Chapter 18: Sad Stories
I awoke and realized that Kari had been staring out the window for a while because she had done it a few times because she had been doing it all night. I don't think she got much sleep. "Kari, is there something bothering you?"
"No, not really; just wondering about how things would be like in the future. Don't you ever take time to think about the future?" She asked me.
"I guess I would but I was told all of it when I returned Hailey to the future I learned everything I need to about the future."
"So when do you get married?"
"Well at that point in time, the wedding was a year after he proposed so I think I would have been. We were 20 when he proposed; we get married at 21 so that's…? Five years from now, we are married. And in another year, I have Hailey again." That brought a smiled to my face, just thinking that soon I would have Hailey in my arms again.
"That's nice that you know how everything is going to work out, in your life. I wish my life was as solid as yours is."
"The great thing about Destiny is, you can change it, easily I might add."
"How so?" She asked me.
"I could get pregnant in a week and that would alter Jaden and my whole life. Though it's not going to happen, we are in charge of our own destiny. I didn't see anyone else from the future. In time travel anything could affect it. I just saw Jaden and me from the future. It's sad like that." I answered.
"How is that so sad?"
"I mean everything that I do could affect the wonderful life I have in the future, I have to be careful, because it's perfect then. That's why the me in the future didn't want to pregnant at her wedding, even though she's only be like 1 month and it wouldn't make a difference, I understand her though."
"So do I, but she's you, of course you understand her." I nodded and then went into the bathroom and changed for the day. I was sure something interesting was going to happen today.
"Hey Lexy, I finally got the thing on you finished." I smiled, this is the first time Jaden hadn't rushed to do something last minute.
"That's good, so you up for another mean courtesy of the chefs down at the kitchen?" I asked him.
"I already at earlier but hey more fancy food, this is turning out great." I smiled; remind me to get chefs on the night shift when we get married. I wonder if we'll even have chefs. I suspect not at that point with our careers just starting and such. I have all that money from mom and dad for my trust fund that I can use but working sounds like a plan to me. I'll just have to make enough food to last him all night, or change his appetite to not eat at night but he might starve to death if I do that. I suspect his metabolism is so high that's why he's always hungry and never put on weight. That sounds unhealthy but he's fine, and it doesn't bother him.
We walked into the dinning hall and we sat down at the table a very happy little girl walked into the room with two plates of food. "Wow, Kate that looks wonderful. How did you know that we'd both be coming down for breakfast?"
"I guessed that when you were up Jaden would be hungry again and he'd accompany you for breakfast and of course you'd be hungry too." She said smiling. Jaden has had a real effect on her the way she is so happy to be a servant, I think it's horrible how she lives but she enjoys cooking so that's good. I guess you'd have to, to live like her.
"Wow Jaden, she knows your eating schedule already, and mine and what foods you want when, impressive, huh?" Jaden nodded in the middle of stuffing his face full of food.
"Hey Kate, do you work of Seto Kaiba?" I asked her.
"No, but my parents do. I just enjoy cooking food, especially for you and Jaden; you're so nice to me." She said happily.
"What are you thinking about Lex?" Jaden asked.
"I was thinking about buying her off of Kaiba." Jaden was confused with my thoughts.
"You think he'd let you?" Jaden asked.
"I think so, on most normal days only one chef cooks for them, and he has 14 chefs not counting her so taking two wouldn't bother him. Of course I'm going to try."
"Why?" She asked.
"I was just thinking about the future and stuff. Jaden has been living with me for a while now and none of our chefs work as well as you do Kate. They all are annoyed with Jaden's eating habits but for now on our travels I'm asking if you can come along with us." She smiled brightly.
"Are you serious?" She asked happily.
"yeah, I'm going to ask. Seto Kaiba surely wouldn't care if I took a little prodigy chef from him. He probably doesn't know you exist."
"Yeah he does, he yells at me for being in the kitchen."
"See taking you off his hands would be a thank you and plus with your appetite Jaden, he's thank me. Then when we return I can hire your parents at the estate to cook; now we only have 2 chefs which don't cook much of the time. We have one cook that is my brother's personal chef, her name is Kayla and she has a daughter who's four."
