Adopted by Albert | ✔

3 | recording

"Can you hear me?"

I heard Albert's voice through a Discord call almost as if he was next to me. He wasn't, he was in his own office, setting up his own stuff. We had arrived from Chick-fil-a, and Albert had kept his promise; he was about to show me what Roblox was. He said we'd play Minecraft another time.

"Yeah," I said through my mic. I was borrowing Kirsten's, since she wasn't recording right now and I didn't have my own. Albert had helped me set it all up and download Roblox. I'd already made myself an account, made myself a Discord account as well as a Twitter, and was waiting for Albert to get ready.

"Hey, by the way, is it okay if I record this? For YouTube? We don't have to, only if you're comfortable." I was caught off guard by this request, but I let him know it was okay.

"Trust me, it's not every day I get to be in a celebrity's video." I'd been poking fun at the whole content creator thing ever since he first mentioned it to me.

"I mean, this is a first for me, too. I don't often have kids in my videos."

"I'm honored. Hurry up." Albert laughed on the other end of the call.

"Okay, I'm all set. Ready? Recording in three, two, one..." There was a silence before he started talking.

"Okay, join the private server in Piggy," he said, and I replied with, "Joining."

"Uh, so we kind of have a special guest today," Albert said, but not to me, "I told you guys a few months ago that Kirsten and I were thinking about fostering a kid for a few weeks, just to see what it'd be like, and here she is. Meet Blair. Blair, say hello to the five million people who are going to be watching this."

"Uhh, hi." I said, and Albert replied, "Choose the house map. It's the easiest."

I clicked on the box labeled "House" and I asked, "So how do you play this?"

"Okay, so basically, you have to find stuff around the map that will help you unlock doors to new stuff, and you're trying to open the main door to get out, and Piggy chases you while you're at it." I nodded and said, "I think I get it."

The beginning cut-scene was short, just my avatar ingame getting out of a car in front of Piggy's house, and something hitting me in the head. Then, I spawned with Albert in the house, and Albert immediately started moving.

"Okay, so for the first thirty seconds just run around and try to find stuff, Piggy won't be out until then. Tell me what you find," he instructed, and he went downstairs, while I went down the hall that led to a bathroom.

"I found a wooden plank in the shower," I told him, and he asked me, "D'you want me to tell you where to put it or try to find it on your own?"

"I think I'll try by myself for a bit. If I get stuck, then you can help me."

It went on like that, the two of us running around the map. I soon found out two things. One, the plank went on the third floor, and two, Piggy was actually pretty terrifying.

"Okay, so I have the wrench, that goes upsta— WOAH!" I yelped loudly, jumping and throwing my mouse without meaning to. I'd turned a corner and almost met Piggy face-to-face, turning back at the last second to avoid death. "Albert, I think you forgot to mention the fact that Piggy sneaks up on you."

He just chuckled. "You get used to it at some point. Don't forget to use the wrench on the front door, too."

We went on for almost four minutes before Piggy killed me. I'd been using the hammer on the door, when another cut-scene came on, where I turned around and Piggy hit me with the bat.

"Um, I think I died."

"Wow, are you really that bad at computer games?"

"Shut up. Bet anything you won't be able to get past this map without me."

I was right about that part. It wasn't long before Albert was caught by the monster, too. He was in the basement, going up the stairs when Piggy surprised him by appearing at the door.

"No!" There was a loud thud as Albert yelled and slammed his hands on his desk. I could hear a low thud coming from both the call and the other room. "Wait, hold on, my camera fell."

"How is all your stuff not broken yet?"

"What makes you think it's not broken?" After a couple seconds, I heard him say, "Yes, sister! This camera angle is so good!" Although I couldn't see it, I could tell by the sarcasm that his facecam was probably completely lopsided. "Adam doesn't like it when I don't fix my camera. Hold on again."

I couldn't help myself. I started giggling into my microphone.

We started a new game, and I made sure to avoid Piggy this time. We did a lot better, and I put the last green gear in the shed, which made the well go up, delivering us the silver key, the last one we needed. Albert took it and unlocked the front door. It opened, and we escaped.

I leaned back and sighed with relief. "This one's the easiest?"

"There's, like, ten more maps that are way harder than this."

"How about we play them later? I need time to recover from this traumatic experience. If I'm lucky, I won't have PTSD." Albert laughed again. It sounded good on him, and it reminded me of happy things. It reminded me that not all adults are boring, some are cool and let you stay past—

Ten PM? I glanced at the time on the computer. None of my caretakers ever let me stay past this time to play videogames, and I was sure that if I asked, Albert wouldn't mind playing longer.

"Alright, well that was Piggy chapter one with my new daughter. I hope you like her, she's going to be appearing in videos more often. It's also her first time playing Roblox and," he giggled a bit, "I think she liked it."

"Okay, done," he told me, satisfied. To be honest, I'd a part of me completely forgot he'd been recording, I was too entertained to remember.

"Albert, this was super fun, but I think I should go to bed. I still want to go to that skate park tomorrow, and I can't ollie when I'm half-asleep." I told him, and he said, "Hold that thought." He ended the call, and I heard a knock on my bedroom door within a few seconds.

"Come in!" I called, and Albert walked in. "I wanted to say goodnight in person. I feel like that's what a parent'd do. Also, I wanted to let you know that this is mine and Kirsten's first time parenting, so we're probably more awkward than you are, but we're here for you. If you need me just come inside my office, even if I'm recording."

I grinned slightly. "Thanks, Albert. Goodnight!" Albert nodded, returned the smile, and left the room. I heard the the door of the rim hit softly, almost as if he were trying to close it as quietly, as to not disturb me.

I yanked off my shirt and walked over towards the closet, where I'd seen the sweatshirts hanging. Pulling one off the hanger at random, I put it on and went under the covers, smiling slightly into my pillow. After a few seconds, I fell asleep.