House of the lost ( any can join in)

[baby frost]

Aurora looked up at and saw what he suggested and gave him a nod figuring he wouldn’t suggest something not yummy to her. As she watched him out in the order she snuggled into him before hearing the question of where she wanted to sit. She looked around and saw a high chair in the fashion of a kangaroo where the seat was essentially the pouch and pointed to it giggling. Tha one pwease” she said

[Grumvakk]

Samuel calm down hearing Miss Lilys voice saying Castile was nice and he looked around at the seating options pointing over to the high chairs. “T….t….tat one.”

[YunicornSparkles]

“Okay. That’s a cool chair” Castile spotted the highchair she pointed out and grinned as he carried her over to it. He swung the plastic tray to one side and carefully sat her in the pouch seat, making sure her bum was against the backrest before buckling her in with the safety straps and clicking the tray back into place with a satisfying snap.

Castile went and got a bib from the storage shelf, searching through them and coming back in a minute or so to tie it onto the girl. It had a plush kangaroo on it that was pastel colours and had a baby peeking out of its pouch, with coloured kangaroo paw marks around them. “Ta-da! I found a matching bib. This will protect your nice new onesie from sauce stains” he explained cheerfully. “You’ve got your blueberry cherry juice but would you like another drink to go along with your food?” he offered. 

===================

Lily saw that it was a blue highchair with cute images of T-rex dinosaurs and miniature castles on it. It was right next to Castile and Aurora. Maybe the kids could talk to each other while they ate. She took the boy over to the chair and did the same as Castile, placing his puffy bottom in the seat, buckling the safety strap and clicking the tray into place securely. “Okay, now we need a bib. Spaghetti can be messy” she told him, lightly patting his left hand, over the Mickey Mouse bandaid. She came back with a bib that had a T-Rex in the middle, dancing with some flowers flying around him. Lily attached it around his neck with the velcro and pulled over an adult sized chair, sitting down. “Food should be out in a few minutes. Do you want another drink to go with it?” She wasn’t sure if the kids would be too full after their meals but she would offer them dessert if they ate a decent amount. 

[baby frost]

Aurora got comfy in the seat of the high chair as she was buckled in. She giggled seeing the kangaroo on the bib and let Castile get it on her before thinking about what she would like to drink.”moo moo pwease” she said sweetly as she swung her little feet ready for a yummy new meal

[Grumvakk]

Samuel shifted a bit in the cushioned seat and fought a bit with the bib whining as he looked up and Miss Lily. He held his stomach as she could hear the rumble in his stomach. He blushed a bit in embarrassment.

[YunicornSparkles]

“Okay. I’ll be right back with your moo moo then” he told her, patting her hair gently. Castle walked up to the counter to ask for the milk in a baby bottle. He came back over and placed it on Aurora’s tray. Not long after, one of the kitchen workers came over and placed a plastic kiddy plate with spaghetti bolognese on the highchair tray. It had melty cheese, meatballs, red sauce and lots of squiggly noodles. There was a plastic fork and knife with cartoons on the handles. 

“Wow, Aurora, doesn’t that look yummy? Do you want to feed yourself or would you like a bit of help?” Castile asked her with a smile. The server went to place another plate on Samuel’s tray, then placed down two bigger plates for the two adults, along with some table water. 

=================

She watched him shuffle in the chair and fight with the bib. “No no, Sammy, keep the bib on. You don’t want your new whale onesie to get dirty, do you? The bib will protect your clothes” she explained kindly. “Now, no whining, little one. Dinner is here. Let’s eat up all the yummy noodles and sauce!” she enthused. Hearing his stomach growl, she giggled. “Your tummy is saying it’s hungry. It wants to eat. Look, your cutlery has cartoons on them. Isn’t that fun?” she asked, pointing out the plastic knife and fork. “Do you want to try to feed yourself? Do you want to give it a go? If not, I’ll be happy to feed you, or just  lend some help” she offered him, “Look, Castile and I ordered the same as you. We are all having spaghetti bolognese” she grinned. “Yummy yummy!”

