Filed to story: Loving You In My Final Days
“Because, I think you are the first male friend Abi has. Abi doesn’t have boy friends, only girls. So that’s why I think you are special,” she answered and Alexander smiled. He looked satisfied and it seemed like he liked Little Betty for that.
“Good girl,” was all he said and he finally looked at Abi.
“Alex, can I return her to the orphanage first? I will explain to you once I’m back.”
“Why return her? Didn’t you get the permission to take her with you?”
“Of course I did.”
“Then it’s fine. Let her stay here for the night. It’s already dark out, Abigail.”
“But…”
“No buts. I won’t permit you to go out,” he said with an absolute no nonsense tone and Abi knew that she wouldn’t be able to persuade him anymore.
Without a choice Abi called the orphanage and thankfully, they agreed.
The two girls then went upstairs to clean up and get changed. As they walked up the staircase, Little Betty looked at Abi with wide eyes!
“Wahh!! Abi, is this a castle? I feel like I’m inside a real castle!” Betty was extremely excited.
Abi let Little Betty go first and she went after she finished helping the little girl put on a fresh set of clothes. Luckily for Abi, she had with her a spare set of clothes for Little Betty as she always carried spares with her whenever she went out with any of the children, just in case so this wasn’t an issue. ‘Great forward thinking, Abi!’ she mentally patted herself on the back.
Once they were ready, they headed back downstairs.
The moment they entered the dining room, three pairs of eyes greeted them and one didn’t even bother to look up, as if he couldn’t care less. Of course, the boisterous one was the first to say something.
“Oh, we have a new member in the family?! So cute! What’s your name?” Xavier asked.
“My name is Betty. Nice to meet you all.” Betty introduced herself and smiled at Xavier.
“I’m Xavier, baby girl and this guy here is Kai.” Xavier beamed at her while Kai gave her a small, kind smile.
Betty’s eyes surveyed the two men for a while before her gaze fell on Ezekiel Qin. She then turned and walked towards him and poked him gently on his leg to grab his attention.
“Uncle, what’s your name?”
The man silently raised his eyes and looked at the girl before him.
“Hey, don’t ignore a lady’s question.” Alex’s voice was mocking.
“Ezekiel” was all he said before he looked down again, as if he was an unwilling participant.
Dinner seemed to be laid out and ready for them already so they all took their places around the table and started to eat the always scrumptious meal made by the kitchen staff.
Betty couldn’t believe the amount of food that was laid out on the table. ‘Holy moly! I have never seen this much food in my life! YUUUUUMMMMM!!!’ was the thought that ran through her head. She was used to the food from the orphanage and while it wasn’t fancy like this, it was certainly nutritious and still yummy. But the little foodie certainly wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass by her!
Abi saw the millions of stars in the girl’s eyes and she couldn’t help but chuckle as she placed a heaped spoonful of food on Little Betty’s plate. She definitely understood what she was feeling. This was, after all, how she also felt when she first got here. Knowing how much of a foodie this little girl was, she made sure to give her at least a small portion of every dish so that she could have a taste of all of the dishes, much to Little Betty’s delight.
Dinner was much more lively than usual, with Xavier and Kai asking Little Betty a lot of questions, as if they had never spent time with a little child before, and Little Betty answered them all with her cheerful, bubbly, little voice surrounding them like a warm blanket.
Once they were finished with their meal, Abi and Little Betty patted their food babies with satisfaction. They looked at each other and as if some secret communication passed between them, they both laughed out loud while the men looked at them with curiosity. Abi just shook her head and offered no explanation.
After some time, they all rose and headed to the large living room. Alex and Abi sat next to each other on the largest couch while Little Betty, Xavier and Kai sat on the couch across them. Zeke, ever the outsider, sat on the furthest single chair from the rest.
“Do you have any toys or games here?” Little Betty piped up.
The two men immediately looked at Alex, as if they were about to ask him this question, but then they looked at each other and shook their head. ‘What were they thinking? Of course he wouldn’t have any kids toys or games in this house.’
“Sorry, Betty, but we don’t have toys or games,” Xavier said sadly.
“Oh ok… Do you have any paper? We could play rubbish ball. Do you know how to play rubbish ball?” Little Betty asked the two men, who just looked very confused.
“Rubbish ball? What kind of game is that?” Xavier asked.
“It’s when you crumple pieces of paper into a ball and try to shoot them inside the rubbish bin!” Little Betty explained.
“Oh. That sounds like fun!” Xavier said while Kai just nodded. The two then went in search of paper and a rubbish bin. It didn’t take them long to find the items needed for the game and so within minutes, the quiet house became very noisy as the three of them played their game. There were shrieks and claps and hoorays as it went on and Abi, who could never just sit and watch while kids played games, got up to join them.
Alex and Zeke stayed where they were as they looked on with boredom written on their faces. They definitely did not have any intention of joining in.
After some time, the game finally slowed down. It seemed like everyone was finally starting to run out of gas.
