(Cael's Pov)
I-I can't… I can't breathe-!
My body was shivering. I couldn't control my breathing. My lungs were expanding, yet no oxygen arrived to my brain. I was suffocating. What is this? What's going on with me? I couldn't feel my body. Was this a dream? No, I was too uncomfortable to still be dreaming. But then how else can I explain this?
The shivering escalated quickly, and I was now shaking.
I-I…I-m scared…
S-someone…
P-please….
Is there nothing that I can do? Am I just going to suffocate? How am I even suffocating? I swear I'm breathing! I gave up on my nose a few moments ago and now my mouth was inhaling and exhaling as if my life depended on it, so then why?!
Why couldn't I move? Why is my body so uncomfortable? Why am I so scared?? And why can't I open my eyes?
I feel nauseous.
I'm scared.
I…
I need to.
I need to grab on to something, anything!
I need to get a grip of myself, or I'll actually die here.
Something.
Anything, really!
I just… I just don't want to.
I don't want to be alone.
Even less, if it means I can't even move, while feeling so bad.
So please…
I put all of my strength into my arms.
I couldn't feel anything, honestly.
Not even my own body.
Which is exactly why I was unsure if I even managed to crab on to something at first…
"Everything's alright, Cael."
W-who's that?
A familiar voice.
One that I've heard plenty of times.
And alongside it, a terrifyingly effective sense of warmth. So effective in fact, that as soon as I heard her words, most of my uneasiness and uncomfortable feelings vanished into thin air.
Wait.
Did I say "her"?
Oh, right.
I do know who this is.
"It seems like you're going through it this time… but everything's alright now. I'm here."
What's this now? Suddenly, my eyes that felt as if they had been sewed shut just a moment ago, felt as loose as an untied knot.
And now that I think about it, although most of those uncomfortable sensations disappeared, my body hadn't fully settled, huh? I was still breathing a little heavier than normal, and I could feel my body going back to shivering instead of shaking, which granted, was a good thing, but still.
"Are you feeling better now? You must've had a serious nightmare to get reduced to this state."
A nightmare…?
Actually, that does make a lot of sense. So does that mean I'm not awake right now? But I'm not really asleep either, am I…? Uhmm, arghh, why's this actually so complicated? Is there even a point in thinking about it? I'm probably just half asleep or something! Yes, that's most definitely it.
So I guess that means?
"Maybe it's best if you try to wake up now. It's a little earlier than usual, but I don't think you can rest properly in this state either way."
Yeah, she's right.
I don't really know why it didn't come to mind earlier, honestly. I guess the reason why I still couldn't really feel my body is because I'm technically "not awake". My ears must still be working since I'm not in a deep sleep state anymore, but I won't regain my other senses properly unless I'm fully awake… I think. Well, there's only one way to find out if that's the case or not, right?
And so I did as I was told, and opened my eyes. It was surprisingly easy, you know? I now get why it felt as if my eyelids suddenly loosened up earlier. Why wouldn't they? Even just from how wet my face felt, it was pretty obvious that I had, or rather, was, still crying.
It took around 5 seconds or so for my vision to finally focus even after opening them. My face seemed to be pressed against something? And I also felt something on my head and back, but I couldn't process what it all was just yet.
"My… I didn't think you'd actually wake up so easily. Ah, well, I guess you did sleep long enough to wake up early? But even so, I was ready to stay like this for at least another half an hour."
"Mmhh…"
And then… as all of my senses finally woke up, and I was able to process the situation I was in, it hit me.
My eyes jumped wide open. I looked slightly upwards, trying to confirm whether I was right or not… and then I stiffened up, as the realization washed up over me.
"Hm? Seriously… is this really that big of a deal? Just relax, will you?"
"I…"
"And just for the record, you're the one who grabbed on to me first, you know? Just like last time, you leeched straight on to my waist. I just made some adjustments based on the situation."
This was a little more than some adjustments though. Last time when something similar to this had happened, I simply hugged Luna's waist while sleeping, because she snuggled in my bed. But this time, not only I was still hugging her by her waist, but my head was buried in her… as we were both lying down, and she hugged me.
So that's what I was feeling in my head and back…
It was none other than her very hands. The one on my head was even patting it gently from time to time, while she held me firmly with the one on my back- wait, actually, is that really a good way of putting it ? I was technically the one holding her firmly since my arms were still wrapped around her waist… Well, who cares?
"You made a mess out of my shirt with all of those tears, you know? I'm surprised you didn't leak snot over them."
