Family and Protection

Chapter 21: Cayla's Discovery

Cayla stood in the room with Carlos and Jane. None of them really knew what to say. Jane and Carlos were whispering to each other, but Cayla could not make out anything they were saying. She looked around the room as she didn't want to make it seem like she was staring at them.

"So Cayla," Carlos began, "tell us about yourself."

"Well," Cayla started, "I'm thirteen. I'm an orphan. Been one my entire life. I guess I'm smart. I mean, I'm nowhere near as smart as Elaina, but I think I'm pretty smart for my age."

Carlos nodded with a smile. She remembered being one of the younger ones in his class as he was quite smarter than the other kids.

Jane couldn't wait any longer. She wanted to get this done like ripping off a bandage. "We have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"I thought we were gonna get to know her first," Carlos whispered.

"I can't wait."

"Okay," Carlos said walking over to the door. When he opened it, there was the sound of barking. Three dogs walked into the room with a lot of energy. Cayla covered her mouth in shock. She was really face to face with dogs. One was dressed like Carlos and another was dressed like Jane. "These are our dogs," Carlos said. "The boy is named Dude and the girl is named Lily."

Cayla bent down to the dogs' level. They surrounded her as they jumped up to her knees excitedly. She was a little hesitant to pet them, but once she did, she fell in love. Tears were forming in her eyes because of how happy she was. "They're so cute," she said. Jane and Carlos's hearts melted as they watched Cayla's happiness.

The third dog began barking. It was smaller than the other two as it was just a puppy. Oddly enough, that dog was dressed like Cayla. Cayla picked up the tiny dog as she stood up. "And who's this cutie?"

"That's Daisy," Jane explained. "She's Dude and Lily's pup."

Cayla held Daisy in her hands happily. Carlos and Jane looked at each other and nodded. "You can have her," Carlos said.

"What?" Cayla asked. "B-But she's your dog, and I wouldn't want to split up a family," she said motioning to the dogs.

"But you wouldn't be splitting up the family," Carlos said. Cayla was now confused. Carlos and Jane looked at each other before getting closer to Cayla. "Just as we said, Daisy is Dude and Lily's daughter. Just as you are our daughter."

Cayla looked up at Carlos and Jane as her smile turned into a frown. She gently put Daisy in the ground as she tried to process what has just been said. "Excuse me, but did you just say I'm your daughter?" Carlos and Jane nodded. Cayla was still confused. "B-But how?"

"Maybe this will help," Jane said pulling a piece of paper out of her purse.

Cayla grabbed it in confusion. Once she read it, everything began to fall into place. Her name was Cayla Jennifer De Vil. She was the daughter of Carlos and Jane. Tears began flowing out of her eyes as she covered her mouth in shock. She didn't know how to react. She was sad and happy all at the same time.

"We just want you to know," Jane began, "that giving you up for adoption was the hardest thing for us to do. We never wanted to do it, but we had to for your protection. We didn't want something against us to bring danger to your life. We know you may be mad, and you have every right to be, but we just want you to know that we've always loved you."

To their surprise, Cayla smiled. Her teary-eyed smile made them smile as well. They couldn't help it as tears began falling down their faces. "Thank you," Cayla said. She ran up to the two to hug them.

Carlos and Jane were a little surprised by Cayla's action, but they soon embraced her as everything was processed. Their baby girl was now home, and they didn't have to worry about her leaving every again.

"I'm just surprised you were never adopted," Carlos said. "You are an amazing kid."

"I don't even care that I was rejected from being adopted thirty times within my life. I have you guys, and that's all that matters now." Carlos and Jane laughed. This made Cayla giggle. She was happy. She felt home. She felt loved. "Just one thing. Well, maybe a couple of things."

"What is it?" asked Jane.

"So Brelyn is Mal and Ben's daughter, Elaina is Evie and Doug's daughter, and Jacey is Jay and Lonnie's daughter, right?"

Carlos chuckled. "You got that right."

Cayla felt happiness as she was glad her friends were able to find their missing pieces as well.

Author's Note: This is one of the shorter Discovery chapters. I just knew for Cayla I wanted it to be short and sweet. Jacey's was also supposed to be relatively short, but hers ended up being longer than expected XD. Elaina and Brelyn's chapters are the ones that are a little on the longer side.