Another one for mermaidodair- this time a Victorian AU. Hope you enjoy it!
Annie Cresta had a habit of bringing home strays.
It had all started when she was four. She'd been out on a walk with her nanny when they had stumbled across a pigeon with a broken wing, and she had insisted that they take it home.
"Just until his wing heals." Mr Cresta had insisted.
But the matter was never raised again, and so Cooey the pigeon remained a member of the Cresta household until his death five years later.
After Cooey, Annie found herself bringing home larger things, although her terrible choice of names seemed something that would stick. Her brother Julien used to joke about it, saying that if she ever had a baby she'd best let her husband pick its name.
Joining the Cresta family over the years were Sock and Mittens, the cats; Nosy, the dog- an interesting mix of Labrador and what they suspected to be a Rottweiler; and then six more pigeons following Cooey, named Beaky, Flapper, Startle, Caw, Squeaky and Bounce.
Her strangest "stray", however, was without a doubt the one she brought home the December of the year she'd turned seventeen.
"He says his name is Finnick." She announced to her parents. "May I keep him? Please?"
The Cresta family could afford a third child, and Annie knew it. Her father was a banker, so their income was quite good. And besides, if they could afford to keep Nosy, who ate everything, then they could certainly keep this dirty, raggedy man. He didn't look like he ate very much, anyway.
Something like defeat settled in her father's expression.
"Cecelia," He turned to the maid, who had quite conspicuously been listening at the door. "Take this... This Finnick upstairs. I want him washed and in fresh clothes before dinner. He looks about Julien's height."
"Yes, Sir." Cecelia promised, taking Finnick by the wrist and leading him away.
For the first time in her life, Annie could hardly wait for dinner.
She sat in her chair, bouncing her legs up and down excitedly beneath the table. Beside her was Julien, who laughed and put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
"Calm down." He advised.
Annie stopped bouncing her legs, but the excitement remained, bubbling away in her stomach like champagne.
When Cecelia eventually did show Finnick into the dining room, Annie found her breath taken away. Beneath all that mud and grime, his skin glowed. It looked healthy and alive- nothing like the corpse-like paleness most people she knew possessed, herself included. His hair was a gorgeous golden colour, not dirty blond as she'd initially thought. By the looks of it, Cecelia had attempted to tame it, however his curls remained wild and unruly.
Just looking at him made Annie feel nervous and excited all at once.
"That's much better, Cecelia." Mr Cresta complimented their maid, who blushed and curtsied, almost tripping over her dress in the process.
"Yes," Annie found herself saying, "Much better."
There was a dreamy quality to her voice, and it did not go unnoticed. Not by her mother, who warningly shook her head; not by her father, who raised an eyebrow suspiciously; not by Julien, who elbowed her in the side and smirked suggestively.
Not by Finnick, who sat down in the vacant seat the other side of her and smiled that heart-warming smile of his that had caught her eye on the street not three hours ago.
She knew she always said this, but the latest addition to their family was probably her favourite so far.