Destiny- Byron Miller

~10~

(photo is of Lana)

The next few days went by in a flash.

We got news that the two girls are officially mine.

At least it's comforting to know that we have a good court system where we live.

All of my mothers belongings have left our house. Bailey is now sleeping in her own room. And I am in the middle of trying to get Maisie to sleep in her room too.

Don't get me wrong, I clearly love Maisie to pieces, but at some point she is going to have to sleep in her own bed. And right now, I think she's finally ready.

"Byron?" Maisie says as she peeks her head into my room.I started laying her down in her bed at night to get her used to it. But I told her that if she gets scared than she can always come sleep with me.

"Yes, angel?" I responded back. Right now I was up finishing homework that is due at midnight. I had 2 weeks to finish it, but not only was Maisie in the hospital, I am a huge procrastinator.

"Do I have to call you 'dad' now?" she said very quietly.

"You can call me whatever you want. Whatever makes you comfortable is what I want you to call me. If you want to call me dad at home, but my name in public, then that's okay too. Or if you only want to call me by my name. Or only call me dad. I just want you to be comfortable," I said as I looked her in the eyes, instead of my homework.

"Okay," she said as she turned around to head back to her bed.

A lot of people from the outside would find it weird for Maisie to be calling me "dad" because I'm technically her brother. But from my perspective, and Maisie's perspective, I'm her only father figure. I've been raising her since she was 3. Also, Bailey will be calling me dad eventually and it might get confusing if I'm Byron to one of them but Dad to the other.

I can't seem to stop thinking about her. Daniel was talking to me the other day and said that he was kind of concerned about how little she is talking.

I said that being shy is just how some kids are. He asked if she was as quiet at home as she is around other people. And I realized that she is. She only asks questions sometimes and asks for help on some things. It's not much at all.

I decided that it has been enough thinking for the night. I quickly finished up my homework and turned out the lights.

I woke up at 2:45 very abruptly. Like it was some sort of instinct, I got up to check on both girls.

As I got closer to Maisie's bedroom, I could hear the sound of her cries.

I immediately opened up her door, but made sure not to startle her.

She looked up from the ground and stared into my eyes.

I could see all the hurt and pain in her eyes. She looked scared. It was as if looking into her heartbroken eyes made my own heart break.

When she was looking at me she briefly stopped crying. But when I kneeled down and opened my arms for a hug, she started sobbing again and ran to my arms.

I held that little girl tighter than I have ever before. She was grabbing onto me like I was going to slip through her tiny fingers.

I picked her up and brought her to my room for the night.

I laid her down, but she looked wide awake. I could tell she didn't want to sleep for the rest of the night.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked cautiously. She nodded her head. "What happened, angel? What's wrong?"