Sign of Life / MIW Adoption

.thirty-nine.

AJ held an outstretched arm across Vinny's chest, pushing Vinny back into the couch and keeping him seated, "Honestly, I think Kaden is helping Melody with her anxiety. You and I both know Kaden doesn't want to piss us off. You're focusing too much on their gender, Vin."

Vinny narrowed his eyes at Kaden, "I'll be watching you."

"What am I supposed to do if she initiates it?" Kaden asked, annoyance clear in his voice. I did hold his hand in place so he would keep his arm around me. I liked being in Kaden's hold. I felt safe. Not as safe as I felt with Chris, but still pretty safe. I turned to Kaden and leaned more into his side, pulling his arm tighter around me. I didn't want to be the one they were talking about, I wanted to see Pokemon.

Vinny made an annoyed grunt, "Did Bash eat all of your sad thoughts this morning little kitty?"

"Bash downed them like shots earlier." Ryan said, walking into the room with a black bowl in his hand, his eyes only on me as he walked straight towards me. When he got in front of me, he leaned down until he was at my height. A small but warm smile was on Ryan's lips as he held out the bowl for me, "I thought you could snack on some fruit until Chris makes you breakfast."

I took the black glass bowl, surprised at how cold it was to the touch. I picked up the silver metal fork, not used to the weight of the heavier utensil since I was used to the plastic ones at the manor. I looked at the contents of the bowl. The fruit was all colors and I wasn't sure what most of them were. Would I like them? I looked back up at Ryan, not sure what to say, but he was already pointing at a light green chunk, "This one is Honeydew which was Jules' favorite. This one is cantaloupe, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, and strawberries."

Ryan pointed to each fruit as he named it. I did my best to try to remember the names. Toby leaned over and quickly plucked a dark red berry up, "Wait, I need to make sure they aren't poisoned!"

"Toby—" Ryan started but Toby leaned against Kaden's arm, squishing me into Kaden's side as he ate the berry, "Not poisoned!"

Ryan growled, "If you want raspberries then get a bowl of your own."

AJ and Vinny were laughing along with Toby. Vinny took a hit from his vape, "Lighten up."

"I don't want Melody to get the idea of someone poisoning her food. If she thinks we're trying to poison her then she won't eat and won't trust us. She definitely does not need to have a fear of eating." Ryan said, glaring at Toby.

Toby sat up and looked at me, "Don't worry, I was just playing around. Ryan would not try to poison you. I'm a raspberry slut. I'm just doing more dumb brother shit."

"Don't curse around her." Ryan snapped at Toby, who hummed in agreement as he lifted up his Switch and began playing his game. Ryan then turned to me and gave me another tiny smile, "Fruit is healthier than a zebra cake for breakfast and I bet Chris would be happy to know you ate something that wasn't pure sugar."

I stabbed the silver fork into an orange chunk, trying to recall the name Ryan said. Cannylope? I lifted the fruit up and sniffed it, catching a light sweet scent. I took a tiny bite, worried it would be gross, but it was so sweet. I took a bigger bite and relaxed back into Kaden's hold as I ate. I moved my eyes from the bowl of fruit now sitting in my lap to Kaden's Switch screen. Kaden's character was battling with a bunch of the same kind of Pokemon. It was brown with lighter brown on the tip of its tail and around its neck. It was so cute.

"I will never get tired of hunting for shiny Eevees." Kaden said. I stabbed another piece of fruit with my fork, this time going for the green one that Ryan said was my mom's favorite. I bit into it without hesitation. The cold juice gushed out, filling my mouth with the sweetest flavor. This was really good. Toby leaned back against the couch, "Do you have your shiny charm?"