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Delilah Ceit was smart.
She’d skipped two grades, launching herself halfway through primary school because of the results of one test. She read so fast, as if the books in her hands were bound to disappear at any moment. Classwork was always done quickly and accurately, and she never tried to disturb anyone when she was finished.
Delilah was smart.
She had her address memorized the minute she stepped onto the school grounds, knew how much food she could get for the week based on the amount of money. She never kicked or screamed because she didn’t have what she wanted.
Delilah was smart.
She pretended her life was one of those books she read, talked eagerly about her father when asked, though never speaking unless spoken to. She forged signatures and lied when no one showed up for her parent-teacher conference. They were at work. Traffic was bad. She made sure to stay out of trouble, called any and all adults ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’.
She knew not to cry when she fell even if it hurt and was covered in blood. She never wanted to go to the nurse, because going to the nurse meant a call home, and a call home meant something bad.
So she’d ride things out. Wait to graduate from high school and go as far as she could from Michigan.
She’d escape, one day.
~~~
Remus and Roman aren’t in Thomas’s class this year. The three of them were split up, due to several teachers’ requests to the administration.
(Logan would be lying if he said he hadn’t vouched for the separation, as well.)
Thomas was fine anywhere. He could adapt to social situations easily, and refused to fight fire with fire.
Still, with his friends-turned-adopted-brothers absent, he wasn’t sure what to do. In class, his eyes always caught Delilah’s.
She was smaller than the rest, her long hair often tied up in a ponytail. She preferred sitting in the corner during reading time, and there was always a stack of books at her feet. At recess she never fell, but came in with bruises on her arms all the time.
One morning, she was sitting in front of the school gates. Logan needed to come in early to decorate the classroom for his kindergartners, and brought Thomas with him. Virgil would drop off the twins closer to the start of school.
She sat on the sidewalk, her eyes close to falling shut and another book in her hands.
“Delilah?” Thomas ran ahead of Logan. “What are you doing here so early?” He stopped in front of the small girl.
“Just waiting to go inside.” She said with a lazy smile as Logan walked up.
“Thomas, who’s your friend?” Logan asked, pulling his keys out.
“My name is Delilah, sir.” Her posture straightened immediately, her eyes now alert.
“You two can play while I set up my classroom. Delilah, have you eaten breakfast?”
“Um…”
“Then our first stop is the cafeteria.”
Logan unlocked the gates, holding them open for the two kids to walk inside. After they were safely on the grounds, he locked the gates again, knowing the administration wouldn’t want any unwelcome visitors. He led them to the school kitchens, where he stood back and let Delilah and Thomas grab their cereal and milk cartons.
“You can eat in my classroom, but this time only, okay?” Logan promised as he unlocked his door. “It’s a little cold to play right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Delilah, you don’t need to call me ‘sir’. You can call me Mr. Sanders.”
“Yes, sir.”
The three of them stayed in the classroom for the rest of the hour. Thomas gave Delilah a tour of the room, with Logan listening fondly. When their third grade teacher stopped by for a chat, Delilah followed the teacher to their own classroom.
“She’s quiet, huh?” Logan asked, pinning a paper decoration to the wall.
“She’s always quiet.” Thomas shrugged. “She talks more when there aren’t adults around.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. She never gets in trouble for talking. She skipped two grades and she’s very smart. But…” Thomas stopped himself before he could continue talking. Logan picked up on this and looked at his son.
“But?”
“I don’t know if I can tell you. Delilah said I couldn’t.”
“You can tell me anything, and you will never get in trouble with me or Dad if you tell us the truth. Okay, Thomas?”
“Delilah comes to school early a lot. And she never falls but she always gets hurt. At least, I think she does. One time she came to school and her arm was purple. She said it didn’t hurt. She’s very strong.” Logan’s eyes widened as Thomas spoke. Now he understood why she had told Thomas to keep a secret. She didn’t want to get trouble if any adult found out what or who was hurting her.
“Oh.” Logan said simply. He’d have to talk to their teacher to get more information, but he doubted that they knew more than he did.
The bell rang and Thomas ran off to where he needed to line up. Logan rubbed his eyes.
He’d start asking around at lunch.
~~~
In the middle of kindergarten’s morning break, something in the third grade wing caught his eye. Someone was yelling, and there were more adults than usual. And… was that Adri?
As he walked closer, he heard Thomas’s voice screaming. “She’s not leaving until you tell me why!” He yelled, standing in front of Delilah protectively.
“Thomas, do you want us to call your fathers-” His teacher threatened, and Logan quickened his pace.
“What’s going on?” He asked. Thomas was still standing in front of Delilah, stubborn tears rolling down his face. Delilah’s eyes were wide, and she backed into the door as Logan approached them. “Thomas, why are you yelling?” He bent down, looking at the third grader.
“They want to take her away.” Thomas cried, launching himself into Logan’s arms. “It’s not fair, she didn’t do anything wrong!”
Logan looked to Adri. “I’m guessing you’re here because of something involving Delilah’s parents.”
Adri nodded. “Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”
“Someone can cover for me. Right?” He looked at Principal Morenas, who gave him a nod.