"Wow it would be nice if I could go see other places around the world, it would be great. So can I, really?" She is a sweet hearted girl, I'd say she's 7 or 8 very shy; she reminds me of what Hailey would be like in the future, and what I was like.
"Jaden, you make the call." I told him.
"I don't care, she's nice and she's a good cook. And she so happy and exciting. I wouldn't mind having her along with us. I know I couldn't pay her though." I walked over to Jaden and smacked him on the top of the head; then I sighed.
"Jaden, you don't have money, I'll take care of paying her. We just have to talk to Seto Kaiba first." He nodded and I took Kate and picked her up seeing as Jaden and I were finished I could freely go talk to him.
I walked up to Seto Kaiba's office with a scared and fearing Kate in my arms. I knocked on the door, and she was shaking and trying to run away. "Calm down Kate, it's okay, you'll be okay, promise." Her eyes looked like they were in tears.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"Kaiba, it's me, Alexis."
"Very well, come in." He looked at Kate and Kate jumped from my arms and hit behind me. "What is she doing here?" He asked angirily.
"She's my reason for coming here. I was wondering if I could buy a few of your chefs for my estate back home, and feed me. Her and her parents would be good. We don't have chefs that work at night even though our family works at night. They do so I was wondering if I could buy them."
"Sure, you'll probably need them on your journeys to cook for you too, who knows when they'll come in handy sure. Tell them that they have to finish working this week for the party and they're free to go."
"Thank you." I replied.
"I don't know why you'd want to deal with someone like that little girl anyway, she's nothing but trouble anyway but it's your choice, so if that's it, bye." I nodded and picked up the fearing young girl and walked out of the office; now to talk to her parents, and maybe mine, if I felt like it.
"How did it go Alexis?" Jaden asked still eating more food Kate had left out. She was scared and shivering. "Is she okay?"
"It went fine, Kaiba seems to scare her." Jaden started laughing and I looked at him suggesting he should stop before he hurts her feelings.
"So what did he say?" Jaden asked wanting the details.
"He says her parents have to work thru the end of the week for the party and after that they're mind to deal with." He nodded.
"And her?"
"He said that that he didn't care, and why would I want someone like her I walked out after that but he is so mean to her."
"I have no parents." She said crying.
"What, I thought you said you did, and then who was Kaiba talking about."
"My grandparents, they're really old but my parents are dead. I know they are, but can you let my grandparents go somewhere together and retire, please. I don't want to trouble them any more." She said crying, hugging me.
She was like Hailey, lost her parents, well not really but seemingly did and now she needed me, could I just ignore her call for help."
"Jaden, a little help here."
"Lex, I think it's your fault to begin with; you should have thought this through, I mean we can't take her away from her family, it's unfair to them. I'm sure they love her and though she can be a handful they love her." Jaden told us. 6 years, maybe I could figure this out. In 6 years she'll be about 14 or so. Our age, she's about half of our age now, I don't know what to do.
"Kate, can we talk to your grandparents please, can you go get them?" I set Kate down and she still crying walked out with two people seemingly old.
"You must be Alexis and Jaden; it's nice to finally meet you." Her grandmother said.
"Likewise, I need to take Kate to my room to play with my friend, I want to talk while she rests, she seems very tired."
"You're leaving me?" Kate said crying louder.
"I think you need to rest, you look tired. I'm leaving you with a very close friend of mine, and her boyfriend; is that okay?" Kate shook her head. I sighed, my mind was saying. 'You're like her mother, you're a good mother figure, Alexis' then half of me was like 'Your going to be separated from her, it's going to be hard on her and you.' I wanted to listen to both of them and do something, but what? "Why don't you just lay down in my bedroom, and take a nap or something, I'm sure you need it. I need to talk to your grandparents, and I want you to rest." She looked like a pathetic lost puppy; man she's making me feel so guilty.
"I guess I could rest but a bed?" She asked me, I nodded. Her eyes got wide like she hadn't slept in a bed, man poor girl. By the time I got to our room she was already asleep in my arms. I walked into my room, careful not to disturb Kari.
"Kari?" I asked quietly.
"Yeah Lex."
"Shhh, she's sleeping. I want you to watch her for a while. I've been like a mother to her and I need to see what we can do to help her, if she wakes up, just do something, please." I asked.
"Sure Alexis, anything to help you in your quest for helping the world." Kari answered happily.