"Well, sorry about that…"
"Haha, I guess it couldn't be helped. You really seemed to be in a lot of pain after all. Are you alright now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
I honestly have been fine for a good few moments already, but I completely lost track of when I stopped feeling any kind of discomfort. I'm not crying nor shivering anymore either.
"I see. That's good then. It looked like one hell of a nightmare… Do you remember any of it?"
"Uhm… let me see…"
Yeah, no matter how much I think about it, I can't really seem to remember.
Granted, most dreams are forgotten by most people by default, so this is technically not something weird… I think. It does seem a little questionable that I had no idea what the nightmare that got me into that state was about, but I also have no real proof that it isn't normal.
"Yeah, I got nothing."
"Is that so? It's not uncommon for people to forget their dreams, even if they're nightmares, so don't think about it too much then. It may be for the best that you don't remember after all."
"I guess that's true."
"Your parents seem to have an announcement to make by the way. Well, me and Maia do already know what it is, but still, they plan on telling you and the twins at breakfast."
"An announcement? Hmm… wait- is mom pregnant again?!"
She seemed taken aback by my answer for about a second or so, but after a few giggles, she recomposed herself.
"I see… well, I can see why you'd think that, but no, that's not it.,. Although you're not too far off either."
"What's that supposed to mean…?"
"You'll see soon. But speaking of which, how long are we going to stay like this for?"
Surprisingly, I wasn't really flustered or embarrassed about our current situation. In fact, maybe I wasn't completely fine just yet. For no real reason, or at least not one that I can think of coherently, I didn't seem to be able to let go of her. Not yet at least. I wonder why?
"Can we stay like this a little longer? Even just 10 minutes is fine."
"Alright then. As I said, I was anticipating getting out of this room in around half an hour either way, so that's still quicker than expected."
"Thanks."
I'm not really sure what was wrong with me at that moment. As I said, it felt as if I shouldn't let go of her, or at least not so quickly. I guess it's nothing new by now though, is it? Feeling certain ways without any ideas regarding the reason and what not. Honestly, I'm getting a little sick of it. But there doesn't really seem to be much I can do about it, huh? Not to mention, so far it hasn't really been harmful either, so I don't have a reason to look for a way either, do I?
Hmm… well, whatever I guess. There's no point in ruining my moment with her just because of it, so I decided to just ignore it as usual. For the next 10 minutes, we quietly embraced each other, barely even talking. I think most people would assume that a situation like that would either get awkward or boring pretty quickly, wouldn't they?
But surprisingly enough, to me at least, it felt as if those 10 minutes passed by in the blink of an eye. Not only was it some of the most comforting time I've ever spent in my life, but it was also so stupidly fun that it slipped away from me before I could even realize it.
I wasn't planning on dragging it longer though. Of course, it's not like I wanted to let go of her either… but I wasn't feeling any actual anxiety or uneasiness about doing it anymore, so I'm assuming whatever was making me feel that way earlier was dealt with.
And so, just as I said, I got up first once the 10 minutes passed. Luna left the room to allow me to change, and since I didn't want to make her wait long, I just took the first clean clothes from my closet that I found, and got out in a record time of a minute and 37 seconds after she closed the door behind her.
"Woah. That was a lot quicker than I expected, once again."
"Hehe. I got plenty of sleep after all- well, or so I think at least? I don't remember when I slept last night… but either way, I'm not sloppy this morning."
"That sure seems to be the case, huh? The others will be pretty shocked."
"You think so?"
We started making our way towards the dining table.
Well, this wouldn't be the first time someone got shocked that I was up early… but is it really that shocking?
I wasn't really expecting much of a reaction if I was honest. Last time, I felt like Maia probably wanted to intentionally piss me off more than being genuinely surprised about me having been up early.
So naturally, as we entered the room, I was expecting pretty much nothing to even be said regarding the matter…
"Wha-?!"
But Maia slammed her arms on the table and got up as soon as she saw us, so I think I was actually wrong.
This gorilla-
But before I could actually get properly pissed at her, from the kitchen counter next to the table where she was still cooking, and on the other side of the table in front of Maia, both our parents seemed just as surprised, as they looked at us. Hell, even Aldric was looking at me as if he was seeing a ghost.
Which was actually a little ironic, since he and Lyanna don't even eat breakfast with us that often anymore, so we don't see him as much either. But well, it's understandable in their case since they have a young baby, but still. Oh, for the record, Lyanna wasn't here, so I'm assuming she was probably still sleeping with the little one. But regardless!
