Topic: A New Hope

Lisbeth Granger · Date: 2016-04-21 10:12 EST

The wisest parent always creates a safety net; trusted hands for their children to fall into, should the worst come to pass. You always hope that it won't be necessary, and for many, it never is. For some, however ....tragedy can never be predicted.

For several days, Ivy Lodge on Maple Grove had stood empty. Only those who were closest to Edward and Lisbeth Granger knew why; only those who were trusted to make the house ready for their return. All anyone else knew was that Ed and Lis had been called away urgently in the middle of the night, and would be returning soon. They hadn't wanted the reason for their urgent trip bandied about as a source of gossip.

So when their car pulled into the Grove, it was greeted with waving smiles from those who saw it, and those who waved noticed the strained smile that answered them from Lisbeth behind the wheel. Edward was in the back seat, his arm wrapped about a small figure who seemed vaguely familiar. But there were no eyes to watch as they parked outside Ivy Lodge, as Lisbeth slipped out of the car and to the trunk to retrieve their bags. No eyes to witness a sad little girl being brought to the second home she had been offered in as many years.

Edward had once dreamed of the day when he would legally become the little girl's guardian, but he had never imagined it would happen like this. Fate had had other plans in mind, and she had been adopted by another couple who had taken her into their lives and their hearts, naming Edward and Lis as guardians, should the worst come to pass. Edward had been as shocked and surprised as anyone when that very thing had come to pass, but he had somehow managed to put the little girl's needs before his own. Though she had not been with them long, she was grieving her adoptive parents, and it fell to Edward and Lis to help fill that void and show her that she really wasn't so alone in the world.

"Well, this is it," Edward said, as they arrived at the place that was about to become her home. She had been here before for visits and such, but never with such sadness and grief hanging over their hearts.

Looking out through the window at the house she had visited a few times over the past year or so, Zahan swallowed, still hugging to Edward. He was the only real constant she could hold onto, never having changed in the time she'd known him. "And ....and I am not going away again?"

"No," Edward assured her gently. "Not if you don't want to," he added, not wanting to force her to stay if she wasn't happy here. There had been a time when she would have jumped at the chance to come here with him, but that was before he'd gotten sick, before he and Lis were a couple, and the agency had promised her to another couple.

The little girl had spent almost two years getting used to being a part of a new family before it had been torn away from her. Though she trusted Edward more than anyone else, it was going to take time for her to get used to being here with him. She took a deep breath. "And they won't make me go and live with someone else?"

"No, sweetheart," he assured her with a faint and slightly sad smile. "No one is going to make you go away again. But if you aren't happy here, you have to tell me, okay' Lis and I ....We want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted for you, Za."

Slowly, Zahan nodded, her attention caught by the sight of Lis carrying all the bags toward the front door. Edward's wife had managed to hook the two heaviest bags over each of her shoulders, had a lighter one hanging around her neck, a bag in each hand, and her house keys in her mouth. And she would have been delighted to know that the silly sight made Zahan giggle as she pointed.

Edward turned his gaze toward the window to find Lis manhandling all their luggage herself, and he sighed. "Let's go help Lis with the luggage before she hurts herself," he suggested, pushing the car door open and climbing out. "Lis!" he called, as he waited near the car for Zahan to follow him out. "I'll get that!"

Lis paused near the porch, turning to look over at her husband as he called to her. She smiled around the keys clutched in her teeth at the sight of Zahan wriggling out of the car with a big smile of her own.

The little girl hurried over to her, holding out her hands to take something. "I can take a bag, Lis," she said earnestly, and rather than argue, Lisbeth bent down.

"Take the one around my neck, mija," she told Zahan, ducking as the strap came over her head. "Thank you!"

Edward smiled as he watched the two people he cared for most in all the world get better acquainted. He hadn't been too sure how Lisbeth would react to Zahan moving to Maple Grove, but then she had been happy to sign the guardianship papers, never expecting they might actually become the little girl's guardians. They'd talked about it during the journey to Earth to pay their respects and collect the little girl. Edward just hoped Lisbeth wasn't doing this just to make him happy. This wasn't about him - it was about Zahan, and it was about making them a family, even if she wasn't a child of their own making. He pushed the car door closed and sprinted toward the pair, his vigor returned after so many months of illness.

"I'm here! I'll take the bags," he volunteered as he reached to take the heaviest from Lis.

