Eren looked around the almost empty room. A single bed sat in the corner with white sheets and white pillows. The walls were painted a light blue color and a single chest of drawers sat next to one wall. The carpet was white to match the bed and dresser. It was spotless thanks to Levi and it honestly seemed like a bland place to live to Eren. A desk was in once corner and a chair sat in the other. Hopefully Aubrie Evans will decorate it like an actually kid lives here. A knock was at the door. "Hey Eren, Aubrie will be here in ten minutes." Levi said knocking on the door. "Yeah, I`m coming." Eren said. "You okay?" Levi asked Eren. "Yeah just nervous I guess." Eren replied. Levi gave him a kiss on the cheek. "If we can survive the system, I`m sure we can handle a kid from the system." Levi said. The doorbell rang. Mumbled voices could be heard from outside. "Now Aubrie, I promise you. These are good people. I used to be both of their social workers." Petra could be heard saying. "That`s what you always say." A girl`s voice could be heard saying. "This time, it`s a promise okay?" Petra said. "Fine." The girl said agreeing. Levi opened the door and the two walked into the living room. Petra stood there, looking a little older then the last time they had both seen her. A girl with wild blond hair and teal almost colored eyes walked in with her. She had almost washed out teal dye in her hair. She had half her hair shaved, the other side almost was to the top of her shoulders. She was carrying a Nightmare before Christmas backpack with a ton of pins on the front pocket. She was also carrying an army green duffle bag, two instrument cases, a camera case, and a tripod case. She had green and black cat ear headphones around her neck and she was giving off vibes of don`t mess with me or I`ll beat you up. "Levi, Eren it`s been too long!" Petra gushed hugging them both. "Good to see you too Petra." Eren said, crushed by the social workers hug. "This is Aubrie, Aubrie this is Eren and Levi." Petra said introducing the three.
"Nice to meet you." Eren said holding out his hand. Aubrie took it and gave a swift nod. She did the same with Levi. "Well Aubrie, won`t don`t you get settled into your room while we talk." Petra said. "Yes, it`s upstairs, to left, down the hall, first door on your right." Eren said. Aubrie walked up the stairs and juts before she disappeared down the hall she said, "You do know that I know that is code for, let me tell you about her problems right Petra?" Then she continued down the hall. The three adults were silent. The sound of a door opening and closing could be heard from upstairs. Petra hung her head in her hands, "What am I going to do with her?" Petra pinched the bridge of her nose, annoyed now. "You know she`s been in 8 homes in the last two months?" Eren nodded in sympathy. "Why didn't you bring her to St. Rose? Worked for the both of us." Levi asked. "Most of those are full this time of year, with school starting and all. I was hoping you two could relate to her and help her." Petra said. "The kid really has been through a lot, some….most of the homes did more bad than good if you understand what I'm saying." Petra sadly admitted. "I feel like it`s my fault, I`m supposed to protect her and know when something is wrong. I`ve failed her more than once." Eren frowned. "Petra you can`t blame yourself." Petra sighed, "I have to get going, you boys take care." She said leaving. "I`m going to finish dinner, maybe you should go check on Aubrie?" Levi suggested. "Okay." Eren said going upstairs and opening the door. Aubrie was sitting on the bed, headphones on, sketching in a well-worn notebook. "Aubrie." He said. She didn`t look up. "Aubrie!" Eren yelled. Myra looked up startled, ready to throw the lamp on the table next to her at him. "Sorry, I didn`t mean to scare you. Dinner is almost ready." Aubrie nodded and put her notebook and headphones away. The tripod and camera were set up in the corner, along with a guitar and an instrument that Eren didn`t recognize became of its case.
