Adaline buried her head into my neck. Demitri held my hand while Anna was on the other side of me.
"So, how's school going?" I ask, looking at her. She shrugs.
"It's alright. I don't really care for it."
"A lot of kids are like that."
It was quiet between us for a minute.
"It's his birthday next week." Anna says, softly. I tensed up and stopped walking. She looked at me. "Sorry."
"No. It's fine. I just wasn't thinking about that." We continued walking until I set Adaline down. "Are you and Gwen doing anything special for his birthday?"
"No. Well just watching his favorite movies." I nod.
"Sounds like fun." I whispered.
"Yeah."
"How are you doing, Anna? Really?" I ask, looking at her.
"I'm alright, Maeve."
"You can always talk to me, you know? I get that I'm just a stranger but I do care for you. I'm really sorry about the kids, Ann." She looked at me. "I get that you may not want them around 24/7. I'm trying. I'm really trying."
"It's fine, Maeve. I like getting to know them. Besides, it's fun hanging around another girl." I smiled at her.
We walked over to the park benches where the rest of my siblings are.
"Remember, there are a lot of boys." I whispered. She smiled at me. "If you feel uncomfortable or anything, you tell me. I know they won't try anything but still, I take that shit seriously."
"Bad word mom." Adaline says, frowning. "10 bucks in the swear jar." I looked at her.
"You got it." I smiled at her.
"I promise, Maeve." Anna says, smiling at me. I smiled at her too. Adaline ran over to Angel, making Angel pick her up. Anna stood behind me, starting to play with her fingers. I looked at her.
"Do you want my rings?" I whispered. She looked at me. "You can have them, if you want. I can always get other ones."
"Y-Yeah. Sure." She whispers. I took them off and gave them to her. She put them on.
"Better?" I ask, making her nod.
"Thanks." I nodded at her and looked at my siblings.
"Hey Maeve. Here." Axel asks, handing me a milkshake. He handed me another one to hand to Anna. I handed it to her and looked back at him.
"Um, this is Demitri and Adaline." I say, introducing the kids. They smiled at them. Demitri stood near me, clutching onto my arm. He looked at me and I looked at him.
"Can I go play?" he whispers, looking at the playground. I looked too and saw some other kids.
"Rules?"
"Don't talk to other people besides kids. Don't go off with other people. Ask to pet other people's dogs. If they say no, smile and leave. Do not go out in the street. Check in every few minutes. I remember our safe word. Bitch, right?" He says, smiling. I smiled at him.
"Good. Yes, you can go play. If you take your sister, stay with her at all times. Do not leave her. You leave her, you are in trouble. If she leaves you, she's in trouble. Got it?" He nods. He goes over to Adaline and whispers in her ear. She got up and they both ran to the playground.
"Your safe word is bitch?" Matt asks, making me look at him.
"Yep. It's unique. Why? They only cuss when it comes to the safe word. Now you guys know it too."
"I'm not about to cuss at your kids, Maeve."
"Demitri doesn't care if you do. If you call Adaline on her shit, she will hit you. She doesn't mess around." I say, shrugging. I sat down next to Angel and so did Anna next to me. "Oh this is Anna. Anna meet the siblings. They're all annoying."
"No we're not." Damien says, rolling his eyes. I smiled at him.
"Axel is a surgeon at the hospital along with Sebastian. Julian is a lawyer. Matt is a therapist. Atticus is a doctor. Vanessa is a nurse. Damien is a car person. He loves them. Then Angel is a painter and a clothes designer." I say, pointing to them all. "Anna here is in, what grade again?"
"4th." She says, smiling. They nod. I looked at the playground, seeing the two kids playing tag with the others. I smiled.
"So, do you know what you want to be when you grow up?" Matt asks, curious. Anna frowns.
"I may want to be a firefighter. My career changes every week." She says, shrugging.
"You have a long way to go, Anna. It's worth it." Vanessa says, smiling.
We spent the rest of the day together. Demitri and Adaline came around a few minutes before we left, worn out. They kept themselves entertained for the most part. I joined them after an hour or so.
I looked at Anna who was already looking at me. The kids fell asleep on the way to her house.
"I'm sorry for not being there as much I wanted to be. I'm gonna move back here. Well, maybe. It's still in the works but I will stay a much longer time this time. I want to be there for your 4th year graduation. They still have that or is it 5th grade?" I ask, confused.
"5th grade." I nod, frowning.
"Well, I'm still gonna be here. We can have a girl's day just the two of us or we can include Angel. She really likes you." She nods.
"I would like that." She says, smiling. I get out of the car with her. I walked her up to the door, knocking. Gwen opens the door, smiling at us.
"How was your day, Anna?" She asks, curious. A bright smile went on her face.
"It was good." Gwen nods.
"You can tell me all about it." Anna hugged me before going into the house. I hugged her back.
"Do you want your rings back?" She asks, pulling back. I shake my head.
"Keep them. I have more."
"Thank you." She whispers. She went inside the house. I looked at Gwen with tears in her eyes. She pulled me into a hug.
"Thank you so much." She whispers. I furrowed my eyebrows. She pulled back and saw my confused expression. "Anna hasn't been social lately. Well after Malcolm died, she pulled away from everything. Today is the first day to see her smile that big. Thank you Maeve."
"Don't thank me, Gwen. I don't need that." I whispered. She sighs and caresses my cheek.
"You have to stop blaming yourself, Maeve. It's not your fault." I let out a breath.
"Have a good night, Gwen. I'll text you later this week, alright?" She nods.
I walked over to my car and got back in. I looked at the kids who were still asleep.
--
I kissed Demitri on the cheek and stepped backwards. I shut his door and sighed. Tears welled up in my eyes.
I walked down to my bedroom and shut the door, covering my mouth.
"Maeve, everything okay?" Killian asks, standing up from his spot on the bed. I shook my head.
He came over to me and pulled me into a hug, making me sob out. My legs gave out, making him catch me. He slowly sat down on the floor, with me sobbing in his arms.
"What's wrong, M?" He asks, his hands running through my hair.
"It's his birthday next week. I-I can't do it." I whispered, breaking into another round of sobs.
"Shh. I got you, Maeve." He says, softly. I sobbed into his shirt.
Killian's pov
I gently laid Maeve on the bed. She passed out from the crying. I let out a breath and kissed her forehead, pulling the sheets up over her body.
She asked me to come to New York. She wanted me around. I think she forgot that she said anything about it. She's gonna be surprised tomorrow when she sees I'm sleeping in the guest room.
I let out a breath and gently pushed a stray hair from her tear stained face.
"I'll wait. Forever if I have to. Goodnight, Maeve. Sleep tight." I whispered before shutting her door.
Lol hey. Hope everyone had a good day today! Drink water friends!
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