"M-mom, dad…"
"Y-yeah… you're not seeing things, Maia…"
"Aldric… do you also…?"
"I do… I think all of us are seeing the same thing."
Alright, I was able to get fully annoyed now.
"Yeah, good morning to ya'll too."
"He spoke! He's not an illusion either!! Cael… my dear little brother, Cael, has actually woken up earlier than expected!!"
"Luna… what kind of method did you use?!"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you guys, but this was unexpected even for me. I was expecting to get out of his room at least another quarter of an hour from now on."
Why're you also playing along??
As they all dramatically made a big deal out of it, me and Luna sat next to each other as usual.
"Sweetie, are you sick? I can make a quick soup as well if you want."
"No, it's alright… I'm not sick."
How is this actually becoming that big of a deal…
"Dad, do you think we need to call in a priest or something??"
"I don't wanna jump to conclusions, but the possibility that he's possessed isn't none… what do you think, Aldric?"
"Let me think. Although this does seem to be Cael, and he's not an illusion or anything… This is such an abnormal event that it may not be an over exaggeration."
"So you think so too."
"Yeah, as painful as it is to admit."
These guys…
"We may need to call a mortuary instead if you guys don't drop it."
"He threatened us! Mom, dad, Aldric, did you hear that too?! As I thought, we may really need a priest… no, a priest may not be enough. This may be a job for a Bishop-"
"What's with all that talk about bishops and mortuaries?"
"Did someone die?"
To what I thought to be my advantage at first, Ivy and Iris walked in with the freshly woken up twins. I really did think that was my way of escaping from this, you know? But once again, reality made itself painfully different from my hopes.
"Hm? Cael?! Daddy, daddy, why's Cael already up??"
Shit… I forgot that among the twins there's one that doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut.
She instantly let go of Iris' hand and ran towards dad, jumping in front of him as she kept asking why I'm awake over and over.
"I don't know, little one. We're thinking he may be possessed…"
"?! Possessed??"
She bought that?!
"D-daddy… w-what should we do?!"
"That's what we're trying to figure out."
But thankfully, as Nala joined the group of lunatic rage baiters, it seems like Ivy and Iris were going to be my rope, leading me out of this pitch of annoyingly effective taunting.
"Ah… that explains the whole bishop thing."
"It is unusual for Cael to be up so early."
Ivy sat down Rune in his seat, while Iris walked up to Nala, and grabbed her from under her armpits, dragging her next to Rune to sit down.
"Well, let's leave the jokes at that, everyone. Breakfast is almost ready. Ivy, Iris, can you hand out the silverware?"
"Leave us to it!."
"Understood."
What a perfect timed intervention. Thanks to the maids bringing in the twins right as mom was almost done cooking, it seems like everyone accepted to just move on from my unusual early arrival at the table.
"Seems like you escaped, huh?"
"Stop poking at it. This family is full of annoyingly good ragebaiters."
"Doesn't that include you as well though?"
"Well…."
I cleared my throat, and decided to just dodge Luna's question.
"Anyway, I'm glad that they moved on from it."
They were all mostly talking among each other, mostly due to Nala's arrival at the scene though. Her mouth is rarely closed after all. But either way, after everyone was set and good to go with breakfast and we all started eating, it seemed like it was time to cut the chase.
"By the way, kids, me and Isolde have something to tell you."
"Hm? What is it, daddy?"
Rune looked at him curiously, not really saying much. And as for me? I was skeptical. When I bluntly asked Luna earlier if mom was pregnant again she said that's not the case, but it's also not too far off after all… I genuinely have no idea what that meant. Maia on the other hand kept eating as if not really concerned by it, which did make sense since Luna said both of them already knew.
"Well, you see… how do we put this?"
"I guess we should just get to the point, dear. That may be the best way to address it."
"Yeah, you're right. Though it does feel a little nerve cracking to say out flat… uhm, alright. I decided."
He cleared his throat, as suspense probably unnecessarily built up for like 10 seconds or so, until he finally spoke again.
"You'll be getting a new brother. Me and Isolde are adopting him."
And it turns out that the suspense wasn't unnecessary after all. My eyes instantly widened, and I even dropped my fork by accident, which by the way, was about to fall on the ground, if Luna hadn't caught it just in time. But regardless!
"W-what?!"
"Daddy, daddy, is Nala going to become an older sister???!!"