[baby frost]

Aurora nodded and watched him walk away sadly already missing her new friend and caretaker. She stuck her thumb in her mouth to calm herself down for the moment when she looked to her side and saw Sam being a bit fussy and gave him a warm reassuring smile hoping it would help calm him down. 
 

she then saw Castile come back and happily waved at him before reaching out for her bottle that he was carrying. As the kitchen work dropped off the plate of noodles and she looked em over as Castile asked if it looked yummy and she nodded.

she looked at the food and wanted to be a big girl and try it and not be a baby. She moved her little hands over the pasta and grabbed some noodles before leading it to her mouth. She got most of it in her mouth but a good amount kissed along with the sauce and cheese covering her face. She chewed for a bit then smiled a saucy smile at Castile as she did like the food. “ it Yummy” she said 

[Grumvakk]

Samuel calm down after a minute from a combination of Miss lily and aurora he looked at the food placed in front of him. He thought for a moment before looking at aurora and copied her slowly. Dropping some on the tray and some on the floor as his grip wasn’t that good.

[YunicornSparkles]

Once everyone had their food, Castile sat at the long table beside Aurora and Samuel’s highchairs. He was to Aurora’s right, while Samuel was to her left and Miss Lily to his left. He waved back to Aurora before handing over her bottle, seeing her eagerly take it in both hands. She nodded in approval of her meal and he hoped dinner would go smoothly with no fights. He wanted the kids to have something nourishing in their little tummies. Who knows how they were fed before coming here? 

He waited for her to decide what to do, seeing her look at the food with a thoughtful expression and waiting patiently. He chuckled when she decided to eat with her hands and completely ignore her knife and fork, finding the sight of her messy self feeding amusing and adorable. 

Castile tucked a white napkin into his uniform collar then picked up his own fork and neatly twirled some noodles and a meatball onto it, chomping it in one big bite, quietly slurping up a stray noodle. He chewed appreciatively and then swallowed and licked his lips like a cat, seeing Aurora’s reaction to her own meal. 

“Ahehe, good, good! I’m glad you like it, Princess~” he told her, smiling fondly at the messy toddler. “Good job, honey. It doesn’t matter how you eat it, just that you enjoy it. So long as it’s getting into your tummy, don’t worry about making a mess. Have as much as you want!” he told her happily. “And if you’re still hungry afterwards, there might be dessert” he promised with a wink and a flick of his tail. He looked over to see how Lily and Samuel were going. 

=================

Lily relaxed once Samuel stopped fussing, calmed by Aurora and her own kind gestures. She was thankful for the little girl’s input, glad to see that she not only cared about the other child but wanted to help him too. She hoped Samuel and Aurora would become closer friends over the coming weeks. The aquarium trip tomorrow would hopefully provide bonding opportunities and the chance to make some fun and meaningful memories together. But for now - it was dinner time. Lily watched the little boy look down at his plate of food, trying to decide how to go about eating. She wasn’t too surprised that he decided to copy Aurora. Kids often copied other children and it was cute the way he looked to her for guidance. 

Lily giggled softly, not minding him making a mess but noticing that he wasn’t as good as getting enough into his mouth like Aurora was. She picked up his cartoon fork and did a fancy scoop and twirl manouvre, winding a cheesy, tomato sauce drenched clump of noodles and a meatball onto the utensil. “Oh, Sammy, good try feeding yourself but you’re not getting much in your mouth. Here, Sweetie, Miss Lilly will help you so we aren't here all night. Say Ahhhh” she cooed, bringing the wad of food towards his mouth and gently placing it inside once he opened up. She let him take it off the fork, slowly moving the fork back out from closed lips as sauce blossomed from them. “There, isn’t that better? You get a proper bite. Chew it properly, Honey. We don’t want you choking. Yummy, yummy! Isn’t that so tasty?” she said, her voice warm and encouraging. 

While he was chewing, she picked up her own fork and knife, scooping and twirling a larger amount onto hers before neatly eating it off her fork and licking sauce off her lips. “Mm, mm!” she made happy noises while she ate, making it clear she was enjoying the food. Lily swallowed and checked Sammy, picking his fork up again and getting another portion ready for him, just the right size for his small mouth. “Here comes the choo choo train…whoo, whoo!” she said softly, moving the fork like a chugging train towards his mouth. 