"Some of the bags," Lis told him, unburdening one side of herself into his care so she could pull the keys out of her mouth and apply them to the door. There was a note stuck under the knocker, which she pulled off as she opened the door. "Do you remember where your room is, mija?" she asked Zahan.

The little girl nodded, looking hopefully into the house.

"Well, you should go and make sure it's still there then, shouldn't you?" Lis waved Zahan into the house, laughing softly at the sight of the small girl scurrying toward the stairs with her bag bouncing on her shoulder.

Edward relieved her of the heaviest of the bags, while Lis directed the little girl to her room. "What is it?" he asked, instinctively knowing she had sent her away so that they could have a moment alone, though he had not noticed the note stuck to the knocker.

Setting the bags down behind the couch for now, Lis opened the note to scan it carefully. "It is from Brynne," she told him, handing the note over. In the familiar scrawl, it read: Hey! We changed the beds and gave the house a spring clean - Lila wants to come to dinner with you guys and see Zahan, but I told her to wait to be invited. Hope everything's okay - here if you need me!

Edward smiled as he read the note. Though Brynne had a reputation for being a little difficult, he knew she adored him and would do just about anything he asked. "Why not invite them both?" he asked, wondering why it should only be Lila. After all, Brynne was part of the family, too, and it wasn't like Zahan didn't know her, but maybe she was worried about overwhelming the little girl her first day here. After all, she had just lost her parents, adoptive or not.

"Tomorrow," Lis suggested. "The best thing we can do is settle into a routine, and Lila and Brynne are a large part of that routine. One of us will have to work on getting Zahan into school with Lila sooner rather than later." She smiled gently at Edward, leaning close to kiss his cheek. "Go, take her bags up to her room, and the two of you can unpack her things. I'll see about dinner."

Lisbeth Granger · Date: 2016-04-21 10:14 EST

"You're sure you're okay with this, querida"" he asked, needing to be sure, though it was a little too late to turn back now without breaking the little girl's heart. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he was confident in time they could become a family.

Lisbeth's smile was soft, and a little sorrowful for the little girl they could hear moving around in her very own bedroom upstairs. "I do not know how to be a mother," she told Edward softly. "But I will learn. She needs you, querido. She needs us. I could never turn my back on her, especially not now." She touched his cheek fondly, leaning close as she breathed him in. "We will find our still place together, Eduardo. I promise."

"Thank you, Lis," he whispered back, leaning close to touch a kiss to her lips, a soft smile on his face. "Te amo, querida," he whispered quietly, for her ears only. As far as he was concerned, they had already accomplished that, and despite the circumstances, adding Zahan to their lives only made them that much more complete. "I'll go help Za settle in."

Smiling, Lis let her lips brush his once more before letting him go, moving to put the clothing from their shared bag into the laundry before examining what was in their kitchen. One thing she could be certain of ....Lisbeth was very good at providing good meals on a regular basis, and a clean, safe home to live in.

Edward took up Zahan's bags and started up the stairs to the room they had designated as hers. The house was really too big for just the two of them, and though they hadn't really talked about it much, Edward was hoping to one day fill the extra bedrooms with a couple of children, starting with Zahan. He set the bags down so that he could knock on the door before stepping inside. "Is it okay to come in?" he asked from the door.

The door was open a crack, and Zahan was visible just inside the door, hugging her bag tightly as she looked around the bedroom in wide-eyed wonder. Brynne had certainly been busy since they'd left. The ordinary bed had been replaced with a gauzy curtained four-poster; where the plain nightstand had been now stood a vanity worthy of a princess. All the bedding and decoration in the room had been given an overhaul, and it was all as pink as a princess' room should be.

"Is this really my bedroom?" Zahan asked, glancing over her shoulder at Edward.

Edward was as surprised as Zahan was to find the room almost completely redecorated, and he was pretty sure he knew who was to blame (or credit) for it. "It's very ....pink, isn't it?" he asked, as he stepped inside and set the last of her bags down. While it was very pink, it was done in a way that was tasteful and feminine and not overdone. It was definitely a room fit for a princess - at least, until the little girl outgrew it.

"It's so pretty," Zahan whispered, one hand reaching out to tuck into his the moment his fingers were free. Though she had had her own room for more than a year now, this was above and beyond what she had ever expected to be able to call her own space. "Are you having a baby' Is this her room?"

