My Name is NOT Cupcake

Chapter 17

The orphanage? And it seemed like this poor woman was running it by herself.

"How many kids live here?" I asked.

"Eight," she said. "Mostly toddlers and younger children, but there is a baby and a few preteens." She

explained.

"Baby?" I asked shocked. Did these people give their children away? How did they end up here? I

found myself wondering a lot of questions.

"Opal, she's about ten months old. Her parents died in an attack recently. She came with her five year

old brother," Yana explained. I found myself smiling sympathetically at the exhausted woman.

"Well, I would love to help, and have some experience with children. Just point me in the right

direction," I said. Yana gave me a tour of the house. It was honestly just a big house. There was a giant

kitchen, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, a playroom, a media room, and a playground outside. The

only thing that wasn't very house-like was the reception area.

After the children woke from their nap, we fed them lunch, which I helped prepare while they were still

sleeping. Yana had me do story time while she cleaned up the lunch from mess. She wanted me to get

to know the children, and I did too. I picked up a random book off a shelf full of fairytales and tried to

get them all to sit still so I could begin. There was Opal, the baby, with her big brother, Oliver. They both

had jet-black hair and hazel eyes. Oliver, I noticed, was very shy and protective of his sister. He

insisted on carrying her, if we let him, or he would try to teach her how to walk, but more than likely, he

just had to have an eye on her. There was a set of twins Alana and Anya. They were bubbly, bouncy

six year olds with long, curly light brown hair and green eyes. Matthew was three years old. He was the

reckless time who seemed to accumulate a different scar on the hour by doing something like running

full force into a wall. His unruly short blonde hair and mischievous blue eyes seemed to fit his

personality. I had a feeling he was going to be a heartbreaker when he grew up. Yana informed me

about the other three children; Kennedy, Elliot, and Grier who were at school. Kennedy was ten, while

Elliot and Grier were 13 and 14 years old.

Eventually, after threatening to take away story time, I got them to calm down enough to begin. Right

away, Alana and Anya crawled into my lap on either side and rested their bouncy curls against my

chest. The other children seemed engrossed in the story as well and kept scooting closer. Well,

Matthew kept getting up and running in a circle, before he realized that no one was chasing him and he

would sit back down. I swear that kid had ADHD.

After story time, the kids went out to the playground to play. Yana and I supervised. I was actually

holding Opal until she started crying. Yana took her inside and Alana and Anya ran up to me with their

identical smiling faces looking up at me.

"Luna, can we play Candyland?" Anya asked. It was easy to tell them apart at the moment because

Yana put a pink bow in Alana's hair and a purple one in Anya's. I smiled at them and took their hands.

"I would love to but I have to make sure I can see all of you," I declined. They looked so sad and

vulnerable when I said that. I felt bad.

"You can go ahead in to the play room. I put Opal in her crib in there so you can keep an ear out for

me," Yana said, coming to stand next to me. The girls instantly looked at each other and smiled before I

was being pulled into the house and straight to the playroom. The twins were laughing the whole way.

For a pair of six year olds, they were pretty strong. We settled into our game quickly.

"Having fun?" I heard from behind me. I knew who it was immediately. I turned to see Elias standing in

the doorway in all his glory. I smiled and nodded. As soon as I stood, Alana and Anya grabbed my legs.

I almost fell over, but Elias held me steady.