"Thanks, be back soon." She nodded and I returned.
I sat down next to Jaden. "Can you tell me how old she is?" Jaden asked.
"She just turned 6 a few days ago, we didn't do anything for her birthday, too poor. I wish we could do more for her. Child abuse is going to take her away, they called today, and somebody in the mansion saw her and called." Her grandpa informed us.
"They said we're too old and incapable of taking care of a young girl like her. Which we agree with them, but she has no one else, and she's trying all she can to not worry but she can't. She's too young to leave everyone she knows." Her grandma said.
"We're taking you to our home, we bought you and your husband off of Seto Kaiba. He said you finish working this week and you're my problem then. Do you think they'd let you keep her then."
"We're too old to take care of her, she lives in a small apartment, sleeps on a floor, and lives in a kitchen with 14 other people, cramped and is an orphan." Her grandpa to us.
"So what happened to her parents?"
"We don't know really, her mother and father left her with us to babysit her one day, and then they never returned, we believe that they were killed in the war, they were both soldiers for it and we think they returned and were killed, missing in action but who knows. We searched, no sign of them. They're gone and left her."
"That's horrible." I said about to cry.
"I know it is but see they had her at the age of 18 right after they were married and that was only 6 and a half years ago. And after 2 years when she could live without her mother, then they left."
"Seems they didn't want her." They nodded. "They cared for her and didn't want her dead but went off to war, and left her safely in our care knowing they'd probably die, but after that nothing. Now we can't take care of her because we're 60 some years now, and unable to take care of her, and barely ourselves, and she's doing all the cooking she can to help us but my husband is sick and probably going to die, and if we both can't care for her, me alone can't. They'll take her away, and who knows if she'll ever find happiness again." I was now crying.
"She wants me to give you enough money to live off of for a while, and her to work for us so you can be happy and she'll stop being a burden to you." I said.
"That sweetheart Kate, always of others, never of herself. She has nothing else but us and now that we could be taken away she's trying to do her best of make it the best for us, not herself." Her grandpa said choking while smiling and laughing.
"I just want her happy, as does my husband, but we can't do that for her any more; it's too hard on her and us." Her grandma said crying.
"Can I have a second with Jaden please." I said crying, and excusing myself from the room. Jaden pulled me closer to him and hugged me.
"Lex, it's okay; there's nothing we can do, I wish we could help but with the people taking her away from them, we can't use her and take care of her." He said trying to comfort me.
"Jaden… could we?" I said asking, Jaden knew what I was thinking, he smiled.
"Alexis, if you're up for it. It would be just like if we had Hailey except she's a bit older and would be easier to keep her with us since she'd be quiet when we told her. I wouldn't mind taking care of her, she's so nice, reminds me of Hailey, and you." I nodded, she reminds me of Hailey too.
"So we can adopt her, and take care of her?" I asked him making sure he was up for the challenge.
"Sure Lex but you do know she'll be our responsibility, she'll be like our daughter we'll have to take full responsibility and all."
I smiled and nodded. "Thank you Jaden, you should have seen her, she needs someone to take care of her, and we're just the people too."
"If you can do so well with a newborn baby I'm sure you can do the same with a 6 year old who's life has been horrible and return her to how her life should be."
"She's going to have to start school, she can't come with us."
"Hey, you're licensed to teach her, you graduated from fancy prep schools didn't you Lex, you're qualified to teach her, she'll need to be home schooled, plus it's only kindergarten, even I know my ABC's." I smiled, and nodded.
I walked inside and smiled. "We're going to adopt Kate." I told them.
"What?" Her grandpa said. "You two are still in school, you couldn't handle taking care of a child."
"Never underestimate us, especially Lexy and children. Lexy took care of a three day old baby because it showed up at her doorstep for about 2 months, the child was perfectly fine, and the child never left her side. Alexis lives at a mansion plenty of room and space for Kate to grow in. She also has the smartest student ever to graduate heiress prep schools at her disposal to learn from, and she has tons of friends and family to help her take care of Kate. If Lexy can't do it, then no one can."
