Another entanglement || Minster Manor

The house was quite, despite the fact that she knew she wasn't alone. Evelina had been placed into one of the rooms upstairs, though she was hardly making a sound. Kallie would have gone to check on her, if she wasn't more worried about what her face would to the girl, than what she might be doing upstairs.

Besides, Eli should be home soon. She had to inform her fiancée of their new house member. And just how she got to be there.

What a mess her life had come. In only a few weeks.

She was still trying to ignore the fact that her daughter wanted nothing to do with her. Dwelling on that fact wasn't going to help.

Kallie sat up straighter in her chair as she heard his approach, she bit her lip as she heard the front door.

"Eli?" she called her voice hesitant, she was torn between standing up or staying where she was. Her legs finally decided it for her, refusing to move. "Can I talk to you for a moment? I'm in the sitting room."

Eli had barely stepped into the house before he heard Kallie's voice. "Sure..." He said as he carefully shut the door. His eyebrows knit together, knowing that his fiance usually arrived home after he did. However, he quickly shook off the suspicion. Brock probably was making sure that she wasn't overexerting herself. Although the way he seemed to monitor her every move was unnerving at best, he couldn't help but feel a little grateful.

"So it turns out," he said as he entered the sitting room, "That there's this farmer's market not too far away from here. I got some fresh vegetables, and I even found this stuff called, umm... Pulla. The lady selling said it was like a Finnish cinnamon roll, and I wasn't sure if you knew about it so I went ahead and bought some. Anyway, I thought-" His eyes finally landed on Kallie with more than just a quick glance, and he noticed how straight she was sitting up, "What is it?"

Even amongst the worst moments of her life, the new chaos and lows she'd managed to sink to, Eli always seemed able to make her smile. Even when he didn't intend to at all.

"I love you."

She had opened her mouth, intending to say something else, something that actually answered his question, but that was what came out instead. She needed thing positive in that moment - someone that she loved, could say she loved, and knew that he'd say it back.

Waving a hand at the spot near her, her whole body looked tired, "Nothing ha- Or well... why don't you just sit down. There are some things I need to tell you."

The corners of Eli's mouth turned upward as he replied in a soft, warm voice, "I love you, too." He had loved her every second since he first set eyes on her. Maybe he didn't realize it at first, and maybe, at first, it was hardly worth noticing.

But Kallie had always pulled him in, made something in the back of his brain constantly yearn to be close to her. Like the way the moon made the ocean alive with a steady pulsation. Even before that night at the bar, it had seemed like there was something there. Some invisible attraction.

He kicked away the thought. As nice as it was, there was something serious going on. The man took a seat in a chair next to her's, taking her hand in his own. "As long as there's not another ex-boyfriend coming back to haunt you," He said, a ghost of a smile on his face, "I can only take so much being growled at."

Eli bit his lip, realizing how out-of-place that joke sounded, "Sorry." He muttered, his smile becoming more reassuring than anything else, "Go ahead."

A laugh escaped her lips, surprising her. She wasn't even sure if she could have remembered how to laugh, after the day she had just had. Every emotion felt as if it played across her, leaving her raw and bleeding.

And yet for a brief glorious moment, a laugh made it better. Eli made it better. This was why she loved him, why she needed him. When she thought everything was breaking down, that her control was fraying and she was going to lose everything, his honest caring simplicity reminded her that not everything was that bad. That there was always a glimmer of something good out there.

There was always Eli.

"No," she murmured fondly, resting her tired head on top of their entangled hands, "No, there was never anyone before Brock, and only ever you after. I'll try to tell him to lay off the growling from not on, okay?" She couldn't help smiling slightly to herself, as she pressed those lips softly against his hands.

Moving her head, so she was resting her chin beside their hands, actually looking at the man. This was not something she could say without looking at a person. They deserved that honour.

"Though, it does- it does have something to do with Brock," she started off slowly, her voice low, her whole body showing how tired she was. There were so many ways she could go about this now, but quite frankly, at the moment, all she could handle without breaking down was the bare bones truth. "When I was younger, quite a bit younger, a child really - I must have been seventeen or eighteen -I.. I...I g-got pregnant." The word once out, seemed to hang heavy in the air. For fraction of a second, Kallie wondered if that was the first time she had ever said those words, in that phrasing, aloud. She had kept it a secret for so long now. Looking down for a moment, she realized her hands were shaking. Her attempt to clench them, just caused her to hold Eli's hand tighter.

