That evening, I found Maria in the nursery, cradling baby Elijah as she sang him a soft lullaby. The scene struck me with unexpected poignancy—Maria, who had nearly lost her ability to have children due to the humans' experiments, holding this marked child who had been surrendered by his birth mother.
"He likes you," I signed when she noticed me in the doorway.
She smiled, the expression softening the shadows in her eyes. "Babies always do. It's a gift." She gently placed the now-sleeping Elijah in his crib, then joined me at the rocking chairs by the window.
"Jenny and Velma asked me to help reorganize the childcare system here," she said quietly. "They want to use some of the techniques we had at Silver Fang, but without the... problematic parts."
I nodded, understanding exactly what