[baby frost]

Aurora smiled hearing Castile comment on her eating and perked up when she heard about the dessert. She continued to eat when she heard train sounds and looked over to see miss Lily feeding Samuel. She watched intently and giggled and the noises clapping her saucy hands together and now more interested in that then eating her own food 

[Grumvakk]

Samuel looked at Miss Lily as she brought the fork up to his mouth opening it and taking the bite chewing it slowly. Samuel swallowed the bite smiling at her and clapped as she made noises to get him to eat the next bite. He did so coughing on a large chunk of meat ball that didn’t get chewed good.

[YunicornSparkles]

Castile snickered at the look on Aurora’s face when he mentioned dessert. That idea seemed to go over well. It would just depend if she had any room left in her tummy. Though people did say that you had a savoury stomach and a sweet stomach. You could always make room for sugar after savoury stuff. At least, HE always could! Castile had quite the sweet tooth and was looking forward to eating that cat paw pastry he was given earlier in the day. He planned to consume it tonight while the kids were sleeping. He wasn’t sure if they were supposed to keep caring for them overnight. Or to go back to his apartment. He knew there were night nurses and that Tanya usually did the night shifts. So maybe that was the case. Oh well, he was sure they’d find out. 

Castile saw Aurora stop eating and turn her head to watch Lily feeding Samuel. “Aurora. Do you want choo choos too? Here, Sweetie…” the cat picked up her tiny fork and swirled a mouthful of food onto it, the right size for her gob. He began to make it chug like a train, with soft jerking movements through the air, “Here comes the spaghetti bolognese train. Chugga chugga chugga chugga…choo choo!” he grinned, plopping the food into her mouth at the end. “Cargo delivered! Ahehe!” 

Castile then fed himself a mouthful off his own plate. Double duty, he could do this! 

================

Lily smiled as Samuel obediently accepted the forkful of spag bol she was feeding him “Good boyyyy~” she praised with deep affection, glad that he was eating something nourishing. She grinned brightly when he surprised her by clapping at the train noises “Oh, you like that, do you? Well get ready, here comes another freight train. Chugga chugga…chugga chugga…whoo whooo!” she said, having fun feeding him in such a silly and playful manner. However, when he took the second bite, she noticed him cough after a second, quickly putting the fork down and moving to pat his back, helping clear his airway. “Oop, down the wrong hole. It’s okay, it’s okay…cough it back up” she said, sharply patting between his shoulder blades to force the bite back out into his mouth. “There, there…it’s okay. It must have been the meatball.  I’ll cut them up into quarters” she told him soothingly, sitting back down and picking up the fork and knife, deftly finding and cutting all the meatballs in the heap of spaghetti strands. “Here Honey, have a drink” she said, giving him the drink to sip at. After a while she spoke again, putting the fork and knife down. 

“Okay. These are small now. It’s safe to eat. Here we go” she said softly, twirling another forkful of food onto his fork, this time with a tiny bit of the cut meatball. 

“Let’s do a whale this time. Ooooo…whooooo….ooooooo….puff! Here comes the whale, swimming through the sea. He has a bite of spaghetti for delivery~” she sang, making soft whale noises, receiving stares and snickers from the staff working in the kitchen nearby. Oh well, let them stare. She didn’t mind. She was entertaining them and Sammy. It was a one woman show.

[baby frost]

Aurora continued to watch Lily feed Sam until she heard Castile say her name and she turned to her feline caretaker. She listened to what he said and grinned happily before nodding wanting all the choo choos as they looked sooo fun. She watched him use the fork and move the train as it got closer and closer to her mouth and happily took the food and ate it giggling happily and swinging her little legs. Eating was never this fun where she was from

[Grumvakk]

Samuel coughed up a large chunk of meatball almost in tears trembling. He took the drink and suckled on the bottle as Miss lily cut up the meatballs. When she was done he hesitated before taking the bite and eating it. He looked over at Aurora and Castile as they were eating and reached for her hand.

