So we meet again

"We must," Cecilia said not looking up to see who had spoken. She didn't even realize what was going on until Jake spoke of food. "Umm just a glass of water please," She said quietly. Cecilia wasn't hungry, as always. "I'm sorry about your mother Anali. I know how you feel. Not to long ago I too lost my mother. No one ever really told me what happened to her. I just know i went to the funeral."

The waiter nodded and read the order back to them. "A sandwich with an iced tea, a croissant with orange juice and a glass of water. Is that it?" he asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't missing anything. "That's it." Jake responded with a nod and the waiter nodded back. "I'll be right back with your order."

Anali looked at Cecilia as she spoke but she didn't say anything for a few moments. "I don't know what happened to my mum either... She was there one minute... then she left and never came back... Gran and Granp only told me she wasn't coming back..." the three year old said softly. Hearing her say what she did made Jake really sad. She didn't even know how her mother died, and Jake knew that some day he had to tell her what happened. He wasn't sure how he was going to. "I miss her..." Anali said, her voice shaking. "We all do Anali... She was a good person and a good mother..." he said softly, reaching out to place his hand on his daughter's cheek trying to wipe some of her tears away.

"Just remember that she's happy now and she's always with her, in here." he pointed to her heart. Anali nodded and put her hand over her heart. "Yeah..."

"I'm sure you do," Cecilia whispered as she watched Jake with his daughter. He was a good father, which was something Cecilia had always seen in him and the way he acted with his sister, always protective. Cecilia admired him for the way he was with other people. She smiled and tilted her head to the side idelly pushing mollies stroller back and fourth, wishing she knew what else to say.

A few minutes had passed and the waiter came back with their food and drinks. "There you go. I hope you all enjoy." he said, after placing the plates in front of Jake and Anali and the glass of water in front of Cecilia. Jake and Anali began eating and Anali's sorrow for the loss of her mother quickly faded into the back of her mind. Jake was glad that she was going to be a little bit happier now.

"Cecilia, are you sure you didn't want any food?" he asked her. "I can give you the other half of my sandwich or you can order something." he told her.

"No thanks;" Cecilia smiled at Jake, "I must get back into shape for Modeling. No one wants a fat model." She shrugged as she spoke "So what is it like being a beast specialist?" she asked trying to change the subject away from herself and her eating habits. "What animals have you worked with?" the teen hoped she could get him to ramble on about work until he forgot she wasn't eating, it normally worked with others but Jake was too smart for that. She smiled at him again secretly admiring the was he seemed to be worried that she was not eating, or that’s how it seemed to her.

"It's still good to eat something. Like a salad or something small. Don't starve yourself." he said softly. He knew that she was trying to take the subject off of herself when she asked about his job and he decided to go with it, though he was still concerned about her eating. "Being a Beast Specialist can be challenging some times. But its also a fun job." he told her. "I can work with dragons, unicorns, pigmy puffs, and any other creature you can think of." he added.

"The only bad thing is that I don't usually have a lot of free time. So I'm away from Anali for a long period of time. But I'm making it work. And a lot better than when she first moved in with me and Mayleen." he smiled at Anali slightly, and the little girl smiled back with a piece of the croissant hanging from her mouth.

"How is Mayleen?" Cec asked. She hadn't seen that girl in many years, not since she had last seen Jake besides when he saved her. "Last time I had seen her was at the little zoo thing they had a few years ago. Do you remember that?" She asked her eyes sparkling at the memory. "I miss that kind of stuff." That gave cec and idea, "Maybe after mollie gets a bit bigger we could take her and Anali to a zoo like the one we went to." Turning to Anali Cec smiled at her, "Would you like that? One day?" she asked tilting her head to the side.

"Rebellious." Jake said, sighing. Mayleen as almost intolerable since he graduated. Her boyfriend hadn't been much of a good influence either. In fact Jake was surprised Mayleen wasn't pregnant yet thanks to Marcus. He supposed he should be glad though, since he was the only one working and he doubted he'd be able to handle another kid in his apartment. He hoped Mayleen and Marcus would be more responsible if anything like that ever happened though.

Jake nodded at Cecilia's words. "Yeah, I remember." he smiled at the memory. That day had been one of the best he'd had that entire year, except the part where Mayleen disappeared with Marcus. Anali looked at Cecilia, blinked a couple of imes tthen glanced from Mollie to her father. She looked back to Cecilia and tried to smile, though she had food in her mouth and she nodded. The thought had quickly excited her and she wanted it to happen.

"She's trying to get your attention," Cecilia said. She remembered when she acted out to get attention from her brother, only cec's own exploits turned out to be more deadly than anyone would have ever thought. She had become addicted to spice and fallen off of her broom when she had drank just a little to much and practically jumped off the roof of a building expecting her broken broom to save her. "Girls tend to act out to get attention." Cec smiled when Anali agreed with going to a zoo one day. "Wonderful," Cec exclaimed clasping her hands together excitedly, "We'll get to see som many animals!"

"She won't even let me go near her most of the time. I doubt its for my attention." he told her. "I even invited her to come with us on vacation and she refused. I told her Marcus could come too, but no dice." he added, seeming a little frustrated. "Auntie's a bum." Anali said, crossing her arms and nodding. "Normally I would tell you not to say that about your aunt, but you're actually right Anali." The little girl seemed to be delighted that her father agreed with her and she giggled.

"I can't wait to go!" Anali exclaimed when Cecilia said they'd see so many animals at the zoo. Jake had never had time to take her before, and he knew how much she loved animals. That's why whenever he brought work home with him she got excited to see the creatures he brought. "Oh right, Anali's birthday is in a few days. Right on the last day we're here, and Ihave a surprise for you, but I can't give it to you until we get home." he told the young girl.