Hope

TWENTY-THREE: Family Trees?

"Miss Hallow?" I ask, tugging at the corner of her sleeve.

She ignores me, her hands deep in a pile of dough.

"Miss Hallow?" I try again, little fingers pinching the fabric of her rolled up dress sleeves.

"Miss Hallow, what happened to my family?"

She pauses, her arms coated in flour, a streak of it across her brow as she peers down at me with a slightly shocked expression. "My little pea, why would you ask that?"

I shrug, pulling at my hands as I bounce on my toes. Using the counter ledge to balance on, I stretch until I can see the dough splayed out across the bench, a rolling pin discarded to the side. I stick a finger in the flour, but Miss Hallow is quick to slap my hand away.

Dusting her hands on her apron, she cradles my face, rubbing her thumb against my cheek. "Emery, we're your family now."

I frown. "But Lucy said—"

"It doesn't matter what Lucy said. Your family is who you make it. It doesn't matter if we don't have the same blood running in our veins, we all love each other and care for each other. That's what family is, okay? I'm your family now."

I nod, her hands squishing my face uncomfortably before she pats me gently and tears of a piece of raw dough.

"Here, take this and go play. Dinner will be ready in an hour."

~~~

"Aovà."

"Aové?"

"No, aovà." Caster makes a clicking noise afterwards with her tongue.

"And that means mother, right?"

Caster nods, her curls bouncing around her face as she continues to colour a picture while sitting in front of me, cross legged. Lavere hums gently as he continues to suckle on the bottle while being cradled in my arms, half listening to the conversation going on around him.

It's been a quiet morning in the Mirker household, now that Aliston is finally home. For once, everyone decided to sleep in, including Lavere. It was only when his stomach started growling that the baby woke up, but it didn't take much to get him back into a half-dozing state with a bottle in his mouth, his little fist curled in my shirt.

Caster came downstairs not long after, deciding to keep me company while I watched the sun steadily rise from the lounge room windows. Currently, we were all seated on the floor. Caster has a few pieces of paper to draw on, her pictures nothing but colours and scribbled lines.

"Caster?" I ask softly, trying not to raise my voice in case it stirs Lavere.

"Yes?" she hums, not looking up from her artwork.

"How long have you been on earth?"

The colouring stops. She looks at me with a strange expression, her eyes seeing something I obviously cannot. It isn't until Lavere makes a happy cooing noise that she blinks, finally snapping out of whatever daydream was holding her captive.

"Uh, Caster been here while. Aliston move here when- when we, hm," she pauses, screwing up her brows. "When earth new. Caster come help build."

So she's been here for a few years then. Earth has been home to alien creatures for a long time, they started 'colonising' the planet around the same time I was born. She doesn't look old though, but I guess none of the aliens in the Mirker household look old.

Ageless and emotionless, a common trait amongst the Alenorian race, apparently. 

By 'build', I guess she was one of the aliens designing the outer towers and the cities. Does that mean Caster had a hand in bulldozing human homes? Or was she simply just an engineer or an architect? A designer of some sort maybe?

The thought of the sweet blue-eyed alien being a part of the scheme to move humans to the outskirts of all the cities and forcing them to abandon their homes leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

"Do you ever miss it?"

"Miss what?" she chirps, turning back to her picture.

I half shrug. "Miss your home planet? Your family?"

Surely, she had family that missed her.

"Family?" she says, her head tilting in question as she looks back up at me once again. "This is family. Caster not know what you mean."

I smile at her, picking up the sleepy Lavere and burping him gently. "Never mind. So, what do you want to do today?"

Just as Caster opens her mouth to respond, an ecstatic expression on her face, Aliston walks into the room.

"I have news." He steps a little closer, eyes flicking to Caster before focusing on me. "We will be hosting a family for an evening meal in two days. I apologise for the late notice, however I would like to remind both of you to remain respectful and courteous to our guests."

Caster chirps in response, smiling up at Aliston.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" I ask.

"You will act as a server for the guests throughout the night. Caster will cook, but I believe it would be safer for him to remain in the kitchen as much as possible."

I nod, a little spark of annoyance making my eye twitch. While it probably is a good idea to keep Caster away from guests in case he trips or spills wine all over them or something, I can't help but think that maybe Aliston is only saying that to keep Caster out of sight.

"What about Lavere?"

The baby would not be able to sit through an entire dinner, and I doubt anyone would actually do anything to help if the little alien started kicking up a fuss. If the guests are anything like the Mirkers, they'll probably just scowl at the poor baby.

"He will be seen by the guests and will remain upstairs for the rest of the night. You and Caster can take turns tending to him." He leaves no room for argument.

I nod again, patting the baby's back in my arms as he wriggles to get comfortable.

Before Aliston turns to leave, he takes a hesitant step closer to me, the movement strange to see on such a graceful creature. "I also apologise for not speaking to you last night about the house.  I believe the house has been very well looked after, Emery. You did well."

I grin a little at the praise, head tilting up so I can see the alien's face.

"Thanks."

He turns away and quickly strides out of the room, but I didn't miss the small quirk of his lips turning upwards in the briefest of smiles.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚

Just a little chapter. :)