[YunicornSparkles]

((Do you guys want me to make Tanya the night shift carer, so Lily and Castile go back to their apartments overnight? Or prefer them to stay on night watch as well? Also, feel free to brainstorm ideas for plots and experiences with me. My Discord is RainbowPixieCat#7705 if you wanna talk OOC chat with me there. So we don't clog the rp)) 

Castile continued to feed Aurora, making noisy trains to take the food from her plate to her mouth. He took bites of his own meal in between feeding her, seeing the meals on the plates get smaller and smaller until his portion was gone. His stomach happily digested the meal, warm and full, making him feel content and happy. Castile politely covered a small burp. "Excuse me" 

Once they were done, he assessed the damage, looking to see how much Aurora managed to eat and how much sauce had gotten on her. “Was that good, Honey?” he asked her cheerfully. “Tomorrow night, we’ll pick something new to try,” he promised with a smile. “There are so many yummy foods to discover. And I think that tomorrow, we will also meet Mr Goodie and go to the aquarium. And I don't know what else yet. But the aquarium will take most of the day. There will be lots of fishies. Just like in your new toy!” 

==========

Lily felt bad for the boy. Choking was not a fun experience. She continued to rub his back as he drank from his bottle to calm his airway down and soothe the coughing. She worried that he wasn’t going to eat from now on but was glad when he accepted the new bite with the much tinier meatball pieces.

“There, see? Isn’t that better? No more choking. You’ll be okay” she told him with a consoling manner. “I will make sure to always check your food so that doesn’t happen again. The kitchen was a bit generous with the meatball sizes. Maybe they forgot to put the kids ones and added the adult ones instead. Silly kitchen! Even adults make mistakes sometimes. Anyway, good job. Eat it up, Sweetie!” she said with an encouraging grin, taking bites of her own meal between feeding Sammy.

“Ready? Here comes a bite. Chugga chugga chugga chugga…choo choo…MMmmm!” she cooed, moving the fork around like a train and making sounds to make it sound yummier.

Once he was full, she inspected his plate to see if it was empty or if there was any left, watching him reach a hand out to Aurora. How cute. Looks like he was trying to be friends. It made her smile.

“Hmm…how did you do? Let’s see if you qualify for dessert” she told Samuel, weighing up the info to try to make a decision. If he had eaten plenty of the healthy meal, she’d consider letting him have the sugary sweet stuff. But she wasn’t going to let him just fill up on junk if he hadn’t had enough nutrition first. She heard Castile mention tomorrow’s plans and perked up. “Wow, the aquarium! That sounds cool! And I think Mr Goodie sounds like…a GOOD guy!” she joked. “I hear he has special presents for new kids” 

[baby frost]

Aurora was happily eating what Castile offered her and while she was waiting for another bite as he ate his own food she looked over and saw Samuel reaching for her hand and she took it giving him a reassuring smile though he might not have been able to see it under all the sauce covering her face. She continued to eat what she was given until it was all gone and her tummy was nice and full. She giggled as Castile burped and nodded as he asked her if it was good.

” me wike dat” she said before agreeing with him to try something new again tomorrow. She listened to him talk about what was going to happen and smiled.

” Acarium acarium” she said clearly excited to go see all the fishes. She grabbed her bottle with her free hand and waited to see what was going to happen next.

[YunicornSparkles]

“That’s good. So now we know one food Aurora likes!” Castile said. He saw that the hungry girl had devoured her entire serving of dinner. Considering how underfed she was at her previous foster carer’s and the fact that so much had happened on her first day at her new home, no wonder she worked up an appetite. Castile was happy with her efforts, deeming she had eaten enough ‘healthy’ nutrients to earn a sweet reward. 

He saw her take Samuel’s hand and smiled, proud of her for being a good friend to the lonely and timid boy. Noticing the smears of sauce all over Aurora, the cat taur chuckled and decided to use a little magic to quickly clean her up. 

“Looks like sauce and crumbs got everywhere, though. We better clean you up before you have dessert. I’ll use some of my bubble magic. Ready?” he told her, bringing his hands up and making a series of gestures while muttering some magic words. His nail polish glittered as he cast the spell before a rush of foamy bubbles mixed with water poured out of his palms and moved through the air towards Aurora, surrounding the four year old and her high chair, tickling and making little popping sounds while they moved around. The spell gathered all the particles of sauce, meatball and noodle before pulling away from Aurora and her chair, leaving them spotless. Castile directed the mass of reddish coloured suds over to one of the sinks, where it washed itself down the drain, disappearing with a gurgle and some pops. 