Edward stepped closer, tucking her tiny hand in his, a soft but almost sad smile on his face at her question. "No, sweetheart. This is your room. To be honest, I'm as surprised by it as you are. My guess is that Brynne and Lila were busy while we were away. Do you like it?"

Clinging to his hand, Zahan slowly nodded, still looking around in stark amazement. A very tiny smile appeared on her face. "Lila picked the bed and the mirror thing," she guessed, her smile growing as she realized that her pen pal and best friend had taken a hand in making sure that she had a bedroom she could feel happy in.

"How do you know that?" he asked, as the two of them took in the very pink, very pretty, very girlish room. He was glad she had made a best friend here at the Grove. She and Lila were nearly the same age, and they had gotten on well right from the start.

"Because they're princess things and I never told anyone but her that I wished I was a princess," Zahan intimated to him, squeezing his hand. "Can I sit on the bed" Are you going to be my Daddy now?"

"Every little girl should feel like a princess, Zahan," Edward replied, turning his gaze to her and offering a warm smile. "Yes, of course! It's your bed!" he told her, though he wasn't quite sure how to answer the other question. They'd had this conversation once before, and it had broken his heart to let her go, but at the time, he wasn't prepared to be a father. Now, he thought he was, but it made his heart ache to know it had come at such a cost. "Do you want me to be?" he asked gently.

She turned big eyes to him, still hugging her little backpack like a cuddly toy or a security blanket. "Do I have to forget my other daddy?" she asked him worriedly. "He was nice to me. And my other mummy, too, she was nice. They gave me clothes and taught me how to speak properly."

Edward crouched down so that they were at the same level and turned her to face him, her hands in his. "No, sweetheart. You don't have to forget your other parents. You should never forget your other parents. They loved you, just as we love you, and they did their best to take care of you. I don't know why ....why they were taken away, but I promise you will never be alone so long as we're here. Do you understand?"

The little girl held his gaze for a long moment, nodding her understanding as he spoke to her. But there was another question on her lips that had been worrying her ever since she had accepted that her adoptive parents would not be coming back. "Are you going to die?" she asked Edward solemnly. "Who will look after me then?"

Edward couldn't help but frown at that question. He couldn't promise it wouldn't happen, though he hoped to be around for a long time to come. He picked her up in his arms and set her on the bed, while he knelt down in front of her, reaching up to trace her cheek with a fingertip. Hers was a face he had come to know well and love. They had met while he was working in Africa and had formed a fast friendship. If he'd had his way, she would have come home with him to Rhy'Din when he'd returned as his daughter, but things had not happened that way.

"I can't promise I won't die, Za. No one lives forever." At least, no one who was of mortal blood. Not even immortals could assume they'd never meet an end someday. "But I promise I will do my best not to let that happen, and if it does, there are lots of people here at Maple Grove who would be happy to look after you. There's Lis and Brynne and Lila, and Humphrey and Dom, and so many more. But let's not worry about that now because that's not going to happen for a very long time."

Zahan nodded once again, her trust in Edward unbroken by time and distance. She'd met him when she was four years old, and even from that first meeting, she had trusted this pale-faced, tall man who always had some treat or other to share with her whenever she saw him again. Edward had been one of the teachers who had helped her form words; he'd been the healer who had helped her again when she and her brother had been caught in crossfire near their village. Edward had never lied to her, and she chose to believe that he was not lying to her now.

Slithering to the edge of the bed, she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on tightly. "Don't die."

As if he didn't have enough reasons to take care of himself and stay healthy, this little girl had given him one more. "I promise I will do everything I can not to let that happen. I can't do any more than that, Zahan. I'm not God. I don't make those choices. All I can do is promise that no matter what happens, I will always love you, and I will always care for you, so long as I live," he told her quietly, as he held her close, his arms wrapped around her, tears stinging his eyes.

Lisbeth Granger · Date: 2016-04-21 10:16 EST

Sniffling, Zahan clung to him, crying yet again. She had been so good during the confusion and upset immediately following Edward and Lisbeth's rush to Earth; not a single tear had fallen until the funeral the day before. Thankfully, the court had accepted her adoptive parents' wishes and granted custody of her to Edward without a second thought, especially when it became clear that Zahan refused to go with anyone but him. There would be more tears in the days and weeks to come, as she struggled to really understand and come to terms with her loss, but she knew she was safe with Edward and his Lisbeth.

