In the courtyard.
Lake sat in a chair with a glass of bourbon, watching the snowflakes falling from the sky.
That's right.
Christmas, Christmas, there is no Santa Claus anymore, and if there is no snow, what's the point?
Skye, wearing a white down jacket and a snow velvet hat, pushed the door open and walked out.
Lake tilted his head.
"Hi."
"Hi."
Skye sat on the chair next to him, looking at Lake, as if thinking about something. After a while, he said, "You didn't seem to tell me that you were adopted too."
Lake frowned and looked at Skye: "No?"
I think so.
Lake remembered that when he asked Skye why she didn't go to a foster family in the hospital, he seemed to have mentioned that he and Skye had a resonance.
Skye shook her head, "No you didn't."
Lake shrugged, "Okay, now you know, so what."
"…What's going on?"
"Do you feel lucky to have met me?"
"If what you mean by being thankful is that the first time I met you I had appendicitis, and the second time I met you I needed a craniotomy, then if that's the case, then yes, I am indeed very thankful."
"…"
Lake laughed and shook his head.
This is probably the most impressive memory for the two of them. After all, meeting once was an accident, but meeting twice in a row and having to stay in the hospital bed, wow, this can no longer be described as an accident.
Skye clapped his hands and looked at Lake: "So, can you tell me your story?"
Lake looked at Skye and said, "My story is the same as yours. At most, I'm just a little luckier than you."
There's nothing much to say about that story.
But Sky was willing to listen, and Lake felt that it didn't matter if he told the story. His story wasn't a movie. There were no exciting parts and no ups and downs at all.
The story is simple.
Lake was three years old when his memory awakened. He was in a rescue center in Washington, DC. Perhaps because he was too mentally retarded before awakening, no foster family was willing to adopt him.
Then, Lake stayed in the shelter until he was five years old. One day, Karen and Thaddeus came and hoped to adopt a child from the shelter.
The social atmosphere at that time was different from the somewhat exaggerated atmosphere of today. Simply put, the federation was in its golden age, and it was not like many low-level white people liked to adopt children to get relief funds.
At that time, foster families were undoubtedly a paradise for the children in the rescue center.
so...
At that time, the children in the rescue center where Lake was located ran to the conference room laughing and looking at Karen and Thaddeus inside, hoping that they would be chosen as if they were choosing a number.
Lake didn't go at that time.
He was a man of innate wisdom, and it felt very strange for him to inexplicably find a father and mother for himself. So, when everyone ran to the conference room, Lake went to the library to continue learning ABCDE.
Skye blinked when he heard this: "Then how could you..."
Lake shrugged. "Karen was looking for a restroom and found the library."
At that time, Lake was looking at a illustrated reading book in the library when Karen appeared behind him.
When Lake came to his senses, he pointed at himself and said that he was not for sale. Those who could be sold were waiting for you to choose at the door of the conference room.
Think about it afterwards.
Lake thought that it might be because of this sentence that Karen took him home.
But at that time, Karen was only stunned for a moment by this sentence, and then told Lake that she was looking for the bathroom. Lake said "oh" and led Karen to the bathroom.
Three days later.
Someone from the Children's Agency informed Lake to pack up and prepare to move to his new home.
Lake turned his head to look at Skye, "That's it. I came to Karen's house."
Skye blinked. "I think it must be the words 'not for sale' that got to Karen."
Lake smiled and said, "You're not for sale either, are you?"
A small smile crossed Skye's face.
Lake touched his chin and said, "But... speaking of this matter, actually, the person Thaddeus wanted to adopt was a friend of mine at the time."
Skye was stunned.
Lake recalled and then shook his head: "However, I looked for her at that time. If that was the case, I definitely wouldn't leave. Even if I had to leave, I would take her with me, but she denied it at the time."
"Then what?"
"That's all."
Lake came back to his senses: "Around the tenth day, I persuaded Karen to go back to the rescue center, but by then, she had already been adopted."
"she?"
"right."
Lake smiled and looked at Skye, his lips curled up: "Come to think of it, she and I both gave each other our first kiss."
Skye made a disgusted face, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm only thirteen."
I lost my first kiss at the age of five.
Have I walked into a den of wolves?
A picture suddenly appeared in Skye's mind. She was a little white rabbit leisurely eating grass. Then the picture changed and she fell into a wolf's den.
Is this guy trying to play some ghost father trick?
