"Ariel!" I lifted my head up from my text book as Andy walked into the room.
"Over here!" I yelled, waving my pencil in the air.
"Hey, babe. How was school?" I glanced up at Andy, frowning.
"Okay, I guess." I muttered. I could feel a smile start to slip across my face when I saw how happy he looked.
"What's got you smiling so much?" I asked him. He grinned, his eyes shining.
"They want to draft me! They want me to play for the Jets." I dropped the textbook in my hands and flew out of my chair.
"No way! Andy that's amazing!" I gasped, throwing my arms around him. He laughed in my ear.
"I know! It still seems surreal to me." He said shaking his head as he pulled out of my embrace.
"Wow, this is great!" I repeated, grinning up at him. He nodded and glanced at the duffel bag on our bed.
"What's that doing out? I thought you had all the bills paid?" I gave him a sheepish smile.
"Well, you remember four years ago when we got the money itself, before my parents moved and everything?" He nodded.
"I decided where I want the money to go. What were not keeping of it, that is." I quickly added. He raised an eyebrow and nodded toward the bag.
"Where?"
"There's a homeless shelter up the street. There are tons of homeless teens and kids that would love to play with a future Jets Linebacker. Plus the money would make a huge difference. I was hoping maybe we could even help them fix the place up." His face was emotionless for a second, and I started to think he didn't like the idea.
"You're way too nice, you know." He stated, pushing my bangs out of my eyes.
"I know, I know. I talked to Linda, one of the head women there, she said a lot of the kids lost loved ones. I think it would be good for us to share our story about Bren with them." He nodded, smiling.
"Are you going to tell your parents about the baby?" He asked, poking my still flat stomach. I rolled my eyes, snorting.
"I'm only like a month in, Andy. I think it can wait." He yawned and gestured toward the door.
"You want to go be awesome people and help little kids out?" I grinned.
"You bet I do!"
***
"Wow, kiddo! Watch out!" I said, pulling a little boy out of the way so he would get tackled by the bigger kids. He turned to look at me and I couldn't help but feel my heart clench. He couldn't have been any older than five.
"My sister said she'd be right back. Do you know where my mommy went?" I bit my lip, shaking my head at the little boy. He crawled up on to my lap and we both watched Andy play football with a group of kids.
"My mommy looked like you. She was pretty and had brown hair. And she was nice like you." I smiled at the little boy, patting his shoulder.
"Your mommy sounds amazing." I replied. He nodded, staring at the plain white wall in front of us.
"She would sing me and Willow songs. But now she can't, because Daddy made her stay." I opened my mouth to reply but was interupted when a woman took the boy from me.
"Sorry about that, Miss Thomas. Little Brendan here just misses his family. He isn't quite. . . there." The woman said. I stood up when I heard what she called him.
"What did you say his name was?" I asked. Her eyes narrowed as she repeated the name.
"Brendan." She said. I looked toward the little boy, at his sad blue eyes.
"Ariel! Hey, are you going to come join us?" Andy jogged over and stopped beside me, his hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, Buddy. What's your name?" I winced as the boy replied.
"Brendan!" The boy giggled as Andy's eyes widened.
"Wow! That's an awesome name. You want to hear something weird?" The boy nodded, his eyes just as big as Andy's.
"Miss Ariel and me lost someone very close to us a few years ago with that name. He was just as awesome as you." Little Brendan giggled as the woman excused them both and carried him away.
Andy turned to face me once they were gone, the smiling fading from his face.
"I don't like the look on your face. What are you thinking about?"
"Andy, he doesn't have any parents. And his name is Brendan! If that's not a sign then I don't know what is." He shook his head, his jaw clenching.
"No, Ari. We already have our own kid. We don't need some little messed up boy that. . ."
"What if his name wasn't Brendan? Huh? What if he was just some scared little four year old homeless boy?" He growled, angry. I shook my head, sighing.
"I still would want him, Andy. It isn't fair. He's the youngest kid here by years! He doesn't have any friends and he doesn't have any family except for his cousin who runs away from this place half of the time." I could see something shift in Andy's eyes then, I could see his eyes starting to soften.
"Ariel, you still have a year of college left. You have a job and. . ."
"Andy, please. Please." I begged, grabbing on to his arm. He sighed in defeat and laid his forehead against mine.
"Your damn puppy dog eyes will be the death of me. I'll talk to Marise before we leave, see what we have to do to legally adopt him. Now go find the damn kid and try to explain to him why he has to leave." I threw my arms around Andy, laughing.
"Thank you! Thank you! You don't even know how much we're changing this kids life, Andy. Thank you!" He backed away from me, a grin pulling at his lips.
"You're lucky I love you!" He yelled, backing into the group of kids. I shook my head, grinning.
"I know, Andrew. I know."
***AN***
Yeah, I know. I know. My books are so short! I do have a reason though guys.
I don't want my books to bore you, I don't have any professional training and I'd rather have a short and entertaining book then a long drawn out book that goes no where. So if you guys were wondering why my books are so short, that's why. I am trying to make them longer, and hopefully soon they'll be a lot longer.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed!! I know I enjoyed writing!
This book is ALWAYS open for a sequel. Because who wouldn't want a book where their dad is a professional football player??
Thanks to everyone who took this journey with me, and I hope you will enjoy my other work.
Love you guys
Signing off on Honor(probably) for the last time.
~ChasingMadness24