and when i break (it's in a million pieces) - a kanej fic

Part 9

Present day:

"Inej!"

Wylan greeted her with a wide smile. His curly, red hair looked like it had been recently cut, and he was wearing a pair of brown suspenders over a white shirt. There was a smudge of dirt on his left cheek, and his blue eyes shone.

"Auntie Inej!" called another voice from somewhere deep in the house, and suddenly, a four-year-old girl with dark skin and a head of hickory brown curls was barrelling her way towards Inej.

Casiana leaped onto Inej's leg and clung on for dear life. Inej laughed as she shook her leg lightly, a mock attempt to dislodge the child.

"Hey Cassie," she grabbed the girl under her arms, and lifted her up until she was balanced on her right hip, "Still getting into lots of trouble?"

Cassie let out a high pitched giggle, and nodded her head emphatically, "Da says I'm just like him, but Daddy doesn't like that,"

Inej raised an eyebrow at Jesper, who shrugged with a shameless smile, "It's not her fault she naturally takes after someone with these good looks,"

Wylan shook his head, "The two of them would burn the house down if I left them unattended for more than five minutes,"

His words were exasperated, but there was a fond smile tugging at the corners of his lips that betrayed him.

Inej took a long look at this little, mismatched family.

Casiana had been left on their doorstep two years ago, asleep in a basket, note in hand. It had read,

She's an inferni, she is Zowa. I can't take care of her anymore. Please help her.

The note wasn't signed, and though the three of them had scoured hospital records for a child born to a Zemeni mother during that time, they'd come up blank. Inej had even tried to do some recon on her own but was equally unsuccessful. It was clear that the girl's mother hadn't wanted them to have any way of tracing back to her. And so, after several late-night discussions, Jesper and Wylan had become parents to the most rambunctious and giggly child Inej had ever encountered.

The note didn't state her name, so they'd named her Casiana - Cassie or Cas for short - a tribute that made Inej's heart pinch as much as it soothed some of the grief. Wylan and Jesper had asked for her blessing with the name over coffee one late winter night, and Inej had given it through teary eyes.

She had to laugh, looking back on it. Kaz would've hated to have a child named after him.

Looking at the little girl in her arms, Inej couldn't deny that she was a blessing. An unexpected one, for certain, but a blessing all the same. She couldn't imagine all their lives without her. And with Nina and Hanne arriving in a few hours, Cassie was about to be the most spoiled child in all of Ketterdam.

"Hey, Cassie," Inej gently placed the girl on her feet, crouching down until they were eye to eye,

"Do you want a present?"

Cassie squealed with joy and Jesper laughed, "She's gonna grow up to be a brat, Inej,"

"Nah," she smiled, pulling out a little porcelain doll from the protected pocket of her cloak.

Inej had found her during her travels in Ravka. She'd stopped to see Nina and deliver some information to the king, and had had a little extra time to explore the capital. She'd seen the doll, brown porcelain, curly horsehair hair, and blue satin dress trimmed with lace, in a shop window and had immediately thought of Cassie. Inej had kept it locked safely in her trunk aboard The Wraith for months, waiting until she could give it to the girl in person.