There were very few problems as they moved into the second month after the children arrived. Prospective parents gradually rotated through as either tutors, volunteers, or both. The Donetti families made sure that someone from any occupation that the children expressed an interest in was among them.
Some of the eventual matches were more than surprising. One of the most unusual pairings was between Jackie Segreti, The City's only female swordsmith, and one of the older girls. She was definitely on the frail side, but had insisted on accompanying the boys who were, or thought that they were, interested in smithing.
Once they saw how hard the work was, and after lifting a few of the hammers, all the boys bowed their thanks and left. However, "little Flora" stayed until she had to be taken by the hand and led home so as not to miss dinner.
Her only comment when asked how the day had gone was "interesting." The other girls shrugged. She was like that. She might not say more than a dozen words in a day, then, like a tap being opened suddenly, she'd start talking about whatever was on her mind and would keep going until her mouth got too dry for her to continue.
After that day, Flora spent as much time as possible with Jackie at her forge. Her twin, Isobel doubted that she'd find smithing interesting, but it was difficult for her to be away from her sister for more than a few hours, so she began to spend time at Jackie's shop too. It took her all of 10 seconds to confirm that she'd rather die than become a smith, but, for something to do, she starting asking questions about how Jackie got her supplies, how long it took orders to be filled, and such. Within days she was as enamored of the business side of things as Flora was of the smithing.
It was about two weeks after Flora's first exposure to smithing that Jackie, having just finished work for the day, turned to the girls. "Look you. You're here most of the day when you're not in school, and I've head that you've missed a few meals by staying here too long. So, this is what we're going to do."
Both girls flinched back, afraid that they were going to be banned from the shop. Jackie went down on one knee and wrapped an arm around each girl. "What we're going to do is I'm going to adopt the two of you. That way you won't miss any more meals, and I won't be lying awake in bed every night wondering how you're doing and if you're getting enough to eat."
She pulled back and saw two very surprised faces. "Ah. Well, I assumed, or rather, I hoped that I wasn't reading you wrong, but it seemed as if you've come to like me as much as I do you. I thought that it would be best if we were together.
"I'm not all that good with talking, so maybe I said it backwards or sideways or some-ways, but I hope you understood my meaning. It feels empty when I'm alone in the house at night. It never did before, but it does now.
"So, uh, will you say something? Please? Don't just stand there looking like someone dropped a fish down your dresses."
The girls looked at each other, nodded, then jumped on Jackie and "hugged the stuffing out of her."
Jackie stood quickly, lifting the girls as if they weighed nothing. "I guess that's a 'yes'. Let's get washed up and go talk to your Aunt Anna. OK?"
She couldn't see their nods, but she felt them. After they had cleaned up, she picked the girls up again and, in spite of their protests that they were too heavy, carried them to the Donetti's home.
"Don't fret about your weight. From where I sit, you both need more meat on your bones, especially you Flora. If you're to be my apprentice someday, you're going to need a lot more muscle, and that means regular exercise, starting immediately. How diligent you are in doing it will tell me if you have the proper temperament for working with steel.
"For now the most important thing is schooling. A proper smith needs to understand weights and measures, some degree of chemistry, and business. You can't scant on that and just learn smithing. Yes, I know Isobel wants to focus on the business end, but what'll you do if she's sick one day and you have to take care of it?"
She flexed and tossed the twins about five centimeters in the air to settle them better in the crooks of her arms. "That's enough talk about work. What we should do for the rest of the way is talk about who's going to be the most surprised and how much fun we're going to have when they find out."
So saying, she increased her pace slightly and marched up the hill toward their future.
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When they arrived, they found a small celebration already in progress. Two of the youngest, seven-year-old Kristina and eight-year-old Saya were going to be adopted by the Kamalas, a family of lacemakers. Unlike Flora and Isobel, who had become attached to Jackie for different reasons, Kristina and Saya were both interested in learning to make lace.
Their new mother, Dayita, had met them a week after their arrival. They'd been drawn to her personality first, but one day, when her duty was just to watch the kids and be available to help with problems, she'd pulled a bit of lace out of her bag and had started working on it. Like with Flora and Jackie, all the kids had watched for a time, but most soon became bored.