His heart was breaking with hers, not only for all the people she had lost, but for all the heartache she had already been through. He had hoped to save her from that; it was why he'd let her go without a fight. She needed the stability of a home where two healthy parents could care for her and give her the life she deserved, but it seemed Fate had other plans for her - maybe for them both. He held her close for as long as she needed him to, letting the tears come, knowing it was healthy for her to cry, to acknowledge that loss. He remembered the first time he'd met her, when she'd been brought to the clinic, lost and hurt and alone, and he'd promised to always be her friend - and here he was, about to become her father. He couldn't imagine loving any child more than he loved her.

She didn't cry for long, lucky in her age that kept her from lingering too long on upset and grief. Drawing back, the little girl rubbed her eyes, sniffing loudly. "My head hurts now," she complained, frowning as though she wanted someone to blame for that.

"It's been a long day. Would you like to lie down for a while before dinner?" he asked, knowing it would do her good to close her eyes for a little while and get some rest. "Lila asked if she could come for dinner. She's anxious to see you, but if you don't feel well, I could tell her to wait until tomorrow," he said, pressing a hand to her cheek and forehead almost out of habit to check for fever.

"You won't go away, will you?" Zahan asked worriedly, her insecurity only too easy to understand after all she had been through. Her fingers clutched at Edward's sleeve, tightening with anxious concern. "I don't want to see Lila today. I'm all gross and tired."

"Okay, all right. I'll call Brynne and tell her to wait until tomorrow," he promised. It was understandable after all she'd been through, and he thought a quiet evening alone with himself and Lis might be best on her first night here. "Are you hungry' Lis is going to make something for dinner. Is there anything you'd like?" He asked, pushing her hair back from her face with a warm, caring smile, his voice soft and soothing.

Pausing in the act of pulling off her shoes, Zahan raised slightly shifty eyes to Edward as he tried to find out if there was anything in particular she'd like. There was one thing she'd discovered after she had been adopted, something that had only ever been a treat in their house. "Ice cream?" she asked hopefully.

He moved to help her with her shoes and set them neatly aside on the floor beside her bed. "Ice cream is for dessert, Za, not dinner," he told her with a smile, eyes bright with amusement and affection.

"But you said anything," she pointed out, a cheeky smile playing about her lips as she crawled over the thick quilt to the pillow, glorying in how fluffy and pink her bed was. "And you said Lis can make anything, and she laughed at you when you said that, but she never said you were wrong."

He pulled back the covers so that she could crawl beneath them, before settling them back over her again. "Yes, but ice cream is a treat, not a meal. And you know that already," he told her, playfully bopping her nose.

She pouted at him, snickering softly as she nestled down against her fresh pillows, beneath her brand new quilt. She wasn't likely to sleep for long, but the journey from Earth had been tiring for her. She needed a little time to recharge. Her eyes closed, and a moment later, opened again, as though making sure he was still there. Then she sighed, closing her eyes once more, and this time, she drifted off for a short nap.

He brushed a kiss against her brow, watching while she fell asleep, more like an angel than a princess, or so he thought. It was a bittersweet moment, filled with sadness at her adoptive parents' deaths and happiness to have her here with them. He wished it would have happened under happier circumstances, but at least, he would make good on his promise to take care of her and make her happy here. Once he was sure she was asleep, he crept from her room, just far enough to call downstairs to Lis.

Lisbeth wasn't long in coming to the bottom of the stairs, leaning over the banister to look up at him. "Is everything all right, querido"" she asked in concern, coming around the banister to mount the steps as she realized he was keeping his voice down.

"Yes, but she's exhausted," he whispered back once she had joined him. He pulled the little girl's door closed a ways so that their voices wouldn't wake her from her sleep. "She's been crying, and she said her head hurts a little. She just needs some time to adjust. Can you call Brynne and ask her to hold off on Lila's visit until tomorrow" I think it would be better if it was just us tonight."

"Of course." Lis nodded, stroking her hand down his back as he drew Zahan's door to. "But you will not do her, or yourself, any good by hovering over her, querido," she told him softly. "You need to drink something, at the very least. In half an hour, come back up and wake her. If she sleeps too long, she will not sleep tonight."

"She asked me to stay," Edward pointed out with a frown, though he knew as well as she did that he couldn't hover over her forever. "She asked for ice cream, but I told her we don't have ice cream for dinner." He was obviously concerned for her, but Lis was right - this was just the sort of thing that had driven him to exhaustion before.

