Freeze Frame

Chapter 59

Third person pov

While they were awaiting trial, June and Hisato Faust were staying in a police-issued living space. They were under no circumstances allowed to have contact with Lillian, and had ankle monitors. They both knew that stealing her had been wrong. Of course they knew that; that's why they'd tried so hard to hide it from her and from the world. They were ashamed. Just... seeing her sitting there in that hospital, the perfect little three year old girl. How anyone could ever abandon her was so beyond them.

They'd been trying so hard to have a family. To adopt a baby, or to have one themselves. And someone had just thrown their perfect baby girl away. They'd just decided it was too much, and that it was somehow a good idea to just leave a baby in a hospital. It was disgusting and vile. Both June and Hisato had felt sick to their stomachs, so... so they'd taken her.

Lillian was a precious little girl. So perfect and with such a strong little personality. Even at a young age, she'd been so quiet and caring, if not a little grumpy at times and fond of her naps. She was just... she was a little person. This flawless, amazing little person that someone had simply left behind! It was heartbreaking. 

She was their baby girl. They didn't care what anyone said. Lillian could hate them, and that was fine. They had always expected it at some point. But they'd raised her, and she'd given them the chance to be the one thing they'd always dreamed of being ever since they first began dating. They'd both gotten the chance to be parents. They'd gotten to film her in school plays as she did her part as a sunflower or a blue bird. They'd gotten to see her grow, and they got to comfort her when she was sad. It overjoyed them to provide for her. To buy her the things she wanted to need her, and to give her a safe and loving home.

Lillian had been strong, but watching her on the TV as she stumbled into second place in the first portion of UA's famed Sport's Festival... it had them in tears. Watching her freeze over two hundred other kids with a simple blink of the eye. Watching her wipe the blood dribbling from her lips with determination that could not be swayed and keep going forward. It was awing.

Watching the Sport's Festival was something they'd always done together. Without fail, they'd gather around the TV every year in their pajamas. They'd order pizza and pop popcorn, and indulge in every kind of candy the convenient store had in stock. Seeing the amazement shine on Lillian's face as her faith in Japan's future heroes grew was something they'd never forget.

They were not good people, and never would they claim to be. They weren't doing Lillian a favor when they kidnapped her away. When they took her, they'd been thinking of themselves. Both of them knew this good and well, and that's why they were so accepting of there fate. But they couldn't help but thank their dear little Lilly Pad. For being their daughter, and for crying on their shoulder. For wishing them happy birthday and for singing her favorite Broadway tunes loudly in the shower in the mornings.

They wanted to thank her for getting her hair tangled, and crying when they brushed it. They wanted to thank her for every hug and every kiss on the cheek. Every smile and laugh she offered to them with an open-heart. Every joyful moment she experienced, they wanted to say thank you for. Because that was their baby girl, and she had been happy in their care. Their care, which she never should have been in in the first place, but was anyway.

So they did. They watched the TV and cried, and said thank you for the good times and the bad. For smiling up at them and calling them 'mama' and 'dada'. For coloring on their freshly painted walls with crayon, and for getting bit by the neighbors dog. For splashing around in a kiddie pool for hours upon hours in the backyard. For sneaking a garden snake into her room and feeding it pieces of raw chicken until it got out and scared them half to death. They thanked her for her love.