He had an honest laugh.<br/><br/>Gwen liked that, very much. It was rare that people laughed honestly, in her experience. She should have known with Paul, frankly, that he was a lying, cheating, forsaken-by-all scumbag.  He was a handsome man, there was no doubting it, but Gwen had met handsome men before; what she liked about Elijah in that moment was that he was -- or he<i> seemed</i>, she reminded herself -- genuine. The next two counties had heard Toby too? Gwen considered it for a moment.<i> "Cheeky."</i>She replied and, somehow, it was a compliment.<br/><br/>The love he bore his daughter positively shone out of him and Gwen's expression showed her emotions as she listened. Her eyes softened and she nodded. Rosalie had woken<i> him</i>up? Not "woke<i> us</i>up"? That was interesting. He was -- or might be -- a single parent too? Gwen gave just the slightest shake of her head as she dismissed that thought. All men, she reminded herself. Idyllic courtships, romantic proposals, ideal weddings and wedded bliss, all while the bastard was off elsewhere sniffing up whatever skirt took his fancy. Her eyes hardened and her smile froze, just for a second. She wasn't getting herself back there, no matter what.  So, instead, she stuck with what she knew she could be genuine about.<i> "She sounds wonderful. You must be very proud."</i>At least one of them was, she thought with an ironic twist in her gut. Toby was a<i> good</i>kid, she knew that. Paul leaving had damaged her son in ways which no-one would understand and Gwen reasserted herself internally. No man would ever harm her son again.<br/><br/>She'd kill them first.<br/><br/>Yet, damnit, but Elijah was helpful, and friendly, and not at all pushy. Gwen looked at him and smiled a tentative smile.<i> "Thank you. You... you've been very kind to me. I appreciate it."</i>And, that said, she got in her Ford and followed him out. One arm indicated to her where she should go and Gwen flashed her lights and then put her own arm out of the window and waved to him.<i> "I'll see you at pickup, Elijah Primeau,"</i>with that she shook her head and put all thoughts of the apparently kind man out of her head.<br/><br/>When pickup time came around, Gwen was there, but she was wearing a pair of dungarees, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, she had a satchel hung from her left shoulder to her right hip and she looked harried. First graders picked up in the same fenced-off playground as the kindergarten, so she saw Elijah there and she grinned at him. Raising her hand in a wave, her other hand had a fresh bandage on it - it certainly hadn't been there this morning. Seeing the receptive look on his face - and the frankly far from such expressions from every other parent - Gwen made her way over to him.<i> "Hello, again," </i>she said. Rummaging with her good hand into her satchel, she pulled out a notebook. It was covered in pink and purple, with the words "Rosalie Goes To School" on the front. The paper in it was lined, but home-made and had tiny sparkles in it.<i>"I.. well, I have an Etsy shop, and I make things. I think it's important that we remember. So, I imagine you took lots of pictures. Print them, write in here with her, if you want. Or .. well, either way. Thank you for your kindness this morning."</i>She kept her right hand still by her side, but her face was animated and pleased to see him.<br/><br/>Today, she had managed to blow the electrics (which meant they had no means of eating or heating, but that was how it was) and had more or less finished the shelving for Toby's room, which was more or less done. Gwen was growing to really hate this place, but as she heard the bell ring, signalling the end of the school day, she put a smile on her face.<i>"Don't suppose your recommendations extend from recycling points to somewhere child friendly to eat, do they?"</i>Glancing at him, she couldn't help but smile, even in the face of it being true.<i>"Apparently, there are places you aren't supposed to put nails in the wall. No one told me. Bang." </i>She did her very best to seem chipper about it and had, at the least, brushed her hair and put some lip-gloss on.<br/><br/>Why, she really didn't know, but she also didn't think about it.