The ride was slow, but the girls in the back appeared to enjoy watching out of the window. Well, I say both of them, but it’s Lucia who was looking. My arm is stretched back through Janet’s car to hold Larina’s hand. I could feel her fingers trembling as we rode along. The ride had only just started when Lucia had leaned forward to tell me that Larina wanted to hold hands.

And so here I was. In a car with my mother’s friend and two young and recently orphaned fox girls, on the way to the place where Janet runs. After a minute’s drive of silence, I finally decided to speak up, asking questions I knew the girls would want to know.

‘I have a question…’

‘Go for it,’ Janet replied, her eyes focused on the road. ‘I may not always respond right away. I am driving after all.’ She added, as we briefly stopped to let a car zip past the junction.

‘Fair enough,’ I paused, to get a breath before asking the thought on my mind. ‘how did you get your hands on not only running but owning this children’s home you spoke of earlier?’

‘The process will bore you, but the history is the thing that most people find interesting.’ She continued, narrowly avoiding contact with an aggressive driver on her right, in a car I could only assume from a glance as a Mercedes C-Class or a BMW 328i.

‘Really?’ My eyes widened after that altercation, and my brows raised as I squeezed Larina’s hand before I brought my arm back to my side. ‘What made it so popular?’ My near voice break on “popular” made Janet chuckle.

‘Let’s take a scenic route for this, as we’re already close to the place.’ She stated as she flipped the indicator to go the opposite way to our destination. ‘The place has a surprising amount of history to it.’

‘The place I now run was previously an abandoned site, where a lot of bad things happened that the girls have yet to learn. It suffered a great deal over the years, but with the recently finished renovations, it’s a suitable place for homeless children and orphans to stay off the streets. It’s also a place where independent young adults can get used to living in the real world. The place, according to some experts, was originally built to be a church in the middle of nowhere.’ She seemed to not enjoy this little bit of historical monologuing, so I decided to interrupt with a question.

‘How did it change from being a church?’ I asked quickly.

‘I was about to get to that part.’ She continued, with a short skyme in my direction and a brighter mood on her face. ‘So the origin of this place was to be a place of solitude in the outskirts of Kanterby Village. Before they knew it, the church stopped being an isolated place and our population grew and eventually got absorbed by the growing village. It eventually became one of three churches that still stand to this day.’ I nodded and kept my mouth shut this time, but jumped slightly when I saw Lucia’s head leaning in to listen.

‘The Place had supposedly been left in disrepair for a short while, then became a place of refuge during the Second World War. After the war had ended, there wasn’t any real use for the church after it had been vandalised by the youth at the time and a stained window had been shattered.

‘Luckily, they were recently able to use this smart artificial intelligence thing to find some images on social media that contain the original design so it can be replaced. Anyway, that’s modern stuff. Before it became a place for the Second World War, it was abandoned from its church duties to act as a place for orphaned kids to be sheltered away from the village at the time.

‘Its history was uncovered during renovations with an old, worn logbook hidden under a staircase. We had to call a local Academic Historian to take a look at it and there’s now a history section in the front of the church for visitors.’ She finished, as the car approached an upcoming crossroad before a roundabout.

Before I could ask a question on my mind, the sound of sirens suddenly started wailing loudly. It forced Janet to slam on the brakes as a car shot past less than a metre from the front of the car. The car lurched as a loud and quiet yelp behind me along with one of my own. I heard a quiet pair of sobs and immediately snapped my head around.

‘Nngh! My neck hurts!’ I heard Lucia call out from behind me after a short while.

Faster than I anticipated, Janet pulled over in a safe spot with space for cars to get past and put her hazards on. She gave me a look with her eyes narrowed and a bit distant. Immediately I got out and attended to Lucia while across from the side I was on, while I saw my mother’s friend attend to Larina. I turned my focus onto the priority before me.

‘Hey, it’s okay, Lulu. Where does it hurt?’ I asked, my voice low and calm as I stopped my brows from furrowing.

‘Ngh. Over here.’ Lulu pointed at the end of a red line along her neck that blended into a slight mark on the top of her new shirt.

‘Mind if I take a closer look?’ I asked with my voice tinted with worry, my hand hovered over her left shoulder.

With a silent nod of her head, I was allowed to enter her I pulled the hem of her shirt down enough to get a look. Good thing I checked. It looked like the seatbelt had locked at a looser position than it should have.

The lurch of the car must have forced the seatbelt to tightly rub its edge along her neckline. I kept to myself, as I attempted to guess the length of the sore mark. Doesn’t seem right though, it should’ve been safe and not been this bad. I added.

