Author's note: I'm so sorry for not updating for so long but I just been so busy. Between work and social events and being sick I just haven't had much time to myself. Not to mention I had major writer's block on this chapter, ugh, it took me so long to get it to be anything I was happy with. I'm still not completely happy with it but it's good enough. I hope you enjoy and I'm sorry again for taking so long.

Nina stood outside the orphanage with a hand-full of other nurses, ready for the home's annual check-up.

The capital's only orphanage lay at the edge of the city up against the outer wall. The building was bigger than most of the other houses in the area; however, it wasn't that large, mainly due to the limited number of yordles it held. Bandle City was relatively small for a capital city, safe from most outside threats and with a relatively low crime rate. As a result very few incidents occurred that removed both parents from a yordling's life; and since the yordle race naturally had strong social and communal ties, most children had somewhere to go should something occur. Never the less, the city had still needed a place for those few exceptions to live, thus producing the government funded building.

Though the basic monetary needs were funded by the government, many other needs and luxuries were provided by the community including their annual medical check-up.

At the beginning of every winter several nurses volunteered to give the orphans their free medical check-up and their vaccinations as well as to analyse the health plan of the establishment. Since the kindly caretaker had been running the orphanage for decades, nowadays the whole thing was more of a custom then a necessity.

Still, Nina enjoyed volunteering. It brought her joy to be able to provide the children with the care and love they deserved; and, she thought upon catching sight of a familiar face, it also gave her the opportunity to catch up with old acquaintances too.

"Rosalyn!" she called out waving to the blue furred female hurrying to the house.

Rosalyn's face broke into a grin as she walked over to her. "Nina," she greeted. "I haven't seen you since you moved wards. How have you been?"

"Busy," the female replied ruefully, "But that's normal, so I can't complain. How about you?"

"I've been well," Rosalyn smiled, "Chuck's had some time off from the chop shop with us, which is nice, and Rumble's doing much better."

"I heard you were having a bit of trouble with him. What happened?" Nina asked as they headed inside.

"He was having some trouble with the bullies at school but he's found a nice group of friends now, much to our relief. Things haven't been anywhere near as bad lately."

Nina could tell, even though Rosalyn had never said anything about how bad the situation was, her demeanour had spoken volumes. The last time she'd seen her friend, there had been a constant underlying tenseness in her every movement. Now however her movements were more light and carefree.

"How about your son?" she continued. "Is he still as hyperactive as I remember?"

"More if you can believe it," Nina shook her head. "But he did make a new friend recently who's helped calm him down some. Now at least he pauses to think before jumping headfirst into situations, no matter how brief."

Rosalyn laughed.

They continued to talk as they walked through the main hallway headed towards the rooms they would be using. As they did a young kit ran up to them. He was a cute child with pale cream fur, orange eye patches and the biggest blue eyes Nina had ever seen.

"Hi Rumble's mum," he greeted Rosalyn. "I didn't know you were a nurse."

"Hello Teemo," the blue female knelt down to his level, "How are you?"

"Good thank you. And you?" he recited courteously, bringing a smile to both nurse's faces.

"I'm well. Thank you for asking." Catching Nina's curious look Rosalyn continued, "Teemo I'd like to introduce you to my friend Nina. Nina this is Teemo, one of Rumble's new friends."

"It's nice to meet you," he said politely, shyly holding out his hand.

Nina felt her smile grow at his gesture, before shaking it. Kneeling next to Rosalyn she spoke, "Hello Teemo, it's nice to meet you too. You have lovely manners."

The pale kit scuffed his foot along the tiles, "Thank you."

"So Teemo, how old are you?" Nina asked.

"I'm six and a half," he announced proudly, "Same age as Rumble. Do you have a son?"

"Yes I do. But he's a bit older than you. He's eleven. Have you lived here long?"

Teemo shrugged, "As long as I can remember." He glanced over his shoulder at the clock behind him, "I need to go to lunch now. It was nice meeting you."

"You too Teemo." Nina smiled as his called goodbye as he ran off. In her mind an idea was starting to form. And no matter what Miles said she was determined to go through with it.

"Looks like everything is in order," Lila Whitmore, the home's caretaker smiled. "Just fill in the rest of those forms and you can come pick him up Monday afternoon."

Teemo turned to the two older yordles that sat adjacent to him, unable to really believe what was happening.

The pale furred female turned to him with a smile, "I guess I'll see you Monday then. How exciting."

Teemo shot her a shy smile.

Kneeling to his level Nina looked at him seriously, "You're alright with this aren't you? We don't have to go through with this if you're not-"

He cut her off with a quick hug, "You have no idea how much I want this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

She chuckled, "Well I'm glad."

The dark furred yordle moved forward too, ruffling the boy's hair. "We're looking forward to having you as a part of our family," Miles told him.

With a final wave the two yordles departed, "See you Monday."

Kennen burst into Poppy's house literally bouncing off the walls. "Poppy! You'll never guess what happened! Come on guess! Guess!"

The pigtailed yordling raised an eyebrow at him, "Your parents finally had you tested."

"Hey!" he pouted causing Poppy to laugh.

"I'm kidding. So what is it?"

