Give it some time
" Mine?"
For the third time in as many minutes the question was asked by a soft voice as Andrea Da Silva stared patiently down at her newly adopted daughter. Rhoswen, a small girl of rather interesting genetic origins seemed to be having trouble accepting that the room she was standing in was indeed her own.
Andrea just nodded and continued to smile warmly at the toddler. "Yes sweetie it's really your very own room and you can do whatever you want with it." Andrea would prefer her daughter not colour on the walls or rub play-dough into the carpets but pretty much anything else was fine. She'd tried her best to make the room seem welcoming without over designing it. She wanted Rhoswen to be able to grow up here and change things around without too much hassle. Plus, from experience she knew that being able to rearrange your room and it's contents helped make the space truly feel yours.
Rhoswen nibbled on her lower lip, orange tufted tail swishing slowly back and forth behind her until as she surveyed the room again but kept a tight grip on Andrea's hand. She was definitely adapting to her new home very slowly although Andrea knew some things couldn't be rushed.
As it was the pair had only known each other for a little while despite Andrea spending weeks preparing to bring Rhoswen home from the labs she'd spent her early days in. It would obviously take some time before either was fully comfortable with the situation and each other. Still, Andrea was sure things would work out, she was a very patient person, a habit both born into her and ingrained over years of journalism training. She would not push Rhoswen into accepting things before the child was ready.
~
A half hour later found Andrea sweeping a lock of orange hair off her daughters face as she tucked the little girl into bed for an afternoon nap. The tender gesture was received with a small yawn followed by a tiny smile. The young kirin girl was still more timid than she had been at the labs earlier that day. Every time she had moved a carpet or toybin she had looked over her shoulder and, past her wings, at Andrea with hesitation evident in her golden eyes. No amount of assurances had convinced Rhoswen that she could really do what she wanted here.
Still as Andrea backed away and moved to leave the room she couldn't help but feel confident. Rhoswen had at least tried to change things and had even shyly asked for a specific type of snack she liked for when she woke up. It only made sense that it would take baby steps for them to become a proper family and both of them would be moving forward carefully in the weeks and months to come.
* takes place a million billion years ago
