When Hannah woke up, the sky outside was already turning dark. She gritted her teeth knowing that Axel had drugged her, otherwise, she would not have slept for that long. It was a good thing that he had left else she would have showered him with punches.
The first thing that crossed her mind was Penelope's whereabouts. The child was nowhere in the room so maybe she was sitting beside the aquarium and drawing the fishes. Sometimes, Hannah wondered how Penelope managed to stay in one position for so long in the name of what she called 'capturing the moment'.
Hannah never worried so much about Penelope. The child was obedient to a fault. She would do whatever Hannah asked her to and all her instructions were followed promptly. Sometimes, she even forgets that Penelope was just a child. Six years of age at that.
Hannah took a bath and stepped out of her room with the intention of looking for Penelope but when she reached the living room where the aquarium was, Penelope wasn't there.
Deciding not to panic just yet, Hannah walked around the house, stopping at every place where she thought Penelope would be but unfortunately, Penelope wasn't there. Hannah's heart dropped and she began to panic. Has Penelope maybe gone out somewhere? But Penelope never leaves the house!
Without thinking, Hannah ran out of the house like a crazed woman while shouting Penelope's name in her loudest voice.
In the small garden behind the house…
Penelope was laughing happily as she looked at the small bird in her hand. She had caught it after so many attempts and now, it was hers to keep. Her eyes widened when she heard her name. No doubt the person shouting was her mommy but why would Hannah shout like that? She was starting to get worried and she feared that Hannah would scold her.
"I told you we would get into trouble". She whisper yelled as she looked at the man sitting opposite her with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused smirk on his lips. He never thought that hearing Hannah's worried shout would be this entertaining.
"Don't worry, we will be fine". Axel assured Penelope but that didn't help to ease the girl's tense nerves. She was visibly nervous and her hands holding the bird were shaking. If Hannah were to scold her, it wouldn't be good.
Axel was worried, seeing the girl shaking so much. The bird in the hand was going to fly away soon as her hands had seemingly turned lifeless. After what she had told him earlier, he wasn't supposed to be surprised but he was. Who knew that her reaction would be this extreme?
"Let's go. Your mommy must be worried". Axel said and stood up. He crouched in front of Penelope and released her grip on the bird after which he cleaned her palm with his handkerchief. Penelope was supposed to be heartbroken seeing the bird she had caught, or rather, Axel had caught for her, fly away but that was the least of her worries right now. "Let's go".
Axel carried the child directly from the ground and held her in his arms. Penelope didn't look like she was going to move by herself anyway.
When they stepped out of the garden, they almost crashed into a worried woman who was anxiously screaming her daughter's name at the top of her voice.
Axel arched an eyebrow at Hannah's expression. First, she was worried, then she was relieved and now she was angry. He pretended not to notice her expression and he smiled. "Oh look! Our sleeping princess has finally woken up!" Axel exclaimed chirpily only to be met with Hannah's glare. "Well, aren't you the angry bird". He sang to Hannah's hearing.
Hannah wanted to punch Axel so badly right now but Penelope was in his arms and she couldn't be violent in the presence of the child.
"Who said you could take her out?!" Hannah roared angrily as her eyes moved from Axel to Penelope.
"Who said I couldn't?" Axel retorted pleased with the look on Hannah's face.
She deserved it!
"My princess was bored so I brought her out to play. What's wrong with that?" Axel spoke in between smiles as he fiddled with Penelope's fingers.
Hannah was at loss for words she found Axel's action reasonable but still… "you should have asked me first so…"
"While you were sleeping soundly?" Axel cut in and once again, Hannah was speechless.
What sleeping. Axel had drugged her!
"Let's head inside shall we? It's getting cold outside". Axel suggested and Hannah instinctively looked at Penelope. We finally noticed the scarf around Penelope's neck and she was dressed in warm clothes.
Axel must have done that.
Without waiting for her reply, Axel walked past Hannah and entered the house still holding Penelope. He didn't look like he was going to put her down anytime soon.
When the trio entered the house, Axel sat Penelope down on the couch and sat beside her, asking a series of questions. Hannah watched as Penelope nodded and shook her head at Axel's questions which she couldn't hear as she was a few feets away from them.
"Are you hungry?" Axel asked softly and Penelope nodded hesitantly. She stole a glance at Hannah and she quickly looked away when she noticed Hannah looking at her. This action of hers was noticed by Hannah and she frowned.
Hannah walked to the couch which had Penelope and sat on the other side. "Do you need anything?" Hannah asked and she noticed Penelope nervously wriggling her fingers. Hannah got worried. Penelope has always been a lively child and seeing her silent and acting nervous was abnormal to Hannah. Penelope had not even said a word since Hannah woke up.
She looked at Axel with questioning eyes and Axel just looked back at her with a lazy expression on his face. It was obvious that she won't be getting any answers from him.
"Are you alright? Do you need anything?" Hannah asked and again, Penelope shook her head.
Hannah, once again, looked at Axel, this time, accusingly. He was with Penelope all afternoon so if something was wrong with her, Axel would definitely know about it!
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked Axel calmly and the man nodded before standing up and walking to the kitchen, Hannah followed behind him.