"Everything's packed?" Marcus asked, checking Karl's suitcases for the third time.
"Everything," Madame Beaumont confirmed in her heavily accented English. "All his clothes, his toys, his special blanket from his maman."
Karl stood in the living room of Madame Beaumont's house, looking small and uncertain in his travel clothes.
"Ready?" Aria asked gently.
"Yes," Karl said, though fear showed clearly on his face.
Madame Beaumont knelt and hugged Karl tightly. "You be good boy for Monsieur Marcus and Madame Aria, yes? You have a good life in America."
"I'll be good," Karl promised, and tears filled his eyes. "Thank you for taking care of me, Madame Beaumont."
"It was my honor, mon petit," Madame Beaumont said, crying openly now. "You visit Paris someday and come see me, yes?"
"Yes," Karl said.
They loaded the car with Karl's belongings, and the drive to the airport was quiet.