Her backpack and duffle bag were flung in the open closet and a nirvana baseball cap sat on the top of the dresser. Aubrie followed Eren to the small dining room and took a seat as Levi came in and set a bowel of pasta and fruit on the table. He sat down and the three served themselves. The three started to eat in silence. "So Aubrie, do you do any sports at school?" Eren asked trying to make small talk. "I have swim practice Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays." Aubrie slightly mumbled. "That`s cool, do you do any other clubs or after school activities?" Eren asked. "I have a photography class Thursdays after swim practice, guitar practice Sundays and Mondays after swim practice, flute practice Fridays and Saturdays. I also have K.U.N.A after school Tuesdays." Aubrie said sitting up a little taller at the mention of her music and art. "that`s going to be a lot to remember." Levi said. "I talk a bus home every day and walk to my music and photography lessons. You guys don`t have to drive me anywhere." Myra said looking down at her food. "Okay, what is K.U.N.A?" Eren asked. "K.U.N.A is kid`s united nations assembly. Our group gets assigned a country and we create a booth about that country and prepare a solution for problem that country is facing to the united Nation`s assembly." Aubrie explained. "Very interesting." Levi said. The three finished their dinner and Aubrie went to her room. Levi came in just as she was about to go to bed. "One rule, keep your room clean." Levi said sternly. Aubrie rolled her eyes jokingly, "Okay, Mom." She teased. Levi shook his head and closed the door behind him and went to his bedroom. Eren was sitting on the bed, worrying flashing across his face. Levi sat next to him. "You okay?" He asked. "Yeah, I`m just worried about her. Petra thought she would open up to us and be happy here. I don`t want to let either of them." Eren said. Levi rubbed his back, "Don`t worry, I think this will work out." The two then went to bed.
MORNING
Aubrie woke up to the sound of her phone alarm. That was one of the things she was most proud of, her phone. It had taken almost two years to save up but being she never left this town for her own "sake" according to Petra, it was very handy to have since she never switched schools and had the same friends for almost eight years. And a boyfriend. Which she always dreaded telling new foster families. They all judged her too much and would tell her to break up with him. They don`t know him like she knew him. Heck, most of them don`t even meet him. He`s sweet and funny really, like most of her friends in her group. Speaking of friends, her best friend Allice texted her. "Good morning girl, Do you like pie?" It read. That was their code. Whenever Aubrie got a new home, Allice would text her if she liked "pie". Harmless if a family member reads it, but it really means "Do you like the family?" If the answer is yeah, Aubrie is okay with the family for now, if the answer is ever says no or she texts I don`t like pie. Allice calls Petra and lets her know something might be up. They created this a few months ago when Aubrie had a gun put to her head and almost a bullet in her skull when her foster family found her phones and knew she had been texting Allice that this family seem suspicious. It kept Aubrie safe and out of danger. Aubrie got up and threw on a pair of ripped jeans, a black shirt with RUBBISH bleached on it, and a flannel on and grabbed her school bag. She also grabbed her swim bag, flute, and guitar for after school and band class. She walked out of her room and grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen table. "I`m going to be miss the buss, see you at six!" Aubrie yelled running out the front door. "Wait, Aubrie!" Eren yelled grabbing the five dollar bill Aubrie had left on the table. He got to the bus just as Aubrie was about to get on. "Aubrie, you forgot your money!" Eren said handing her the bill.
"Oh my god, thanks so much!" Aubrie said shoving the bill into her pocket and grabbing her bag that she dropped. "Have a good day at school." Eren said as he walked back to the house. Aubrie got on the bus and sat down next to her friends in the back, it was the only place with enough seating for all eight of them. Aubrie sat next to an African-American girl named Allice her best friend. On her other side was Nathan, her boyfriend. He had shaggy dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He put his arm around her as she sat down. Elise and Jackson were gathered around Elise`s phone laughing about something on Ifunny. Elise`s bleach blond hair had been dyed a dark blue and she had Icey blue eyes. Jackson`s shaggy brown hair feel in his eyes, making his face almost impossible to see. Andrew sat next to Jackson leaning over his shoulder to see the phone, his purple baseball cap ruining everyone's view and earning a slap on the head from Elise. Aaron and Isabelle sat next to each other laughing and talking one the other side of Nathan. Aubrie couldn`t believe how oblivious Isabelle was to Aarons true feelings. "So what are they like? And who gave you that money? He was cute." Allice said. Allice was a bit boy crazy. "Eww Allice, that`s my foster dad." Aubrie retorted. "Really? He looks really young." Allice said. "Yeah, Petra said I`m the first kid they`ve fostered. They are 28 and 30 I think." Aubrie said squinting up at the celling as she thought. "What`s the mom like?" Allice asked. "There is no mom, they are Eren and Levi." Aubrie explained. "Oh interesting, you've never been fostered by a gay couple before." Allice said interested even more. "Yeah, they seem okay I guess. Pretty tense I guess, new foster parents you know." Aubrie said. "Great, more parent`s to meet." Nathan joked said laying his head on the seat. "Oh boo hoo, Mr. Tough guy." Aubrie teased. Nathan smirked at her and Aubrie smacked him lightly on the head with her English paper she had been working on the previous day. "Hey watch thee hair." He said smoothing his hair down.