‘I’ve been meaning to fix that seatbelt.’ Janet spoke up as I started gently rubbing the index and middle finger above and below the mark in circles, hopefully, to soothe some of the pain from the friction burn. ‘There was an unruly kid who didn’t want to be taken to the place after their mother put them up for adoption. I didn’t learn until later that the child had damaged both the edge of the material and the mechanism. This one has faired a bit easier.’ I released a breath I had been holding for a little while, glad that the younger one was okay.

‘Damn. I’d get it looked at if you’re using this to chauffeur more than two people around.’ I mentioned as I brushed a few fingers through Lulu’s hair. ‘With a kid in the back, I think that’s a safety hazard.’ I added, expressing my thoughts on the matter openly.

‘I’ve got an MOT booked for next week, so I’ll try and bring it up then.’ My mother’s friend replied, as we eventually merged back into the traffic.

I just nodded as the traffic increased. The remainder of the trip was silent, as I sat in the front but kept my attention on Lucia in both the wing mirror and the visor’s mirror. She repeated the motions I did on her neck; rubbing in circles around the red mark. I didn’t expect her to copy me, but it was a bit cute.

I started to daydream from the rumble of the car as the traffic built up, the sky that had been bright a few minutes ago with dark grey clouds slowly drifting across the blue vastness and diluting the colours.

‘Looks like the weather’s coming in.’ Janet stated as the first patter of large raindrops pelted the windscreen.

‘yeah, it does.’ I said with a sigh, my voice low and distant.

I stared at the pattern of the rain as the sky got darker, the streaks of the liquid racing down the side of the window as we grudgingly idled our way through this traffic rush. I barely caught my mother's friend cursing for taking such a long route onto the busiest road at the busiest time of the day. Then followed by frustration at the weather.

The traffic eventually subsided after we pulled down an older road. A sudden gasp from behind lulled me out of my small lull. My body stiffened, then relaxed briefly as the car slowed to a crawl. I’d completely zoned out that last bit of the trip until one of the girls gasped at something. The rainy experience felt very soothing.

‘We’re here, Jacob.’ Janet said, probably after she noticed my body jerk slightly. ‘Are you okay?’ She added, as I slowly turned my head to give her visual attention.

‘Sorry, the deep pattering of the rain and the soft rumbling of the car’s engine was very soothing.’ I replied as I shuffled my body into an upright position as her car pulled down a gravel road and into a large area.

‘I hope you’re ready,’ She continued, the engine of the car rumbled to a stop. ‘You’ll need to rush through the rain. It’s a bit of a downpour.’

I looked out of the window and unintentionally let out a well-needed yawn. I had no idea how tired I was until that moment, but I shook my head slowly and noticed a few bangs of hair dangled in front of my eyes.

I need a haircut soon. I found myself thinking, as I swiped my hair off my face. I also need to find a part-time job as well. I barely have enough to scrape by at home just for myself. Stupid Will. I added, frustrated at my father’s Will saying I won’t get the full income from his bank account upon his death until I finished my education.

‘Welcome to the place I run, Aether’s Serenity.’ Said Janet as we walked up to the modernised entrance.

I helped Lucia out of the car, as she still rubbed the small mark on her neck that was less colourful than earlier. I watch as Larina is lifted with speed into Janet’s arms whilst I hold Lucia’s hand as she hops out and stands alongside me.

‘Where are we going?’ Lucia said as we raced through the rain into the entrance of the building.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Her eyes darted around, as she turned to look at the various walls in the entrance depicting the history of the renovated building. The history was much more exposéd in the various news articles, photographs, print-outs and flyers that explored more details about the place. The reception wasn’t bustling, but it did look a little busy as we shook some of the rain off our clothes. I stopped walking further in as I watched my host and guide go up to the reception counter. Probably to speak to whoever was there.

‘Anita, can you spare a second?’ Janet asked as she slowly approached the front desk.

‘Co jest teraz?’ I heard the bespeckled woman reply, in a hint of what I could only describe as frustrated boredom, her voice thick with what sounded like a Polidian accent as she spoke words I’d not understood in the slightest.

‘Uważaj, mamy gości.’ Janet replied, which made me jump.

I didn’t know she could speak the same language! Must have been part of their employment. I thought, then mentally shook my head as Lucia started to tug on and tighten her grip on my hand. They must be from Pol’handa. I added as an afterthought, as I watched her push her spectacles up her nose a bit and then look over the counter towards

‘Hush, I need your attention right this second.’ Janet snapped back playfully to the language I could understand, as I saw them smirk from behind the reception desk and then look behind Janet towards Lucia and I.

‘Oh my, they look cute!’ Anita said, their voice raised along with their rosy-red eyebrows, as they looked between the two girls.

With a simple “come hither” gesture from Janet, Lucia and I approached the reception desk. I could feel Lucia’s hand shaking in mine as we approached them, so I bent down and lifted her to be like her sister in Janet’s arms. It still surprises me how light the girls are.

