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Aenya was acting weird, those days.
She was usually a very sweet and cheerful kid and Matthias couldn't understand the reason for her bad mood.
For a moment, he suspected she could be jealous of her baby brother, but he immediately rejected the option. She hadn't changed her attitude towards Klaus, every time she was around him she regained her usual adorable behavior.
So... what could be the problem?
“I cannot understand,” he said Nina, one day, while changing their son's diaper. “She has never behaved like this. I expected her to be happy, since Aunt Inej is our host, this week...”
“I'm quite confused too,” the young woman replied, preparing Klaus' clothes. “Maybe it's just a phase... where is she, now?”
“I think... she's in the living room, with Inej and Kaz. Do you want me to check?”
“Yes, please. Oh, love...” Nina gave him those pleading eyes he couldn't resist. “Since you're going downstairs... would you bring me a waffle, please?”
The young man giggled: “As you wish, my hungry Little Red Bird.”
He let Klaus in Nina's safe arms, placed a kiss on the baby's forehead and on the woman's lips, then, he walked out of the room, going downstairs.
Aenya wasn't in the living room. Or better, she was on the threshold of the living room, half hidden, making clumsy gestures with her little hands.
Matthias frowned, taking a while to get what she was doing.
“Love,” he murmured, kneeling a few steps from her. “What are you...”
“Shhh!” the three-year-old replied. “They don't know I'm here!”
“Uncle Kaz and Aunt Inej?”
Aenya nodded and Matthias took a peek inside the living room: Kaz and Inej were sitting on the sofa, talking quietly. The young man was still wearing his gloves on, but he was holding Inej's hand in his and they were sitting so close their shoulders were touching.
The Fjerdan blinked, a little confused.
“Are you trying to... use your powers to make them a prank?”
They had discovered the little girl had inherited Nina's Heartrender abilities some months before, in an accidental and almost comical way.
Of course, she was too young to understand the meaning and the correct use of her powers, to her they were still slightly more than a game.
“Not to them,” Aenya replied. “Only to Uncle Kaz. I want him to burp.”
“To... burp?”
“Yes. A very loud burp.”
“Why do you want Uncle Kaz to burp?”
The child looked away, blushing a bit: “Because I want Aunt Inej to say to him 'Bad and rude Uncle Kaz!' and to walk away from him.”
Matthias couldn't help but smile. So, that was the problem.
“Are you jealous, love?”
They all knew Aenya was very fond of Aunt Inej. Matthias mentally called himself a stupid thousands times for not immediately thinking to the solution.
“Aeny, I know how much you love Aunt Inej,” he continued. “And Aunt Inej loves you too. Being with Uncle Kaz doesn't make her love you less. You don't need to use your powers for this.”
“So...” she said, hesitantly. “What can I use my powers for, Papa? And when?”
Matthias widened his smile: “When you'll be older, maybe in two or three years, you'll be trained by the best teachers, so you'll learn to use your powers to do good things.”
A sly smirk appeared on Aenya's lips: “I think making pranks on Uncle Kaz is a good thing, Papa.”
For a moment, Matthias was almost tempted to vocally agree with her. But he bit his own tongue just in time and he simply replied with a little laugh.
“Come on, love, let's go to make some waffles for Mama.”