"You must be wanting to rest," Flora said quickly, her voice a pitch too high. "And Noah looks sleepy, too. That's why I thought I should go." She forced a smile, a thin mask intended to hide the hollow feeling in her chest. She couldn't let Amelie see how much she was struggling.
"Noah isn't going to sleep just yet. He took a nap while I was eating," Amelie replied, her eyes scanning Flora's face with quiet intuition. "But if you need to rest, I won't stop you."
Noah, sensing the shift in the room, tilted his head back against Amelie's lap. He fixed his wide, curious eyes on Flora and pouted his tiny lips. With a slow, clumsy wave of his hand, he made a beckoning gesture, silently asking her to come closer.