Aubrie stuck her tongue out at him. "Okay lovebirds, this bus ride is over. You can stop being so PDA now." Allice teased getting up with her backpack. "See you in Math." Aubrie said grabbing her bags. Nathan kissed her temple and walked off the bus. Aubrie was the last one off, being the slowest and the clumsiest. Aubrie made it to her locker and shoved her backpack and swim bag in her locker. She had dropped off her instrument cases in the band room before making it to her locker. She grabbed her books for science class and ran into the classroom just as the bell rang. "Try to make it to class before the last minute Aubrie." The teacher, Mr. O'Neil, was a very stern and scary man. "Yes Mr. O'Neil." Aubrie said taking a seat at the back black table. The school day went on, boring as usual. Aubrie went through class upon class, only stopping to eat lunch and joke with friends. Once the final bell had rung, she had said goodbye to her friends and went to swim practice to the YMCA which was across the street from the school. Swim practice lasts for about an hour and Aubrie was normally very tired after practice but she had guitar lessons, so she hurried upstairs to the locker room to change and walk the five blocks to the music store. Once Aubrie had made it to the back room of the music store, she had sat down next to her music teacher David, who was a college student at the local university and was working on his last year of school. It was about six when Aubrie had finally made it home to see Levi and Eren were home, Levi making dinner and Eren watching T.V in the front room. "Aubrie, how was school?" Eren asked as Aubrie walked by. "It was good, same as usual." Aubrie said not used to people caring about how school went. "Dinner is ready in half an hour." Levi called from the kitchen. "I`m going to do homework before dinner." Aubrie said going upstairs. Aubrie made it to her room and opened his math book to page 42 and began to finish the math problems her teacher had assigned.
She felt her eyelids drop like heavy metal steel doors and she feel into a deep sleep. Aubrie was back in her old foster home. She could hear the same arguing coming from downstairs. She slowly walked down the stairs and relived the nightmare she wished she could left behind. The screaming, the crying, the blood. Aubrie could feel the panic rising in her chest. It approached her in anger, gun raised to her head, she let out a blood curdling scream as a hand reached her shoulder, tears streaming down her face then- She woke up, tears streaming down her face. She look down at her homework, covered in tears. Her tears. Eren and Levi were kneeling next to her, Eren`s hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey it`s okay. You fell asleep, it was a nightmare." Eren said calmly. Aubrie continued to sob. Eren hugged her, "It`s okay, it`s over now." Aubrie stood up and wiped her eyes. "Sorry, I had a nightmare. I guess I was more tired than I thought." She said. "Are you okay?" Eren asked her. "Yeah, yeah I`m okay now. Everyone has nightmares." Aubrie said trying to shrug it off. "That didn`t seem like nothing." Levi said crossing his arms. "I guess not, but it`s over now and I`m okay is wear." Aubrie said. "Well okay, let`s go eat dinner." Eren said, Aubrie nodded and walked passed them and downstairs. "You think she`s really okay?" Levi asked. "No, you remember when I used to have nightmares at St. Rose." Eren said. The two walked out of the room and down the stairs to the dining room.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Levi had to go into work that weekend, leaving Eren and Aubrie home alone for the whole weekend. Aubrie was lying on the couch upside down trying to focus on her book but couldn`t seem to follow the story. Eren was sitting on the other side of the couch watching the news. Aubrie threw the book down, "it`s impossible, I`ll never understand this story. I`ll be stuck in eight grade forever, I`ll be the only 80 year old with teal hair." She cried in frustration.
