"How did you get in?" Eva asked Callum as she started plating the food.
"The door was open."
"Was the one to the main entrance opened too?"
"Yeah."
"Probably Janet from the first floor. She keeps leaving the door unlocked as if we had security on site." Eva grumbled. "She'd let in just about anyone into this building."
"Just imagine if you accepted that cheque the other day." Callum rolled his eyes. Eva looked over and scowled at him.
"Katsu chicken curry." Eva said as she put the plates on the small round dining table that was in between kitchen and living room. "With a special Evelyn Green twist."
"Is that twist a charcoaled chicken?" Callum asked which made Eva sneer.
"It is just flambéed." Eva said as she did a chef's kiss gesture. The girls showed up wearing two nice dresses, one in yellow and other in green. They sat at the table eagerly with Eva and Callum sitting down a moment later.
"Mr Gold mentioned that you had a meeting this morning. I hope that went well." Eva said in a kind voice. Callum looked up at her in surprise.
"It went well, thank you."
"What are we going to do today?" Emmi asked.
"You are going to spend some time with your uncle Cal today. He has some plans." Eva answered her question as she was cutting the food for Emmi.
"What are we going to do today, uncle Cal?"
"It's a surprise, Emmi." Callum answered.
Eva still sat in the unicorn onesie whilst Callum wore his tailored suit. If there was a way to show the true contrast between them, that was the moment.
"I don't want to go, Eva." Suzie whispered to Eva's ear, loud enough for Callum to hear.
"Would you like to tell me why?" Eva asked softly as she tidied Suzie's hair.
"I want to stay with you."
"Well…" Eva looked up at Callum as if searching for confirmation.
"Don't you worry, Suzie. The pink unicorn is invited to join us." Callum said with a slight smirk.
"See. I'm coming. I'll be there if you need me and if you're uncle is bugging you I can jump in and protect you." Eva smiled. "Don't you worry."
"Will we be sleeping away?" Suzie asked with worry.
"Yes." Eva nodded. "It's fine, Suzie. You just need to get used to it. It'll get better."
Suzie frowned but didn't argue much against it. The reassurance that Eva was going to be with them seemed to put her at ease.
"Evaaa… what's wrong with the chicken?" Emmi asked which made Callum smirk.
"It's flambéed, Emmi." Eva replied trying to keep her face straight. "It was cooked in a special way. But if you don't like it, I'll make it different next time."
Eva glanced over at Callum who ate without a single comment on how bad the food was. And it was quite far from the best she ever made.
After lunch she started to quickly tidy up.
"Get your backpacks, girls." Eva instructed them. "It'll be quicker if you help the girls put their shoes on." She said to Callum. "I need to quickly get changed.
"The pink suits you." Callum said as he tidied after himself.
"Oh thank you. I might consider wearing it in public if you like it so much."
Eva went and changed out of the onesie, only now seeing her own reflection in the mirror and her hair standing up pointing in all sorts of ways.
She brushed through it and put on the simple outfit of jeans, plain top, and a cardigan in forest green. God, standing next to Callum was definitely not going to make it any better.
She took a deep breath in and walked out to see Callum bending over and tying the shoelaces on Emmi's shoes.
"Uncle Cal, where have you been while you were away?"
"I was away, abroad, Emmi. I was in a country called America for a while."
"I've heard that uncles have aunts. Is there an aunt?"
"No, there isn't, Emmi." Callum answered patiently. "It's just your uncle."
Eva just now realised that she didn't know anything about Callum and his relationships. And nothing about what other family the girls might have. She set herself up to learn more about their family to allow the girls to have the best connection to their roots.
"What about Eva?"
"Eva's there too. You have your uncle to help take care of you now. But Eva's still there."
"Will you take us away from Eva?" Suzie asked suddenly. Eva felt her chest tighten.
Callum looked over at Suzie, his face a stone. A perfect poker face. He scratched the side of his nose as he was trying to put the words together.
"No, Suzie." he said carefully but it seemed to pain him to stay it out loud. "I am not taking you away from Eva."
"I love Eva very much."
"I know. I promise you that I will not take you away from Eva. I'm here because I love you and miss you both. I want to get to know you and help Eva take care of you."
"Ah, okay." They nodded more reassured.
"So, we're going to spend a day out together today and you're going to have a sleepover in my home. It's going to be okay."
Eva smiled at that interaction. A small thing but she felt a little bit more sure that Callum really cared about Emmi and Suzie. Maybe not as much as her, but at least a bit.