His Saviour {Book 2}

-Chapter 26-

"Alexis..." Ian replied, gazing ahead. "Marshall... that's the last name of her adopted family". He pulled out a small photo of her from inside his pocket, before going to hand it over to him.

Chris flickered his eyes away from the road to glance down at the picture. She had his light blue eyes, his dark hair and most of all his bright charming smile. She looked like his twin and the more he stared down at the picture, the more it felt like a huge part of him was now missing and possibly never to be replaced.

Two hours later, they arrived in the middle of Virginia. The sun gradually fills the sky, creating a warm glow in the atmosphere as they slowly stepped out the car.

They turned their heads to look around the place, before focusing their attention on the huge park across the street; which was holding a little girls Soccer game. Chris shifted his head back to look at Ian as he anxiously swallowed a hard lump in his throat, whilst he ran his hand across his forehead. He walked over seconds later to wrap his arm around his shoulder and to help him relax. After a brief moment, they then turned to walk across their street, taking their time along the way.

As they reached the park, they stood further away from everyone, watching the soccer game, before narrowing their eyes to the parents who stood cheering on from the park bleachers.

Chris darted his eyes around the park, till his eyes landed on her a few minutes later. He watched as she ran around the field to get to the ball with a wide grin on her face. Seeing her right before his very eyes was different than seeing a picture of her. To her they were strangers, bystanders even who had stopped to watch the game just like everybody else and having no idea they were her biological family. The more he gazed over at her, the more he began to wonder what would've happened if Miranda had told Ian about the pregnancy and hadn't given her adoption. He knew that she would've made Ian happy no doubt, but he wondered if having a little cousin around to protect would've changed his stance on things growing up. He wondered if she would've made him happy too and if he would've been able to create a special bond with her that he was never able to with his parents growing up. He wondered if they would've been close, close enough where they would be able to tell each other everything. There were an endless of what ifs that ran through his mind as he reeled in what could've been with the little cousin he had always wanted.

After a short while, Chris rotated his head to look at Ian as he held his gaze directly on her, not looking away, and he could tell he was thinking exactly the same thing he was.

His eyes were locked on her, almost like he was scared to look away. It was so powerful that you could feel the overwhelming emotions that overtook him right at that very moment. His heavy eyelids a fraction too slow to blink, his irises too stationary. It was as if his brain was suffering a massive short circuit and was struggling to compute. Unlike Friday night, he held himself together as he continued to watch her run around the field, even though he felt like he was on the edge of a breakdown. It was like he was watching his life flash before his eyes and not being able to do anything about it. It was a constant bittersweet torment .

The game came to an end 10-15 minutes later. Some of the little girls ran over to their families on the bleachers, but they watched as Alexis dribbled the ball with another girl who they assumed to be her friend as they laughed along together. Moments later, she accidentally kicked the ball in their direction, before lifting her head to look over at the both of them.

As the ball slowly rolled over to them, Chris watched as Ian crouched down to grab hold of it. Seconds later, he lifted his head up to see Alexis walking in their direction and their nerves began to rise.