‘What brings these cute wolf-girls to Aether’s Serenity, today?’ Anita asked us, her accented voice felt like curiosity mixed with a warm inflexion.

‘They need a place to stay whilst Skye’s son takes care of them for the time being.’ Janet said without missing a beat, as she tickled under Larina’s chin. ‘Is there a room for the two girls to take for themselves? Preferably one with less noisy neighbours. Maybe there’s something near… ?’ She added as the two started conversing at length.

I zoned them out, as my mind started to turn and tumble with thoughts about how I was going to visit them. Or for them to visit me. I had a little thumb war with Lucia to calm her down for a short while as everything played out, with her winning most of them. I didn’t want to disappoint them after spending all this time trying to care for them. Before I’d realised it both fox-girls were looking at me together with a look I could only describe as worried mixed with confusion.

I knew there was a better way to deal with all this, but being around the girls has given me a bit of time to think about the state I’ve been in for the past year. I’m fond of the girls now and this might be selfish of me, but I don’t want to see them be given to another family. The girls probably wouldn’t understand, but I would likely jump at the chance now to at least be a guardian of the two girls.

‘–cob? Hello, you in there?’ I snapped out of my thoughts as soon as I heard Janet grabbing my attention again.

‘Uh, sorry.’ I muttered, as I inhaled then released a small but long breath to relax myself. ‘Did you say something?’ I added to make sure I listened this time.

‘Yes, we were just wrapping up our conversation about their lodging here.’ She replied. I hadn’t even noticed that they had wrapped that up so quickly. ‘To avoid a big issue, I’ve requested her to sign an NDA to have them publicly registered as wolf-girls.’ She added after she bent over and spoke at a lower volume.

‘Oh, right, I forgot that would’ve been a big issue.’ I replied with the same volume, as I swapped Lucia over to my left side. ‘Is there a place to sit and eat? It’s been a while since breakfast, my legs are a bit sore and it’s still raining heavily outside.’ I added normally, as a very faint and distant rumble accompanied the bassy rumbles of the rain that pattered on the windows and front doors to the place.

‘There’s always what we call the café area.’ Janet replied, her thumb pointed over her free shoulder as she raised her eyebrows a little whilst her head tilted slightly.

‘That… sounds fine.’ I went to look at my watch when I remembered Lucia was being held by that arm.

I comically slapped my free hand against my forehead after the attempt at reading the time on my watch, finally getting a giggle from Lucia. Whilst Janet said her goodbyes to check on the rooms, Anita took us to the so-called “café area”, and discovered it was part of where there would be some pews in a normal church, but had been converted into a seating area with fold-out tables; small and short alongside big and tall.

After swapping Lucia for Larina, we followed Anita to one of the tables. I saw some of the younger kids carry some plate stacks through a doorway. Probably heading to the kitchen or somewhere like that. Some of them turned and waved, but didn’t approach us like kids in an anime would. There were a few anime that I watched where kids would come up to the protagonist to see how cool he or his young companions were. Luckily, that kind of logic doesn’t seem to apply in the real world for our case.

I could see a range of kids here. From what it looked like, they had a variety of ethnicities and ages. They even had a range of AniBeast Mutation kids. Half of them were wearing aprons. They looked like they were cleaning up after a messy group when I noticed the table was covered in food.

‘Here’s your visitor’s table. There’s food at the open wall back there.’ Anita said when I saw her grab a small object with three flags and a hand-spun clamp on it from the next table over. ‘This little tool can be used to signal to whoever’s on cleaning duty and if you’d like to be approached or not. We have some neurodivergent kids here who use it as a visual identifier for that last part.’ She added, whilst attaching it to our table.

‘Uhm… Can me and Rina get food?’ Lucia asked as she sat down close to my side. ‘I feel hungwy, and Rina might be too.’ She added as she rubbed her stomach.

I looked at Anita and before I could ask, she just nodded in response. I watched as she turned her head with a slight tilt towards Lucia.

‘The food is available for young visitors like you two.’ She said, her lips tugged upwards at the corners, the start of a warm smile.

‘... Okay. Come on, Rina!’ Lucia exclaimed, her voice going from soft-spoken and shy to animated and joyful, as I watched her drag her younger sister towards the table with a small platter of foods dotted over it.

‘I take it there was an issue with high-functioning kids approaching people in the past?’ I raised a brow and my eyes widened a tiny bit as I turned back to face Anita.

‘Yes, we got these commissioned for our place by a young teen who was in school and had a Textiles and Woodworks class.’ Anita replied as she pointed at the object as she spoke. ‘From what I’ve heard, they noticed that some of the different kids approached people who had requested to be left alone, so they took it upon themselves to make a few prototypes…’ My eyes widened a bit more as I listened to all this coming from a young boy. ‘...and this was the penultimate design of what they made which looks nothing like what they sent us.’