"Okay Drama Queen, why don`t you do something else then?" Eren teased. Aubrie rolled her eyes and sighed. "There is nothing else to do." She sad sitting up. "Why don`t you decorate your room? It still looks like an army general lives there instead of a teenager." Eren suggested. "What do you want me to do? Decorate it with pictures of puppies and unicorns?" Aubrie joked. "You must a poster or two." Eren said. "I don`t, I've never really stayed in a home long enough to decorate the room I was in." Aubrie admitted. "Well why don`t we go to Target and you can pick out some stuff for your room?" Eren asked. Aubrie looked up happily, "Really?" "Why not?" Eren asked. "Okay!" Aubrie squealed running to put on her shoes at the door. Eren chuckled and turned off the T.V. The two got into the car and drove to the local Target. When they got there, Aubrie headed to the teenager section. She picked out three posters, a line of Christmas lights, and some pop vinals for her desk, and a rug that looked like a record. "I`m interested to see how this will turn out." Eren mumbled as they brought out the bags to the car. When they got home Aubrie said, "Thank you so much, no one else has let me get decorations for the room I was staying in." She gave him a quick hug and ran up to her room to decorate. Eren chuckled at the way her eyes had lit up at the idea of decorating her room. She really was something. Eren went into the kitchen and read the newspaper Levi had left on the counter as hours went on, he realized he had heard nothing from Aubrie in a while. He went up to her room to find her just finishing her room decorations. A poster just above her bed was of an anime he had never heard of. She had put up a band poster above her desk and one next to a chair she had sat on the corner. In the center of her room was the rug and strung all along the room was Christmas lights. She had put the camera and tripod next to her desk and put the pop vinals on the back of the desk.
A guitar and flute case sat next to the chair and a string of photos was on the wall next to her bed. The single book shelf in the room was filled with books and music was playing loudly from her phone that was sitting on the desk. Aubrie was singing along with the music, making her bed. "Wow, it looks so different." Eren said. "Oh thanks, I was trying to make it as neat as possible because of-"Eren finished her sentence for her, "Levi." Aubrie nodded and laughed, "Yep, pretty much." "Well do you want lunch, I can make you a sandwich?" Eren asked. "Really? Okay thanks." Aubrie said smiling. Eren left to make her a ham sandwich.
NEXT FRIDAY
"So, you think you're ready to meet Levi and Eren?" Aubrie asked her boyfriend. "I hope so." Nathan said. "I told them that two classmates were coming over to work on homework. I asked Allice to come so they can`t do too much with Allice around." Aubrie said. Just as she said that Allice came around the corner and met the two at the front door of Aubrie`s home. "Hey sorry I`m late." Allice said. "Well this is it, everyone good?" Aubrie said putting the key in the door and turning the handle. "You think my palms wouldn`t be sweating and I wouldn`t be panicking." Nathan half joked. The three students stepped into the house where Eren and Levi were sitting on the couch watching T.V. "Hey I`m home." Aubrie said. "Aubrie who`s your friends?" Eren asked. "These are the two people working with me on the school project. Allice and Nathan, my boyfriend." Aubrie said stretching out the boy part of the sentence. Levi glared at Nathan once she said this, Aubrie thought they would get mad or something but no, nothing happened. "It`s good to meet you two." Eren said shaking their hands. Levi didn`t say a word while shaking Nathan`s hand. The three kids went to the kitchen to start on the project. "Nathan, what did Levi give you?" Allice asked noticing the paper in Nathan`s hand.
"It says, "I don`t want to make a scene but if you break Aubrie`s heart, I have three years of army training under my belt and I will release hell upon you." Nathan said reading the note. "Well, that`s not the worst thing he could have said or done." Allice said. "More like over protective dad than the other hellish foster parent`s you have had." Nathan said. "True that." Aubrie joked sitting on the table. "Okay so what do we have to do for this project?"
TIME SKIP: DECEMBER
Aubrie, Levi, and Eren sat in the car, the schools bus had shut down due to a puncture in the gas tank and Aubrie needed a ride to school for the next week until the bus is fixed. "Aubrie, you remember your project right?" Levi asked looking in the rear view mirror. "Yes mother." Aubrie teased. Levi rolled his eyes at her. "God I swear, this snow makes it impossible to see anything." Eren commented. He was right, the snow had picked up making the roads white. "Why didn`t they cancel school to day again?" Levi asked. "They said we used up all the days possible for a makeup." Aubrie said. "I seriously can`t see the road." Levi grumbled. The sound of squealing tires could be heard as the family`s tires hit black ice. Levi cursed under his breath trying to steer the car back onto the road. Aubrie screamed as the car jerked to the side and hit a telephone pole next to the road. It all went black. Aubrie woke up to a pain in her head, she reached up and felt dry blood on her forehead. She sat up startled and looked around the wrecked car. Eren was unconscious in the front seat, his head on the dashboard. Something was wrong, where were the airbags? Aubrie remembered seeing the sigh for airbags, why didn`t they deploy? The front windshield was destroyed and almost completely missing. Levi was sitting on the front seat, unconscious as well. Aubrie unbuckled her seat belt and leaned into the front seat.