She jumped from her seat, lips curled upwards as far as they could possibly go, and her eyes were shining with so much excitement that it was almost overwhelming. Although…
"You're already an older sister, you know? You're the older twin."
"Shut up, Cael! That doesn't count!!"
Well, it's not like I didn't get why it felt like that to her, but she could've been a little nicer to her lovely older brother. I swear, next time I won't remove the already minimal and non flavor altering pith from her mandarins when I peel them! But I guess from a twins perspective, being a few minutes older at most doesn't really satisfactorily allow any room for elderly sibling pride.
"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but no. He's actually older than you. He's around the same age as Cael, only a little older."
So he's close in age to me, huh?
I was definitely curious, also obviously surprised by it since, who wouldn't, right? But also, a little skeptical, mainly due to the timing. Nala kept openly showing her not so subtle disappointment in not "becoming" an older sister even though she already is one… but regardless, while that was going on, a few things crossed my mind.
First off, why adopt to begin with? Although it's kinda gross to say, these 2 love each other more than enough to make another one. Sure, you could argue that they just don't have the time now as very high ranking nobles… but adoption out of all things? Why not just wait until they have more time, it's not like the duchess is that busy either way.
Secondly, the timing was just off. I mean, I don't mean to pry, but we just won our trial and got our noble status back yesterday, and they're already announcing to adopt a kid?
And lastly, this is clearly just not a spontaneous decision, nor is it a kid chosen randomly, given how they already know both the fact that it's a boy and that he's around my age. There was clearly more to it than what may be obvious, you know? Which is why, I decided to simply ask out flat.
"Isn't this a little sudden though? This doesn't really seem like a decision made on a whim either…"
Taken slightly aback by my question I'd assume from their first moment of silence, mom, dad and Aldric all shared a sorrowful smile at each other, before turning towards me. Surprisingly enough though, the one to speak out first was neither of them. It was Maia, who even stopped eating to do so.
"You're a little too quick to catch on to things sometimes, you know? We were planning on explaining the whole story later today after all… but I guess it's best if we just get it over with now. I'm assuming that's fine with you guys too, right?"
She asked those 3 for their opinion, to which unsurprisingly, they all agreed. So with that, Maia took the lead once again, while weirdly enough, not even Nala was actually seeming to intend on interrupting.
"First off, you're right. From your perspective, this is definitely pretty sudden. As I said, we weren't planning on elaborating too much right off the bat to start the day after all, but a certain someone is a little smart ass."
"Well, sorry about that…"
"Luna probably told you that me and her already knew, right?"
"Yeah, she did earlier when she woke me up."
"Right. The reason for that is because we've also been involved with the process. That kid is currently at one of the Sentinels' orphanages after all."
The Sentinels' orphanages?
I knew about their existence as a whole, since it doesn't really take much to put one and another together, but still, this was surprising. After all, they're the most powerful institution in the entire continent, so i'd assume that when they decide to build orphanages and take on the responsibilities that come with it, it wouldn't be for just any type of kid.
"Does that mean that he's strong then? Not that I know for sure, but I don't really think that your average kiddo would be in one of those."
"Don't make it sound like we only recruit useful kids… Well, not that you're wrong, but still."
"So, is he?"
"Why's his strength the first thing that concerns you to begin with… but regardless, I can't deny that he's, well, what you'd call a prodigy."
Coming from the mouth of another prodigy, it definitely wasn't an easy pill to swallow. Seriously though, this house is already too full of prodigies… they're pretty damn creepy more often than not, you know? Do we really need another one?"
"Prodigy… still, that's pretty vague though. Is there anything he's good at in particular?"
"Hmm, I guess the easiest way to put it is… your complete opposite? He's a magic prodigy after all."
"Oi. You didn't have to say it like that-"
"Actually, calling him just a prodigy may be an understatement. After all, when it comes to magic, he's not just more skilled than myself… but he's arguably a bigger prodigy than even Mio herself."
My eyes widened. I instinctively tried blinking fast for a few seconds, trying to check whether I heard that right or not, and let my brain process that ridiculous type of information. Coincidentally though, for some reason as she said the last part, she had a weird taunting smirk on her face.
While I was still trying to process what was just said, Luna spoke out… but she had a pretty scary expression on her face when I glanced to my right.
"Eeh? He's even more skilled than Mio herself, huh?"
"That's right, that's right. Though who knows, I could be wrong."
"Are you sure it's alright for you to say that though? Mio may not let you say that an orphan in her orphanage's care is more skilled than her slide, you know?"
