always felt more at ease when she was familiar with something, so it made sense that she had grown more comfortable with her home life after two months of living with Mark.

September had come and gone, and October had somehow crept in silently. The air had grown colder than usual, and the trees were brilliant shades of orange and red.

Fall was Daisy's favorite time of year. Everything always felt so cozy and relaxed, the weather wasn't too hot or too cold. Everything was just perfect, Daisy was right in her element when fall rolled around.

As usual, Daisy's school bell rang at 3:00, and she made it her mission to get out of that place as quickly as she could.

A month into the school year and Daisy still hadn't made any friends. Calypso always had funny stories to share about her friends at the dinner table, it embarrassed Daisy that she didn't have any funny stories to share.

Though...in order to make friends, you did actually have to start a conversation, something that Daisy was positive would kill her. Her social anxiety was the ultimate party pooper, always there to ruin any chances of starting up a new friendship.

Daisy sighed, pushing open the double doors that led out to the parking lot. She made her way over to the small sedan parked at the end of the line, the same way it always was.

Some days Mark picked her up, some days Naomi did. It all really depended on his schedule.

Today it was Naomi, and the girl's nanny immediately smiled when the car door opened. "How was today?"

"Good." Daisy shrugged. "I had a math test."

"Yuck." Naomi scrunched her nose as she began to pull out, which pretty much summed up the way Daisy had felt about the test too.

Daisy felt just as comfortable with Naomi as she did Mark. The nanny was nice, and she didn't yell, which automatically made her a saint in Daisy's eyes.

They had gone through their fair share of nannies in the past two months. There had been the lady who didn't know how to cook anything, so much as boil water. Mark had come home to two very hungry girls who hadn't eaten all day; the nanny had lasted twelve hours.

And then the lady who actually left the girls alone in the apartment because she had separation anxiety from her dogs. Mollie Bushner, she hadn't even lasted two hours.

And then of course, the college student.

"Mark?" Calypso had spoken up that night at the dinner table after a very bizarre day with the new nanny. "Is it normal for people to carry sugar around?"

Mark scrunched his face in confusion. "Sugar?"

"The new nanny. She carries sugar around in a baggie." Calypso shrugged. "I didn't even know it smelled good either, she kept smelling it a lot."

Daisy had been just as confused as Calypso, but Mark had immediately choked on his food, firing the nanny not even a minute later.

From that point on, the nanny screenings were very thorough.

And Naomi was everything they had been looking for. She was CPR certified too, which Mark figured was a good thing in case one of the girls magically went into cardiac arrest.

The two drove as they normally did, heading towards Calypso's school to pick the girl up.

Daisy felt relaxed as she let her eyes wander on the passing scenery. Today was a good day.

Nothing special had happened. Maybe it was lack of something happening that made today so good.

Daisy didn't have any breakdowns today. No mental anguish that crushed her like an anvil as soon as she got out of bed. Today had been fine, and Daisy was so happy that it was finally October.

Naomi put her car in park as she pulled up to Calypso's school, telling Daisy that she would be right back as she unbuckled and got out of the car.

Unlike at the middle school where Daisy could just walk out to Naomi's car, the elementary school was far more strict about school pick-ups.

The child had to be personally escorted to the car, meaning Naomi or Mark always had to actually go get Calypso from the courtyard and bring her back to the car.

Daisy smiled as she watched Naomi retreat over to the courtyard.

She closed her eyes as she leaned back against the seat, basking in her happiness. Feeling happy and stress-free was a rarity for Daisy, so she had to make every millisecond last. Anything tiny could ruin her mood, and she didn't know when she would feel so at ease again.

When Daisy opened her eyes again, she saw that Naomi was still at the gate speaking to Calypso about something, which made Daisy frown. Calypso usually was pretty cooperative about leaving, maybe she was having a bad day.

Then Daisy spotted that raven-haired girl glued to Calypso's side, and Daisy figured she knew what the problem was.

Ava was Calypso's best friend, and the girl that Calypso has trouble parting with. Even when she goes over to Ava's house for play dates, Mark has to all but pry her from her friend. Daisy was glad that Calypso had a friend that she was able to have fun with, but Calypso never knew when to say goodbye, and that was the problem.

Naomi hesitated as she stood there speaking to the two girls and a raven-haired woman, looking back at Daisy sitting in the car. Daisy wondered if Naomi needed her to come get Calypso. Sometimes Daisy had to go up there and convince her sister to get in the car herself, maybe that was what was happening.

But Calypso wrapped her arms around Naomi in a tight hug, happily running in the opposite direction down the sidewalk with Ava and the raven-haired woman, and Naomi began to walk back towards the car by herself.

Daisy's internal sirens started going off, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone horribly wrong.

"What happened? What's wrong? Is she okay?" Daisy spewed out question after question, her eyes glued on the girl that was getting farther and farther from her line of vision.

Naomi said nothing for a moment, and Daisy felt like she was going to explode. She only buckled up and began to drive again, pulling out of the school parking lot.

"Calypso's staying the night with her friend." Naomi shrugged. Daisy wasn't sure how Naomi said the sentence so nonchalantly while Daisy herself was positively losing it.