She remembered her gym class and the health unit. She grabbed Eren`s wrist and checked for a pulse like they taught in gym class. She did the same will Levi, they were both faint but there. She had to get out of the car and call the police. The storm was so bad, no one was out on the roads and no one could see them if they tried. She grabbed her phone but it wouldn`t turn on. She guessed that it was about 7:45, given the fact that the sun was still rising. Even when school di start, everyone would think she was sick. No one would call the police for 24 hours, and she knew her foster parents didn`t have 24 hours. Then Aubrie noticed something that made her heart sink, Levi`s leg was broken but something was wrong there. A white glistening object was sticking out of his leg. Bone. Aubrie knew what had happened, compound fracture. She knew that he had hours at the most, she had to get out. Her door was smashed in, so she grabbed the floor mat, set it against the window and kicked it in. The window gave away and the floor mat protected her from the rain of glass. Aubrie used to watch a survival t.v show and decided that using that advice is better than nothing. She was able to climb out the window and made it to the roof of the car. Just as she was about to jump off, she noticed there was a loose electrical wire on the ground releasing sparks of electricity. Aubrie knew if she just jumped down now, she would be killed. She couldn`t remember if it was 20 or 10 feet she had to jump so she wouldn't be electrocuted. She decided to take the high road and jumped as far as she could away from the car. As her feet touched the ground, she was expecting a bolt of electricity and death but nothing happened. She looked back and realized she had jump just about 20 feet. She was safe. Aubrie noticed a car driving down the road and flagged it down. A lady pulled up her car beside Aubrie, a sleeping two year old in a car seat behind her.
"Ma'am please help me, my family was in an accident. My-my dad is really hurt and my phone is broken. Please call 911." Aubrie told the lady. She parked the car by the side of the rode and got out. "Oh you poor dear, I'll call them right now." She said and got her phone out. The lady called the police and an ambulance showed up with two cop cars and police. Aubrie explained that a loose wire was on the ground and the firemen were able to disable it and get Eren and Levi safely out. The police officer gave her a ride to the hospital. She was taken to a doctor's office and he examined her cut on her head. "It won`t need stitches, but I'll bandage it up and you should be okay. You don`t seem to have a concussion but don`t sleep for the next four hours just to be sure." He said putting gauze and tape on her temple. He sent her back out to the waiting room while Levi was in surgery for his leg. Aubrie reached up and touched her bandage. Was that space really once occupied by Nathan`s kiss instead of a cut from a car accident that might have killed her family? The hours seemed to drag on as Aubrie sat in the surgery waiting room. Just as it neared two, a nurse walked into the empty waiting room, a grim look on her face. "Family of Levi Ackerman?" She asked. Aubrie nodded and walked up to her. "He is out of surgery but is in ICU at the moment. He still hasn`t woken up and we don`t know if he will live through the night. If he does, the that`s a good sigh. He will probably only get better from there but if not…"The nurse trailed off. "I understand." Aubrie said. "Eren Ackerman is okay, he`ll be able to come home tonight. I`ll take you to his room. Luckily nothing is broken and he has a slight concussion." The nurse said leading her to room 7B. Eren was sitting on the edge of the bed, the only sigh he had been in a hospital at all was the white bandage on his head. He was looking down at his feet, a worried look on his face. "Mr. Ackerman? Aubrie`s here." The nurse said. Eren looked up and jumped to his feet.
He wrapped Aubrie in a hug. "Are you okay?" He asked kneeling down by her. "I`m fine, are you okay?" Aubrie asked. "Yeah, I`m going to be fine." Eren said. The nurse got a call on her walkie talkie, "I have to take this, you can check out anytime." The nurse said leaving. Aubrie started to cry, "I thought you two were gone." Eren hugged her again, "We`re not going anywhere. Levi is going to be fine you hear? He`ll be okay, we`ll get through this together. As a family." Eren said. "I`ve never really had a family before." Aubrie said hugging him back. "Levi and I would love if you wanted to join ours." Eren said. Aubrie nodded, "Yes, I would like that." She said through tears. Eren started to cry a little bit too but he quickly wiped them away, "It`s going to be okay." He brushed her hair with his hand as she sobbed into his jacket. "I`m going to check out, then we can go see about Levi okay?" Eren asked. "Okay." Aubrie said quietly. As the two left the room, Aubrie grabbed his hand. Eren smiled and held her hand back. "It`s going to be okay, I promise." Eren checked himself out of the hospital and the two went into the waiting room for ICU families. A different nurse came into the room, "Family of Levi Ackerman?" She asked. Eren and Aubrie walked up to the nurse. She smiled, "I have good news. We were able to take him off live support and move him out of ICU to a normal room. He is still unconscious but the doctors thinks he`ll be waking up soon." She smiled again and led them to a hospital room. Levi was unconscious on the bed, a big white cast on his left leg were it was broken. He had two IVs and a monitor hooked up to him. Eren sat down next to him and grabbed his hand, "You have to wake up Lee, Aubrie and I miss you." Aubrie sat own next to Eren and lend against his other arm. He put his arm around her, "Levi`s going to be okay, the nurse said so." Eren said. "I hope so." Aubrie said. Aubrie could feel her eyelids drooping as the world went darker. She was tired from the accident and the pounding in her head. She soon feel into a deep, deep sleep.