‘...Wow.’ That was all I could say in response to the design of the small object attached to the table.

‘While you were zoned out, my boss and I were discussing what type of guardian would suit you for being with the two girls.’ She continued, likely moving on from that little monologuing she didn’t mean to do. ‘There is a way to become a legal guardian this very week, but that’s a lot of paperwork.’

I puffed my cheeks out in surprise as I raised my hands behind my head, whilst my elbows rested on the table.

‘We’ll keep an eye on the girls after we start to work on the legal documents for you.’ Anita spoke, then went silent as the quiet patter of feet on the tiled floor came our way which made me sit back up again.

‘Mister Jake, you looked sad earlier, so I thought you would like this.’ Lucia said as she came and held out a couple of snack bars when I looked her way. ‘I saw you had them in your home yesterday.’ I shifted to her face and saw a toothless grin and a slight, rosy glow on her.

‘Thank you, Lulu.’ I replied, a toothless smile of my own forced into my lips as I scruffed her hair with my fingers. ‘I’ll have them soon.’

I got up for a bit and helped them sit back up on the table, mainly to help Larina. I watched the girls tucking into a surprisingly healthy assortment of little snack-sized fruits and vegetables alongside a few slices of flapjacks.

‘I’m surprised you didn’t go for just the sweets and snacks.’ I remarked, with my fingers performing light circles in Lucia’s hair behind her ears. ‘Well done, to both of you.’ That earned me a silent smile from Larina as Lucia started to purr as she leaned into my touch, her body leaning towards me in the process.

I had almost forgotten that Anita had watched this little display of affection for the girls. All I heard was a chuckle which brought her back to my attention. Short and succinct. Enough to interrupt the interaction.

‘Sorry,’ I said, a hand raised to press against my temple for a short moment as I felt my cheeks gain a bit of warmth in them.

‘It’s alright.’ Anita responded as she returned her hand that covered her chuckle back to her lap. ‘Speaking of the girls, is the little one okay? I’ve not heard her speak this entire time.’ She added, her worried interest in Larina’s lack of voice clear.

‘My neighbours in my apartment block, mainly Emylia, are aware of it as well, but we’re not certain about it yet.’ I said, with the girls present by my side.

‘My sis used to speak to me loads before…’ Lucia started to say before a glint of the overhead natural lighting flashed into my eyes from just below hers as she went quiet.

After I noticed what was happening, I grabbed her shoulder and patted my lap. She crawled onto my lap and I let her hug me tight. Her arms barely made it around my chest as I held my arm around her back. I noticed Larina stare at us and I raised a finger and closed it twice, and she shuffled over herself.

‘It’s a very touchy subject for them.’ I mouthed to Anita, as I let the two girls cling to me, one quietly leaking tears into the shoulder of my shirt and the other into my chest.

‘It’s okay. I didn’t mean to say… Well, you know… sorry.’ Anita apologised in a softer-spoken voice, which didn’t quite surprise me.

She still held herself from expressing her emotions, but it did look like she was genuine in her apology.

‘It’s alright. I’ll be back later to discuss it.’ I replied, hoping to convey through my relaxed face that I was not that worried about it… even though my mind was racing a little at how attached the two girls were to me now.

It took a long while, but I was patient with the girls as they eventually came out of their sad moments. I noticed Anita experienced this entire sequence of events. Up to when they were easily prompted to try and interact with some of the other kids. They listened to me and took off slowly, hand in hand, to see the others.

Larina kept looking back at me, more than Lucia did, until she let go and raced back to me. Lucia quickly followed. Larina said nothing, as she kept trying to open her mouth. Yet no words came out as Lucia went to hug her sideways. Lucia hugged her sister close as she turned her head to look at me.

‘We don’t want you to go.’ Lucia said, her voice a gentle plea that lingered in my mind. ‘Do you promise to come back and see us?’ Their eyes glistened from the recent tears, while her voice began to shake.

I got off the seat attached to the table and hugged both girls in my arms. I dared to not say anything, but I could somehow sense they wanted a response. Instead, I held them until I felt them relax into the hug and then sat on the edge of the seat, my elbows at rest on my knees.

‘You two are, despite our initial interactions and first impressions, a bit special to me now.’ I said, watching as Larina’s eyes widened and Lucia’s jaw dropped a little. ‘I wouldn’t want to forget about either of you.’

‘Wuh-will you pinkie-promise to come see us?’ Said Lucia, who seemed doubtful of my words.

‘Sure. I’ll pinkie-promise to make sure that I will visit you whenever I can.’ I added, my hands closed into fists and the pinkie fingers stuck out towards both of them. ‘I pinkie-promise to always visit you.’ I said with almost all of my heart and mind towards the girls.

Little did I know that there was a chain of events that would affect me before becoming both their legal guardian.