“Ta da! You’re all done. That was so easy!” Castile exclaimed, gratified by the convenience of his magic. Aurora would have felt soapy wetness around her before but now she was clean and completely dry. “And because you ate all your dinner, you earned a sweet dessert. Now, what do you want, my sweet little cupcake? You are so nice and clean, we should let you make another mess” he laughed softly. “Do you want…ice cream, cake, custard, jelly, pastries, doughnuts? You can have anything they make” he said, waving an arm at the menu boards. 

[Grumvakk]

Samuel finished most of the bottle before he was ready to eat again. Afterwards he was quiet as Lily fed him the smaller bites of food. He was happy that aurora took his hand, it made him feel less alone. He finished almost two thirds of the noodles and had only two meatballs left before he refused to eat anymore. He heard mention of a dessert which perked him up.

[baby frost]

Aurora watched Castile as he started to use his bubble magic. She watched the bubble move to her slowly and then felt it touch her and start to clean her up. She giggled due to the tickling feeling the bubble caused. Once she was all cleaned she watched the bubble fly off towards the sink. She smiled as he praised her for being all clean and then thought about what she would like for dessert. She thought for a minute before knowing exactly what she wanted.” Chcoccy cake” she said hoping he would say she could have it

[YunicornSparkles]

((Sorry again for the wait. I'm only in 6 rps these days but I get tired a lot so it can take me a bit to reply sometimes))

Lily didn’t say anything about him filling up on his drink. She was just glad to see him get some hydration and nutrition into his system. She wouldn’t push things on the first day. Though she did usually like to ensure that food wasn’t wasted. She smiled at the sight of the kids’ linked hands, finding it endearing. They would no doubt come to see each other as siblings or at least friends over their time here. Aurora was a nice girl, thankfully, which made it easier on the shy boy. 

Lily looked at the remaining third of the noodles and two pieces of meatball and decided he had tried his best and it was good enough. He was only a child after all, his stomach was small. “Nice work on eating your dinner, Buddy. You did pretty well showing that spaghetti who's boss!” she told him. “I think you can have some dessert for trying your best tonight” she told him gently. After all, it would be a little mean to not let him have any when Aurora was going to eat something sweet right beside him. She giggled at seeing him perk up at the mention of dessert. “You liked the sound of that, hey? Well, what would you like? Chocolate cake like Aurora, or something else?” 

=============

The cluster of bubbles had soon sent themselves down the drain and Aurora was nice and clean once more, even her bib. Castile could probably use bubble magic instead of bathing them but a relaxing bath was part of most children’s bedtime routine and it would probably be more fun for them, the warm water soothing them and helping them wind down for bed. He planned to add bubble bath and toys, help the kids wash themselves and their hair as well. That way they’d be squeaky clean ready to get dressed for tomorrow’s outing. 

Castile relished the sounds of Aurora’s giggles; a happy, uplifting sound. “I’m happy you like my magic” he told her. “That was nothing. I can do even more bubble magic but you will have to wait and see till tomorrow” he promised. “If I use it too much in one day, I will fall asleep. And we can’t have that!” 

He watched her think her options over as she considered what to order and then grinned. “Ooh, good choice. I’ll go put in an order to the kitchen. Do you want a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some whipped cream and hot fudge sauce with it?” he asked, getting her answers. He waited for Samuel to tell Lily what he wanted before keeping their orders in his mind and hurrying over to one of the kiosks, typing their orders in. He ordered himself a cup of Jasmine tea. That should wake him up a bit. Not that he was really full after that meal. His bigger body usually required more. But he could snack later once the kids went to bed. He still had that cat paw pastry Mr B gave him stuffed in his uniform pocket. 

It didn’t take long before someone came from the kitchen carrying a tray with two plates of dessert upon it, putting one each down on the highchair trays “Here you go; enjoy, little ones” the waiter said, smiling at the cute kids. “Don’t eat it all at once, now. You might turn into a vacuum cleaner” he warned with a small wink and sauntered off after collecting their empty dinner dishes and other tableware. 

============

Lily looked at Samuel, pointing to his dessert "Do you think you can eat this one all on your own or would you like a little bit of help to devour that sweet treat, Honey?" she asked him playfully. "After that, we will take you and Aurora for a splishy, splashy bubble bath and then a story time book before bed" she explained. "It's getting a bit late for wee boys and girls to still be awake and you have lots to do tomorrow" 

[Grumvakk]

Samuel watches as the deserts were brought out and reaches for his as he yawned big and rubbed his eyes. He started to eat the piece of cake with his hands until his eyes started to close. Eventually falling asleep in his highchair.

