Page 10

We find our places at the long dining table as Amelia rushes back into the kitchen for the rest of the feast. While we wait, the twins make their entrance, bickering over Celestae-knows-what.

Honestly, they remind me of two elders quarreling over which one took the other’s dessert at the community festival.

They’re set in their ways and make quite the unstoppable duo—when they can get along, that is.

“Boys,” Rolph’s deep voice warns.

The twins snap their mouths shut, waiting for Amelia to return. They are quite the striking pair. They are tall and handsome, like their father, but they have the hair and eyes of their mother.

Finally, Amelia returns with Deidre in tow, bringing in the final trimmings for dinner.

She really outdid herself this evening: roasted hen, yeast dinner rolls, potatoes, beans, gravy, apple popovers, and even lemon drop cookies.

Additionally, she made a sweet punch mixture from various fruits.

Amelia is an incredible cook, and she’s passed this talent along to her children as well.

One thing is certain: Amelia makes it her mission not to allow anyone under her roof to go hungry.

Once the assemblage is laid out to Amelia’s satisfaction, Deidre takes her seat next to Cara.

Deidre, unlike the other Cale children, is a quiet thirteen-year-old girl.

She prefers to draw or write in her journal as opposed to playing games.

She does not enjoy socializing nor does she have an interest in people outside of her immediate family.

Looks wise, Deidre is a carbon copy of Amelia.

The rich hair color with her bright eyes and hidden smile.

Out of all the siblings, it took Deidre the longest to warm up to me.

Now that she has, we usually converse over stories I am reading or what’s inspiring her sketches of the day.

“Everyone! You know the drill, grab hands and say grace for this lovely meal your mama has prepared for us,” Rolph beams, tossing a wink at his beloved wife.

Amelia blushes, wiggling her nose back at him.

They are a match made in Eternity. After all the years they’ve been together, anyone would think they are still newlyweds from their affectionate quips.

I smile as I admire them.

There is not a single day that goes by that I am not grateful the Cales found me that day on the streets of Aurelius:

I coldly stumble through the dark, crowded streets in my blood-stained dress.

I don’t remember how the blood came to be on my clothes.

Nothing here looks familiar.

Passersby take one look at me, then venture to the opposite side of the street—pretending that they don’t see me altogether.

“Help me,” I croak out . “Please.”

I need somewhere warm to stay for the night, but to my dismay, all the shops are closing .

I hear one of the passersby say that tomorrow is a special holiday, and they needed to hurry home.

After stumbling around for another thirty minutes, I sink against a wall in defeat. Tears spill down my cold cheeks as my only source of warmth. I pull my legs tight into my body.

“Help me… please,” I beg someone—anyone—to hear.

The sound of approaching footsteps forces me to curl deeper into myself.

Suddenly, the crunching steps halt in front of me.

I glance up to see the faces of a gorgeous couple who introduce themselves as Rolph and Amelia Cale.

“Hello,” Amelia coos softly, squatting at eye level with me. “Are you alone?”

I nod.

“Well, not to worry, sweetheart. We can help you find your family,” she says, smiling. “Do you know where your family is staying?”

I pause, thinking.

My family?

Do I have a family?

My breath hitches as a knot forms deep in my chest. “I-I don’t remember,” I reply.

Rolph squats down beside me and smiles warmly.

“Do you know your name, darling?” he asks.

Name?

My name?

M… Mmmmmaeee?

No… but I feel like it’s close to that.

Mmmae… va?

Maeva?!

Yes, that must be it.

“I-I think my name is Maeva,” I reply shyly.

“Maeva,” Amelia says, delighted. “What a lovely name.” Though she is smiling, the corner of her eyes are pinched, as if concerned. She looks to Rolph, having some sort of private conversation that only they can understand. Rolph nods once, and they return their gazes back to me.

“Maeva, I know you don’t know us, but we would love it if you would come join us at our home. We have a daughter that appears to be close to your age, and three other children that would love to keep you company. Would you be okay coming home with us?” Amelia asks.

For some reason, I know that I can trust them.

Perhaps it’s their kindness or compassion. Either way, it’s better than the alternative of freezing to death, waiting for a family—claiming to be mine—to come rescue me.

Right now, I would rather take my chances in a warm home.

“Yes, I would like that very much,” I reply.

They each hold out a hand for me to take, which I do with little hesitation.

Rolph removes his thick cloak, draping it along my shoulders.

“Do not worry, Maeva,” he says kindly. “You can stay with us as long as you like.”

My family never came for me, and I never left the Cales after that day. For three years, I hoped that my family would show up. They never did. After the fourth year, Amelia and Rolph officially adopted me with the blessing of the village elder.

“We are truly sisters now,” Cara exclaimed, jumping with joy.

We were instant friends when I entered their lives. Over time, I grew to love their family as if they were my own. Yet, there’s still that small aching in my chest where my heart yearns to know why .

Why did my family never come?

Why abandon me in a village I do not know?

Why didn’t they want me anymore?

The only reminders that I possess, that tell me I had a family before the Cales, are my pendant necklace that I never remove, and the name I told Amelia and Rolph. A name someone who loved me must have given me? —

“Maeva?” Amelia asks, jolting me from my thoughts.

It’s only then that I notice that everyone’s looking at me, or that my eyes have glassed over with tears.

Apparently, I’m also still holding onto Cara and Aine’s hands, though the blessing is over. I let go, hastily wiping the tears from my eyes.

“Is everything okay, Darling Flower?” Amelia asks, concerned.

“Of course,” I say, smiling. “I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you all as my family.”

Amelia and Rolph exchange glances as they look at me. They know how much I have struggled with abandonment. They’ve seen the good, bad, and ugly of this entire process. Yet, through it all, they’ve never wavered.

“We’re just as fortunate to call you family, Maeva Cale,” says Rolph.

“We love you, Darling Flower,” Amelia replies, emotion thickly coating her voice.

She glances around the table at the life and family she and Rolph have built. “We love each of you with all of our hearts. I thank Siorai every day for blessing us with all seven of our children,” she says.

We return the smiles as we gaze at one another for a few moments—thankful for the family that we have found.

“Well,” Aidan claps, “if we are done saying that we love one another, could we PLEASE eat?”

On cue, Aine’s little tummy rumbles loudly, which causes us to break into fits of laughter.

As the dishes are passed around, we chat about our days and laugh at the antics of the twins—who are currently in the middle of a food eating competition.

Family.

This is my family.

I wasn’t born into it, but it’s the family that chose to take in an orphaned fifteen-year-old girl.

A part of me will always miss the family that I don’t remember, but the other part of me loves being a Cale.

Sometimes, family isn’t made from a connection forged by blood.

Sometimes, it’s the bond that connects us together through love.

And I love them most dearly.

To me, family are those who choose to stand in your corner day in and day out.

They’re the ones who’d take the cloak off their backs to shield you from the frigid winter air.

The ones to make sure you have a warm meal every day or make you laugh so hard you throw up.

The ones who obsess over art and literature with you.

The ones that simply love you because you are you.

I may not have all the answers to my life, but for now, this moment is enough.

I plan to soak up every moment while it lasts.