Under Her Wing

Chapter 81

Danielle

"I'll catch you at lunch time Mali," I said softly, holding her cheek in my hand and leaning forward to kiss the top of her head.

She looked at me nervously, silently pleading with me not to make her go to tutoring.

"Here, take my card sunshine, go do something fun with Carter when you're on a break," I said, handing it over.

"Mom," she sighed, but placed the card in her back pocket anyway.

"Just let me know if you go off-set okay?" I told her seriously.

"Okay mom," Mali agreed, quickly falling into my front for a hug.

I held her close for a moment, never wanting to reject her.

She eventually let go of me and stepped back.

"Be good baby," I added, gently pushing her towards her trailer.

I turned to head to Stage 2 but stopped when I heard someone call for Amalia.

"Hey Mali wait up,"

I recognised Carter's voice and smiled watching him run over to my girl as she was about to enter her trailer.

The two of them stood talking, he was showing her what looked from my viewpoint to be a book.

Amalia's tutor approached them and quickly shooed Carter away, assuming she wanted to begin Amalia's class.

"Danielle?"

Instantly distracted by my name, I brightened up seeing Lachlan heading towards me.

"Hey lovely," I grinned, putting my arm out and pulling him in for a side hug.

"I've just ran into Stefania, she told me what happened last night," he said seriously.

"Ahh don't even go there," I sighed, reminded again that I might lose Mali.

"How you holding up?" He asked as we walked towards set.

"The truth?" I asked him.

"Of course," Lachlan nodded.

"I'm not holding up. I'm fully using everything I have in my acting locker. Amalia can't know just how worried Stef and I are," I admitted.

"You're being open with Stefania though right?" He frowned.

"Yeah, she's just as caught up with it all as I am. We're putting on a brave front for Mali but the thought of her grandparents gaining custody is eating us up," I told him.

"You're not in this on your own you know? The three of you, you've got everyone here fighting your corner,"

He took my hand and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"I know," I smiled weakly.

"There's our girl!" Barrett said energetically as we entered set.

"Hi hi," I grinned, trying to be as positive as possible.

"Where's my mini girl?" She asked, looking for Mali.

"She's got tutoring, she's only filming after lunch," I replied, taking off my coat and getting prepped.

"How's she getting on? Carter mentioned her tutor said she couldn't take them both on," Barrett said, leaning against the wall behind her.

"I think she likes her, she's not really said much. I didn't know that Lorena couldn't take on Carter though," I shrugged, not really understanding why.