Flaws

9

Calum strapped Anastasia into her booster seat, making sure that she was all safe and snug before heading off to the nearby park.

"So what do you plan on doing first, bug?" He asked, looking at get briefly through the rearview mirror. "The swings? The monkey bars? The slide?"

"I like the swings a lot." She said happily. "They're the most fun."

"Swings it is, then!"

It was silent for a couple minutes later, both of them just thinking until Anastasia broke it.

"Calum?" She asked timidly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything, bug."

"Are you... g-gonna take me back to the orphanage?"

Stopping at a red light, Calum turned around to face his little bug, in disbelief that she would even think about such a thing.

"I would never do that to you, Anastasia." Calum said sincerely to the girl. "You're my daughter now. And although this is all new to the both of us, I'm never going to see you as anything but that. So, to answer your question, Anastasia, no. I am never returning you. You're my little bug. I could never do that."

Anastasia smiled in relief, nodding as Calum continued driving to the park.

"I'm glad you adopted me." She added on, making Calum break out into an award-winning grin.

Nothing else was said for the rest of the ride because nothing else needed to be said. But as the car pulled into the parking lot, Anastasia couldn't contain her excitement. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been to a park.

Calum chuckled at the girl, getting out of the car and strapping the backpack onto his back before getting her out and holding her hand, walking toward everything excitedly.

"Calum! Calum!" She exclaimed, letting go of his hand and running toward the swings. "Push me!"

"Alright, alright, bug." He laughed, jogging after her.

So far, the dad life was great. He was loving every second of it. But most of all, he was just happy that she was happy, especially after last night. He didn't know for sure, but the difference in her energy levels from the day before to now had him thinking that that was the best night of sleep that she'd had in a while. And he was right.

And after Anastasia was finished playing on the swings, she ran off to the other structures, and he decided to sit with the other (much older) parents whilst watching her like a hawk.

"Which one is yours?" The woman next to him asked, watching her kid too.

"The little girl in the blue dress." He smiled, glancing at the woman for a minute. "And you?"

"The boy with the superhero shirt on." She laughed. "I must say, it's really good to see the big brothers of the world stepping up and being more active in their siblings' lives. It makes it easier on us moms."

"Oh, she's not my sister," Calum corrected politely. "She's my daughter."

To say the look on her face wasn't comical would have been a lie. He was ready for this reaction, as literally everyone who knew he was adopting told him that, but nothing compared to seeing it first-hand.

"Oh!" The woman said in shock. "My apologies. I just... You're so young!"

Calum also knew that he was going to get that one, too.

"So where's her mom?" The woman asked again, now more intrigued.

"She doesn't have one." He said simply, smiling as Anastasia went down the slide. "It's just me and my little bug."