Chapter Text
“I never thought he'd steal from me," Adea mumbled. She squeezed her stuffed shark close to her chest, dipping her head while Alex powdered her naked bottom.
“I'm sure no one else thought he would either, pumpkin.”
Adea frowned up at Alex.
The betrayal had been two months ago, and her business had recovered since then, but there was this horrid, nagging feeling in the back of Adea's head still. She had chosen Kennedy herself; handpicked him from a pool of applicants because she thought he would be a good, diligent worker.
He managed to steal just shy of three thousand dollars, but it was the sting of the betrayal — the reminder that Adea couldn't do anything right — that hurt the most.
Adea appreciated Alex's words, but she didn't believe them. So she smiled a bitter smile when Alex kissed her on the tummy.
The gynoid picked the girl up, balancing Adea's diapered bottom on her hip as she wandered out the nursery and down the stairs
“Think you can play by yourself while I get started on lunch, Addy?" she asked.
“I’ll figure something out,” Adea murmured.
She tried to peek into the kitchen from the warmth of Alex's arms and Alexandria flicked her on the nose, laughing softly while she chided her: “Nosey today, aren't we, baby?”
Adea was set down in front of the living room telly, her immediate surroundings dotted with soft toys and simple activities: colouring books and puzzles.
(Adea did so like her puzzles.)
“You stay here and I'll come check on you in a bit, okay?” Alexandria didn't wait for a response before she plopped Adea's pacifier into her mouth.
As always, the girl visibly relaxed once it was in. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes lowered, as if she were in a meditative trance.
Alex grinned down at her — Adea was awfully cute. Absolutely lovable, really. She'd done a good job of dressing Adea up today in her nice little yellow frock and accompanying white socks.
Adea's visits to Asimov Bay were periodic, always on a set schedule yes, and for a couple weeks at a time, but Alex missed her sweet little girl. She missed having someone to look after, and she knew Adam felt the same.
Alex side-eyed the hallway clock on her way to the kitchen. She didn't want lunch to be late, for then it messed with Adea's after-lunch nap. It was something of a ritual now, that Adea be tucked into her playpen and allowed to sleep in peace.
Then Alex and Adam would wash up from lunch, get some chores done and talk all the while. Alex about the clients at her legal practice, and Adam about whatever the hell he did these days; Alex was never too sure how Adam made his money. All she knew was that there was always an abundance of it.
While she diced some tomatoes, Alex wondered to herself if the struggle of renovating was worth it? Adam had bought a house further up the street, and it seemed like there were a million things to do before he deemed it ‘ready to live in’.
“You know,” whispered Alex to no one but herself, “I bet he doesn't even have a landline!”
He was much too busy deciding on the colour palette for the kitchen. Or, more accurately, too busy having Alex decide on it.
Adam came over to help with lunch and other chores when he could, but these days, he was just so busy with painting and renovating and moving around furniture that he—
“Alex?” Adea called from behind her.
Alex turned around sharply. Her mind had wandered to something silly again. “Yes Addy?”
“I changed my mind.” Adea held onto the hem of her dress, a bit nervous. Her pacifier was nowhere in sight. “I want to help you make lunch instead."
Alex beamed. "Alright pumpkin. You know the rules, don't you?”
And Adea rushed to the sink to wash her hands.
*
Adam was proud of himself. His house was still mostly empty, and what little furniture he'd procured was covered in plastic wrap, but the most important rooms were nearly done: Adea's nursery and her playroom.
He'd built everything himself. The Adea-sized crib. The changing table. Even the little table-and-chairs sets in both rooms. There were no bookshelves, for he’d not yet settled on a design for the reading nook, but the rooms were otherwise fully furnished and painted.
With a sigh of contentment, Adam stepped out into the backyard.
Alex kindly allowed him to borrow Adea's outdoor furniture set, and the centre-piece of his yard was Adea's inflatable pool. A beach umbrella was roughly stuck in the grass, shading a large area of the pool.
And it was in this patch of shade that Adea sat, roughly leaning against the pool's inner rim, the bright, multi-coloured polka dot of her swim costume quite obvious even from where Adam stood.
Her towel was thrown over a little side table nearby, the first of the backyard furniture Adam had assembled. (He made a mental note that he needed to unpack and assemble the rest.)
Adea's attention was fixed on her tablet — in an air-tight, waterproof case — and Adam splashed the girl with water to get her attention. She scrunched her little face, ready and raring to squeak out some protest.
Then she saw that it was Adam.
She dropped her tablet. The waterproof case splashed to the bottom of the pool, but Adea paid it no mind. She was far too enamoured with Adam right now, and she made grabby-hands for him. She bounced a little, pushing up on her folded knees to extend her reach just a little further.
And when Adam swooped down for her, and tossed her in the air, she kept reaching for him.
“Had fun in your pool?” he asked, dropping a kiss to her forehead. Brown eyes stared at him, and then back to the pool. A smile slowly spread over her face. “Okay. Let's get you changed. I expect Alex will want you back soon.”
They alternated on the days they could not be together. Had started doing it ever since Adam became busy with fussing over his new house. He still slept over at Alex's, but his priorities were askew for a little while, and would be that way for a smidgen longer.
He still made time for Adea, of course.
Adea pressed her body against Adam's front. Water from her body and her swimsuit dripped off of her onto the grass. She shivered. The summer breeze was making her a bit cold, but it was bearable for now.
“Still dry, sweeting?” Adam then asked. He felt the pool water drip from Adea's swim diaper onto the arm he held her with. Realising the error of his phrasing, he asked instead, “Do you need the restroom?”
Adea shook her head once.
Ah , Adam thought, she's not in a talking mood this time.
Sometimes Adea would go quiet during her stay in Asimov Bay. Like Alex, Adam was full aware of the betrayal Adea suffered. It still upset him to think about. He didn't like that someone Adea trusted could betray her so easily. But he mused to himself that was the nature of running a business. A horrible nature to be sure, but nature nonetheless.
Adam threw Adea's towel over his free shoulder.
“Come,” he said, even though he was carrying her, “How about some ice-cream before Alex comes to pick you up? I stocked up on your favourite not too long ago. Would you like that, sweeting?”
He felt Adea shake her head.
“I want to help you,” she told him. “I don't care what it is, I just want to help.” And then, almost as if she feared a rejection, she added, “I'll get ice-cream after.”
Adea spent the next half an hour helping Adam with simple labour: picking out what colours he ought to paint the family room, and the kitchen. What sort of tiling he should use for the downstairs bathroom. It wasn't much, but Adea was helping, and her choices were always right, whatever they were.
And that was all she wanted.