Saya and Kristina were anything but. They were fascinated that such simple, repetitive motions could produce something so lovely. The following week, Dayita brought extra thread and needles and had begun to teach them. She was surprised when even Kristina quickly learned the basics, though she was nearly hopelessly inept, being only seven and still poorly coordinated. However, she was diligent in practicing.
Saya soon learned several of the simple knots reasonably well. Like Kristina she soldiered on, doing her best to improve.
Dayita dispensed praise, when warranted, and frequent hugs and cuddles. Neither of the girls had anything but the faintest of memories of their mothers and had no memories of being hugged at all.
Several weeks on, Dayita brought her son Bala, who was 12, to see how the three of them got on together. He watched them practicing for a while then took a deep breath and sighed. "Gods above, they're awful."
Both girls looked up and seemed about to cry. Seemingly ignoring their expressions, Bala said, "But, they're trying, so I guess they're not totally hopeless." After that, he pushed his way in between them and sat down, pulling his own work out of a bag he'd brought with him.
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He pointed to Kristi's latest attempt. "Look you, you're pulling too hard when you do a knot like that. Here's how to do it right."
After 15 minutes of casually watching out of the corner of her eye, Dayita smiled. Bala had finished with his gruff act and had his entire attention focused on helping the little ones. He'd always loved children and had been heartbroken when they'd learned eight years ago that his mother would be unable to have any more.
Which brings us to the party. Dayita was the first to notice Jackie and her twins as they entered the room and hurried over. "It looks like congratulations are in order for you three as well. Come, let us join the others."
She frowned. "But perhaps you should put the girls down. If you don't let them walk by themselves now and then, they might forget how."
Jackie did a double-take. Dayita was doing her best not to show any expression, but her eyes were dancing with mirth. Jackie set the girls down, patted them on the backs, and said, "Get on over with the others and have fun. I need to talk to Anna about some boring adult stuff."
They looked up, smiled, then rushed over to join the other kids. They could smell ginger cookies, and they didn't want to see them all eaten before they got some.
Dayita put her arm around Jackie's waist, which prompted a startled, almost shocked response. Looking up with a smile, Dayita pulled Jackie with her. "In a way, we're almost going to be in-laws, which makes us family. For those of us from India, having a large family is a blessing. You are most welcome."
Jackie looked down and smiled back tentatively. "Well, it feels sorta strange, but it also feels sorta right somehow. I never had a sister, but I suspect that you have enough mischief in you for three of them. That's all right though. I hate being bored!"
They exchanged grins and laughed, then made their way to where Anna was watching over the proceedings and pretending to supervise.
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Time passed surprisingly quickly, as it always does when you're not watching and it sneaks past you. Mattie finally laid down an ultimatum that sorted out the children in her wing. She, quite rightly, pointed out that they weren't going to be able to do anything as a group until she was grown, and that was going to take at least 10 more years. In the meantime, they needed to get started on their training, so they'd best be about choosing who they were going to live with. RIGHT NOW!
The last girl from Metz, Sally Davidson, was at least as interested in medicine and healing as Brigid. They began by asking to follow Kaho around occasionally when they'd finished school. That eventually led to their meeting Dr. Kastner who, after several visits to confirm that their interest was genuine, introduced them to one of his daughters, Raquel Rodriguez. She was a master herbalist and had a set of fraternal twins who were 12.
By mid-December she and her husband Antonio adopted Brigid and Sally. Brigid was, to say the least, reluctant to leave Mattie "all by yourself," but she was soon disabused of that idea. Mattie glared at her and exclaimed, "Look. You can't be the medic for the Overwing if you're not trained. So quit dilly-dallying and go get started. Kaho says that it takes at least 20 years to become a true expert, and being an expert is the bare minimum that an Overwing will accept. So scoot!"
As Brigid and Sally headed toward their new home, Mattie rubbed her hands together and smiled. With them gone, she'd be the only girl around Alphonse every day, and she needed every advantage she could get. She was three years younger that he was, and it would be at least another six years before she started to develop a figure. The fewer temptations he was exposed to before she did, the better.