"Did she ask you to stay right there with her as she slept, or did she just ask you not to leave her?" Lis asked him in her gentle way, her hand still tenderly touching his back. "She will be very frightened of being abandoned for some time, Eduardo, but you cannot help her by constantly being at her side. She must learn that we will always be near, but not always where she can see us." Her hand slid into his. "Come downstairs," she told him, giving him a gentle tug toward the stairs. "Half an hour, no more, and you can come back. But I will not let you make yourself ill again. Zahan would never forgive you for it."

"She asked me not to go away," he told her, unsure what that meant exactly. He'd thought she'd wanted him to stay there while she slept; after all, she'd opened her eyes at least once to make sure he was still there. "She's ..." he broke off, turning a glance toward the room where the little girl slept, torn between staying and going, though he knew Lis was right. He couldn't be with Zahan every minute of every day; she was going to have to learn to trust them both and believe them when they said they wouldn't leave her. He sighed at last and let Lis lead him downstairs, where they could talk without being overheard. "She asked if I am going to die, Lis."

Lis sighed softly; she had been expecting a question like that, but not quite so soon. "Of course she did, querido," she agreed quietly, drawing him to the kitchen, where a tall glass of water sat next to a steaming cup of coffee - both for him. "Everything she had come to trust has been pulled away from her, and death is responsible for it. Do not be surprised if she asks you again, or if she speaks about Death being a person. She is a child, and she is afraid. But we can help her overcome that fear simply by being here."

Lisbeth Granger · Date: 2016-04-21 10:17 EST

He took a seat at the table, thanking her quietly for the coffee and the water. It had been a long day for all of them, and Zahan wasn't the only one who was tired. "She's had more than her fair share of tragedy, but I can't promise nothing will happen to me ....or to you," he told her solemnly, before taking a sip of his coffee, hoping it would invigorate him a little.

"She does not need you to promise her that," Lisbeth reminded him gently, grateful that the social workers who had been caring for Zahan before they got to Earth had taken the time to talk them through supporting the little girl through her grief. "She needs you to give her a normal routine, a life she can settle into once more. We can do that, and the more she grows accustomed to her routine, the less afraid she will be of having it taken away from her."

"If I hadn't been sick ..." he mused aloud, not finishing that thought. If he hadn't been sick, he might have brought her with him to Rhy'Din, and who knows if he'd have ended up with Lisbeth. There was no use in overthinking it now. What was done was done, and all they could do was carry on.

"They still would not have allowed you to adopt her," his wife pointed out, still speaking gently as she turned her attention to the process of cooking. There was already a bowl soaking in the sink, her piping bag full and ready to go when it came time. "You told me yourself, they were insistent upon two parents for her. This is all in the past, querido. Dwelling on it will not change things."

"No, I suppose not," he replied, knowing she was right. "So, what do we do now?" he asked, though she had already given him the answer to that question.

"Tonight, we have dinner, we hope that there is something on TV that Zahan would like to watch, we create a safe, normal space for her," Lis told him, the pan next to her sizzling away happily as she added various bits and pieces. It looked like they were having paella for dinner. "Tomorrow, we do the same thing. By the end of the week, we have her placed in school with Lila, so she can create her own routine, her own normal." She smiled at her husband. "Just be you, Eduardo. You can do this, I know it."

"And we have ice cream for dessert," he added. So long as Zahan ate her dinner and stayed awake long enough for it anyway. "Have you seen her bedroom?" he asked, changing the subject, glad she had faith in him anyway. "My guess is Brynne and Lila were redecorating while we were away."

"Yes, there will be ice cream for dessert," she assured him. She'd already guessed that might be the case - Zahan had eaten four bowls of the stuff at the wake yesterday. "Churro ice cream sandwiches, to be precise ....What's happened to her bedroom?" The alarm on Lis' face was understandable; she had been Brynne's housekeeper for several years, after all. She knew what Lila's taste could be like if unchecked.

Edward took another swallow of his coffee before answering, the caffeine helping to wake him up a little. "It's just very ....pink," he replied with a bit of a smirk at Lis' reaction to the news. "Don't worry. She loves it."

Lis winced a little, but nodded. "If she loves it, then I will try not to hate it," she chuckled softly. "Just ....please tell me there is nothing fluorescent or disco ball-y in there."

"No," he replied, chuckling a little. "They didn't go too crazy. It's actually very pretty. It is very pink, but so long as she likes it. Besides, it was nice of them to think of her, and the room needed redecorating. They just saved us the trouble."

