A Big Kind of Little Love

Chapter 12: I Scream for Ice Cream!

After the exciting weekend on the mountain, the trio made their way to the Colossi Littles Agency to file the paperwork that would finalize Evie's adoption and officially make the three of them a family. In the process, Evie was given the option of keeping her human last name, or adopting the name of her Mama and Mommy. 

While it seemed like somewhat of a drastic step to take, she really hadn't felt much connection to her human family name. The Jacobs' were never a loving bunch, and they were quick to shun Evie from the family when her older sister outed her lesbian sexuality to their parents. 

Violet was just like their mom and dad. She only ever cared about her image. She was a bully, and certainly not a good older sister to Evie. Violet always made fun of Evie for her childish tendencies, even going so far as to throw all of the girl's stuffies into the fireplace and forcing her to watch as they disintegrated. Lulu was the only one that managed to escape the flame, as she had fallen off the side of the bed out of sight when Violet grabbed the collection. 

When Evie had gone to her parents for help after Violet's incendiary tirade, they told her that her sister was, "doing her a favor," by burning the stuffies. 

"Now you can finally grow up," she remembered her mother saying. 

Recalling those memories made her heart hurt. Not just because of their cruelty, but because of the fact that she was never good enough for her family. Even her extended family saw her as the black sheep, always scoffing at her youthful imagination and creativity. 

"I want to take their name," the girl said in the midst of her painful memories, "I want to be a Levarion."

She said it out of the blue, as though she was ripping a bandage off. She couldn't tell if she had done it out of genuine love for her new Mama and Mommy, or if it was out of the spite that she held against her human family. Probably a mix of both, she figured. Either way, she was delighted with her choice, beaming with familial pride as she received her new Colossi I.D. and passport with the name Evie Levarion. 

"I think this calls for ice cream!" Camilla exclaimed joyfully when the family returned to the car.

Evie's little eyes lit up from her car seat as she bounced and giggled, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Ice creeeeaaammm!" 

Her piercing scream for ice cream had Camilla and Lucia wincing in the front seat.

"Geez, babygirl!" Lucia retorted with a semi-pained chuckle, "You're gonna burst our ear drums!"

 "Hehe, sowwy Mommy," Evie replied with a laugh.

Luckily, there was an ice cream shop just down the road from the agency building. When the girl caught sight of it, she let out another shriek of excitement. The two women instinctually covered their ears in response.

"Alright, no more screaming!" Lucia responded with a slightly raised voice, a hint of alarmed frustration in her voice.

Mommy's change in tone snapped the girl right out of her giddy excitement as she immediately sank back into the padding of her car seat, trying not to let tears slip out. She didn't mean to make Mommy angry, she was just excited about the ice cream. 

Camilla unbuckled the straps of the car seat and helped Evie out of the car as normal. It was clear that they hadn't noticed the shift in emotion that the girl had experienced. Walking into the shop, Evie held Mama's hand tightly, walking on the other side of her for fear that her Mommy was still mad at her. 

"What kind of ice cream do you want, cutie pie?" Camilla asked, leaning towards the downcast girl.

"No want ice cream anymore," Evie mumbled, tears starting to force their way out of her eyes.

"What?" Camilla asked, her maternal excitement turning into worry, "What do you mean? You were so excited a minute ago!"

She then picked Evie up, letting the girl nuzzle into her neck as the tears came out stronger.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Lucia asked calmly, brushing the hair out of Evie's face. 

She stayed silent, sniffling as she hid her face away in Camilla's chest.

"Can you answer Mommy, baby?" Camilla asked, bouncing the girl slightly to comfort her. 

"Uh uh," Evie answered, her voice muffled. 

The two women shared a concerned look.

"Why not?" Mama asked.

"Mommy mad at me," Evie finally answered. 

It finally clicked in Lucia's mind that Evie was hurt when she raised her voice at her in the car. 

"Oh baby, Mommy's not mad at you," Lucia assured, rubbing the girl's back.

This prompted Evie to unbury her head from Camilla's chest, "You not?"

"No, sweetie" Lucia replied with a little chuckle, "But I'm really sorry for making you think that. Mommy just got a little panicked when you screamed that loudly. I didn't think before I raised my voice."

Evie noticeably relaxed upon hearing her Mommy's explanation.

"Do you feel better, Evie girl?" Camilla asked.

The little nodded as Lucia wiped away the last of her tears. 

"So does that mean you want ice cream now?" She asked, making the girl nod excitedly.

As Camilla went to put Evie down again so that she could get to the credit card in her purse, the girl whined, still wanting to be held. 

"Here, I'll take her," Lucia intervened, letting the girl climb into her arms.

Evie nestled contently into her Mommy's chest, comforted knowing that she was, in fact, not angry at her. 

Sitting down at a table in the shop, Evie remained on her Mommy's lap as she licked her chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream cone. Even though it was little-sized, she had trouble keeping up with it. Before long it was melting all over her hands and painting the outskirts of her mouth. 

"My goodness, babygirl, are you getting any in your mouth?" Lucia chuckled as she wiped the girl's face, causing her to whimper and wiggle as she tried to evade the incoming napkin.

Eventually, the family finished their ice cream and made their way home. Walking into the modest house, Evie felt a new sense of comfort and pride. She was now officially a Levarion, and this was her house too.