"Haha, come on now, Luna. We both know that Mio isn't that petty, right?"
"Is that so? I guess you're right, aren't you?"
What's going on here…
This tension was…something. Is Luna like a Mio fan girl or something? She does seem to know a lot about her, not to mention that she also should personally know her to some extent, since she's technically Maia's assistant to some extent.
But thankfully, dad was the one who broke the ice, and brought us back on track as he cleared his throat.
"He-hem. I think we went off track there for a second, you two. How about we focus on just a quick explanation for now?"
"I guess you're right, dad. You guys can go on with your part then."
Scratching the back of his head, dad wasted not a single second and began. Especially since Nala was still surprisingly silent. I think she may have been genuinely engaged by now.
"Well, it's a long story honestly… so as I said, we'll just give you a summary, otherwise we'd be here all day and more."
"That's fine. I'd also rather not spend the whole day like that…"
"That's fair enough, haha. But alright then. You already know that we used to be adventurers, right? Lyanna too, but she's probably still sleeping with the little one, so we'll do it for now."
"Yeah, though I don't think you've done it for a long time if I remember correctly."
"I guess that's true in the grand scheme. Most people usually retire from their adventurer careers after at least 10 years on average, but we did only around half of that."
"So since you're bringing it up, were you guys involved with his family or something during your adventuring times?"
"…that's right. You see, Bartholomew had a pretty strict rule that we always had to abide by."
"Rule? Like what, don't discriminate requests or something?"
Mom then replied instead.
"That was also a thing, although he wasn't really too strict about it. The actual rule we're talking about was related to our stationary situation."
I was a little confused. By stationary situation I'm assuming they're talking about where they slept and what not, right? What's that gotta do with meeting his parents exactly? I had no real idea on how to connect the dots, so I decided to just stay quiet, as Aldric and mom began explaining. Dad was surprisingly quiet.
"It must sound a little weird, huh? There doesn't really seem to me much of a correlation at first after all. But our party leader here was actually really strict when it came to that."
"If we were to explain it in the simplest way possible, it would be something like this: if instead of camping, staying in a town or city for however long, we decided to stop by at a village, we'd have to take any and all requests, completely free of charge."
"Completely free of charge?? Wouldn't the only reason you stop by at a village be because there's no other option nearby, and you don't have enough resources to camp? How does that make any sense??"
"Tell us about it. Bartholomew took absolutely no objections either. We were exhausted, seriously. We'd try to avoid resting in villages as much as possible because of it."
And ironically, that was when dad stopped staying quiet.
"So what? It's not like many villages even had inns back then, so we were pretty much always at the grace of some kind family, and the other villagers. Doing a few requests was the bare minimum."
"Yeah, I bet that's easy for you to say… our dear party leader left most of those to us after all."
"Huh?! Well, that may not be too far-fetched… but even then! I still did most of the gross ones… I just left the rest to you guys to make up for that."
"Ah, now that you mention it… he's not completely wrong, is he, Isolde?"
"Now that I think about it… oh! I just remembered a task in particular, hahaha. Aldric, say, do you remember that one grandma? The one that kept her animals in her basement during the winter since they didn't have a shed?"
"Uhm… wait, do you mean-?! Pfft… y-yeah, I… I remember it…"
As those 2 kept giggling among each other, dad seemed to be getting more and more irritated as that topic was brought up. What the hell happened in that granny's basement…
"Alright, alright, you two. That's enough, okay? No need to bring that up now. We're getting off topic."
"So now you care about straying off topic, do you? Sir Shitolomew."
"Aldric, you little-"
Shitolomew…?
And as dad was about to snap, against all odds, mom followed that up with a magnificent assist. Although whether it was a positive thing or not for dad was up to debate.
"Seriously, both of you, knock it out, will you? We have young kids here, Aldric. So don't say things like that. And as for you, dear- or should I say pooptolomew? Calm down as well, alrighty? You wouldn't want Nala to see her daddy angry, would you?"
Speaking of Nala…
"Poop daddy, poop daddy! Why are they calling you poop daddy???"
She was definitely engaged. And although reluctantly, dad agreed to let mom and Aldric explain what this whole poop situation was all about. To put it simply, since that grandma kept her animals in her basement during the winter, it was pretty hard to clean their shit every time. The basement wasn't internal either, for the record.