She spun around and headed toward the front entryway. Anna would be home soon, and Mattie wanted to tell her that she'd thought about Anna's offer and had decided that she'd be most pleased to be adopted into the family.
As for the four boys in her wing, everyone had been blindsided by their placement. One and all had thought that all the visits by Henrietta and her husband Captain Murray had been nothing more than their donating time...and getting away from all the paperwork waiting for them at The Residence.
The Captain had noticed the boys' martial interests early on and had been working with them at their lessons at Hiroshi Macklin's, where he was the primary assistant instructor. He'd suggested to Henrietta that they adopt them almost as a joke, saying that since they were almost the same age as their four daughters, and they were such diligent and nice kids, it would be good if they lived together as they were growing up, and fell in love. That way they'd avoid having to deal with all the "so-called nobles that are really nothing but bottom-feeding scum" and would be after the girls just because they were Henrietta's.
He'd chuckled when he'd finished, but, rather than laughing with him she'd sat in her chair with a pensive look. For a minute he thought he'd offended her somehow, but then she shook herself and looked directly at him. "Yes. An excellent suggestion. They're wonderful boys, and The Residence could use a bit of noise now and then to break up the tedium. With you training the boys, and me training the girls, even if they don't fall in love with each other, all eight of them will be better for it."
She grinned up at him. "Besides, Henri will likely be thrilled to have some other boys around. I know he loves his little sisters, but, sometimes when he doesn't know I'm watching, he'll look at them and sigh as if being put in a household that's mostly female was some sort of curse."
She stood and strode to her desk. "I'll get started on the official paperwork right now. As one of those 'so-called nobles' we can't have them just move in with us like all the other children did with their new families."
She lifted her head from her writing and smiled at him. "If you hadn't suggested it, I'd planned to by the end of the month. Good on you!"
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Even with that, the most surprising adoption involved the boys from La Grande. Sergeant Rivers dropped by occasionally, starting the first week, "just to make sure things are going well," not that anyone believed her. As time went on, her visits became more and more frequent.
From the time her increased visits were noticed, there was a betting pool among the staff and family, with the bets varying from saying that she'd take all three of the then remaining girls to the four boys who were with Brigid and Mattie and any other combination anyone could think of.
Sara was the only one who bet on Kurt and Sandro, and, once she did, the others knew that they'd lost. They pretended that they were still in the game, but even the new staff had heard the stories about Sara's incredible accuracy when it came to wagering on things.
So, while it wasn't as big a surprise as it might have been, all of them were surprised by how quickly it happened. Sandy took the boys off to the side one day and spoke to them intently for several minutes. When she finished, she knelt down on one knee, after which the boys stepped forward and hugged her. Shortly thereafter they packed up their things and left.
Sandy explained that she wasn't interested in getting married due to her ongoing duties, but she's always loved kids. Since they were 13, and unusually responsible at that, she'd not have to worry about them if she were late getting home due to something coming up at work or when she had the night shift.
For the boys' part, when a few weeks later Anna and Miranda asked why they'd chosen the Sergeant, their answer was both a surprise and, at the same time, reasonable. They said that she was like having two parents wrapped up in one. When she was being the Sergeant, she acted much like the men in her command. However, when she was at home, or they were on an outing on her days off, she dressed and acted much like any other woman.
What Sandro said when Anna asked if there were any other reasons, was heartbreakingly to the point, "It's like this. We know already what it's like when your parents die suddenly. If we had two again, we'd eventually lose both of them, especially if one, or both, didn't take very good care of themselves. But Sergeant Sandy is different. She's awfully healthy, and she takes real good care of herself too. So, with her, we won't have to worry so much and, someday, when it's her time, we'll only have one more person to mourn."
Anna said nothing, just smiled and gestured for the boys to leave. Manda turned around and had a minor coughing episode. Once the boys had left and shut the door, the women threw their arms around each other and cried their eyes out.
Things went well after that, for all concerned. Oh, yes, there were a few glitches as the new families adjusted to each other's quirks, but overall there were no major problems. That lasted until the second week of the new year.