Chapter Text
“Why is his hair all white?” Tallulah signed.
“He was just born like that,” Roier said.
“Do you know how old he is?” Chayanne asked. He stood leaning, looking at the boy in Roier’s lap that, ever since last night, was the newest addition to the family. In his hand, he still had the book he was reading when he was told to head to, what soon became, the boy’s room. Cellbit could see bits of the title, “The Princess Bride.”
“Younger than you, but older than Tallulah, Richas, or Pomme,” Cellbit said. For at least the past 8 hours, Cellbit hadn’t stopped smiling. The kid hadn’t stopped smiling either. They had just put the new boy in some clean clothes, some of Chay’s hand-me-downs.
“He’s cute,” Leo, Roier’s little brother, said. She still had not fully warmed up to Cellbit, unlike the rest of his family. Their dad just so happened to be the same man Cellbit met at the dance.
“What’s his name?” Pomme asked, signing. She and Richas were closest to Roier and the boy in his lap and they were playing with the boy's hair, braiding and unbraiding it, sometimes putting small flowers or ribbons in it. He giggled in return.
“My name’s Bobby!” His right eye was a chocolate brown but looked almost amber in the sun. Cellbit sat down on his son’s bed. Bobby’s left eye was a gorgeous purple, just like his mom’s. When Roier found him drowning in some discarded fishing nets, and Jaiden cut him out, it left a small scar just under his cheek, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. Since Jaiden and Roier found him first, they were “Mama” and “Apa”, while Cellbit was step-dad, “Dad.”
“Apa, podemos ir en un aventura hoy?” Bobby smiled.
“Si, cómo no, chiquitin, ve a encontrar a Mamá,” Roier said. Bobby jumped out of his lap, leaving Pomme’s and Richas’ hairstyling dreams as just a dream, and ran off to find his mom. As the little braids in his hair bounced, he turned to the other kids in the room, and to Cellbit. “Let's go on an adventure!