Mom and I had discussed Olivia's future directly after her mother's funeral. My niece's father had never been in the picture and none of us was looking to change that.

As much as mom wanted to play an active role in raising her grandchild, she had her hands full with dad. Alzheimer's had eaten his mind and he probably needed more active care than a ten-year-old.

We decided that Olivia would become my responsibility but I wasn't going to stay in the city after everything that happened.

My parents had spent most of their savings buying real estate all along the northeast coast and mom insisted I take one of their houses to provide Olivia with a stable home.

As a freelance graphic designer, I could work on all of my projects from home so I decided where we were going to live based on the school district.

Despite its size, the town of Fernwell had a top-notch primary and high school. The mayor had held his position for a significantly long time, most probably because he made education his top priority.

I had read up on the house.

It was built from the ground up in 1867 after a fire burnt down the original house. It was completely refurbished in the late 1980s, a few years before my parents bought it.

Our new home had a heated outdoor pool as well as a significantly large chunk of land covered in forest.

It sounded like the perfect escape from our shared pain. I could only hope that Olivia could learn to be happy again.

***

"I can choose my room?" Olivia asked in excitement.

"Anyone except for mine," I said, pointing at the master bedroom by the stairs. Olivia frowned for a second before running down the hallway.

The movers had mixed up some boxes so I went back downstairs to sort them out.

***

"Olivia! Dinner time." It had been half an hour and I still hadn't heard from her.

I called out her name three more times but got no response.

What was she up to?

Checking all four bedrooms, I reached the one at the end of the hall. I heard faint whispering coming from the other side of the door but who would Olivia be talking to?

The hairs on my arms suddenly stood upright, as if somebody had softly blown against the side of my neck.

I gently opened the door.

Olivia sat on the floor facing the window. There was no one else in the room, who was she talking to?

"Olivia."

She turned around with her teddy bear in hand and said, "Hey Uncle Darren. I was just showing Jingles..."

Ding Dong!

The doorbell scared the living daylights out of me. Who could that possibly be? We didn't even know anybody here yet.

***

"Hi!" a rotund lady with a kind face said after I opened the front door. "I'm your neighbor Kathy and I just wanted to say welcome!"

"Thank you, Kathy," I said with the fake smile that I used for awkward social encounters.

"I figured you might not have all your kitchen stuff in order, so I brought you this!" she said with a broad smile. She had been hiding a warm lasagna behind her back.

"Ooooh, you shouldn't have!" I said, still wearing the smile. I was a vegetarian and Olivia would surely not be able to eat all of it.

"Enjoy! ...and welcome again!" Kathy said, before disappearing down the driveway.

What an odd character.

***

What the fuck was that noise? I stared at my smartwatch, three o' three am. I was used to strange sounds from my old apartment but this was full-on banging.

I carefully walked down the stairs. The racket seemed to be coming from the kitchen. The light switch made the bare bulb buzz as I saw the backdoor smashing violently against its frame. I closed and locked it, only to find the cat's collar on the floor.

It was one of those with a GPS tracker. I was scared that Marbles would get lost in this foreign place, he was used to a small City apartment.

Crap! I hope he isn't gone! Olivia had grown quite attached to Marbles before we moved here. She really shouldn't have to go through yet another loss.

There wasn't much that I could do in the middle of the night, so I went back upstairs.

I was just about to walk into my room when something touched my back. I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Are you OK, Uncle Darren?" Olivia asked, rubbing her eyes.

I needed a quick moment before answering, "nothing to worry about, sweety. The backdoor was open that's all."

"Is Marbles OK?" she asked. Why did she ask that?

"I'm not sure, honey but we will check in the morning, OK?" I said to reassure her.

"Il n'aime pas les chats," she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that, sweetheart?" I asked.

"Nothing. Good night, Uncle Darren," she said, turning back to her room.

Did she just say something in French?

***

"Cmon, Cmon, you'll miss the school bus on your first day," I said, pouring the milk into Olivia's cereal.

"You can't rush an intellectual," she said haughtily. It was one of her mom's favorite sayings, so I replied "you're right. Let me bring you and I'll give you a goodbye kiss at the door!"

"Nooo!" Olivia said as she scooped the cereal in at record speed.

Worked every single time.