𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

𝟒𝟕

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟕

"I'll get it!" John called out when they heard a knock on the door. He brushed past his many children and one of his dogs to get to the door. "It's alright, i've got it." He dismissed the kids nanny to open it.

To his surprise, Maeve stood before him. Alone. "Maeve? Ello, what brings you here?" He asked, looking over her shoulder to see if she was with Arthur.

"Dads not here, i brought presents." Maeve held up a bag of presents for the children and flashed him a smile. John nodded in slight confusion and let her inside.

"It's nice to see you again— since er..what happened." He said, walking her into the living room. "Dya want a drink?" He offered, picking up a whiskey bottle.

Maeve thought for a moment. "No thanks." She hesitantly refused. John grunted and poured himself a glass. "Your hair is short." He noticed.

She nodded slightly. "Thought i needed a bit of change." She shrugged.

Only a few days ago, she had cut her hair to just below her shoulders right after sending herself into an angry breakdown because she'd had another dream about the black cat. And yet she still couldn't figure out what it meant.

It was all in the moment but she didn't hate it. She did indeed miss her long hair though.

"Dad says i'm insane— not for cutting my hair, he ain't seen that yet." Maeve told her uncle, placing the bag of presents beside the tree and sitting opposite him. John snorted with laughter. "Well that ain't nothing new, is it?"

She had to hold back her glare by looking down at her feet. She let out a pathetic laugh. "No, nothing new at all."

Maeve only looked up when Ada appeared at the door. "Ada," Maeve now had a beaming smile on her face and she rushed to hug her aunt tightly. Ada let out a breath of happiness. "Oh, Maeve. You look different."

"It's the hair, ain't it." John told her. Ada admired her niece for a few moments and nodded. "It looks good, i like it." Ada said truthfully, cupping the girls face in a motherly way and noticing the slight weight loss, especially in Maeve's face.

John cleared his throat. "Thought we'd lost you to the great white way of broadway." He said sarcastically. Ada shook her head, "No. Well this beats Watery Lane, John." She said, examining the room they were stood in.

"Does it?" He asked, "here take a seat i'll grab the kids." He offered.

Ada remained stood. "No it's alright, i'm not stopping. Just wanted to drop those presents off for tomorrow. I don't want words on Christmas eve."

"It's my house, you're welcome." John handed her a glass of whiskey.

"It's okay, i'm staying with Polly." She told him. Maeve's attention was now on the dog that had trotted in and sat at her feet as if it were guarding something.

"Yeah..she's in a bad way." John said to them both. Ada hummed. "I'll bring her to her senses."

"Micheal's already tried that." Maeve spoke up. "I'll get through to her," Ada assured them. "You still going to come to the party on new year's eve?" John asked. He was more interested in Maeve's answer than he was Ada's.