you" before placing them on the table nearby. With this interaction, it's like Elizabeth has forgotten all about her father.

"Do you happen to know where my husband is?"

Liochant looks around before thinking to himself. "I believe he should be upstairs," he says before looking at Elizabeth. She's already managed to dash over with the basket to the stairs. "She really loves her father."

I nod my head, looking towards my daughter's direction as the two of us walk to the stairs. "We both do. I don't know where I'd be without him." He stops halfway up the staircase before offering me a timid smile. He won't go any further because of my husband's attitude towards him. "Don't worry about him. His feelings shouldn't change how you feel about your job. Thank you for directing us this way. It seems Elizabeth has already found her father."

He nods to me as a response before we split ways. Garroth is sitting at a table with Elizabeth with all the food spread around them. He smiles when he sees me. "How'd Elizabeth know to come here?"

"Liochant told us." He tries to hide a scroll before he looks down at the food. "Garroth. . . Elizabeth was desperate to find you. She dressed in her best dress just for you."

His expression changes when he hears of Elizabeth's actions. Garroth compliments her as she twirls around, and he motions for me to come forward. Holden's eyes pop open with a small cry, and I have to rock side to side in order to calm him down.

Garroth decides that we stay with him while he has his lunch break. Elizabeth happily babbles his ears off, but he's only half paying attention to what she's saying. This is something she'll scold him for later.

I know the time is tense around us, but there's not much I can do but be there for Garroth when he needs me most.