The Price of Trust (Part 1).

Marcus approached the house when the sun was just stretching over the horizon with its rays as if it had recently woken up. He informed them that he would be home in the morning, but did not tell how early.

The guards at the gate greeted the boss in surprise. He didn't carry anything in his hands, no luggage, with glasses and a hat on, like some tourist taking a walk before breakfast.

He liked this feeling. When you know that they are waiting for you, but you surprise them with your even earlier arrival.

Amelia asked to behave like a normal person, and he did so. He went into the yard instead of teleporting to their bedroom and waking up his wife with a morning kiss. Knowing her reflexes, the likelihood of getting a broken nose instead of a satisfied smile was pretty high.

Marcus entered the house and walked quietly down the corridors, enjoying the silence. Who would have thought that coming home could be so pleasant? When you hear the clock ticking on the wall in the living room, and in the kitchen, under the table, a ginger cat is sleeping sweetly, the cat which his daughter found nobody knows where.

"La-la-la! La-la-la!" He heard a ringing voice humming some melody only known to this cute tiny thing. Marcus could now clearly imagine how Elena threw up her arms and jumped with every step, posing as a ballerina or a fairy.

The man turned his head and, with bated breath, waited for his daughter to appear around the corner, and she did not keep her father waiting long.

Elena noticed Marcus and ran to him, a fluffy skirt, dressed sideways, fluttered in different directions. "Dad!!!" she screamed as loudly as she could, and jumped into the man's arms.

"Elena, my joy, are you already awake?!" Marcus was surprised that his little sleepyhead was up so early. Tenderness filled his heart, he had a feeling that his daughter felt his arrival and came out to meet him.

The girl wrapped her small arms around her father's neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Daddy, I missed you so much! I slept well so that you would come sooner."

"My good girl, I missed you too," the man whispered and kissed the child back. "Is Mom still sleeping? Did you dress yourself?" The outfit of the young princess was quite amusing. The shirt was only half put on, the skirt was twisted. Elena decided not to bother with the socks at all and fastened her sandals right on her bare foot - right to left, and left to right.

"I don't know, I haven't seen my mom."

Marcus was surprised. Where could his wife be so early? The clock was only seven in the morning. He looked closely at his daughter. It seemed to him that in two weeks she had changed. She didn't seem to get any bigger, but something in her has changed. As if even the eyes were half a tone darker.

"What are you thinking about, my princess?" the man asked, noticing the girl staring at one point behind him.

"Dad, look. There's another girl here," Elena said suddenly and Marcus turned around.

"What girl?" There was no one behind them. Maybe it was some of the fictitious friends that young children often have?

"Dad, she seems to be scared," the baby whispered in Marcus's ear.

"Scared? Let's smile at her!" he decided to play along with his daughter. After all, if you make friends with the monsters under the bed, they stop to be scary, "We are good, no need to be afraid of-"

He didn't have time to finish. An invisible hand touched Marcus's cheek, and the man flinched. The sensations were too real. He instinctively pulled Elena closer to him, and with the other hand touched his cheek.

His palm covered someone's trembling fingers. The man's eyes turned black, but even with his special vision, he saw nothing out of the ordinary - not a burst of energy, not a phantom. There was no one and nothing in the room, except for him and Elena.

Only the sensations on his face suggested otherwise.

His fingers slid from the palm along the hand of the invisible creature, up to the shoulder and stopped on its face. It was definitely a girl. About the height of Amelia. Marcus gently touched her forehead, eyebrows, felt the skin wet from tears on her cheek.

"Who are you?" whispered the man barely audibly.

"This is big Elena," replied the girl in his arms.

Marcus looked at his daughter in surprise, "Oh, that's the thing." This was big Elena? His daughter Elena, from the future? However, given that her parents were somewhat weird, this was quite possible.

He turned to the invisible spirit and smiled, "Even if I cannot see you, I am sure that you are very beautiful. But why are you crying? Has someone offended you?" Marcus stroked the phantom's hair tenderly.

She was already so grown up. How old is she?

The ghost shook her head, but anxiety stabbed at the man's heart. If nobody offended her, why is she crying? Damn, what was he doing in this future that his own daughter came to him in the past for support in the form of a ghost?

"Hmm, if someone hurts you, tell me. Daddy will always protect you, my dear," Marcus took a step forward, intending to hug the girl, but his hand touched empty air. He waved, trying to find the invisible spirit again, but couldn't.

"She's gone," answered little Elena, hugging her father.