"That is very nice of them," Lis smiled, relieved to hear that the room wasn't going to make her regret having ovaries when she finally got a look at it. She shook the pan beside her, adding the mainstay of the dish - rice - and a handful of chopped tomatoes, together with a large cup of stock. "We should let Lila and Brynne come here as usual after school and work tomorrow," she suggested. "Zahan knows them, and she will probably be happy to see Lila."

"I think that's a good idea. She's had enough excitement today, but tomorrow is another day. I'm going to take a few days off from the clinic. Just until she starts school and we establish a routine," he told her, unsure if she wanted to do the same.

Lisbeth nodded in agreement. "I will go in tomorrow, make sure they know what is going on with us," she told him. "But I think we should both be here until she is in school. We can arrange our schedules so that one or both of us is home for her whenever she is."

"I think so, too," he agreed, though he didn't think it would take too long to find a routine that worked for them, and they had plenty of help if they needed it - practically everyone who lived at the Grove, in fact. "I just want her to be happy, Lis, and ....I'd like us to be a family."

"You can't force happiness upon her, but I see no reason to think she will not be happy, querido," Lis told him in her gentle way, one brow rising in surprise that he felt the need to tell her again that he wanted them all to be a family. "Eduardo, what is worrying you so?" she asked in concern. "Do you think I will not love her?"

"No, it's not that," Edward admitted, with a frown, unsure if he could explain properly what was worrying him. "I know it's sudden and unexpected and ..." He glanced in the direction of the stairs, not wanting the little girl with the broken heart to overhear him. "I know she's not really our daughter ....not by birth, anyway, but ..." He sighed, failing horribly to explain what was worrying him. It wasn't that he didn't think Lis wouldn't love Zahan; it was more that he was worried she might end up feeling resentful if they never had a child of their own. They hadn't really talked about having children much - they'd been far too busy with the clinic and getting settled and now with Zahan - to talk about it much.

His wife considered him for a long moment, wondering if he'd tied up her own background with what they were now offering the little girl upstairs. "Eduardo ....I was not raised by my birth parents," she reminded him gently. "I was raised by my uncle's sister-in-law, and my father visited occasionally. She did not have to raise me, but she did it because I needed her to. She was the one who smuggled me out of Venezuela when my father was arrested. I know what it is to be a child with no family. I do not want that for Zahan, and if I can help you raise her, then I will - not for your sake, or for my own, but for hers. She will be very easy to love, querido. And if, someday, we birth a child, she will not be pushed aside."

Edward smiled up at his wife, before getting to his feet to brush a kiss against her cheek and hug her close, not wanting to distract her from cooking for too long, but needing her to know how much he appreciated her. "I love you, Lis," he told her, not only because of what she was doing for Zahan, but what she had done for him in loving him.

Caught in his arms, Lis paused just long enough to lower the heat on the stove and put the lid on the pan before turning to wrap her arms around her husband tenderly. "Te amo, tesoro," she told him affectionately, brushing the tip of her nose to his as she smiled. "And just think ....because you have me, you will not have to have the talk about periods with a young lady who is only a few years away from getting hers."

Lisbeth Granger · Date: 2016-04-21 10:18 EST

Edward laughed. "Gods, don't remind me. Can't she stay little for a little while yet?" he asked, nowhere near ready for a teenager. Thankfully, it would be a couple of years before that happened. "I don't want to talk to her about boyfriends, either," he added with a grin.

"Coward," she teased him fondly, hugging her arms about him a moment longer before easing away. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes - why don't you go and fetch Zahan, and I will set the table?"

"Guilty as charged," he replied with a smirk. "Te amo, querida," he told her again, this time in her native language, touching a brief kiss to her lips before she eased away from him to finish cooking dinner, while he went to Zahan's room to fetch her for dinner.

And Zahan wasn't asleep. All she'd needed was a few minutes to recharge, but she had stayed in the bed, listening to the sound of their voices downstairs and enjoying the warm nest of her four-poster. Dark eyes blinked at Edward as he looked in at her, a small smile on her face.

He crept quietly into her room, surprised to find her awake, and for a split second, he was terrified she might have overheard what they'd been talking about downstairs. "You're awake," he said, stating the obvious, as he came closer. "Is your head feeling any better?" he asked, leaning close to lay a hand against her cheek and forehead to check for fever.

