◇─◇──◇─◇

𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋. He shushed her before the questions could flow out of her mouth.

"Rori's sleeping, let's keep it down." he said, ushering her to the kitchen table.

"What happened?" she asked, her brows furrowing in concern. He waved his hand dismissively.

"I got mugged on my way home from work. It happens in this country. I work up in the city y'know." he said nonchalantly as if those bruises weren't aching already this morning. Kennedy just blinked at him, her mouth slightly open. Nicky felt a smile rise out of him. "Don't look at me like that, it's just a shiner. I've had worse from a fuckin' baseball."

"I'm sorry," Kennedy replied, tearing her eyes away from the ugly purple and blue bruise. "What do you even do for work?" she asked, looking anywhere but him. She didn't want to get caught staring again.

"I'm a pediatrician down in Brooklyn. I think he wanted my watch." he said, trying to make the atmosphere a little more comfortable. He wasn't used to this. Normally when there was a tense situation, he was in control. He didn't give a rat's ass how the other person felt.

"Oh wow. I'm not sure what I expected." She laughed softly, feeling slightly more at ease; and sure enough, he wasn't wearing a watch, and there was a tan line where one should be.

"All right, so," he said, changing the subject. "You and Aurora will have to go and get groceries today, the keys to Vittoria's car are on the coffee table. Here's fifty dollars." He said, pulling his billfold out of his pocket. He handed her a fifty dollar bill. Ulysses S. Grant stared at her.

"Fifty dollars?' she asked in slight disbelief. "I don't think I've ever had so much money in my hands before. Are you sure this isn't too much?"

"It should be just about enough. I haven't gotten anything since..." he was twisting the ring on his left hand's ring finger nervously. "Well, you know. Rori and I have been livin' off of Spam and noodles." he said, trying to cover up any sort of negative emotion he might have just shown. His hands stilled; his side ached. "You girls should have lunch and a milkshake too. Rori loves ice cream, it might get her to open up to you."

"Thank you Mr. Ricci. Is there anything else you want me to do?" Kennedy asked, slipping the bill into her dress pocket. She found his reaction odd. Had something happened with his wife? She just assumed that she was a busy lady, or maybe she was on a trip of some sort. It made her a bit nervous.

"Right well, I'm off. Have a good day Miss Harlow, Here's my card if you need anything." he said, placing an off white little square on the kitchen table. "Call me if there's an emergency." He slipped his suit jacket and coat on, donning a lid and grabbing a leather briefcase that looked more on the expensive side. He disappeared through the door, and the revving of an engine could be heard as he left the house.

Sure enough, the card had the number and the address of a doctor's office on it, and it had Nicky's name printed in the corner. If Harlow knew, she'd still think he was quite the skilled con man.

She took this little bit of quiet time before Aurora woke up to take a walk around the house and the kitchen, getting acquainted with the layout. She went through the kitchen cabinets and compiled a list of the groceries she would need also. The list was big. Although Harlow believed Nicky when he said he hadn't been out to get stuff since his wife did whatever she did, Kennedy was still surprised that anyone could put up with living like this. The sound of shuffling feet jerked her from her stupor.

Aurora was standing in the doorway, holding a stuffed lamb to her chest and looking at Kennedy with big brown doe eyes. Kennedy smiled and held her hand out to the little girl. She was pleasantly surprised when she recognized her as the girl she had played with before her interview. She took it and let Kennedy lead her over to the kitchen table. She helped her into a seat and placed a glass of water in front of her.

"You can stay there while I cook breakfast, or you can help if you'd like. Is the water okay or do you want me to try and find some orange juice or something of the sort?" Kennedy said, looking down at the girl with a soft smile. She was a pretty cute sight with that lamb still pressed tightly against her chest. She just stared at the woman, no response.

"Not much of a talker. That's all right, nothin' wrong with being able to listen at all. You can join me if you want; I'll assume that the water is okay." She turned around and turned the stove on.

Breakfast was cooked and soon enough Kennedy and Rori were headed out the door. Rori was a cute little thing, in her dress. She wore a headscarf similar to Kennedy's and had a pair of sunglasses on top of it all.

◇─◇──◇─◇

The day went well. Kennedy even got Rori to communicate a little. She pointed at some cookies that she wanted. Non-verbal communication is still communication, and Kennedy wasn't going to push her back into her shell and have no communication at all. In due time it would come, she just knew it. They were sitting watching lambchop when Nicky arrived home. He was two hours late. His tie was undone and the two ends were crossed and tucked into the waistline of his trousers. He looked tired; his hair was out of place and he held his hat in his hand. The house was spic n' span.

alr heres the weekly update !! pls dont forget to vote, comment, and drop me a follow. i love when folks interact :>>

ik things r feeling a bit slow right now... i apologize. consider this the first phase. right now im trying to focus on worldbuilding and fleshing out characters rather than making a bunch of action and drama, but i promise that stuff is coming soon. i have lots of v fun ideas :>