NEXT DAY
Aubrie woke up in a hospital chair under a thin wool blanket. She sat up and stretched, sore from the way she had been sleeping. She was still on Levi`s room, Eren was asleep next to the bed and Levi was still asleep. She checked the clock in the corner, it was 9. Aubrie got up and looked around. Eren sat up and looked at her. "Finally awake huh?" Eren joked. "Same to you." She said moving her chair next to his. "Anything happen?" Aubrie asked. "Nope, I'm worried, but Levi is as stubborn as an ass. He`ll wake up soon." Eren said. Aubrie nodded. Several people busted into the room, Aubrie recognizing all of them. "What are you guys doing here?" Aubrie asked giving them a hug. "We want to see if you were okay." Allice said. "Are you okay?" Nathan asked. "I`m fine Nathan and Levi should be soon hopefully." Aubrie said. "That`s really good, we got worried when you didn`t show up for school. You wouldn`t answer any of our texts." Jackson said. "My phone broke in the crash. Guess it`s time for a new one huh?" Aubrie said. "We`re just glad you all are okay." Isabelle said hugging Aubrie. "Yeah." Andrew said. Aubrie smiled at them, "I'm glad you guys came." "It wasn`t easy convincing the teachers all of us were sick today but I know a guy." Elise joked. Aubrie laughed, it felt like she hasn`t done that in forever. "You guys are crazy." Aaron laughed too, "If we get arrested, it`s all Elsie`s fault agreed?" They all laughed except Elise. "What did I do?" She asked. They all just laughed harder. "Wait what time is it?" Jackson asked glancing at the clock. Jackson cursed under his breath, "I told my mom I would be back by 3, I`m sorry Aubrie we have to leave so soon. The bus leaves in 15 minutes." Aubrie smiled sadly, "That`s fine, you guys get back safely okay?" Her friends said goodbye and left the family of three. Aubrie sat down next to Eren. "I wish Levi would wake up." She said. "He will, don`t worry. "Eren said hopefully.
Aubrie laughed nervous laughter, "It's funny, when I was talking to the lady I said my father was hurt. I didn`t know what to say and now all I've been thinking about it if Levi was okay with me calling him that." Eren smiled, "it`s okay If you want to call us father and dad." Aubrie looked up at him and started to cry. "Did I do something wrong?" Eren asked her. Aubrie hugged him, "No, no everything is okay. It`s just, you're the first people to offer me a home and a family. It`s more than I could have ever dreamed of. I gave up finding a family a long time ago, now I know someone out there… loves me." Aubrie sobbed. "Oh Aubrie, we do love you. Levi and I. We want you to be a part of our family. We want you in our lives." Eren said. "Thank you…dad." Aubrie said. Eren smile at the name, it made him feel prouder. He never thought he would be so proud of a kid or ever be a dad. But now he knew how it felt and he felt like the luckiest guy in the world. If only Levi would wake up.
NEXT DAY
Aubrie and Eren were sitting in the two chairs by Levi`s bed. It had been almost three days since the accident and Levi still has not woken up. The doctors started to fear the worse and so did Eren and Aubrie. "I wish he would wake up and we could go home together…..as a family." Aubrie said. She was leaning against Eren`s shoulder. "I know Brie, I miss him to. But when he wakes up we can tell him that you want to be a part of the family." Eren said. "You think he be okay with that?" Aubrie asked. "He would love to have you as his daughter, Brie." Eren said. Aubrie sighed and closed her eyes. She awoke to the sound of Eren crying. He was standing over Levi. "Dad, what`s wrong?" She mumbled. Her vison cleared and she could see Levi sitting up and the bed hugging Eren. "Father?" She whispered.
