Hi everyone. Hope you enjoyed the last chapter because I'm back with a new one.
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Also, stay safe and healthy. And happy early Father's Day.
~~Two months ago~~
He cycled past the house again, waiting to see if anyone would come out of it, be it a young girl or someone else who could tell him something about her whereabouts. He waited until the sun started to set before turning around and returning home.
After parking his bike in his garage, he climbed a tree and entered the next house, plopping himself down on a soft pink bed.
"A 'hello' would be appreciated next time." A girl's voice called out from a corner of the room.
He got up from the bed, moving to where the girl sat at her desk, drawing on a loose sheet of paper. "Sorry, Clarke." He apologised sheepishly.
"Any luck?" He shook his head and the girl, Clarke, opened her arms for a hug. The boy accepted it willingly and let her hold him for a moment longer. "You'll find her one day, Bell. I know you will."
He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I just wish that one day were soon. I miss her. She was my sister, my responsibility, and I let her down. What if she was kidnapped or something? What if she's already dead-" The boy started to panic.
Clarke, being familiar with his spiralling thoughts, immediately knew what to do. She got up from her chair and pulled him down onto the floor. Despite his bigger size and stature, she helped him fold into himself and sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his larger frame.
Eventually, his breaths calmed. "You will find your sister one day, Bellamy. Trust me. When have I ever lied to you?"
Bellamy twisted around to face the smaller girl. "Well, there was that one time when-"
"Clarke!" A voice called out from the floor below. "Dinner's ready." The voice paused for a second. "Is Bellamy with you?"
"Yes, mom." Clarke replied, pulling herself up before extending a hand to Bellamy. "We'll be down in a minute."
She gave him a challenging look. "Race you?"
The pair shot out of the room and down the stairs, Bellamy making it to the table half a second before Clarke, so reluctantly she handed over her dessert. She knew though, with her irresistible puppy eyes, she'd get it back, and a little more.
~~The next day~~
"Hope!" Diyoza called out, looking for her eldest. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, ma'am." Said girl appeared in the doorway, a smaller girl attached to her back.
"Ok girls, say goodbye to the house." The two girls looked on sadly at that. This was their childhood home, the only home that they've ever known. Sure, it was good that they were going to move into a bigger house in a better neighbourhood, but this is where all their fondest memories were made.
"Bye house." The younger girl waved as they exited, a small tear slipping down her cheek. The older was quick to swipe it away.
"Don't cry, Taev." She tried to assuage her sister's tears. "Our new house will be bigger, and it even has a backyard for you to play in. Maybe mama will finally let you climb a tree."
The younger girl's eyes lit up at that and she turned to her mama. "No, little Pocahontas. It's too dangerous."
"But you let Hope do it." Octavia protested, her bottom lip curling into a pout.
"That's because Hope's a big girl. When you can finally reach the top cupboards, then we'll talk."
Octavia huffed, letting go of her older sister's hand and stomping into the car, leaving the other two to smile to themselves. Obviously, that's not going to happen. She will climb a tree no matter what they say, and they will definitely have to keep a keen eye on her.
They hopped into the car and started the engine, leaving the house behind and getting ready to start a new chapter in a new neighbourhood.
'Shallow Valley looks way better than TonDC.' was Hope's first thought as they entered the town.
Her jaw dropped in awe at the near identical houses stood in a row, each surrounded by grassy lawns on both sides, and probably the back, with a strip of cement acting as a drive way. They even had separate garages at the sides of the houses. Some houses had colourful flowers in a small garden, while others had a basketball hoop. And some even had both-
A yawn from the sleepy little girl in the backseat broke her out of her thoughts. "Are we there yet?"
Hope turned around to face her younger sister, watching as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"Almost, little Pocahontas." Hope could see her mother smiling out of the corner of her eyes. "Why don't you take a look outside?"
Octavia twisted in her seat, fidgeting under the straps of her car seat for a moment, before turning to look out the window. Instantly, her eyes widened, and Hope doesn't think she's imagining the little bit of drool that had started to form at the corner of her mouth.
"Mama, a playground!" The little girl cheered excitedly as they pass it. "Can we go? Can we go? Please?" Her eyes sparkled with hope as her lips curled into a pout that both mother and daughter knew would be the death of them.