She nodded in answer. "I didn't sleep long," she told him quietly, her voice still a little tired. "And I was scared, but then I heard you and Lis talking and I could smell dinner, and I wasn't scared anymore."

"May I?" he asked, gesturing toward the bed, asking her permission before he took a seat by her side. "What were you scared of?" he asked gently as he adjusted the blankets around her.

Zahan wriggled to make room for him to sit on the bed, though she knew she would probably have to get out of her warm, sweet-smelling nest pretty soon, or risk dinner being cold. "I thought I was all alone," she whispered, ashamed of having entertained that thought even for a moment. "And I didn't know where I was. And then I heard you laugh, and I heard Lis, and I knew where I was. And that was good."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I know I said I'd stay with you, but you needed to rest, and I needed to speak with Lis. I know it's going to take a little while to get used to being here, but it's just like any other visit. There's nothing to fear. You're perfectly safe here. The only difference is that this is your home now, as much as it is ours," he told her, offering a reassuring smile.

Her little smile reappeared - not the bright, carefree grin he'd known in Africa, not yet. It would take time for that smile to be seen again. "M'hungry," she admitted a little shyly. "Smells good."

"Lis is a good cook, and if you're feeling up to it, she suggested ice cream and a movie after dinner," he told her, relieved she was feeling well enough to smile and have an appetite. "We'd better go eat before dinner gets cold." He moved off the bed, reaching out to offer her a hand. "Ready?"

With her little smile growing, Zahan nodded once more, wriggling out from under the quilt to insert her hand into Edward's trustingly. There was no need to put shoes on; this was her home, she didn't have to be dressed properly all the time, something that would no doubt become apparent when she discovered that Ed and Lis tended to stay in their pajamas all morning if they had the opportunity. "What's for dinner?" she asked curiously as they headed for the door.

"Paella, I think," he replied. "Lis' specialty. You had it the last time you were here, remember" The rice dish with chicken and sausage and shrimp?" he reminded her, as his fingers wrapped around hers to lead her from the room.

"Oh! With the spicy sausage that made Lila go eww!" Zahan giggled at that memory. Her giggles doubled as she recalled the fact that Lis had used those same sausages in the cooked breakfast the next morning, and Lila had eaten every scrap without a single complaint.

"Yes!" he replied with a chuckle at that same memory. "Lila doesn't know what she's missing," he said, smiling conspiratorially, like it was their own little secret.

"I like Lis' rice thing," Zahan agreed, just as conspiratorially in return, skipping down the stairs beside him. "And there's ice cream?" She blinked hopefully up at him, her giggles returning as she heard Lis laugh at her query from the other room.

"Paella," he repeated, though Lis might be amused to have her specialty simply known as her "rice thing". "Mmhmm, for dessert. I'm not sure what flavor," he mused aloud, though it hardly mattered.

"Pie yay yar," Zahan repeated phonetically as they headed for the table, where Lis was setting the paella dish down in the midst of the set places.

The Venezuelan woman smiled at the little girl. "Oh, excelente, mija," she complimented Zahan on her pronunciation. "Spanish comes naturally to you, I see."

"When you say it like that, you sound like a pirate," Edward teased with a grin as he pulled out a chair for first one, then the other of his girls. "I was teaching her a little the last time she was here," he said, carefully avoiding any mention of her adoptive parents or their home.

"All the best pirates were Spaniards," Lis chuckled, gently touching his hand in thanks as he helped his girls to their seats.

Zahan was smiling, buoyed up by the praise and the warmth she was being included in, letting her feet kick back and forth as she sat at the table. "Can I keep learning it?" she asked hopefully as she looked between the two adults and the food just out of reach.

"I don't see why not," he replied, with a questioning look to Lis, as she was the resident expert on the language. He was slowing learning a little, but it was Lis' first language. He reached for Zahan's plate to spoon out some of the paella before setting it in front of her, and doing the same for Lis and himself.

"If you want to learn, mija, then of course you may," Lis assured her. "And you can teach me better English, because I still make mistakes."

Zahan stared at her, not quite believing that, even as she took up her fork to investigate her plate. "But you're a adult," she pointed out, glancing at Edward curiously. "Do adults make mistakes with words, too?"

"Yes, of course, they do. Adults make mistakes all the time. Do you remember when I was struggling with my French?" he asked. "How I kept confusing the gender grammar?"

