Days were turning into months and eventually years, but Alysanne and Tomas were still mostly avoiding each other. The only life and joy in their quiet house was Delia, their daughter, who was greatly loved by both her parents.
They both tried to make the child neutral ground, but it was mostly Tomas who taught Delia her first steps and first words.

There was nothing concrete Alysanne could point her finger at, but ever since Tomas grew satisfied with how much Delia resembled him, it was almost as if he was trying to push Alysanne out of the important moments of the child's life.
She did take care of her, fed her fed her and put her to crib, but when she started sitting up with a bedtime story for her daughter, Tomas was not happy.
"Such ridiculous stories. Your priest might enjoy tales about such creatures as centaurs, but I think they can only confuse the child. Do you want her to grow up and go searching for all kinds of fairies deep in the woods?"
Alysanne just shook her head. She could have said Delia was just a child, but she didn't think it would have helped.

When Delia's next birthday came Alysanne baked a cake for her, but it was Tomas who brought the child to it. Alysanne just watched and tried to look happy. She desperately tried to believe it was all perfectly normal and everything would be fine.

Delia actually tasted her cake for the first time in her life and Alysanne tried to eat her own slice without looking at her husband.
What had she done to make Tomas glare at her again? She had been trying to hard to be pleasant and apologetic or invisible, to act all normal. And it had been working, at least most of the time. Would she be truly never forgiven?
She forced herself to look down into her plate.

Long minutes passed. Delia asked if she could have a second helping of the cake and Alysanne muttered agreement, but then she couldn't take it any longer. She ran up to her husband and started yet another apology.
Tomas just stared at her until her words trailed off.

"Does that guilty look mean you've been sneaking around again?"
"No, I..." Alysanne gasped at the accusation. "No. I haven't. You must know that?"
Little Delia put her cake down, tears forming in her eyes. She wasn't hungry anymore.

Delia didn't understand a thing, all she knew was that she wanted to cover both her ears and her eyes at the same time. Even hiding in the bed didn't seem enough.
She ran out of the house.

Just a few seconds later Alysanne ran after her.
Delia was standing just outside, shaking with sobs, all energy gone out of her. Alysanne put her arms around the girl, trying to find the correct soothing words and failing. For a while they just stayed like that, before Delia's sobs gradually quited down.
"It will be all right." Alysanne spoke eventually. "Your father loves you. He loves both of us, he is just..." She searched for the right words and didn't find any. "It will be all right." She repeated. "You will see."

Delia went to bed quiet and sulky that day, with tears still lingering in her eyes, but the next morning most of it was gone and she was again the energetic girl Tomas and Alysanne knew. If anything, she tried to act even more cheerful, doing everything to make her father see and appreciate her.
Tomas responded with the same enthusiasm, looking all concerned when she told her "totally important" news and cheering loudly at her showing off.

Delia's energy and enthusiasm was only upset when she started going to classes. Even with her natural eagerness to please and all the hard work she could muster, the art of letters still continued to elude her.
Alysanne did her best to help the girl as much as she could, but even after Delia grasped the basics, nothing could make her enjoy it like her mother did.

Still, both Alysanne and Tomas made sure Delia knew she was loved and that was the most important thing. Alysanne remembered far too well her own childhood and wanted something better for her daughter.
And Delia, in turn, was growing content with her little family, the coldness between her parents becoming something normal rather than a threat.

When Damien turned up to visit his sister again, he was hoping the troubles had passed already and he wouldn't get sucked into trying to solve them.
Alysanne seemed perhaps quieter and less cheerful than when they had first met, but otherwise everything seemed normal and she was pleasant company again. But what made the visit even more enjoyable was little Delia. Damien couldn't really believe how much she had grown since the last time she had seen her. She was just a baby then, but now she was a young person with amusing ideas and seemingly endless supply of energy.
Damien liked her from the beginning.

They talked and played games - many of which Damien suspected Delia to have invented herself - and soon it was as if they had known each other for ages. She was quick to trust him and generous with affection, her childish eagerness refreshing.
She made Damien realise that he missed his childhood - the real, carefree childhood he never got to have in the convent - and she seemed more than willing to share in her own.

But, unfortunately for Delia, she couldn't spend all her time just playing and making friends. She didn't really understand why her mother insisted on her studies so much. They were living in the middle of the woods, mother still almost didn't go out or meet anybody, it wasn't as if she needed the stuff. And it was so hard! She was doing her best and even that wasn't always enough to stop other kids from laughing at her. And she hated the way the cold priest was looking at her, always slightly disapproving.
Her mother said it would get easier with time and as Delia struggled with yet another page, she hoped she was right.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Alysanne and Tomas was slowly improving. The illusion of normal family life they maintained for Delia was gradually turning into reality as the pair carefully tried to avoid any potential conflicts.
Tomas found his anger was gradually vanishing with time and he was beginning to warm up to his wife again, partly despite himself. Alysanne didn't dare hope for anything, but she beamed from any attention she received, each day a new gift for her.