𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑫 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬

033

Naire turned away from him and went back to colouring, she'd heard this same statement before, only thing was...they never actually took her home. She continued to colour her giraffe, feeling someone come stand beside the crouching man.

"They said that last time too." Naire mumbled to herself, her little fingers looking around for another colouring pencil.

She kept pushing her dress down, clearly showing the fact that she was uncomfortable in it, but as Ms Lonlin said, girls wear dresses only. Naire didn't know what she was at times but Ms Lonlin insisted that she was a girl and forced her to wear dresses.

"I'm Alicia, Naire. It's really nice to meet you." A brown-haired lady stretched her hand out to Naire, who hesitantly held it and shook it.

She smiled as she watched Naire go back to colouring, sadly watching the girl crawl back into her shell.

"He's right, we are taking you home with us today. Would you like that?" Alicia asked softly, rubbing the man's back softly.

Naire looked up at her warm hazel eyes and for the first time ever, all she saw was kindness and another expression she didn't know. She'd never seen anyone ever look at her like that before, she didn't know if it was a good look or bad, either way, it was foreign.

"You want to adopt me?" Naire asked hesitantly, looking between the man and woman.

They both nodded softly, "We'd really like to." He said, handing her a green colouring pencil.

"I'm scared." Naire admitted, making the two look at each other before turning to look at her first.

"How about this then?" The man asked, "We'll come visit you everyday for a couple of months and you let us know when you're ready to come home with us."

Naire nodded, "That sounds good, sir."

"Call me Dave, please." He said with a small smile.

-XX-

After that, Dave and Alicia would visit the orphanage everyday for months. Sometimes they'd come together, sometimes alone. Either way, they made sure they came. Naire even felt the doubts begin to wash away as she saw their dedication but she still worried that they wouldn't want her.

That they wouldn't want to keep her, just like her biological parents.

On a snowy day, Naire stood there as Dave wrapped a scarf around her neck before grabbing her hand and leading her to the middle of the field. They spent time building a snowman, Dave recorded Naire as she made a snow angel on the floor and they had hot chocolate afterwards. Naire felt herself look forward to their visits. Alicia always brought her books, sweets and toys but Dave...he always made sure she did something new.

Whether it was swimming lessons, ice skating and more. He opened her up to new experiences that she could come back and talk to the other kids in the orphanage about. Naire looked up to him and loved him deeply, just as she did with Alicia.

"Should I keep pushing?" Dave asked as Naire rose up before going back down. The wind was in her face as she moved her legs to make the swing move higher, while Alicia was in the swing beside her.

"Keep going!" She shouted, her high pitched laugh making the two people smile at her excitement.

"Don't push her too hard, remember she fell last time." Alicia said softly, slowing down her swing and stopping while she watched Naire swing with a warmed heart.

"Okay, let me slow you down, Nai." Dave said before grabbing the swing and slowing it down until she had stopped.

They looked at one another before Dave knelt down infront of her and asked her the question, "Do you feel ready?"

Naire looked between the two and nodded slowly, she felt a bit hesitant until she saw them hug each other in tears and felt as Dave carried her and pulled her into a group hug. She could feel the joy as they all hugged, they were truly excited to have her join their family.

Alicia and Dave made that Naire never went back to being that 12 year old girl with no friends. No loved ones. She now had them.

Looking back with hindsight, that look that Alicia had given her when she first saw her was admiration. She saw beauty when she first saw Naire, not pity, not worry. Nothing but awe at the child before her.

Two years later...

"Dave, stop annoying Naire!" Alicia shouted from the kitchen while Dave laughed, making Naire roll her eyes.

She'd been playing on her PlayStation with Troy and Dave kept walking in-front of the TV, which annoyed her to the core. Naire watched as her father sat down with a goofy grin and sipped his beer, before waving at her, acting as if he hadn't walked in front of the screen on purpose.

"You took my T-shirt." Dave said, still sipping his beer which made Naire quickly come out of the game and pull her headphones out, facing him worriedly.

"I just really liked your shirt." Naire sighed, making Dave nod.

"You've taken quite a few of my clothes, do you need to go shopping?" Dave asked, placing the beer down to face Naire.

She sighed softly, unable to calm down her shaky hands. Naire didn't know how she was going to tell Alicia and Dave but she knew that she had to. A part of her alway felt that they'd give her away if they knew this but she couldn't keep it in anymore. Fear had consumed her into becoming a person she wasn't.

"Hey. Hey. It's okay, you can tell me." Dave said softly, holding her shaky hands in his much larger ones. His familiar blue eyes stared at her with worry, which made all that fear dissolve.

"I feel like I'd prefer to dress more masculine." Naire mumbled, looking at Dave, she could feel Alicia standing at the door. She tended to do that when she could tell that Naire was stressed about something.

"And that's okay, we'll buy you anything that suits your style." Alicia said softly, walking behind her and beginning to rub her back. It was a habit of hers that Naire had come to love,  it was soothing and filled with comforting sensations.

"I like girls and I feel more in touch with my masculine side." Naire continued, making Dave and Alicia look at each other before nodding.

They hugged her, soothing her as she cried. She'd been struggling with this because she hadn't known how to tell them. Being gay was hard enough for kids to tell their biological parents but for their adopted parents, it was harder. There would always be that fear of being abandoned.

"We love you regardless, Nai." Dave whispered, kissing her cheek before sitting back on his chair. Pointing at the tv, gesturing for her to get back to her video games.

"I'm gonna start dishing up, come grab some water to cool down before we eat." Alicia said walking beside her as they went to the kitchen.

In that moment, Naire felt that those 12 years of loneliness were worth it. She'd go through them all over again if it meant that she got Dave and Alicia in the end, after all, they were her family.