Adopting twins; Zalfie.

Chapter 1

May 2017.

Left: Erin.  Right: Alexis.                                                                                                                                                     

Erin's POV:

"Oh my gosh. Alexis! Alexis quick!" I shrieked happily. My twin sister raced into our shabby room. "What?" she asked excitedly. "The Zalfie baby is on the way!" She gasped before squealing and looking at the tweet that Alfie had posted 2 minutes ago; "It's go time, the Zalfie baby is on the way!" Attached was a picture of Zoe, looking quite in pain but smiling weakly at the camera. "Oh my god, I'm so excited to find out if they have a little Evelyn or Evan!" Alexis giggled. "Me too," I sighed, "You ever wonder what it'd be liked to be in their family?" My sister nodded, before abruptly turning and rushing out of the room.

I followed her out of the door and down the two flights of stairs to see where she was going. I always loved the foster house, it was so big and spacious, there was always somewhere to escape and hide if things got a bit too much. We moved there a few years after our father's death, and our mother's disappearance, and Marion has always been so loving and caring. Marion is our 'foster mother'. She treats us as her own, and looks after us day in and day out, but she's also there to help us find a new home and a new family. Her placements are always temporary, and if you aren't adopted or permanently fostered by the time you're 16, the council gives you your own flat.

Anyways, I trailed behind Alexis until we reached our foster mum's office. "Urm, Marion?" Alexis mumbled, knocking on the door, "Can we please use the laptop?" Marion sighed, before nodding yes. I smiled and rushed in, grabbing the shared PC and running back to our room. "Only until dinner!" she called after us. When we were back and sat at our desk, Alexis started up the laptop, logging into our YouTube account. "You wanna film?" I asked, confused. "Yes! We're gonna make a video talking about the Zaflie baby. I nodded and adjusted my hair, ready to be on camera. My sister set up her phone on our makeshift tripod (four hardback books balanced on top of each other with a pencil case on top for the phone to lean against) and pressed record.

"Hi guys, and welcome back to 'It's A Twin Thing'. I'm Alexis, and as always, I'm joined by the gorgeous Erin!" She introduced. I greeted them before Lexi continued, "So, today we're making this video because... Zoe's in labour! How exciting!!" I smiled, "I'm so excited to find out whether they have a boy or a girl. I think they're going to have a little boy. And, of course, they revealed that they're calling him Evan if he is a boy." Alexis shook her head, "No, it's 100% going to be a girl; little Evelyn! That's such a cute name." We continued on, making our predictions about the baby's weight, and how they're going to reveal him/her, and things alike. 

"Let us know what you think the baby's gender is going to be down below!" I said to the camera. "Thanx for watching, Bye!" We ended the recording, then plugged Alexis' phone into the laptop. I spent the next hour editing the video and uploading it to our channel. Alexis is hopeless when it comes to anything technology related, so I usually do the editing solo. I prefer it that way, though, It's easier to concentrate without Lex in my ear, making stupid, impossible suggestions. I'd just finished uploading it when Marion called us for dinner.

 Alexis' POV:

After returning the laptop to Marion's office, Erin and I joined everyone else in the dining room. Including us two, there are a total of eight children who live in  this house. We're the oldest, being fourteen, but next is Leah (thirteen), Jake (eleven), Robbie (nine), Lucy (eight), Kayla (six) and Tommy (four). Tommy's, secretly, my favourite. He's so little and cute, and always loves a cuddle. Erin favours Kayla more, treating her just as though she was her sister. Everyone gets on nicely together, except from us two and Leah. Leah moved in last month, and as much as we've tried to be welcoming, we've not been getting much back. She just speaks rudely and i'm sure she's stolen from me. Though I haven't been able prove it; yet. 

After dinner, we all watched a few episodes of The Simpsons together. It'd been our evening ritual for as long as I could remember. Even Marion relaxes with us to watch, giving the youngest two a bottle of warm milk each to tire them out. After that, the little ones go to bed and the rest of us have to go to our rooms and start settling down for the night. I decided to have a shower so that didn't have to in the morning and could sleep in longer. I always hated using the products Marion brought because they were so cheap. The soap made me itch and the shampoo and conditioner left my hair feeling limp and knotty. 

After my shower I dressed myself into a pair of pink pyjama shorts and a random white vest. I plaited my brown hair (so that it'd be curly in the morning), cleaned my teeth and headed back to my room. Erin was lying on her top bunk of our bunk bed, on her phone. I turned the light off and climbed into my bottom bunk, then began to scroll through twitter. I suddenly came across a tweet from Alfie that made my heart stop for a moment; "Rest In Peace, Evelyn Tracey Deyes, 18/05/17. Our Beautiful Angel." I closed my eyes and let the tears silently fall. "Erin." I called out desperately. She worriedly climbed down the ladder and I handed her my phone. After reading the tweet, she held the phone to her chest and began to cry. 

My heart ached for Zoe and Alfie. I knew how excited they were for this baby. They'd both always dreamed of being parents, and their channels haven't been short of pregnancy videos these past few months. I couldn't ever imagine growing to love a little baby for nine months and never get to meet it. They'd never get to know their daughter. Their baby girl. Their little princess. I held my arms out for Erin and she came into them, hugging me tight. We mourned Evelyn, and prayed that Zalfie could make it through this difficult time.