Its entrance was apparently in the back of the house, with an underground scale entrance, about 5 meters deep. Honestly, the more impressive part is how they even got their animals safely in without issues if you ask me, but regardless, I think you get where this is going. Although they did keep the basement entrance mostly open since there was a little wooden ceiling to cover it from snow, it effectively only served as an oxygen regulator.
According to those 2 who had also been down there once or twice, but never stepped foot off the stairs, even halfway through those you could already smell it. A mix of various animal shit and their natural scent as a whole, which I'm pretty sure to not be a pleasant thing to inhale.
And to make it even funnier- I mean, even worse for my poor father, they had actually been forced to stay in that village for the entire winter. It was too cold to continue traveling after all, and they were currently out of resources. So for the whole duration, he cleaned after them around 2 times a week or so.
It took a while to actually calm the situation down and go back to track, especially with Nala being engaged in the whole matter, but eventually we moved back to the main point. The kid's parents. It was also dad himself who took over this topic.
"Alright… it's about time we give a short explanation. I'll be the one doing it, if that's fine with you two."
"Well… I think it's only fair that our party leader talks about it."
"I agree with Aldric. You can go ahead dear."
After carefully listening to their answers and nodding, he began. His tone and facial expression were some of the most serious I've ever seen him have.
"Well, since you know the gist of the circumstances, I'll get straight to the point. His parents were from one of the villages we stayed over at, and they had indeed requested our adventurer services."
"Honestly… the story is a little too complicated and dark to bring up so lightly. We will eventually tell you everything, but I honestly don't think now is the time for that."
"It was really weird, you know? Their circumstances, their behavior, and even their request itself. They were reluctant when they approached us too, almost as if they expected us to reject their request. Being the last people to come to us, the night before we were supposed to leave. "
"But… something about them worried me. I felt as if I had to accept whatever it was that they may ask of us. I mean, seriously, can you blame me? After all, amidst all of the villagers that had requested many things from us with no hesitation, these 2 were the only ones to seem genuinely uncomfortable about reaching out."
"Something simply didn't add up. Which is why I accepted before they'd even tell us what it was. I made sure to reassure them so they'd tell us all the details as well. It was a really messed up story. When we heard it, Lyanna even started crying. We were also pretty stressed out though, don't worry."
"That request ended up taking us a whole 3 months to complete. We went back and forth between the village and other various places as well because of it, but in the end we were successful, luckily."
"However, what actually stuck not just with me, but all of us… was those two themselves. After we accepted it, they took it upon themselves to be our hosts too. The other villagers weren't really supportive of them after all, because of their condition. No one was willing to let us stay in their home any longer, if we took on their request."
"But although barely managing to get by on their own, they still allowed us to stay over at their house. Eat with them. Sleep in their house. And they even took care of things they shouldn't have, like our laundry. They were genuinely just amazing people."
"I know this may be a little unsatisfactory as an explanation for now, but I don't think it would be fair to tell that story over breakfast, so lightly. So that's about it regarding his parents."
"They ended up dying a while ago, which is how their kid ended up in one of the Sentinels' orphanages, being naturally gifted with magic. That's why, as soon as we found out, we had already decided to adopt him without any hesitation. "
I was speechless. I couldn't take my eyes off of them, yet coincidentally, I had no idea what to even say. I could tell, even from this vague story. Whatever that request was, it simply wasn't something we needed to know right now. Maybe they were also hesitant because of the twins, and they'd tell me if I asked separately… but I honestly didn't think it would be right for me to do so.
It felt as if I didn't have the right to find out yet.
I understood why all 3 of them had that sorrowful smile on their face when I said it was a sudden decision. Honestly, it even made me feel guilty about saying that to begin with. But I think it would've been even more disrespectful to just say sorry and act like nothing, so I decided to keep that guilt in, and acknowledge it to myself at least.
Whatever the full picture was, I had no reason to be against this kid joining our family. And in fact, I was even looking a little forward to it. However, I think it's fair that I make a distinction here, to avoid confusion.
Though it may seem like it, and I wouldn't blame anyone for misunderstanding it, I'm not pitying him. In fact, I think looking at him from a perspective of pity would just be even more disrespectful than being against his adoption as a whole.
Which is why, to maintain things equal, and completely transparent between me and my soon to be brother, I'll lock this story in the back of my head, somewhere. I probably won't ever think about it, if I'm being honest. I don't really want to either. I have no reason to want or need to think about it.
So in a few days, when I'll be meeting him, instead of "finally seeing who their kid is", I'll be seeing who Cifer, that being his name, is.