"Another day, Taev." The older woman told her softly, not wanting to ruin the girl's excitement of going to a new home so soon. "We have to finish unpacking first. Maybe you and Hope can go on Sunday, ok?"
The frown on her face immediately lightened and she jumped in her seat. "Ok, mama."
Hope just smiled at her mother, watching as they pass street after street with the moving truck trailing behind them. Occasionally, Octavia would point out something that catches her eye and Diyoza would make a note to take them exploring around the neighbourhood once they've settled in.
Finally, they reached their house at the end of the road. It's much like the others but being at the edge, it has a large expanse of forest behind it.
Octavia scrambled to release herself from the seat and bounded out from the car, excitedly running around in circles. Hope simply laughed before getting out of the car and started to chase her. It didn't take long for her longer legs to catch up with Octavia's and she soon has the girl tackled the girl to the ground, and is tickling her senseless.
Diyoza just looked on fondly at the pair. She felt grateful to have two beautiful and happy girls as her daughters, and she would do anything to keep her family together.
She let the girls play around outside for a while longer as she instructed the movers on where to place the boxes. She made sure the girls' stuff were in their own rooms, before helping them with the rest.
By the time dinner rolls around, both girls were dirty and sweaty but wide grins were plastered on their faces.
"Had fun, girls?" Diyoza asked and the two girls nodded breathlessly. "I was thinking about getting pizza for dinner, what about you?"
"Pineapples!"
"Bacon!"
"Extra cheese!"
"Mushroom!"
"Onions"
"Spinach!"
"Ew!" Octavia jumped back in disgust at her sister's suggestion. "Spinach is gross. It tastes like dirt."
"How would you know, Taev?" Diyoza gave her a challenging look? "Have you eaten dirt before?"
At that, Octavia looked away, telling them all they needed to know. "It was Hope's fault." She tried to defend herself. "She told me mud pie tastes like pumpkin pie because they're the same colour."
Hope could only give her mom a sheepish look. In her defense, that had been four years ago when she was five and Octavia was three.
It had actually started when she told Octavia that the mud pies she made were just like the pumpkin pies they were having for dinner. At three, Octavia didn't like the idea of having a vegetable in a pie, but somehow she had managed to convince her sister to eat it. And because that pie tasted good, and Hope had equated pumpkin pie to mud pie, little Octavia took that to mean mud pie must taste good too.
"I promise this spinach won't taste like dirt." Hope told her gently. "Besides, don't you remember Popeye? He becomes stronger because he eats his spinach. Don't you want to grow big and strong so you can climb a tree?"
She had known she might regret saying this because it will only fuel the little girl's fire to go tree climbing, but it worked. She agreed to the vegetable, and Diyoza made the order while the two washed up.
~~Three days later~~
"Mama, I'm scared." Octavia turned to face her mother as the woman braided her hair. "What if the kids at school don't like me?"
Diyoza kissed the little girl's head, gathering the three french braids down her back before tying them together with a bright red ribbon.
"Little Pocahontas, they're going to love you." She moved so that she was sitting in front of the young girl. "And don't be afraid, Hope will be right down the hall if you need her." She paused for a moment before calling out so the other girl could hear her. "Won't you little one?"
"Yes, mama." She affirmed as she entered the room, backpack in hand, and her dark hair swept over her shoulders.
Diyoza ushered the girls out the door and toward the bus stop. "Watch out for each other, ok?" She reminded them as they boarded the bus. "I'll be right here when you come home."
"Bye, mama." The girls waved from their seat as the bus pulled out of view.
With the bus gone, Diyoza was left to her thoughts. Her boss had given her a whole week to settle in before she had to start work, but most of the things she needed to do had already been done over the weekend.
"I guess I'll just couch surf until the girls get back." She said to herself, suddenly feeling strangely lonely. It wasn't as if she hadn't been alone after sending the girls off to school before, it's just that her job as a police officer had been so much more demanding of her time.
She hadn't expected to quit so soon, but after a dangerous shooting, during which she had been engaged in close hand-to-hand combat with the shooter, she had realised how risky it was now that she had two little girls to take care of. It also didn't help that she had no living relatives to take care of them if something were to happen to her.
So she retired from the force and got a job as a martial arts instructor after the manager saw a clip from her fight with the shooter.
As a movie began, she hoped that her girls' first day of school was going well.
And this has been an AngelFanfics productions.