[baby frost]

Aurora listened to him talk about his magic and nodded not wanting her new friend to be hurt or tired. 
 

as she heard ice cream and fudge her eyes lit up with excitement. “ ice cweam” she squealed happily agreeing with all the extras before waiting for the order to go through. After a while she saw the kitchen worker coming and watched him put down the dessert and smiled.” Tank oo” she said  before looking over the dessert not used to seeing such a good plate of food.

[YunicornSparkles]

The whole day, along with his cold, seemed to catch up with Samuel at once. Combined with his comfortably full belly, it all was a recipe to send him straight to sleep. Lily gave a soft smile when she noticed Samuel had nodded off, the bubble with the blue rose lightly hovering near his shoulder. 

“Uh oh. There goes your plan for giving him a bath, Castile. And his hair is still dirty too” she said, looking at the cat taur as she made him aware of what happened, “You don’t think you can…” she nodded at the sleeping boy in his whale onesie, a half eaten handful of chocolate cake with all the fixings sitting before his slumped figure. His chin was resting on his chest and he was tipped to one side, limp and breathing deeply, nose whistling softly because he was a little congested. Lily gently wiped the crumbs, fudge sauce, whipped cream and ice cream off his face and hands after removing the chunk of half eaten cake, being delicate so she wouldn’t wake him. 

==============

Castile understood what Lily was asking straight away and nodded “Sure. Let me” he replied, raising his hands and summoning a cloud of soapy bubbles and water, sending it towards Samuel’s head. The mixture swirled and bubbled all through his hair, collecting all the grease, dirt and other assorted things before pulling away, floating across the room to the sink and diving down the drain. Samuel’s hair was now soft, dry and perfectly clean. But it now looked even messier after the ruffling and massaging bath of the bubble spell. “There. Much better. He’ll have some knots and a wild hairdo tonight but we can easily brush it in the morning with the help of some detangling spray” he said as Lily agreed and thanked him for his help.

He looked back at Aurora, covering a small yawn from the extra magic use, checking to see whether she was done eating. “How is your cake, Sweetheart? Is it good? It sure looks yummy with all those toppings on it” he smiled, “And you said thank you to the kitchen staff too. Nice manners” he praised, “Good on you for remembering, Jellybean. By the way, Sammy fell asleep so he won’t be having a bubble bath after this but we’ll make sure he gets one in the morning. He’s still sick with a cold so he might be more tired from that. But don’t worry, the bath will still be fun. I’ll add lots of toys and even do some more bubble magic for you. I’ll make sure not to get too tired” he said, taking the cartoon printed toddler spoon and beginning to feed Aurora bites of chocolate cake with small scoops of each of the toppings. “Here, I’ll help you eat the rest of your cake so we can get a bath sooner and then you can pick a picture book for story time” he explained. 

Turning his head towards Lily, he saw she had unlocked the highchair tray and was gently scooping up the sleeping boy into her arms, laying him over her shoulder as she rubbed his back lightly and settled him comfortably against her, cuddling him close and putting his pacifier in his mouth with gentle shushing sounds. Castile lowered his voice to a murmur, almost a stage whisper “Lily, are you gonna take Sammy to bed? I was gonna ask you to grab Aurora a onesie and diaper for after her bath but I’ll just wrap her in a bath towel and get her changed into her jammies back at her room. I don’t know if we’re supposed to work overnight but I think the handbook says something about there being night shift workers. So we’re probably supposed to go back to our apartments” he fed Aurora lovingly, scooping up some more spoonfuls of soft, chocolatey cake. “But I don’t know if I want to leave Missy Moo here alone on her first night with a new carer. I might have to stay tonight. What do you think, Aurora?” he asked the little girl, wanting to know how upset she might be or if she was okay for someone else to watch over her while she was sleeping, or in case she needed something during the night. 

