Only a mother’s love for her child, he fondly thought, could shine through the deepest depths of darkness.  Having been thoroughly humiliated in front of others only a handful of hours ago by her own flesh and blood, you’d never know it by how tender Gwen was with Toby, who had found his way to her.  Elijah smiled for no one else to see when her son apologized for his behavior this morning.  In that instant, the kid scored mega points for recognizing and owning up to his boorishness.<br/><br/>Elijah chose to let Toby calling him “sir” slide, mostly on account of him believing they wouldn’t be seeing each other so much in the future.  And if by some unforeseen chance they did?  He’d definitely make it a point to correct the little boy to knock off that “sir” crap.  The child can call my dad that, he thought, but not me.  It’d have to be either Elijah or Eli.  Of course, in doing so, he would for surely leave out the “crap” part.  He did, however, return his greeting with a “Nice to meet you, Toby.”<br/><br/>Sighing a sigh of relief, Gwen made conversation with Rosalie with no mention of her Mrs. Whitmore comment.  See?  She was of the same thought process, insisting that his daughter call her by her first name.  And of course he heard her divulgence of her name, though she did whisper it to Rosalie.  Elijah was still holding her, after all.  Guinevere, eh?  Who knew?  He assumed (wrongly) that it was short for Gwendolyn.  The only other Gwen he was aware of was one of Peter Parker’s love interests from<i>Spider-Man.</i><br/><br/>The father glowed as he watched his little girl’s complete absorption of Gwen’s yarn about her name and King Arthur and calling her a princess.  Oh, you have no idea, he thought, burying any chance of a grin.<br/><br/>The rascal in himself couldn’t help it, but he was sure glad that she graciously accepted his invitation to<i>Gonzo Time Pizza.  </i>Way he saw things was that he worshipped at the Church of Misery Loves Company, and if<i>he </i>was venturing into that environment, he’d be damn sure to drag<i>her </i>along for the ride.  Elijah was completely (and quite unashamedly) aware of possessing bastard tendencies.  A very friendly bastard for sure, with the purest of intentions.<br/><br/>Gwen’s rebuttal of it being her treat was met with silence.  There was no way he’d allow her to pay for “dinner.”  Especially after seeing Rosalie’s reaction to the notebook and story about her name.  He would be sure to explain all of this to Gwen after the bill arrived in his hands at the sometimes raucous restaurant.  Elijah just smiled at her attempt to play the sympathy card, as she held up her bandaged right hand.<br/><br/>Utterances from the mouths of wee babes had a tendency to unequivocally fuck things up.  Elijah felt equal parts (and then some!) bad and embarrassed for Gwen at Toby’s innocent reveal about money and Paps leaving.  No need to look at her left hand now, he thought.<br/><br/>Distance to their vehicles drawing nearer, Rosalie began her personal anthem.  Sure seemed like it was anyway.  Elijah blinked at least three times when Gwen jumped in with her, matching word for word.  He was now the recipient of<i>Let It Go </i>in harmony?  Albeit not exactly AAA harmony, but harmony nonetheless.  While glancing at the now vocalizing Gwen, he took note of Toby looking up at him.  “I don’t understand girls,” he stated flatly.<br/><br/>Twisting his head to be away from Rosalie’s ear, he laughed enthusiastically before returning to Toby.  “I don’t either, Toby.  And really?  That’s why they’re girls and we’re not.  We’re not worthy, don’tcha know?”  Gwen’s offspring gazed upon him, attempting to figure out whether this man had any clue as to what in the hell he was talking about.  Of course, Elijah didn’t, but especially when it came to girls.  Who knew?!?!  Perhaps<i>National Geographic</i>did.<br/><br/>Just prior to leaving the school’s parking lot, Elijah brought up<i>Gonzo Time Pizza’s </i>contact info (don’t ask) on his phone.  He tapped in the number.  Good, a familiar voice answered.  “Hey, Liz.  This is Elijah Primeau, and I’ll be there soon with Rosalie and a mother and her son,” he said.  Liz replied with a greeting of her own.  “I would just like to ask you to make sure that the bill comes to me and only me, please.”  Liz confirmed his request and they hung up.<br/><br/>“Now let’s go get us some pizza,” he stated, hoping he sounded sincere.<br/><br/>“Yays!” Rosalie answered with gusto from the back seat.<br/><br/>Moments later, engine shut off and Rosalie removed from her car seat, the pair moved toward the rendezvous with Gwen and Toby.  Her raised eyebrow, however, forced him to look away.  A smile graced his face while doing so.  Elijah knew exactly what her expression was all about.<br/><br/>“This looks …. lovely." Gwen said and her grin was genuine.  "In an entirely masochistic sort of way.  Shall we?"<br/><br/>While Rosalie was chomping at the bit to go inside, Elijah laughed as he drew closer to Gwen.  “This ain’t even the best part.  Wait ‘til you see inside,” he warned with a dastardly wink.