Emerald green eyes stared up rather boredly at the ceiling, blank as the thoughts behind them. Her pale body was sprawled out on the comfy chair in the living room, left leg over the chair arm, right leg on the ground. Left arm hanging over the back, right slumped down so her fingers grazed the bottom. Her strawberry hair flowed down in shiny locks off the side, leaving her the picture of lazy. It was just one of those days. One of those boring, long days without much to do. Sunlight poured through the openings, filling their humble abode with a soft glow of sunset. A simple home, a rather log-esc cabin shared with her father that he made with his own two hands.
Unfortunately her father wasn't as much as a carpenter as he was a lover, and there were more holes contributing to the lighting than the purposely planned 'windows'. But it kept them mostly warm in the winter, and dry if they kept in certain parts of the house with buckets catching the drips during rain.
Speaking of her father, he had disappeared some time ago in the back with some angel girl. Much as he usually did. He regularly brought lovers home while she couldn't manage a date in months.
She sighed, closing her eyes as she resumed her almost meditative blank slate. It was calming, and passed the time. Soon she would have to start dinner, but for now -
Knock knock. Her eyes shot open.
"Adora, can you get that?"
Her fathers voice faintly sounded down the hall. Who was knocking at this time of day? They weren't expecting company. She swung her left leg down as her upper body moved up. "Okay! I'm coming!" Adora pushed off the chair to walk towards their little wooden door. Which -like the rest of the house- had it's own fair share of holes. It was through one of these holes, she caught a shadowy figure hurry off. "W-wait! I'm coming! We're here!" She ran the rest of the way and threw the door open. But the figure was gone. Completely vanished. "Oh man...Impatient." She grumbled, a hand reaching up to shift through her soft locks of hair.
"Who is it?!"
Couldn't be bothered to leave his room, but still nosy at the same time. She sighed. "False alarm dad!" Her hand reached out to pull the door close, but something caught her eye by her feet. Her eyes flicked down, and widened.
A pink blanket covered all but a pair of dual colored eyes that peered up past the woven basket handle. She was spotted! The purple girl giggled and squirmed, which pulled the blanket down a little to show a toothless grin.
The figure. Left. A. BABY?! WHO would do such a thing?! "HEY! HEY you left your baby!" Adora shouted out, however it was obvious what had just transpired.
Some pae had ditched a baby on her doorstep.
"What was that about a baby?"
Adora all but jumped out of her skin as her head snapped over her shoulder at the bright eyed male that was suddenly right beside her. When did he get there?! The fae had baby-dar. "A-Ah w-well..."
He lifted his head up to peer over his daughter, and instantly started beaming. "LOOK at that cute baby! What are you doing Adora?! Bring her inside! It's cold out here!" Without waiting for his daughter however, he reached forward and snapped up the basket.
Thankfully his -ahem- partner for the evening was napping in the meantime. "And there's a note! Oh this brings back memories. I came in a basket you know." He happily strolled over to the chair that his daughter had been lounging in not five minutes ago. "There's even a note! Now, not all baskets come with a note. I wonder what it says..."
"D-dad! That's someones baby! What do you mean you came in a basket?!" She all but shouted back, closing the door. His crimson hair was rather tangled, obviously taking no time to freshen up after hearing the word 'baby' come from her mouth.
As he plucked up the note, a steady smile had been growing bigger and bigger. "Oh ho ho! It's some pae's baby alright. Your baby! Adora, why didn't you tell me you had a baby?!" He was positively glowing now, having completely ignored her incredulous question of baskets.
"...What. Give me that." She paced forward to all but snatch the piece of paper from his hand. "Congratulations Adora on your new biological offspring. Signed, be careful what you wish for?! What?!" The female looked up at her grinning father, realization dawning on her of his thoughts. A deep blush began emerging from her features. "N-n-no no no! No! It's not what you think daddy! I didn't! I've never!" Her pale hands dropped the note like it was poison before reaching up to her face as she took a step back. She wasn't expecting a baby. Not since she hadn't even kissed a pae in months.
His grin couldn't possibly get any bigger if he tried. It honestly almost hurt his cheeks, but he couldn't stop it. His baby girl had finally found love! "There's no need to be shy about it Adora! Who is she?" A she would explain why Adora wasn't pregnant, as it would have been the other female instead. He shifted his focus back to the baby, and he reached down to scoop her up in his arms. What a patient baby, not so much as a whimper despite all the yelling.
Oh why wasn't he listening to her? Never mind that, of course she knew why he wasn't listening. This was his dream come true. "Daddy, there is no 'she'. There is no 'he'. There's no it or thing or hermaphrodite. If there was I'd take credit for it, but honestly I have no idea about that baby!" Which was a cute baby, but that didn't change anything. "She doesn't even look like me, at all!"
"Pae can take after their grandparents, you know this. She has one amber eye, like me, and your mother has beautiful violet hair." Sunny Jones really was one of the most beautiful pae he had ever seen.
He missed her some days.
"But this isn't the time to argue about whose baby this is. There's no use trying to track down who left her, at least not at this hour. Sooo..." He looked up from the baby's smiling face to look at Adora. "What are you going to name her?"
Chal quite plainly took the argument of looking like a grandparent. And the baby certainly did have aspects of her mother Sunny, if not the entirely purple body. "W-wait. You want me to name her? That's the first step to being attached. What if we find the pae's real parents?"
"Who ever left her obviously doesn't want her any more. So from here out, you are her real parent. The note wasn't directed at me. It was to you."
Just like that, a baby was thrust into her life? She didn't know how to process that. Of course deep down she had wanted a child, but not like this. Not so sudden, and in such a peculiar manner.
And what did her father mean earlier by being a basket baby? This was really a thing? Was it only bizarre to her? "I...I don't...I..."
Tristen shook his head with a smile, seeing the conflict on her face. "Here, you should bond with your daughter. There's nothing quite like holding your child for the first time." He spoke from personal experience. He gently held out the little angel.
Oh Guardians. He wanted her to hold the purple thing. Nervously glancing at him and the baby, she slowly took a step forward and took the fragile child into her arms.
So tiny. Such a little nose and tiny ears. A perfect miniature hand popped out of the blanket to reach up and brush against her hair. The sweetest smile bloomed as the fingers touched her locks.
Just like that. A bond. A thread between them she couldn't explain which touched her heart. "Hi...Hi there. You like my hair? I like your hair."
That was it...that was what he had wanted all these years for his daughter. To know this kind of love. His amber eyes filled with tears, the fea nothing but a big softie.
"Lorelei. I'm going to call you Lorelei. I don't know what I'm going to do with you...but we'll make it work. I promise."
Best. Day ever."
"Tris~" A voice called down the hallway.
"Oops, that's my cue." He lifted out of the chair to start down the hall, chuckling to himself.
She barely even acknowledge him leaving. Adora slowly drifted to the chair, eyes on Lorelei as she gently bounced her. The wilwarin then lowered herself down to sit with the baby. "Let me introduce you to your new home. That was your grandaddy Tristen, and I'm your mommy Adora. This is where we live, in Loke Nei Jungle..."
~END~
