The Secrets Hidden In The Scars

Chapter 21: I'm Alone In This Cruel World

Great Britain. London. The time is getting closer to nine o'clock. Alicia and Amelia are spending time together at the homes of the last one. The woman came to visit the little Hailey, the daughter of her friend and her husband, and try to find out something about her niece, being worried about her more and more.

"Gosh, how sweet Hailey is!" Alicia pronounces, sitting on the sofa and watching Hailey sit on her laps and play with a toy. "And she's so calm and not capricious."

"She just likes you much – so she isn't capricious," Amelia replies with a smile, doing something in the kitchen but keeping talking to Alicia. "But when someone strange is at home, Hailey gets nervous and acts restless. She prefers being with me, Raphael, you, and our other relatives."

"Maybe," Alicia laughs shyly and softly caresses Hailey's head. "It seems like she feels her future godmother is next to her."

"It's one of the reasons why my husband and I chose you. You love your girl like your own daughter and love babysitting her. And she likes you."

"Ah, if I could, I'd babysit her much more." Alicia fixes a cute dress, which Hailey is wearing, and her short, dark hair gathered into two tails. "I do really love her like my own girl."

"But educating children is very hard and exhausting work. And it takes much energy and nerves... Your heart especially bleeds when your child feels pain in something, but can't say it and only cries. It's very hard morally."

"But mothers do feel when something is not right with their children."

"Yeah, but sometimes it might be very hard."

Two seconds later, Amelia returns to the living room, sits on the sofa next to Alicia, and caresses Hailey's head, looking at her with a smile and giving her a little toy that she takes with pleasure.

"Aw, how much we love Mommy!" Alicia smiles widely. "How you smile at her!"

"Oh, how happy she is when her dad plays with her," Amelia notices, tenderly caressing Hailey's cheek with a thumb. "When Raphael goes home and comes to her, Hailey starts making happy sounds and clapping her hands."

"That's good she doesn't wean from Raphael because of not seeing him so often."

"In our case, everything is otherwise! I think if she was able to speak, she'd always ask me where her dad is."

"She's gonna be speaking non-stop soon!" Alicia assumes confidently. "She's getting into everywhere and examining everything, and she's gonna pronounce some words and describe what she sees very soon."

"Yeah... But I thought she'd start speaking somewhere at the age of one."

"It's okay, she will. Raquelle started speaking at roughly the same age as Hailey. And there are children that start speaking much later."

"But my daughter understands much and can distinguish between some things. If you ask her to show a spoon, she will point at it. She just can't say it aloud."

"It's gonna be okay. The girl will start speaking early or late."

"I hope, darling."

Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Alicia and Amelia give some attention to Hailey playing with a bright toy while sitting on the laps of her soon-to-be godmother. And a little later, Raquelle's aunt thinks and glances at her friend.

"Hey, Amelia, do you remember you asked me to give you a photo of the hands of Raquelle's friend or Terrence's brother?" Alicia asks.

"Yes, I do," Amelia nods confidently. "Did you bring it?"