"I had a baby, and because I was alone, and scared, I gave her up."

Eli chuckled, her laughter putting him at ease, "Okay." He relaxed a little in his chair, tilting his head as he watched Kallie, his eyes locking onto her own. He knew that he shouldn't feel this comfortable at the moment, but how could he help himself? For the first time since he had left Hogwarts, Eli felt that he had a home, a real home. Something that was built out of more than just wood and bricks. And he was going to get married. Married, to the most fantastic woman he'd could imagine. It all seemed too good to be true.

Maybe it was...

Eli's thoughts seemed to stop for a moment, and he struggled to bring his eyes back into focus. "Oh." The man stared blankly at Kallie, desperately trying to understand the meaning of what she just said. He was sure that he was supposed to feel something. Sad, maybe? Angry? It just didn't seem to come.

Really, he just felt scared for her. All the things she must have gone through, and at such a young age. She was strong though, he knew that, but still. And then, having to work up the courage to tell him, that must've been horrible.

"Thank you. For saying something, I mean. That can't have been easy." He stared at her for a few more moments, waiting again, for some violent burst of emotion, but again there was nothing.

But why was she telling him this now? It seemed to be rather out of the blue, unless... "Is... is she okay?" There was a hint of worry in his voice, and maybe a little bit of panic, "Are- are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I really am," she nodded her head quickly, the reassurances coming out of her mouth automatically, "I mean, I've had better days but..."

She gave him a shaky smile. Her attempt at a joke, weakened by the mere fact that psychologically she wasn't sure she was ever going to be alright again. And this wasn't even the end of it, she knew she'd have to tell Brock too - sooner rather than later.

"She's... I mean physically she's fine," Kallie didn't know where she was going with this. She started out strong, but then she had to stop. Where did she go with this? The truth was just... "She's hiding under the bed in a room upstairs. Her-her parents died, an accident of some kind. There was no one else. I couldn't-couldn't-"

Eli blinked, "She's... she's here? You mean she's-" He ran a head through his hair, his mouth hanging open as the immediacy of the situation hit him like a brick. He looked up at the ceiling, imagining her up there, cowering deep in the shadows under her bed, "Poor thing..."

No one else, Eli's eyes widened as he looked back at Kallie, "Brock doesn't know, does he?" He considered offering to tell him himself, but the man knew that was a bad idea almost instantly. As much as he knew she wouldn't want to do it, it had to be Kallie.

A slight shake of her head was the only answer she could give at the moment. Because of course, Brock didn't know. She had never had had the nerve to tell him. For years she had let this news get swept under the rug.

It was only now that she realized what a mistake that had been - how truly deep her mistakes had run.

"I-I couldn't l-let him leave me. I-I thought if I told he h-he'd-" it was an irrational fear really. Since as she looked back at the time time, she had already left him. There was no her to leave, she had already been alone. The only thing she might have gained from telling him would have been being not so alone.

Eli squeezed the woman's hand, his voice soft, "Kallie... I understand, but... now is the time to tell him... he needs to know. She is his daughter, too." He looked up again, his mind wandering back to the little girl. Even though he was an adult, and he hadn't seen them for years, learning of the death of his parents was almost unbearable. He could only imagine what it was like for someone so young, and from a normal, caring family.

"What's her name?" He frowned, trying to think of some way he could reach out to her. But Eli knew that it was probably best to let her meet her parents, first. It would be no use to have an army strangers crowding around her. The girl had the right to be alone, and it seemed that if she was hiding under her bed, then she wanted to be.

"I know," she stated softly, before nodding her head, and repeating the words in a slightly stronger tone, "I know. I'm going to... I'm going to tell him now, I mean tonight. I just needed- I couldn't, I couldn't leave her here alone, and I don't want to do this here, and you needed to-"

She gave a shaky smile.

"Its been a rough day, I also just wanted to see you."

The grin that had started on her face, grew at that question. Of all the things that happened that day, the fact that she'd seen her, that she could speak about her, that she always loved her, had been one she wasn't upset about.

"Evelina. My little Evelina," she gave a soft laugh, and shook her head. "Though she's not that little any more. Almost twelve, and I let myself miss all of it."