You made walking easy

Birthday Celebrations

ALEX POV

Today is Eve's 4th birthday. I feel like I've been here way longer than a year. But I've really grown to like Eve. I wouldn't say love but I can love the idea of having a younger sister. In all of my care homes, I was the one to look out for the younger ones. If any children would be punished, I'd be the one to take it. It's taken some getting used to being with everyone, I mean the hardest thing is not being scared. Maya and Carina haven't done anything wrong but I've spent 15 years in abusive households, I can't forget that instantly.

Anyway, so today is fully planned out for Eve, she wants to go to the zoo. So, all of Maya and Carina's friends are joining us. I've met them all But really get on with Travis, Vic, Kai, Ada, and Jo. I can already see that I'll be spending most of the time with them. I've become a resident bro when Kai, Ada, and Maya get together at home, which they do weekly. So, we all planned to meet at the entrance of the zoo and that's what happened. We walked through the ticketed entrance and saw a group of about 12 people waiting for us. "Eve! Happy birthday!" Vic and Travis shouted before running over. Eve of course was excited by the attention and ran to meet Travis. "I can't believe she ran to you first, that's not fair" Vic says annoyed, "Looks like you owe me 5 bucks" Travis says while holding his hand out to receive it.

Everyone says hi to each other before Maya takes out the map and plans the perfect route for the day. First animal of the day is the penguins, Eve isn't a massive fan of them but seemed overjoyed when she saw them. "Bro, how have you been? You're looking at colleges right?" Ada asks me, leaving her partner behind her. That's the thing with Sam, he's a bit of a no one. Just likes to keep to himself. "Yeah, I have two weeks left of my senior year. I've been looking at apprenticeships and internships to fill my time. I don't really want to attend college right away; I might wait a year. It would be weird for me to rock up and be younger than everyone" I say to Ada and Kai joins our little group at the back. "Got all the time in the world. Any ideas of what you'd want to do?" Kai asks me. "I've been thinking of going for something to do with writing, I like the idea of being an author but you never know" I say while smiling. I've never shared that passion but I'd love to write children stories or a story about my own life. "Hell yeah, I think Carina and Maya would definitely back that." Ada says. Our focus draws away when we see Eve trying to jump over a low fence to try and hug the penguins, its adorable.

We carried on walking on the path Maya directed us through. We've now seen about 10 different animals and have left the snow area. We're now in the desert themed part of the zoo. We've passed some hyenas and now we're stopping in front of the lions. Lions happen to be a favourite of Eve's.

"Hey, how's you been? Thought I'd steal you for a bit okay?" Says Jo. "Sure, you're not gonna feed me to the lions right?" I joke causing her to smile. "I think you're too heavy for me, but Eve on the other hand I think is just the perfect weight and height for me" Jo says as she follows my joke.

"Anyway, I just wanted to ask you a question. I've been looking into building a trust fund or way for children in care to get the money for support in order for them to get a job or life out of the system. I wanted to ask if maybe you'd want to go over it with me one day. I only know from my experiences but I have been out of care for about 12 years and well, it's been just over a year for you. Do you think you'd be up for that?" Jo says. "Fuck yeah of course, I'll do that" I say. I instantly feel myself get slapped on the back of my head by Maya "Language" she says seriously.

The day is filled with small conversations with all of the adults and I've really enjoyed it. I like being seen as an adult and an equal. "Aly look it's a hippo" Eve says while grabbing my hand. She pulls me towards the enclosure where some hippos are flouting in the water. "Look at them all fat and asleep" I say as I get down on her level. I sit on the floor and she takes that as an invitation. "What food do they eat? Do they run like mommy?" Eve asks. "I think they only eat vegetables and they do run... they run even faster than mommy!" I say causing Eve to turn to me and gasp. "They're faster than mommy! She's really fast" Eve says. "Yes even faster! If they did a race, I'm sure mommy would fail!" I say causing Eve to giggle. "Do you want to ask mommy if she should race a hippo, I think she would!" I say while tickling Eve's side. She jumps up laughing and runs straight into Maya's legs.

I follow behind her and stand next to Carina. "Do you find it weird when you call Maya mommy around Eve?" she asks me. "It is weird to me because I don't see you two as that, at least not yet. Eve doesn't know any different of who I am to her or you two so I follow along for her." I say truthfully. "You know, if you never feel like we are a parent figure like that or don't want to call us that, there is nothing wrong with that" Carina says. It's hard being around people who are so understandable.

-

We finally arrive at the giftshop after walking around the zoo for about 8 hours straight. At this point, I'm giving Eve a piggyback ride around the shop as she points to the different things she sees. "Am I allowed to get anything, Aly?" she asks me and I turn to Maya who nods. "Of course, little one. What do you want? You can choose two things. One will be from mommy and mama, the other will be from me!" I say. I haven't bought her a birthday present so this is a good idea in my books.

We walk around a few more times until Eve points to a big Lion soft toy which was probably half her height but I could see her eyes go all doe-like when she looked up at me. Right, so that's from me. "Now little one, is there anything else you want?" she puts a finger to her face as if she's really thinking before she points in the direction opposite to us. "That one" she points towards a backpack with a massive whale on it, which is my favourite animal. "Any reason for that, little one?" I question. "You like whales, so I like whales and I can use it for school!" She shouts excitedly. I walk to the till and pay for both presents, before Maya or Carina could stop me. "Okay little one, I'm going to carry both of them so that they don't get scuffed or lost, okay?" I ask and she nods excitedly. "Do you want to get back on my back?" I ask and she runs straight behind me, waiting for me to lower myself down to her level.

-

The car ride back was silent, Eve fell asleep as soon as she sat in her chair. Maya and Carina were holding hands as Maya drove. And I was thinking about stuff. "You okay there Alex? You look like you're using all your brain power" Maya says as a joke. "Sorry, yeah I'm just thinking about something Carina said earlier while we were walking around" I say and suddenly there is a weird silence. "Oh okay, well we're always here if you want to talk. You know you didn't need to buy Eve both of those things" Carina says while smiling back at me, "I wanted to. I didn't get her anything for her birthday" I say.