The Ones On The Ground (sequel to The One Who's Fallen)

Chapter 87

After eating, the four of us plus the pets decide to head back to where we'll be staying. And with permission both from the head facilitator of the orphanage/daycare and from Destiny, we're able to have her with us. Once we get inside, Destiny begins exploring immediately, looking around with wide, excited eyes.

"This is such a big place! You have more than one room!" Madi says, poking her head into the master bedroom of this little unit.

"Mm hmm! And you and Destiny can decide where you would like to sleep. That room is for Lexa and I, but we're both alright with sharing with you two if you would like! Otherwise, the room right there has two beds for you guys to use."

Destiny waddles quickly to the other room, which I'm recognizing now is her version of running.

"Pookie!" She yells out happily and goes inside.

I exchange a look with Lexa to see if she knows what our daughter is talking about but Lexa doesn't seem to know either. So we walk into the bedroom with Madi behind us, our hands still intertwined. Destiny is trying to get up onto one of the beds, which is actually pretty tall compared to her.

"Clack, hewp?" Destiny turns and pouts at me.

Float me, Lexa and I are going to helpless against that.

"She already has your puppy dog eyes down," I say to Lexa.

I drop Lexa's hand and crouch down by Destiny as Lexa sputters behind me. She raises her arms and I pick Destiny up, carefully helping her onto the bed. She crawls faster than I've seen her waddle (except when she was waddling over to Lexa and I earlier today).

She picks up a dark brown teddy bear with matted brown fur, like she hasn't allowed it to be washed recently. And it's almost comical, how large it is compared to her. If it were Madi's, I wouldn't blink in eye, but with Destiny, she's only slightly bigger than it.

Lupita jumps up onto the bed, curious as to what all the commotion is about, and sniffs the bear. Her head flinches back when one of Destiny's movements makes the bear move slightly before she begins sniffing again. She starts licking the teddy bear, and I relax when Destiny giggles, not seeming to mind the tongue bath her teddy is getting.

"What is its name?" Madi asks Destiny.

She looks up from where Lupita's licking at some of the matted fur on the bear's head. I guess I'll have to see if we can get it washed before we head back.

"Pookie!" Destiny answers.

She sits up, making the bear suddenly move towards Lupita. She ffts and practically falls off the bed in surprise, landing gracefully on her own four paws. Lupita sits and licks one of them, like she's trying to regain her dignity after getting scared by a teddy bear.

Madi reaches forward and shakes the teddy-Pookie's paw. "It is nice to meet you, Pookie."

Destiny giggles happily. "He say nice to meet you too."

After Lexa and I are introduced to Pookie as well, we move to the small living area that connects to the bedrooms. There's a tiny kitchen and then an area just large enough for a couch and old television.

We're all tired after such an eventful day, so Lexa and I order a little bit of food so we don't get hungry. We may have eaten recently with Artigas and Raven and the others, but Lexa and I both agreed that it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, this place has a fridge and a microwave, so we can always put it away and eat it later.

Madi and Destiny are playing together on the living area floor with some toys that someone thoughtfully left for us. Lexa and I are on the couch, watching them play and cuddling. I'm curled up against Lexa's side, my head resting on her shoulder and her arm wrapping around me. Lexa presses a kiss to my forehead as we watch our daughters play. Gods, this makes me want to get married right here, right now. But we have to wait, at the very least until we get to Polis. And I know that since we are Heda and Hedatu, we will need to have an absurdly large wedding so everyone who wants to attend can.

"When do you want to get married?" I ask Lexa.

"After we get back to Polis. We will need to wait at least a short time so that people can arrive. We can send word now that the wedding will occur shortly after we return."

"Mm," I hum thoughtfully. She moves like she's about to get up and I make a noise of protest.

Lexa chuckles and resettles back against the couch. "You do know we will have to get up soon anyways so we can get the food."

"Mm hmm. But we can put it off as long as we can. Which is exactly what I plan to do," I say.

Lexa kisses my forehead and tightens her arm around me. I close my eyes and relax against her. My eyes blink open when I hear someone knocking at the door. Lexa gently disentangles us and gets the door, thanking the person before closing the door, setting our food down on the table next the kitchen.

I yawn and stretch, the kids looking up from where they were playing on the floor. "Time for dinner."

"I am not hungry," Madi says.

"Please try to eat anyway. I know from experience that if you rely on a meal before your normal time to get you through the night that you'll be hungry when you to to sleep," I say softly.

Madi nods in agreement and helps Destiny get Pookie on the chair with her.

We didn't order a bunch of food, so it doesn't take us long to finish it all.

Next chapter, more family cuteness! And I'll add some more Captain Ranya family fluff soon too! Then there'll probably a time jump to when they leave. And guys, I did the math the other day and I have written over 3,000 pages of Fanfiction in the past three years lol. Go me! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!