Varian got out of the carriage and was immediately surrounded by the children of the orphan home. "Blue hair!"
"Hey, guys?"
"Where's your lady?" One little boy asked. The kids had a habit of calling Cassandra his lady because they heard him call her m'lady pretty often.
He chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "She couldn't make it today. She's a little under the wheather and I'm being a little over protective, but she needed some sleep."
"I hope she feels better soon."
"She's ok," he assured them.
"Did you come to see Anette before she leaves?" a little girl asked.
"Leaves?" Varian froze, his heart stopping.
"Yeah, they're making her leave because she can't speak our language very good at all," they explained. "Uncle Monty was hoping you'd come by because he doesn't want them to take her to a different place."
"Ok, I'm gonna see what I can do," Varian assured them. He briskly walked into the building. Monty greeted him almost immediately.
"Oh, thank the stars, you're here," Monty breathed.
"You can't do anything about it?"
"The kids told you about Annette, huh? No, I have no power to stop it. I was hoping you would."
"How?" Varian asked.
"Well... I know you just got married and kids at the moment might seem a little scary, but..." Monty sighed.
Varian's eyes widened. "You mean, adopting will be the only way?"
"Yes. Otherwise they'll take her somewhere else where she won't be understood. Maybe they'll know what she's saying better than we can, but we understand her and I don't want to have to make her do something she doesn't want."
There was silence for a moment as Varian thought about it. "I'll ask her first," he said at last. "Where is she?"
"In the main room."
"Thanks." Varian went to the room over where Annette was playing with paper airplanes. He got down on his knees as she gave an excited "Hello!" She had learned a little of his language at this point.
"Hey, Annie. I need to talk to you. You know you're leaving, right?"
The girl nodded sadly.
Varian drew in a deep breath. "How would you feel if me and Miss Cassandra adopted you instead?"
Annette's eyes grew wide. "Really?"
"Do... do you want that?"
"Yes!" Annette's eyes filled with tears as she nodded her head up and down.
Varian but his lip. Cassie would understand if they became parents a few months early, right? After all, Annette was very well behaved and Cassandra seemed to like her a lot. Eventually, Annette would also be fluent in their language and they could teach Cassandra Annette's language.
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"Hey, Cassie..."
Cassandra turned around upon hearing her husband's voice. She cleared her throat and blushed when she realized that she was in the middle of eating a pickle. "Don't ask about it. I just had this strange craving..." she stopped when she noticed Annette.
"We had a situation at the orphan home... I uh... she's ours now," Varian began slowly. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you first, but we were low on time..."
"You adopted her?" Cassandra asked slowly.
"Yes..."
Cassandra wondered if she was supposed to be angry at him for not asking her, but she wasn't. Instead, she found herself smiling. She kissed her husband before scooping up the little girl in her arms. "I'm glad."
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Ok, so next chapter will have a time skip.
Quick question. Did any of you all get confused when you were little what being pregnant was? I remember I was two or three (don't know why, but this memory always stuck) A woman who was watching me was pregnant and she picked me up. I asked her something, or made a comment on her belly or something. I'm not too certain about that. Anyways, she explained that she was pregnant by saying she had a baby in her tummy. In my young mind I thought she ate a baby. It sounds awful, but I can't help but laugh everytime I think about it.