"I don't know, she needs two parent figures, but you two are the closest thing I could ever find, you take care of her like your own child. And from what Jaden says about you Alexis, you are the perfect person to take care of her. I saw how much Kate loves you and how you take care of her. I'm sure she'll be happy with you. I'll call child abuse line and tell them." Their grandpa looked at us, still not sure; then her grandmas lines seemed to help but not ensure it.
"I think they'd make perfect parents, those two. Their own parents would allow her to have a child and wouldn't worry a bit, Jaden would be in trouble but they would know the child would grow up perfectly find and so would Alexis, with no problems. Alexis and Jaden love each other, and one thing that never ceases to amaze even me is that they help anyone in danger not worrying about themselves. You have nothing to worry about leaving your granddaughter with them." Zane said standing there, I not realizing he had been standing there.
"Yep, one thing is for sure when they graduate school the first thing they'll be doing is getting married and then wherever they are going after that we won't know but they love each other so much and caring for others is something they do very well, especially young children. You have no worries about leaving her with them." Lisa added.
"Well the last call goes to Kate herself, and see how she likes the idea." Jaden and I nodded; her grandpa was right, if she didn't then there was no use to prove that they were responsible enough.
"Where is she?" Her grandmother asked.
"In my room, in my bed sleeping, she is tired." Her grandmother and grandpa as well as Jaden came to follow me to get her. I walked quietly into the room, and Kari was sitting on her bed reading a book, and Kate was starting to stir, like she was scared.
I walked over to her and sat on the side of her bed and shook her gently just enough to wake her up. "Kate, time to wake up; we need to talk to you." She opened her eyes, smiling happily seeming me.
"Hi Alexis, what do you need to talk to me about?" She asked shyly.
"You do know that tomorrow some people are coming and going to take you away from you grandparents, right?" She nodded and hugged me tight.
"Don't let them, please, don't let them." I hugged her back and she was so scared, she was a defenseless child, it was okay for her to be like that, it was not for anyone else too.
"We're trying but you can't stay with your grandparents, the people are just doing what is best for you. They're trying to find you people who can properly take care of you."
"I don't want to be taken care of I want to be with them." I nodded understanding.
"They won't let you because your grandparents are too old to take care of you, but your grandparents, and Jaden and myself were wondering if you wanted to come and live with Jaden and I." I asked making it as simple as she could.
"So I have to leave my family?" She asked with tear filled eyes.
"That is something that you get no choice in Kate, sorry. But you can choose to come and live with Jaden and I so we can properly take care of you and make you happy. We just want you happy. Would you like that or do you want the men to take you to another family, maybe ones with other children or something where you can have friends and go to school like a normal child. It's your choice." I explained.
"Would I get to see my grandparents?"
I looked at her face, worried, scared and confused. "With the other people there isn't a promise that you'd ever see them again, or when you'd see them again. But I'm sure that if you wanted to come and stay with Jaden and I we would easily be able to take you to see your grandparents at least once a week if you wanted to." I explained.
"So you and Jaden would be like my mommy and daddy?"
"If you wanted us to be, yes, we would be."
"Would you leave me like my mommy and daddy did?"
"We wouldn't leave you and never come back if that's what you mean, we can't be with you every second but we'd be with you almost all the time, anytime we could."
"Would the other parents?" She asked curiously.
"They'd probably be gone most of the day and only see you a bit of the day but they wouldn't leave you for good. You need to make the choice so we can tell the people that are coming."
"Can I ask you one more question Alexis?" She asked me.
"Sure, anything."
"Why do you care about me?" She asked me, and it was a puzzling question and with all those people in the room, my thinking was really slow.
"I don't know for sure, but you remind me of the daughter I adopted once to take care of her while her parents were gone. You also remind me a lot of me when I was your age, shy and in need for someone to be there for me, even though I didn't have anyone there until I made friends at school last year, like Jaden. I want to make a difference in your life by giving you a chance to be taken care of and loved." She smiled and hugged me.
"I want to stay with you and Jaden, mommy." She said and I was going to cry, and she was. That seemed to be the last thing that her grandparents needed to see then they called the people at the agency.
"Welcome to the family Kate." Jaden said happily. She smiled happily and cried.
Her grandparents came back in and smiled. "They said they'd check on her and talk to you two tomorrow, they said it should be fine if someone else takes care of her from now on." I nodded.
"Hear that, you get to be happy and stay with us." She smiled and nodded.