"No, no...she can't." Daisy quickly shook her head. "She can't, she...she's not allowed to."

"Why isn't she allowed to?" Naomi asked curiously.

Because...because so much could go wrong. Calypso could have a nightmare, Calypso could get homesick, Calypso could accidentally wet herself. There were so many factors to it.

"Because she...she can't. She needs to be home with me." The way that Daisy sounded so panicked made Naomi wonder if Calypso needed to be home for Daisy's sake rather than her own.

"She'll be okay, Daisy." Naomi let out a quiet laugh. "Have you ever been to a sleepover before?"

Daisy felt her cheeks heat up as she slowly shook her head. She'd never been to a sleepover before, but that was the problem: neither had Calypso. Was now really the time for firsts?

"They're fun." Naomi offered Daisy a small smile. "You eat ice cream, and watch movies and...and all the happy things. Nothing bad's gonna happen."

"Calypso is an accident prone child." Daisy mumbled, Naomi letting out a quiet laugh.

"That she is." Naomi agreed. "But sleepovers are perfectly safe. She'll be okay."

Daisy seriously wasn't convinced though, and even once the two had gotten back to the apartment, she spent the whole evening trying to convince Naomi otherwise. She didn't even care if she was being annoying, she just wanted Calypso back.

But Naomi wasn't changing her mind. Daisy knew it was wrong to lie, but she even went so far as to try fabricating a story to change Naomi's mind.

"Mark won't want her to go over there." Daisy spoke firmly. "That's a rule that he has. She's not allowed to go over there."

"He said it was fine, Dais." Naomi sighed. "She'll be okay."

Daisy panicked. She just wanted her sister back, and she didn't know how to convince Naomi to drive to Ava's house and demand Calypso come home.

At that moment, the door opened, and in walked Mark. Daisy immediately stood up from her spot on the couch, ready to plead her case.

"Tell Naomi that we have to go pick Calypso up because if we don't she'll get scared, and she needs to get home right now and she needs to be with me and she needs to be safe and not out somewhere else." Daisy rambled quickly, something that Mark wasn't quite expecting after having been inside his apartment for a solid two seconds.

"Hello to you too."

"We have to go pick her up." Daisy pleaded. "We have to go bring her back."

Naomi had gathered her purse and coat, making her way over to the door. "I'll be back at 7:00 tomorrow morning. See you, Mr. Sloan."

Mark nodded at the girl, saying goodbye as she exited and shut the door behind her.

If Mark was at all fazed by Daisy's words, he didn't show it. In fact he looked relaxed, taking his time as he took his coat off while Daisy stood there in panic.

Mark brought the item in his hand—a white plastic bag with red thank you's written all over the front—over to the table as he sat down.

Daisy immediately realized that Mark had gotten takeout and she frowned. "How can you eat at a time like this?"

Mark tried his best to stifle a laugh. "You act like Calypso was sent to a slaughterhouse."

Daisy's frown grew deeper at that comment. Maybe she really was overreacting. But Calypso and her, they were a pair. Being away from her little sister for too long always made Daisy nervous, and it was already kicking in much too severely.

"She'll be okay." Mark reassured with the same phrase Naomi had been repeating. He pushed the takeout bag slightly towards Daisy. "Do you want to sit down and eat?"

Daisy did sit down, but she didn't bother to eat any food. She was much too nervous.

She began her tapping of fifteen against the table, Mark immediately frowning at the fact that Daisy was so stressed out. He still hadn't booked a psychiatric appointment, he wasn't really sure how to have that conversation with Daisy.

"If anything bad happened, I'm sure Ava's mom would call me." Mark pointed out, hoping maybe Daisy would slow her tapping and ease up a little bit.

But Daisy continued to tap, her eyes elsewhere, and Mark noticed she still hadn't made a move for the takeout yet.

"You should eat, Daisy."

Daisy shook her head in response, her taps not ceasing. "I'm going on a hunger strike."

"A...hunger strike." Mark spoke slowly as he tried his best not to laugh again. He couldn't take the kid seriously. "You're going on a hunger strike because I won't go pick Calypso up?"

Daisy only glared, not saying anything else, and Mark took that as a yes. He didn't want to be rude about his next question, but he was genuinely curious.

"Do you ever let her have fun?" Mark asked, Daisy immediately tilting her head.

"What?"

"She's six. Why does she have to always abide by everything all the time? Isn't she allowed to have some fun every once in awhile?"

Mark's question made Daisy think. Of course she let Calypso have fun. But...it was more important to be safe, Daisy wanted Calypso to be safe.

Mark wondered if Daisy ever let herself have fun either. She's only twelve, doesn't she ever get tired playing adult?

But before Mark could ask anymore questions, his cell phone rang out loud.

"Hello?" He answered, waiting expectantly for the voice on the other end.

Daisy's internal sirens rang louder than they had all day. Her tapping grew faster and more urgent.

"What happened?" Mark asked as he stood up quickly, Daisy standing up quickly too. "Is she okay?"

Mark made his way over to the door as he pulled on his coat, and the urgency in his actions made it clear to Daisy that Calypso wasn't okay.