His mood instantly brightened. "I'm getting a brother! My parents are adopting him. I'm going to be a big brother! Can you believe it?"

Poppy smiled, "That's great Kennen."

"I know! His name is Teemo and he's six. My mum met him when she volunteered at the orphanage and he's coming home on Monday." All of a sudden he paused, his expression growing nervous, "What if he doesn't like me?"

Poppy shook her head, "He'll like you just fine Kennen. Don't worry about it."

Kennen didn't look convinced, "Will you come with me? When he comes home that is. I don't what to face him alone."

"If it'll make you feel better. But I don't think you'll need it," Poppy told him.

Kennen gave her a quick hug. "Thanks Poppy. You're the best friend ever!"

"Guys!" Teemo bounded up to his friends, a huge grin on his face, "You never going to believe it: I'm being adopted!"

"Oh my gosh!" Tristana squealed. "Congratulations!" The blue yordling threw herself at her friend, both of them laughing hysterically as they bounced around in a circle. With a cackle of his own gleeful laughter Ziggs propelled himself towards the group hug, pulling Rumble along with him as he pushed the other two over with his momentum. The four of them lay on the ground in a tangle of limbs revelling in the joy of their friend's amazing news.

As their laughter died down, the group got to their feet. "I'm getting picked up this afternoon," Teemo explained to them as Rumble helped Tristana to her feet.

"You excited?" Ziggs asked.

"Yeah," Teemo grinned widely before his smile faded away. "And a little nervous. Actually, I'm a lot nervous. I've never been adopted before."

"You'll be fine," Tristana gave him a quick hug. "I'm sure they'll be great."

"We'll make sure of that," Rumble assured him, half-humorously.

"So," Tristana asked excitedly, as they started towards class, "What're they like."

Teemo's demeanour brightened, "They seem really nice. The lady's a nurse and the man's a scout and they have a son too, so I'm going to have an older brother..."

Teemo sat in the back of the car as Nina drove him home, a multitude of emotions stirring up inside of him.

He couldn't believe he'd been adopted. After so many years living in the orphanage a large part of him felt like he was dreaming. In fact he'd pinched himself many times already just to check he wasn't. The other part of him, however, was too consumed by his overwhelming emotions to wonder about how real the situation was.

Excitement was his strongest feeling: the thought of having a real, loving family for the first time filled him with an eagerness to experience it for himself. He couldn't wait to meet them all; and yet, at the same time, he didn't want to meet them at all. Fear was the second most prominent thing he felt. He was worried the others wouldn't like him; worried they would give him back; worried they wouldn't be nice. A whole bunch of 'what if's ran through his mind, each one increasing his anxiety so when the moment the vehicle stopped, Teemo found himself frozen in fear.

He turned his wide eyes to Nina when she opened the door, unable to voice his thoughts. She understood, simply smiling at him encouragingly before taking his hand. Together they walked towards the house, Teemo gripping her hand like a life-line.

The structure was smaller than usual but the large garden made up for the house's lack of size. At the front of the house three yordles stood. A boy with brown fur and blue eyes stood fidgeting in the middle before the girl with blue skin and white pigtails nudged him sharply, causing him to stop. The man sent them both a stern look before walking towards them. His fur was a darker brown than the boy's but he had the same blue eyes.

As he approached, Teemo found himself hiding partially behind Nina's slight frame.

"Hello again Teemo," he said evenly upon reaching them. "Welcome to our family. I'm Miles; do you remember me?"

Teemo gave him a timid wave and a nod.

Miles smiled before gesturing behind him, "This is Kennen, our son and his friend Poppy."

"It's nice to meet you," Teemo said shyly.

"You too," Kennen replied before falling silent, the usually talkative yordle unsure what to say.

As the silence stretched on Nina decided to take action, "Kennen, why don't you show Teemo around the house. Get him settled in."

Kennen's eyes instantly brightened at the idea before Teemo suddenly found himself being pulled along behind the older yordling, Poppy following them close behind.

Now that he had something to do, Kennen's nervousness slipped away till he was his usual energetic, bubbly self. He pulled Teemo around talking nonstop about their home, life and how the young kit would fit into it. His straightened shoulders and grin displayed his joy and determination to fulfil his responsibility as a big brother and ensure Teemo settled in comfortably. Behind him Teemo listened in rapt attention, his face showing the awe and excitement Kennen's stories were producing.

As she watched the two new brothers interact Poppy simply shook her head. To think they'd both been so nervous about meeting.

And there you have it. So I have some good news and bad news for you guys. Bad news is next chapter is the last one in this story :(. The good news is I have a new story that continues on from this one coming up next :). I've decided that splitting them into individual stories will make them more manageable, especially as I will be focusing on individual characters a bit more as I go on. Anyway, let me know what you think.

I've decided that due to the amount of guest reviews I get that I'll answer them here. So:

Dalarrin: Don't worry, I will be including Gnar. Though I must warn you: he's a long way off. I'm afraid I won't be getting to him anytime soon. Sorry. I haven't found any great fanfictions of him though there are a couple of ask blogs on tumblr and a twitter one that I feel portray him very nicely.

ShiftySpot: Haha thanks. I'm really glad you think I've captured them well so far. Poppy was so much fun to write.