This is a sentence.
Skye looked at Lake with a look of fear in his eyes.
"Bang!"
"Ouch!"
Skye covered her head and said, "It hurts. Is this corporal punishment?"
Lake took the badge on his waist and shook it in his hand: "Go call the police."
"…"
Skye rubbed his head angrily and changed the subject: "So, that girl from the rescue center is your first love?"
Lake nodded: "Yes, don't tell Karen."
Skye smiled cunningly and looked at Lake: "Then tell me, do you still remember the girl's name?"
Lake looked up at the falling snow in his eyes.
He remembered that the girl's name was related to snow. After all, their first kiss was on a snowy day when they were four years old. Lake even wrote a poem at that time.
Now I think about it, the snow is falling on the night.
"Sever!"
"What?"
Lake looked at Skye, thinking about the increasingly clear picture in this memory, and said with a smile: "Her name is Sever!"
Skye muttered twice, then looked up at Lake: "No last name?"
Said.
Skye seemed to have thought of something and made an apologetic gesture towards Lake.
What kind of surnames can a group of orphans have? Although many orphans know their biological mother's surname, there are also some who don't know the names of their biological parents.
For example, Skye.
Skye thought that Sever should be the same as her.
"Haven't you ever thought of looking for her?"
"I found it."
Lake said calmly, "I've been looking for it for three years, but I can't find it, so I gave up."
Skye tilted her head. "She was adopted. Maybe she changed her first and last name."
Lake shook his head: "Maybe, but she probably won't change her name."
"Why?"
"We made a promise."
Lake took a sip of bourbon and said, "We said at the rescue center that even if we separate in the future, I will still be called Lake. Maybe we will have an extra surname, but our names will never change."
Skye's mind moved, and he looked at Lake cautiously: "So..."
Is she dead?
Lake shook his head. "Maybe. Later, when I couldn't find a match in the system, I went to the rescue center, but it had long since been replaced with something else. At the time, most of the information at the rescue center was paper-based. However, I couldn't find her information in the system. There are only two possibilities."
Or die.
Or become a foreigner.
but...
The second possibility is very low. When Lake and Karen went to the rescue center, they heard from the receptionist that the family that adopted Sefer was an ordinary family.
so.
Most likely dead.
Skye stuck out her tongue and said to Lake, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
Lake waved his hand and said, "I've let it go, but I'm telling this story not to tell me anything, but to tell you something."
Skye pointed at herself and blinked, "Me?"
Lake nodded, sat up from his chair, and looked at Skye with a smile on his face: "Do you have any friends with whom you have made an agreement? Perhaps you can make up for my regrets with you."
Skye was stunned at first, then he laughed dryly twice: "Thanks, but unfortunately, I don't have it."
Finished.
Skye got up and walked into the house.
Is this true or false?
It's a pity that I fell in love at the age of three. Do you think I am you? I have kept my first kiss well.
Lake looked at Skye who disappeared from his sight with her ponytail swinging, laughed out loud, and stood up and walked into the house, preparing to add some wine to his glass.
inside the house.
Betty and Skye, who had just walked in, were decorating the Christmas tree that Lake bought in the afternoon by the fireplace.
Ross had originally agreed to bring one back from Quantico.
pity.
There was a new minor in the family this year, which made Betty very excited. She asked Lake to buy one first, while Karen stood by without saying anything.
But keeping silent means you are not on the same side.
It's obvious.
Lake couldn't get Betty to give him a deal, so he called Ross and told him not to bring a tree home. He then went to town and bought a Christmas tree like this one.
Ever since Betty turned eighteen, she has been the one decorating the Christmas tree, and all the decorations are kept by Betty. In the past few years, Betty became a little annoyed after the novelty wore off, but today, with the addition of a little loli, Betty's sense of novelty seems to have returned.
Right now.
Betty was teaching Skye by example how to hang the Christmas tree with the most decorations possible without bending it, and how to draw circles around the tree so that she could tell Santa Claus, who came out of the fireplace at night, how to place his gifts and save him time.
"Is Skye's gift ready?"
"Ready."
Lake, who was standing at the bar counter, listened to Karen's whispered words, smiled and said, "The gift is in the storage space, just take it out and put it away at night."
"Ding-ling-ling!"
Lake took out his old cell phone, looked at the caller ID, and answered it.
"Hello!"
"...Long time no see, Lake!"
"…"
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