Unwanted Visitors VIII: Mistakes and Opportunities

‭Samina had just stepped inside the house when a small brown dog darted out of the bedroom and out into the living. "No," she said firmly. "Get back in the bedroom."
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"You have a dog?" asked Jason, sounding surprised. He would be, of course. He'd let them in himself; he'd seen that they didn't have any pets with them.
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"It's Iulius," said Amarie, and Samina winced. Of course the children wouldn't keep their secrets. At least when Oberon did it, he did it deliberately; Amarie was just being a child, with a child's knack for saying exactly what you didn't want said.
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Jason shrugged and continued towards the kitchen. "You could have brought him inside when you first arrived. We could have put him in the garage or something."
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Samina crossed to Amarie and sat beside her. The blind girl turned her head toward Samina, and Samina said quietly, "Hush. We can't let him know."
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Amarie pursed her lips, but nodded. A moment later Iulius came out of the bedroom; now he was human-shaped, properly dressed, and looking sheepish. "Don't do that again," said Samina, and he nodded. They could do this. They could stay with this man, and he would help them, and everything would be all right... as long he didn't find out what they were.
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She got up and went into the kitchen, leaving the children to occupy themselves. Miraculously, Seven wasn't crying yet; either he was still asleep, or one of the children was playing with him.
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The Dayborn was already chopping up food and sliding it into bowls and pans. Samina stopped in the doorway, watching him work. If there'd been anyone else... but there wasn't, and for all that he was Dayborn, she was glad to have his help. It was good to have another adult around, and he would know things about the sunlit world -- thing she wouldn't recognize, or wouldn't understand. And his home was isolated, far away from others like him; they weren't likely to be discovered here.