"Auntie Donnaaaaaa, can I put my arms down now? They're getting really tired…" For the past several minutes, Donna had been having Seline hold her arms up to measure, and she was getting a bit sick of it. "Almost. I just need to measure a good length for the sleeves… There. You're done." Seline let out an extremely over-exaggerated sigh, and hopped off the platform. "However, before you go play with Angie, can you tell me your favorite color?" Seline and Angie were already about to leave, she turned around for a quick second. "My favorite color is every color!" As the two ran out, Donna sighed. "This is going to be harder than I thought…" While Donna was working hard on making clothes, Seline and Angie were trying to figure out what to play. "Do you wanna draw?" Angie nodded and grabbed some paper. Miraculously, the two were quiet for a few minutes as they focused on their drawings. Donna quickly made sure that they were fine, then went back to work. But as with all things, the silence ended, and they showed each other their drawings. "I drew me, and Mama, and Cass, and Dani, and Bels! I would've drawn you, Auntie Donna, Uncle Salvatore, and Uncle Karl, but there wasn't enough space on the paper." While it was pretty easy to tell what Seline's drawing was, Angie's was completely illegible. "I drew a giraffe wearing a hat!" So that's what it was. "What's a giraffe?" From what she could make out from the picture, a giraffe was a yellow scribbly thing. "Giraffes are yellow and have really tall necks! We have a book about a bunch of animals in the library, do you wanna see it?" Seline did, so they went to the library, passing Donna on the way. "Hi Auntie Donna! Bye Auntie Donna!" Angie pulled out a large book, and flipped through it until they arrived at the page about giraffes. "THAT'S a giraffe! Isn't it cool?" The two spent the next while just looking through the library to find every book they could about giraffes. "That's it, giraffes are my favorite animal ever!" Seline proclaimed, and Angie nodded. "Mine too!" Their giraffe-related studies came to an end when Donna entered the library. "You two are still in here? It's nearly 7! Anyways, Seline, your mother called a little bit ago. Karl's coming to pick you up." The girls let out simultaneous "awwwwww!"s at the same time, but no amount of puppy-eyes could convince Donna to let Seline stay and play longer. "I'll talk to Alcina and see if next time, you two could play at Castle Dimitrescu." That would have to work for now. "When you get home, try on the clothes and let me know if you don't like any of them, okay?" Seline hugged Donna, and the dollmaker smiled. "I'm sure they're all amazing! You're the best at making clothes in the whole wide world!" Angie joined in the hug, and Donna took a moment to think about what had gotten her to this point. I miss my parents and my sister. But now I have four siblings, a doll who's practically my child, and now a human niece. Sure, my family may consist of vampires, metal rulers, and fish hybrids, but I love them nonetheless. And I wouldn't trade them for anything.
"Hey, Beneviento! Hey, doll! Hey, favorite niece!" Everybody knew exactly when Karl entered the house. "Karl, would it kill you to use our proper names?" Normally, Karl would've argued, saying something like "technically, Beneviento is one of your names", but for Donna, he just shrugged. "Yeah, last I checked, my name is Angie, Mother's name is Donna, and Seline's name is Seline!" Seline nodded. "Yeah! Seline Floarea-Dimitrescu, not Seline Favorite Niece! Although I am obviously the favorite." Everyone laughed at Seline's sudden sassiness, but eventually Karl broke it off. "Alright, alright, c'mon. I've got to get Selly home before it gets too dark." Ignoring Seline once again telling him that he still wasn't saying her actual name, Karl said goodbye to the two Benevientos, waiting at the door for Seline. "Bye, Angie! Bye, Auntie Donna! Thank you so much for everything!" With that, Seline's visit to House Beneviento was over. It was pretty dark by the time they got into the carriage. Neither of them spoke, both of them lost in their thoughts. However, they were both swinging in opposite directions. Seline was just thinking about giraffes again, while Karl was thinking over something far more serious. Donna Beneviento… Is it obvious how much I love you? I mean, we're siblings, so it's not like we could ever be anything more, but I really love you. Like, a lot. I mean, technically we're not related by blood… Nope. Allie would totally kill me. She'd never let me go out with Donna. H*ll, she'd never let me go out with anybody. Although I don't really know why…? Wait a minute, what am I even thinking? Even if, by some miracle, the stars aligned and I was able to ask her to be my girlfriend, she'd never say yes. I'm just the Metal Lord. Miranda only keeps me for my power. I'm nothing to her, so why should I be somebody to anyone else? She'd say no. No matter what happens, I will never be able to date Donna Beneviento. I should just accept that. So why is it so hard? I know that we'll never be each other, why can't my heart get over itself? I hate my heart. I hate love. I hate having feelings. I hate- Karl's brooding was interrupted by a little girl starting to fall asleep on him. "What, am I really that comfy? You can go to sleep over there." Seline said something that sounded like it could've been "Yes, you are that comfy.". He sighed, but on the inside, he thought that it was really adorable that she kept falling asleep on him. "Alright, fine. Whatever." Karl looked out the window, trying to do anything to distract his mind from a certain dollmaker. But all he could think about was her. Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna Donna. Aaaaaaagh, why is this so hard! And why am I so worried about what Allie would think? It feels like I would be… Betraying her? Am I forgetting something? "Hey, kid. Wake up. We're at the castle." Well, whatever I'm forgetting, it's probably nothing.
(A/N: I HAVE JUST DISCOVERED GOOGLE DOCS HAS A DARK MODE AND MY EYES FEEL SO MUCH BETTER WHEN I TYPE)