Lisbeth Granger · Date: 2016-04-21 10:19 EST

The little girl grinned around her mouthful, snickering softly. Whether Ed had made those mistakes deliberately or not, they were among her happiest memories from her short life.

Lis smirked, glancing at Edward fondly. "Well, if you ever refer to me as a man, I will know you are not yourself," she teased her husband with warm affection.

"I doubt I would ever make that mistake with you, querida," he assured Lis, reaching for her hand and brushing a kiss against her knuckles with a wink at Zahan.

"No, 'cos she would have to take her top off so you'd know it was definitely a her," Zahan piped up cheekily.

Lis burst out laughing, rolling her eyes at the little woman across from her. "That is the only way he would know, si," she agreed in her own playful way.

"Are you saying I can't tell without someone removing their clothes?" Edward asked, going along with the ruse, though it hardly mattered. He knew his wife anywhere, and the only other time he saw any females naked was purely on a professional basis.

"Boys look different to girls without their clothes on," Zahan informed him, shoveling food into her mouth as she spoke. It might take a while to break her of that habit - she still treated each meal as though it might be her last, though she had begun to eat properly before the tragedy that had taken her adoptive parents away from her. A little regression wasn't so difficult to counter.

"And how do you know this?" Edward asked. Though she was certainly old enough to know the difference, he wondered just where and when she had learned it as it had never come up in conversation before. "Slow down, love," he told her gently, reaching to touch her arm. "You'll get a stomach ache."

Obediently slowing down, if only to wrap both hands about her glass and take a long drink of water, Zahan swallowed, burping before she spoke again. "There was a book," she told Edward. "And it had pictures, and the girl pictures were different to the boy pictures." She eyed him curiously. "Do you really dangle in between your legs?"

There was a splutter from across the table - Lis had choked on her own water, turning away to wipe her face as she coughed.

Thankfully Edward's fork was only halfway to his mouth when that question came his way. His brows arched upwards in surprise, blushing just a little as he lowered the fork. "That, young lady, is not the kind of question you should be asking at the dinner table," he told her, though his tone of voice was neither angry nor scolding. "Besides, if you've seen photographs, then I should think you know the answer to that question already and are just being cheeky."

Oh, Zahan knew she was being cheeky, all right. Her little face was screwed up in a delighted smile, very pleased with herself for making Lisbeth laugh so hard she couldn't concentrate on her own dinner. "Sorry, Daddy," she apologized rather gleefully, turning her attention back to her food as she scraped her fork around the plate, trying to catch the last piece of chicken on the prongs.

It wasn't so much her cheekiness that surprised Edward as it was the form of address. She had never called him that before, always Edward. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but exchanged glances with Lis, his confusion clear on his face. They were her legal guardians now, but they were not yet officially her parents, and though he was fairly certain of her wishes, he thought that was not something they should assume she wanted without asking her first. He did not think today was the time or the place just yet.

Lis caught Edward's eye with a gentle smile. It seemed as though the agony of working out that decision had been taken away from them by the little girl losing her battle with a small piece of chicken. In the end, it was Zahan's choice, and it seemed as though she had chosen Edward, at least. Lis gently squeezed his hand. They would talk it over later, no doubt. "Zahan," she called the little girl's attention to herself, gesturing with her knife. "Like this."

Zahan watched her demonstrate how to catch something on her fork with her knife and clumsily emulated it, grinning happily when she succeeded.

It was only a matter of time, Edward thought as he watched the other two, before Zahan thought of Lis as a mother, if she was already thinking of him as a father. Though he had known Zahan most of her life, he knew the little girl was already fond of Lis, and it was only a matter of time before they were a family. Having spent so much time together over the last year or so, they already had a head-start on things. He just hoped the courts agreed.

Still, there was plenty of time. The court insisted on a ten week probation period before they could make an application to adopt Zahan, and ten weeks was a long time in the life of a child. Ten weeks would, hopefully, see her settled into her new life here in Rhy'Din and, of course, her personal preference would be foremost in the judge's mind once he and Lis had proved they could provide a stable, safe environment for her to live in. Ten weeks to change a tragedy into something positive. He'd done it before, when he'd allowed her to be adopted in the first place. And this time, there would be no goodbyes. This time, Zahan was here to stay.

((And so the quietest Grangers on the Grove have quietly assumed the role of parents to an old friend from Edward's past. Here's hoping she settles in well!))