She ran up and hugged him. He was pushed back by her sudden hug. "Wow, hey kiddo I missed you too." Levi joked. Aubrie was crying, "I did miss you." Levi smoothed her hair, "It`s okay, I`m okay." The family was silent as they hugged. "Eren told me you wanted to be a part of the family huh?" Levi asked. Aubrie nodded her head. "Welcome to the family then, Aubrie." Levi said. Aubrie smiled and hugged her father one more time. Who knew something so good could come out of something so bad?
6 MONTHS LATER: JUNE
Levi sat frustrated at his computer. He had been through hours of paperwork and still for weeks he could not finalize the adoption papers for Aubrie. Eren walked in and sat down by Levi on the couch. "Any luck?" He asked. "Same it has been for weeks, nothing, nothing, and look! More nothing." Levi complained. Eren kissed him on the lips lovingly, "Don`t stress, it makes you scary." He joked. Levi smirked and kissed him passionately on the lips. Just then, the door opened and Aubrie and Allice walked in. they were carrying skateboards and helmets. "Are we interrupting?" Aubrie asked. Levi and Eren turned to her, "Kind of." Levi said. "Sorry father, we`ll just go up to my room now." Aubrie said. She and her friend went up the stairs, they could hear the two of them giggling about what just happened. "What are we going to do with her?" Eren joked. "She defiantly takes after you Eren." Levi said. "Oh really? Where do you think she learned that smirk from?" Eren teased. "Who me?" Levi asked innocently. "Yes you, you nerd." Eren said kissing him again. "I`m going to call Petra again, she said she was working on something to finalize the adoption." Eren said getting up to use the landline. "Good luck." Levi said.
NEXT DAY
"Levi you won`t believe this." Eren said sitting own next to Levi after coming in from checking the mail. "Is that?" Levi asked. "It is." Eren said It was a week away from Aubrie`s birthday an she was coming back from seeing a movie with Nathan. It was her birthday celebration with him since he was going to be in San Diego for a baseball tournament. Aubrie arrived home and sighed, she was clutching the cute little stuffed animal Nathan had gotten for her. It was a white unicorn with big blue eyes and a little pink shirt that said sparkle. He said when he saw it he thought of her. She had laughed and smiled when he said that. Aubrie may not seemed like that on the outside but on the inside, she was the biggest sweetheart in the world. She walked into the kitchen were Eren and Levi were standing, a box sitting on the table. "Happy Early Birthday." Eren said handing her the box. Aubrie smiled and unwrapped the present. She opened the book and pulled out a piece of paper. "What`s this?" She asked. Eren smiled, "read the highlighted part." She looked down at the bottom and read aloud, "As of this day, June 15, 2016. Eren and Levi Ackerman have full guardianship of Aubrie Evans, now legally Aubrie Ackerman." Aubrie looked up at the two tears welding in her eyes, a smile plastered on her face. She ran up and hugged them both. "Thank you." She said. Levi and Eren hugged her back and the family shared an embrace full of love. "Is this for real?" Aubrie asked smiling and rubbing away tears. "Yes, we want you to be a part of our family Brie." Levi said tucking her hair behind her ear. Aubrie hugged Levi and then hugged Eren. "I have to go call my friends and tell them!" Aubrie cheered and ran to her room to grab her phone. Levi chuckled and shook his head. "This doesn`t feel real." Levi said. "How did we get so lucky to find her?" Eren asked. "How did I get so lucky to find either of you?" Levi asked kissing Eren. "Just lucky I guess." Eren joked kissing him back.
The two were locked in a kiss before the sound of a box falling off the table startled them. "Must have knocked it over." Eren said bending down to pick it up. He shrugged and sat it on the table. Levi shrugged as well. "Can you believe we are parents?" Levi asked. "Feels unreal, but I`m so proud of her, proud to be her dad." Eren said. Levi nodded in agreement. "Years ago if you told me I would have a wonderful home, husband, and kid I would have told you that you`re crazy. I would never find a family like that. But here I am, and I'm blessed to have both of you." Levi said. "And we`re all alive and well, that`s more than enough. I don`t need anything else." Eren said. "Me neither." Levi agreed. They kissed as the sun set on another beautiful day.