One Last Time //Lams//University AU//Part 1

Chapter 18

December 20th 2017
Saturday

Washington POV
School ended yesterday and most of the students who stay in the dorms are finishing packing up. I got off work yesterday afternoon and am at home with Martha waiting the arrival of our new Daughter, Bella.

Alexander will be here by three o'clock and Bella should be here by twelve. It's now 11:45. "Aren't you excited George?" Martha asked me while we sat on the couch waiting for the adoption agent to arrive with Bella. "Not only are we finally getting a child, but Alex is also spending Christmas with us!" she said.

"Don't say that in front of Alexander, I'm sure he'd get jealous." I say and she laughs, "Alexander knows we love him. But do remember he's not a child." I sighed, "Yes but he's not an adult either." she nodded her head.

The door knocked, "That must be them." she said getting up to open the door, I walked behind her, she opened the door. There was a man and next to him was a little girl. She was very short, she had fair skin, long black hair which she had in a plait and big brown eyes, she has an Italian heritage but can't speak the language obviously.

"Hello, my name is John Adams, this is Bella." the man said, I shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm George, this is my wife Martha." I say stepping aside for the two to enter. Bella looked around the house in amazement, it's a pretty fancy house.

I point to the couch and the two of them take a seat. Martha and I do as well, "You two have already adopted so this should be easy." Adams says putting down a few pages of paper and places them on the coffee table. "I just need you to sign these forms and I'll be out of your way."

We sign the forms and Adams gets up, "Well Bella, say hello to your new mommy and daddy. There's a brother right?" he asks, "Yes, he'll be here in a few hours, he's at school." Adams nods, "Have a merry Christmas Mr and Mrs Washington." he says with a smile, "Merry Christmas to you too." I say and he leaves.

"Hi! I'm Bella!" Bella says in a cheery voice, "Mr Adams told me you are lovely people and that I'm super lucky!" Martha laughs, "We're lucky to have you!" she says. "Well, we can have some real fun later when your big brother gets home. For now we can do something else if you want?" I ask, her eyes light up.

"So I really do have a big brother?" she asks excitedly, "Yes, he's also adopted like you." her smile fades a little, "So, he's also been through a tough time?" she asks, I look at her confused, "You only get put up for adoption when you have no one to look after you." Martha looks at me worried, "Well, I'm sure you can ask him about it of you want." I say, "You can keep him company!" she lights up again, "Okay!"

That's if Alexander will tell her what he's been through.

Alex POV
"And remember, if you ever need to talk, just call. I'll pick up immediately." John says while driving me to Washington's place, "John, I'm gonna be fine! It's only like two weeks." I say, "Yeah well I'm not! I don't want you getting another panic attack and not being able to come out of it. Washington doesn't know what to do!"

I place my hand on his thigh, "I'll be fine John, if something happens, I'll call you." he sighs, "Okay..."

We arrive outside his house, we both get out and grab my bags. We head up to the front door, he puts my bags down, "I need to go, I'll miss you baby." he says and kisses me, "I'll miss you too." he walks back to his car, waves and drives away. I take a deep breath and knock.

The door opens and Washington is standing there, "Alexander! Good to see you son." he says giving me a hug, "Hey Mr Washington, thanks for letting me stay for Christmas." I say as he grabs a bag, "I've said this before, if you're not going to call me dad, you can call me George." he says letting me inside.

I look into the living room to see Martha sitting on the couch and in front of her is a little girl, she was brushing her hair, "Bella, come meet your brother!" Washington yells into the living room. The little girl jumps up and runs towards us, she stares at me for a second, "You're really pretty..." she says subconsciously, eyes wide, "Aww, thank you, you're really pretty too." I say, she smiles.

I kneel down to be level with her, "Hi, I'm Alexander." I say, "I'm Bella!" she says excitedly and hugs me, she touches my hair which is loose, "Can I brush your hair?" she asks, "Yeah sure, let me just put my bags down in my room." I get up grabbing my bags. I hand Washington a brown paper bag, "Presents." I say as he takes the bag.

I walk up to my room and she follows. I almost forgot how huge my room is, I put my bags down and she jumps up onto my bed, I shut the doors and take a few school things out of one of my bags and place them on my desk.

I turn around to see Bella holding a hair brush, I smile and sit in front of her, she begins to brush my hair, "Tell me about yourself Bella." I say, "Well, I'm five years old, my favourite animal is a Kangaroo, my favourite colour is purple and I've lived in the orphanage for my whole life." she says, "Oh, that's kind of sad..." I say, "Not really, it's a nice place. I made lots of friends and everyone was very kind to me!" she says happily.

"What about you? Mommy and daddy say you're also adopted." "Oh, well... My real mother died a few years ago and my father left when I was ten." I say leaving out my cousin and brother. "So were you also in an orphanage?" she asks, "No, actually. But I almost went to one, I would have if George and Martha didn't adopt me."

"What's your favourite colour?" she asked, "Purple too." I reply, she gasps, "It's the best colour!" she yells, "I know right?" she laughs, "So how old are you?" "I'm nearly seventeen, but if anyone asks, tell them I'm seventeen already." I say, she nods her head, "Okay."

"Do you have any friends?" I ask, "Well, I did have this one friend, but we're not friends anymore." she says, "Why not?" I ask, "She made fun of me for never getting chosen to be adopted." she replied sadly, "Well, look at you now." I say and she smiles again, "Yeah! I showed her!" I laughed.

"What about you? Do you have any friends at your school?" she asked, "Yeah, I have some really good friends." "Tell me about them!" she begged, "Okay! So there's Peggy, she's my best friend, she's been with me through a lot. Then there's Eliza, she's that type of friend and doesn't let you get away with anything. Then Angie, she's the friend that will help you get away with anything. Hercules who's like the mom friend, someone you can always depend on. Lafayette, the friend who always makes everyone feel happy, even in the worst of times... And then there's John..." I say.

"John?" she asks, "Yeah... I don't really know if I should call him a friend..." I say, "Why not?" Bella asks, "Well, because he's more then just a friend." she looks confused, "More? Like a best friend?" she asks, "No, more then that." she thinks for a bit, "A bestest best friend?" I laugh, "You know how in fairy tales there's always a prince and a princess?" I ask and she nods, "And the prince and the princess always have a happily ever after?" she nods again.

"Well, it's like that. John is the daring prince rescuing the princess from the highest room in the tallest tower." I say, "Oh! So, you're the princess?" she asks, I nod. "So John is your prince?" she asks, "Yeah, he is. He's my knight in shining armor, fighting all sorts of monsters to coming and rescue me from a dark and lonely dungeon." she gasps again, "He fights monsters?!" she asks with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"No, not monsters like that. But in a way, he does fight monsters." I say sort of subconsciously, "He sounds amazing! I wanna meet him." she says, "I think you might." I say, she puts the hair brush down and moves so she's facing me, "I'm so happy I have a big brother." she says and hugs me. I hug her back, "I'm so happy I have a little sister."