"Have you seen her? How did she look? Can you tell me how old she was?"

The girl shrugged, who at two and a half years old can determine the age of an adult? "I don't know, maybe like mom."

"I see," Marcus said thoughtfully. This means that she was fifteen or twenty years older for sure. Or more. Maybe it has something to do with what should happen in the future? He was so used to his happy family life that he forgot what awaited them all.

"Princess, common, tell dad, have you seen anything unusual recently? Or maybe you did something unusual?"

Elena shook her head. She would like to be able to do all sorts of magic, like dad, but no matter how much she tried, nothing worked.

"Oh, I made friends with a fairy! She is so beautiful! She has blue patterns on her hands and can show cartoons right in your head! I saw a big city, there were pharaohs, and statues, and mummies, and even s.. s... sphinx!" the girl blurted out, remembering the right word.

"Fairy? More like a discovery channel," the man laughed, "Admit it, did you watch TV before bed?"

"No!" Elena pouted her lips. "Mom saw her too! She showed mom a movie about one man. And then there was another man, but he was bad. And then there was the third one, but he was good. And handsome as a prince! And he had a fire like yours! They fought and the bad man won. But the first one was smart and he fooled him. And the fairy turned her heart into a beautiful stone. And it's all true! Ask mom!"

"I will definitely ask mom...," Marcus's face became serious. He did not really like the movie that the suspicious fairy showed his wife.

"I'll just find out where your mom is," he scanned the house with a glance. Amelia should have appeared here long ago when she noticed that the child was not in her bedroom, but she was in no hurry.

He saw the figures of two people approaching him. Marcus knew from the auras who they were, and could even listen to their conversation, but trusting loved ones meant respecting personal boundaries. He did not eavesdrop, he believed that they would share the important things with him themselves.

Amelia and Simon entered the living room, discussing something on the go, and froze like two statues struck by lightning. Their faces looked surprised and... frightened. This was not the reaction Marcus had expected to see.

"Did your husband come home from work ahead of time?" he asked with slight sarcasm in his voice.

"M-marcus?! B-but, h-how? You still have to be in the air! Landing is only in three hours!" Amelia rushed to her husband, hugging. The man kissed the woman on the cheek, but the rapid heart rate of his close friend who was standing next to him did not escape his hearing.

"Welcome back, boss. We expected you a little later," Simon greeted.

Marcus nodded, "I decided to make a surprise. Did I make it?" he looked from Simon to Amelia. The two were clearly confused by his unplanned appearance. "I think you want to tell me something."

"No, dear. You just caught us off guard. Simon and I wanted to surprise you. And now it won't work," Amelia explained, "Don't tell me you teleported here from the plane?!"

Marcus's lips spread into a teasing smile, "My wife is so smart. That's exactly what I did!"

"But I asked you not to!"

"You asked not to teleport from another continent. I waited for the plane to be over the middle of the Atlantic. The luggage will be delivered until noon," that was his original plan. How could he spend three extra hours on some kind of flight instead of being with his family?

"Happy birthday," Marcus whispered and kissed his wife on the lips, "The present was in the suitcase, but I think you don't mind."

"Of course not," Amelia rubbed her cheek against his chest, the man's scent being her personal antidepressant. Only now it did not help her. "Um honey, I was going with Simon to go shopping early this morning because I thought you wouldn't be there yet. Do you mind if we quickly drive to the city and come back?"

No, it didn't just seem to Marcus. If she blocked her emotions, then she could not hide the beating of her heart. Amelia was hiding something and was afraid of something. Or rather, was afraid of him.

"Sure, no problem. Elena and I also have important things to do, don't we, princess?" Marcus turned to his daughter and winked.

The child beamed with joy, this look from dad meant some kind of adventure! "Yes, important things!" she confirmed Marcus's words.

"Did you do what I asked for?" the man turned to his subordinate.

"Yes, Master. Everything is ready," Simon nodded.

"What are talking you about?" Amelia looked at the men, not knowing what they were talking about.

"This is my secret," Marcus winked, put his daughter onto his other arm, and headed out of the room.

Already at the door he stopped and looked over his shoulder at the two people closest to him, "By the way, if you have any secret that you want to share, I will listen with pleasure. Just do not drag it out, otherwise, my curiosity will decide to find everything out by itself," he smiled and left the living room.

It was difficult for Marcus to learn to trust people again. But he realized one thing. If you want others to trust you, trust them first. He was ready to wait. These people were worth believing.

He thought so in the morning.