[baby frost]

Aurora went about eating the dessert oblivious to what was going on with Samuel until Castile addressed her and she looked up sprinkles and chocolate adorning her once clean face. She nodded happily as he asked her if it was yummy before smiling at the praise of being a good girl and thanking the staff member. She listened to him talk about the bath situation while she ate what he fed her. She was happy as a clam until she thought about him leaving her with someone she didn’t know overnight and she didn’t  know how they would be with her and she started to get a little upset as small tears started to build up in her eyes as she reached for him to not leave.” No go” she said quietly 

[YunicornSparkles]

Lily nodded at Castile’s question “Yes, I’m going to take Sammy to bed right now. And I’ll just get comfortable in the rocking chair and read over the staff handbook; might take a nap myself. I’m sure if he wakes up, he’ll wake me up” she said, thinking about what Castile said. 

“Yeah, we’re supposed to go back to our apartments at night and let the night staff take over but like you said, they need us for their first night here, just till they get comfortable sleeping in their new rooms” she explained, gently swaying her hips to rock the child in her arms and rubbing Samuel’s back to keep him comfy and asleep. “I’ll be in Sammy’s room if you need me. Goodnight, Dears” 

With that, she walked out of the kitchen and dining room, finding her way through the mansion to Samuel’s room and gently laying him in his fire truck crib, on his back, tucking the sheet and blanket over him. She slid the side of it up and locked it in place. She saw a speaker and a pull string in the crib. If the kids needed a change, they could talk into the speaker and the staff would hear it at their stations. If they weren’t at their station, kids should pull the string and a call light would go on, summoning a staff member right away. The cribs also had a ‘close’ button so kids could hop in and make it close by themselves, which would detect their weight and then close with a 20 countdown.. But after that, they couldn’t open it, which is why the string was there to pull for help. 

Lily went to the rocking recliner chair and checked the handbook, noticing that it said that if no staff were at their desk/station, then pulling the crib string turns on a light that they could see, which goes red after 5 minutes of no response to let staff know that they need to check on the child right away. If the string is pulled two times, it goes yellow, which means you need a nurse and sets off a nurses’ pager after 5 minutes. If kids needed help for an emergency, they pulled the string three or more times and it set off nurses’ pagers straight away.

Lily sat back, making a face at the words on the tablet. “This seems like a complicated system they have set up. What if the child is too young to understand all this? Or gets confused by how it works? I wonder why Mr Balverk made it that way. It’s kind of like the system in a hospital. And while it would work great for older kids, younger ones will just have to be heard through the speaker system” she reasoned quietly to herself. How much crying would those staff have to hear all night long through the speakers?  

Looking around the room, Lily also saw that there was a panel of buttons on the wall, at a height kids could easily reach. She checked the handbook. If kids pressed the blue button, it meant anyone could help them. If they pressed green, it would bring a nanny. Red was for a nurse. And finally, the red X button was for emergencies. “I suppose they have some way of disabling those buttons for younger kids that can’t understand what they do,” she said to herself. “Or they would be making the staff run everywhere like headless chickens” she grinned in amusement at that.

==============

With the dessert all gone, Castile smiled at the sight of the messy child looking up at him, chuckling softly. He went to where the wash cloths were kept and came back, starting to gently wipe Aurora’s face and hands clean, removing her bib for the kitchen staff to take away for cleaning later. When he saw her getting upset over what he said, he opened the highchair and pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back and stroking her hair gently “Aw, it’s okay, Sweetie. Don’t cry. I’ll stay with you tonight, okay? It’ll be fine. I’ll just sleep in your room. And if you wake up, I will be right there to help you” he said, trying to calm her down while Lily wandered off with Samuel.

“Okay, let’s get a bath. I’ll show you some more bubble magic” The cat began to walk toward where the bathrooms were, placing Aurora down on the bathroom mat while he ran the water at a warm but not too hot temperature. He added bubble bath as well as lots of toys. Then he knelt down to help Aurora undress, undoing her pink onesie with the white ruffles and placing it aside. He then removed her diaper and placed her gently into the tub, crouching by the side of it to keep watch on her as she played, one arm around her back, supporting her. His tail swayed idly as his beast half was flat to the floor. “Alright, do you wanna see some more magic before we wash you clean? I can make you a bubble balloon animal. Or would you like a balloon hat? Name anything you want” he told her. “This ain’t no ordinary bath. I can do lots of things” he grinned with a small laugh. “Hey, maybe you can even learn some magic, too. This mansion is magical, I’m sure Mr B has magic classes somewhere in the building”