Natalie led Alice through what was still a maze of boxes, and into the only room that was already completely decorated. Alice's sunshine yellow crib was against the wall, already laid out with her blue and white checkered bed quilt, and decorative white cotton and lace pillow. Her yellow bookshelf, rocking chair, and tea table were all placed appropriately around the room. Above the chair rail also the same sunshine buttery yellow, that ran the perimeter of the room, the wall was painted a sky blue. The ceiling, a cunning mural of sky with white floating clouds.

The mobile hanging above Alice's crib was only a slight contrast in palette, not theme. The mobile was of the solar system, dangling planets, small stars, around a central sun.

Natalie grinned with joy. "It's perfect," she breathed, stepping inside as if stepping into a fairy land.

"Dr. Skouras did a beautiful job with this room."

The rest of their space had been left to she and her husband to decorate and furnish as they saw fit. Natalie had only provided Skouras with a verbal description of Alice's old room back in France, with only that it was a simple blue and yellow.

Alice, her hand clasped about her mother's fingers, stared uncomprehendingly up at her mother.

"It is quite nice," her husband, Robert Pierreson, agreed as he came up behind her, glasses streaked with dust and sweat, another box upon his hip.

"What do you think, Alyssa?" Her mother cooed at her, Alice understanding only the happy smile, her other name, and the emotions coming from her mother. "This is your new room!"

"Are we doing immersion, then?" Robert asked.

Natalie's cheeks reddened with embarrassment, French not being her native language by any means.

"It was your idea not to confuse her with two languages," she reminded him.

"She is old enough now, she can begin learning English now."

"You know better than anyone that the child's brain-"

"My love, please do not tell me about my own job. I say she can begin now, and now it must be."

Natalie sighed. "She's stubborn. She'll reject it simply because it's different."

"She's a child, Natalie. She'll do what we tell her."

Natalie made a scoffing noise as her husband left the doorway, carrying a box to their bedroom.

"That's what you think," she muttered.

Placing Alice's hard, blue Samsonite luggage on the floor by the wall, Natalie continued to take in the room, while Alice did the same, solo.

"Cherie," Robert called. "I'm going to check in with the office here."

"Okay," she called back, hearing the front door open and close in response.

Having left her mother's side during her incomprehensible speech to explore the room, Alice's eyes and hands quickly fell to a box of large crayons. With a gurgle of joy she grabbed for one and ran to the white wall.

Hand poised, a red crayon just touching the wall, Natalie's eyes took in the scene. "Alice, no!" She yelled, starting forward.

"Non!" She repeated in French. "Ne faites pas!" She ordered, slapping Alice's hand so that the crayon fell to the floor. The look on Alice's face seemed to teter on whether to cry, or slap her mother back.

"You are not going to make a mess of this room!"

Not understanding the words, but knowing the tone well, Alice grasped that her mother was not pleased. But why else would there be an entire wall of white paper and a box of crayons if they weren't for using?

"Settling in already, I see." At the sound of a new voice, Alice froze.

Natalie stood and stepped forward with quick steps, her hands extended outward. Clasping Skouras' two hands in her own, a gesture she'd learned to do in the French village they'd just left, she smiled gratefully at him.

"This is simply beautiful, Dr. Skouras," she gushed.

"We're all so happy to have you here, Mrs. Pierreson. It was no trouble at all."

"And so thoughtful to have this room done so Alice can be out of the way."

Skouras offered only a humble head bow. "It was nothing, really, Natalie. May I call you, Natalie?"

Suddenly shy, her cheeks reddened. "Of course," she laughed self-conciously, brushed a chunk of hair behind her ear.

"And this," he looked past Natalie to the tiny toddler behind her, "must be Alice!"

He bent at the knee till he knelt on the floor and held a hand out to her.

Alice stared with wide eyes at the strange man, but stared in silent shock.

"She isn't used to strangers," Natalie was quick to apologize.

"I'm sure," Skouras murmered in response, his eyes not leaving Alice. Natalie quickly moved to stand behind Alice, nudging her forward. It wouldn't do for her to disappoint the man who'd made it possible to come back to America.

Being pushed from behind by her mother's hands, and Alice digging her heels into the floor resisting the idea, she quickly tumbled forward, nearly somersaulting over herself onto the floor. This getting her closer to the strange man, Alice desperately scrambled up, pulling on her mother's pant legs to gain leverage, then quickly waddled to stand behind her mother, just as she'd just done.

Skouras' laugh rang out.

"A little shy, I see."

Natalie bit back a smile and the words that her daughter was anything but shy, opting instead to say nothing about it. Then, worried that Skouras might somehow doubt Alice's abilities and send them all packing again, she quickly walked over to the tall dresser table, taking up the book that lay upon it. To demonstrate her daughter's strength, and justify Skouras' faith in them, she looked at Alice, who was quickly toddling after her and called,

"Alice, catch!" As she gently tossed the book in front of her daughter, carefully in case she did not catch it, so as it wouldn't appear that she were simply wilfully throwing things at her only child, like an abusive parent.

Alice stopped still, staring at her mother in shock as the book fell to the floor.

Natalie suddenly began to laugh.

"What is it?" Skouras asked.

"She wouldn't catch it," she gasped, trying to control her laughter and failing. "She said "I'm not a dog!", she laughed aloud, "she thought I was ordering her around like a dog!" Getting the words out she finally laughed until she needed to grab onto the dresser to keep herself from collasping onto the floor.

Skouras' eyes brightened. "You can hear your daughter's thoughts?"

"Of course," she answered with simple frankness. "And usually she would catch it. I think it was just unsettling to have someone else stare at her."

As if reading her own worries, Skouras replied, "My dear Natalie, you don't have to prove anything to me. Your husband, Dr. Pierreson, is an asset to this organization. And let's not forget I have already witnessed for myself the remarkable powers that your daughter has-"

"Well, yes," Natalie interuppted. "But when she didn't know anyone was watching."

"That's quite all right," he smiled confidently up at her, still kneeling on the floor as he was, "once she gets to know me, I'm sure we'll all be one big, happy family."