Adopted (a Zalfie fanfic) [1]

Chapter 24

*Zoe's POV*
The next few weeks were filled with visits and days out with Lily. We could tell that after each visit, she was gaining a little bit of confidence. Some days though, her anxiety would get the better of her and she would be incredibly quiet and on edge for the entire visit, but other times it was like taking any other 13 year old girl out for the day. We would go shopping and buy her some new clothes, we would take relaxing walks along the beach or we would simply stay at the orphanage and have a chat in the garden.

It was little things like this that we enjoyed the most. We could chat to Lily in her own environment, get to know everything about her and play silly games. It was always so much fun. However, when Emma suggested we spend more time at our house, Lily would suddenly become overwhelmed with anxiety and panic. Each and every time the subject was brought up she would have a panic attack or simply be so anxious that she would cry.

Emma, Alfie and I had weekly meetings without Lily to discuss upcoming plans. We came to a conclusion that she was so anxious to visit our house because of what has happened in the past. Not just when she had a panic attack the last time she stayed, but all the other things that had happened long ago.

It continued like this for a good few weeks. Emma would suggest she visited our house, she would have a panic attack and we would stay at the orphanage. It seemed like a never ending cycle and you could tell Lily was getting fed up of it now.

January turned to February, and we slowly passed the date she should have been moving in. We all continued to support her and calm her, telling her everything would be alright, but the voice inside her head would have none of it.

One day, when an organised trip to the seaside got cancelled due to the weather, Lily and I sat in her little box room and I bought up the subject. "Do you really want to be adopted by us?" I asked her.

She stared into space for a minute before simply nodding. "Why don't you want to go to our house?" I asked her softly. There was no other way of going around it, we had to know why.

Again, she paused for a few moments, as if she was plucking up the courage to say something. "My heart is telling me I should go but my head is telling me I can't." She replied. You could see the fear in her eyes.

"Why not?"

"I-it's telling me that if I were to go and live with you, I would be replacing my parents and that's not fair. T-the more and more I think about it, the more I let the voice win and I can't help but listen to it." She said, looking out of her small bedroom window with a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Lily? Listen to me. Your parents are in your heart and forever will be. They'll always be with you no matter what, as long as you keep them alive in there. They would want you to move on and find a family who would love and care for you more than anything. Alfie and I, we will do that. You've been very loyal to your parents for six years, and finding a family will not mean you're letting them down in any way, shape or form. We love you and so do they."

Lily looked at me, crying silently. "I'm sorry." She simply said, before hugging me tightly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." I whispered, pushing the hair out of her face and looking into her ocean blue eyes. They were lacking that twinkle, that spark of personality and happiness. It wasn't there. I wanted Alfie and I to be the ones to bring it back, to make her happy again.

After a few minutes, Lily pulled away from the hug and said, "I'll do it. I'll stay at your house next time. I-I really want to move in soon, I can't bear it here any longer."

"I'm not promising everything is going to be easy, but you, me and Alfie will be a family. You will get the help you need and get rid of that voice in your head. Alfie and I will love and care for you and support you in every way possible. It'll all work out well in the end, I promise." I reassured her, hugging her close again.

We had grown a close and special bond since the first day we met, in the corner of the orphanage hallway and it only continued to grow stronger as time went by.

Author's Note:

I don't know how long this will end up but it took me forever to write ahaha! It's quite a cute chapter I reckon.

Don't forget to comment with a question for my Q&A!

Thank you for reading, bye for now! x