“Next! Ah, Lady Cronwright, what can I get for you today?” Hanny, the baker’s wife, waved Thea and Luin up to the counter with a smile. Her round face was jovial as she practically bounced on the balls of her feet while taking customer orders. Her energy was either contagious or off-putting, depending on the person. No one could deny Hanny and the rest of her family were quite the morning people. But they loved their bakery and their livelihood–and it showed.

Thea stepped up to the counter with Luin, his hand in hers as they had been for the length of a short carriage ride and walk to the Sweet Bites bakery. She knew what she wanted without having to look over the glass case where the freshly baked rolls, muffins, bagels, and cakes were laid out prettily. But she knew Luin may want to look and pick out his own.

She smiled to Hanny and then bent down level with Luin’s ear. “Go ahead and have a look. Let me know if there is something you’d like to try. And if not, you can always get the same muffin as before.” She smiled as he nodded and went to stare into the glass case. She noticed him swallowing a bit more than normal.

So the smell of the baked goods is making his mouth water. At least he seemed pretty normal in that regard. What kid didn’t like delicious and sweet things?

“Well, well. Who’s this?” Hanny asked as Thea straightened. Hanny waved her hand absently behind her, a cue to her daughter to take the next customer’s order while she spoke with Thea.

“This is a family friend’s son I’m looking after for a bit. He’s rather displaced at the moment, but we’re making due.” Thea said the lie she’d practiced in the earlier carriage ride smoothly and felt oddly proud of herself and a bit guilty at the same time.

“Aww, poor boy. Well, I know he’ll be right as rain with you looking after him, my lady. He might even end up quite spoilt.” Hanny chuckled as she watched Luin taking his decision making quite seriously. “When he picks what he wants, I’ll put a bit of extra in the bag for him.”

Thea smiled. She’d long gotten used to Hanny and her daughter’s generosity, though for several months she always tried to refuse them when they did this. But soon her protests just turned to thanks.

“I thank you, Hanny. I’m sure he would enjoy that.” Thea bent down to see what Luin was staring at. It was large cinnamon bun with cream icing. “Would you like to try that? It’s much sweeter than the muffin you ate yesterday, and it has a bit of spice from the cinnamon.”

At Luin’s nodd, Thea informed Hanny of his choice along with her own order of a raisin bagel and a blueberry muffin. This bag is much heavier than normal, Thea thought as they left the bakery and ducked past the customers lining up to enter. But of course, that was to be expected. She now had breakfast for two in her bag instead of just for herself.

She noticed all the tiny changes to her morning routine that Luin had caused, and while it all felt a bit odd and surreal, she didn’t dislike it. The only thing that marred the morning were the stares she was getting. Quite a few of the people walking along the street to their jobs or to purchase things knew her from the library, so it was no wonder that they now stared at her–most with open curiosity, but some with a hint of judgment. Thea wasn’t exactly sure what they were judging her for, and it wasn’t as if she didn’t get a few of those stares for just holding her job as a librarian and being a woman, but whereas she hadn’t been self conscious before, she was now overly conscious of the odd combination of Luin’s coat and slipper ensemble.

It’s all we had! Thea wished she could say that towards all those judgemental stares, but that was hardly any reason that would make them judge any less. It’s a good thing we’re going to remedy this situation this morning. She was even more determined to get her coworker to let her have the morning off.

Luckily, the library was just at the corner of the next block. She fumbled balancing the bag from the bakery, holding Luin’s hand, and trying to get her key out of her skirt pocket for a moment, before she decided it would be best to let Luin hold the bag for a bit. Luin took the bag without hesitation, taking a few big sniffs now that it was close to his face.

Once unlocked, they went inside, and Thea flipped the sign on the door from “closed” to “open.” They had arrived a bit earlier than normal since Thea had left her apartments thinking it might take her a bit longer with a child in tow, but Luin was really no trouble at all. The carriage ride to make the trip easier on him only sped things along.

“My fellow librarian, Ginaveve will be here in a moment, but why don’t we get you settled and start on breakfast?” Thea removed a few stacks of documents from a stool behind the circulation desk that was just the right height for Luin to get up on top of himself. Thea settled herself into the chair behind the desk as well, and the two of them dug into their breakfasts. Luin finished his cinnamon bun and was licking the icing off his fingers in no time, but Thea was still working on her blueberry muffin when a shadow crossed the front windows and the front door swung open, causing the bell at the top to chime.

Here we go…. Thea put her muffin back in the bag and stood as the other librarian, Ginaveve, entered. Thea placed her hands on top of the circulation desk to keep them from fidgeting. She might be able to get away with lying to the baker’s wife, but Ginaveve was a different story. The other woman was currently the one person who saw Thea day-in-and-day-out. If anyone would see through her concocted story, it would be Ginaveve.