𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

43- 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁

"It's a Barbie doll, Auntie Alma!" Kiara squealed, holding the present up to Alma.

Alma smiled, happy to see her happy after losing her fathers. However, she knew that she wasn't the one to buy this for her.

"It's great, who's it from?" Alma asked, wanting Kiara to read the note that came with it.

Kae was a bad influence, which is probably why she just ripped open all of her presents and discarded the message along with it.

"Amara and Azaiah," Kiara responded, and Alma smiled.

Amara and Azaiah were stood across from her in the room, smiles on their faces as they watched her open the present. If they knew how happy one Barbie doll would make her, they would've bought her hundreds.

"Go say thank you, Kiara," Alma told her, and Kiara bounded over to them.

"Thank you," She spoke, a grin on her face as she looked up at them.

"Take good care of her, you need to make sure she has lots of fun," Azaiah told her and Kiara nodded.

She strolled away again, playing with her doll already, talking to it about something Amara and Azaiah couldn't hear.

"You didn't have to do that," Alma pointed out, standing beside them.

"We wanted to," Amara replied, not glancing her way, her eyes fixed on Kiara.

That smile was enough to light up the whole room, and her heart. She was a complete ray of sunshine, different from what Amara and Azaiah were used to.

"I have something for you, too," Alma told them, handing a piece of paper to Azaiah.

Amara and him looked at it, rereading it over and over to make sure they weren't misreading it. They didn't want to give themselves false hope.

"You want us...to adopt her?" Amara asked and Alma smiled, nodding.

"I know you'll take good care of her, and she seems to like you," Alma responded and Amara and Azaiah shared a look, a glimpse of what their future could be resting in his hands.

However, they suddenly realised that they were about to put their lives on the line for a mission. One they may not make it back from. They couldn't make any promises or signatures just yet.

"Could we take a week to think about it?" Amara asked and Alma nodded.

"Of course," She replied, leaning closer towards them. "But I know you don't need to think about it at all, you just need to wait until something's over- but you don't need to tell me that."

With that, Alma walked away, leaving them with the document that could change their lives. Both of them had given up the idea of having children, but Kiara had given them hope for a different future.

For a family of their own, and they knew that, if they go through on the other side, they would want nothing more than to take her in as their own.

———————

"Axel, stop running away!" Natalia shouted after the small boy, picking him up in her arms and stopping him from escaping any further.

He squealed, laughing in her arms as she sat him on the bathroom counter. "Stay here, Ax," Natalia told him, passing him a bath toy that he was suddenly very intrigued in.

Natalia turned around, pouring the bath salts into the bath, bubbles forming mountains in the tub. She stopped the water from running, turning around and walking over to Axel.

Natalia undressed him, picking him up and walking over to the tub, placing him in it. Immediately, he was in awe of the plastic ducks and array of bath toys surrounding him.