“Under different circumstances, no. But clearly you have something to do with this situation, and some information to be given. Take as long as you need.” The principal sighed. “For now, I’ll let you talk in my office.”
“Back inside, Thomas.” Logan said, ushering his son to the door.
“But what if something bad happens to her?”
Logan crouched to meet his son’s eye level. “Nothing bad is going to happen, okay? I’ll make sure of it.”
Thomas looked at him with teary eyes.
“The best thing you can do for Delilah right now is to go to class, okay bud?”
Thomas nodded begrudgingly, and Logan stood up. He looked at Principal Morenas.
“Lead the way.”
~~~
“Delilah, your father died in an… accident, earlier today.” Logan’s eyes widened and he glanced at the little girl, who was stone-faced. “Do you have any relatives or family friends who can take care of you?”
The six year old shook her head. “How are you feeling?” Adri asked, and Delilah paused.
“He hurt me.” Delilah said simply, and Logan had the overwhelming urge to scoop the girl up in his arms as tears bubbled up in her eyes. “He was a bad person.”
“A-are you sure you have no one who can take care of you?” Principal Morenas asked, and Logan jumped in.
“I can.”
“Mr. Sanders, that’s very noble, but if I remember correctly you’re already a father to three boys-” The principal started, but Logan started speaking, fast.
“We have the room and the money,” The money part was a lie and the others knew it, “And I may have a limited understanding of who Delilah is, but the foster care system is rough and considering her experiences, it may traumatize her even more. Adri, you know we’re good parents, and you know about kinship care. If there was anybody else, I’d let her go with whoever she’s closest to. But there isn’t, and I can’t sit and watch this happen.”
“There’s a process-”
“So Virgil and I will do it again.”
“Mr. Sanders, you haven’t even conferred with your husband-”
“We’ll do it again.” Logan argued. Delilah watched the whole argument, her eyes flickering back and forth between the adults.
“Delilah, what do you want?” Adri looked at the little girl.
“I wanna stay with Thomas.”
“You do know she’ll have to stay at the center for the night before you can take her home.” Adri sighed, knowing that there was no point in trying to argue with Logan anymore.
“So be it.”
~~~
At dinner that evening, Thomas asked about Delilah.
“Well, she’s going to be staying with us for a while.” Logan replied, trying to block out the seething glare Virgil was giving him from the corner of his eyes.
“Wait, a girl is gonna live here?” Remus asked incredulously.
“Yeah! And she’s really nice!” Thomas started rambling about Delilah when Logan finally met Virgil’s eyes.
When dinner was over, Virgil practically dragged Logan into the kitchen for the dishes. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Language.” Logan mumbled out of habit, receiving another glare from Virgil.
“I’d be fine with this if it was like, tattoos, or pets, but kids? Kids, Logan. Kids are forever. I’ve barely heard of this girl, and now you’re fighting for her to live with us?”
“I had to.”
“Why? Is it some hero complex that you have? Why couldn’t you have just walked away and let someone else deal with it?” Virgil threw his hands up in the air. “First it was the twins, now this…”
“Her father was hitting her.” Logan said, his voice quiet now. “I was going to jump in anyways, when Thomas told me this morning. But then I decided to wait until lunch and around morning break was when everything happened. Her father died running from the police. She couldn’t look me or any other adult in the eyes when we talked to her. She needs help.”
“Your help specifically?” Virgil pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t save everybody-”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to sit around and wait for another person to come along. Because what if no one does? We both went into our jobs because we wanted to help people-”
“So why not help them.” Virgil finished, sighing loudly. “Next time give me a warning, or better yet, a say in the matter.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“Oh please, you’re a saint. Considering this is the second time this has happened, I’m damn sure that there will be a next time.”
~~~
The next afternoon, Adri drove over with Delilah in tow. Logan promised Virgil that he’d sign all the documents this time around so Virgil could get to know the little girl. All three of the boys waited in the kitchen, looking for their after-school snack.
After they had eaten, Delilah remained in the kitchen with Virgil.
“You know, you can eat as much as you want.” Virgil said, noting the still-full plate in front of her. “I’m Virgil.”
“I know. Thomas told me a lot about you at school today.” She said, her eyes cautious.
“Good things, I hope.” Virgil gave her a smile and she nodded. He thought he saw her shrink back into her seat when he smiled.
“What am I supposed to call you, sir?”
Virgil chuckled, waving his hand in the air. “You don’t need to address me or Logan as sir. You can call us by our first names, or you can call me Dad and Logan Papa, like Thomas does.”
“I won’t get in trouble if I do?” She eyed the hand in the air.
“Of course not.” Virgil sighed, dropping his hand. “We want you to be comfortable here and around us in general. And if you aren’t, you can always tell us, and we won’t get mad. All we want is no secrets, okay? If you get hurt, we want to know about it.”
“Why?”
“So we can help you through the pain.” Virgil replied simply, sipping his cold-brew. “Do you want to stay with us?”
Delilah was smart, and she knew this was the best opportunity. For the first time in the past twenty-four hours, she grinned.
“I want to stay.”