The Lost Girl (Complete)

Chapter Sixteen - The Many Choices

Easing Sebastian's head off of her lap, Celestia murmured quietly to the others before she tiptoed out of the living room where they had set up one of the movies that they had brought with them. It had been a long, interesting afternoon with all of her cousins doing everything they could think of to make her feel included in their sleepover traditions. Games, movies, junk food, they'd done it all and she had never laughed so hard or wanted to cry so much.

Growing up and going through school without friends had been tough but she'd dealt with it because, in the end, Celestia hadn't wanted to bring them home anyway but to be completely overwhelmed by her cousins had nearly undone her. They'd been perfect and fun and caring, showing her how safe it was to slip out of her shell a little and really talk to other people.

Of course it shouldn't affect the decisions she was trying to make but even after only one day she had so much hope bursting through her chest that she wasn't entirely sure how she was coping.

Celestia slipped back through the house until she could lower back into one of the dining room chairs with a sigh. She needed a moment alone to calm everything back down and she also knew that there was something else that she needed to do before she also slipped into sleep like Sebastian and Avery had.

Once the kitchen had been tidied, Alexander had taken a moment to check over the phone given to her and make sure that she knew the basics. She knew how it all worked in theory but trying to make a phone call on a mobile was quite a bit different to making one on a landline.

But it had to be done. She had to make sure that her aunt and uncles knew that their children were all safe and not planning to turn back up at home any time soon.

The overhead light was dim as she dug the expensive piece of hardware out of the box once more and pressed the button so she could punch in the four digit code she had thought up before she bit her lip and scrolled through the contacts until coming across the words 'Uncle Owen'.

She wasn't sure why but after having time to think back over the time she had spent at their house, he just seemed like the natural family leader, the 'go to' person whenever someone else had a problem.

The ringing sounded loud in the quiet of the room but she sat almost panicking as she waited, almost hoping to be sent to voicemail.

"Hello? Celestia, is that you?" The voice was smooth and strong even though she could hear a lot of noise in the background.

"Yes, hi. Um, Uncle Owen," She swallowed. "Sorry to bother you but I wanted to make sure that you all knew that all the kids are apparently sleeping over tonight. I wasn't sure if they'd told anyone."

There was a pause where she thought that someone was beeping a horn before he cleared his throat. "We did know. But thank you for calling. Their mother was a little shocked when the army cleared out and she didn't have to cook as much for dinner."

Giggling, Celestia glanced out of the window to see car lights coming down the street, "They do eat a lot."

"Are you ok with them being there?"

She nodded, rolling her eyes at the fact that he couldn't see her. "Yes. They've been wonderful." She pulled on a chunk of her hair, "Um, I needed to ask you about the bills, Uncle Owen, and thank you all for the phone. You shouldn't have..."

"Why don't we discuss that in person, dear? I'm sure there are other pertinent things that also need to be covered and I'd rather do that face-to-face."

"Oh, yes. Ok. There are some things I need to tell you, I think."

"Wonderful. I'll talk to you soon, Celestia."