7/12- Angels- Goodness Undercover

Contemporary

The Orphanage. 1990.

Mikaela, Andrew and Alexandra sat on the couch. "At least someone is getting a Merry Christmas." Andrew huffed. Yeah: Zelana. She got chosen, but none of them were surprised; she kept good care of herself, was smart, and clearly had big things to do in life. It was impossible to show these things to the people who came in and eyed them like vultures, trying to determine if you were the 'best' fit. But Zelana managed to break that curse.

Alexandra, for example, had been fostered on fourteen separate occasions, and 'given back' each time. Now, she was almost old enough to leave herself. Only 462 days. Yes, she had been counting. She had been counting ever since her first Christmas here, when she was seven.

Andrew had been there since he was a month old; his parents had died of mysterious causes. He knew this place better than anyone, even than most of the workers did. The renovation of '81 was firmly in his mind. Unlike Alexandra, he never counted, because there was never a good time to start. And he was never going to start counting down the days, or counting on people.

Mikaela, however, was a newcomer like Zelana.

She had the hope the others clinged for, yet let slip out of their grasps. She gripped it, and held it close to her heart, and tried to share fragments with the others. But they wouldn't take it. If anything, they pushed the fragments away. Mikaela's mum had always struggled to keep the two of them afloat, so decided finding another home would be best for her. So, Mikaela was left alone at the front steps of the orphanage, one random night in July.

It was understandable what Andrew had said about someone having a Merry Christmas. Within the Orphanage, Christmas was a miserable affair. The nuns, because being in here wasn't bad enough, would hide the gifts each child had made in the week preceeding Christmas. It could be anything from a piece of straw, to a model house, to an old collection of chocolates that experied three years ago. That was on the 'better' end of the gifts. A more accurate description would be 'less terrible'.

And that would practically be it. They'd get one extra piece of turkey for dinner, before being sent up to bed at the usual time for lights out. What was even worse, was that a lot of kids would have to be chosen to miss the turkey, if the budget had been cut (which it always was). Andrew had maybe 1 piece of turkey around the years of the renovation.

One year, the one Alexandra joined, the 'lucky' -- meaning anyone who didn't live in the Orphanage -- donated to make their Christ,as special. It was... good. Not a real Christmas, but they had warm clothes, cups and stationary.

It never happened again.

"Well, Zelana deserved it." Alexandra's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Anyone else could have been chosen. The young new girl, for example -- Alexandra knew exactly how Mikaela was feeling right now, alone at Christmas for the first time ever -- or those who had been here their whole lives. Those who cried every night. Those who desperately needed parents for some sort of support.

Not Zelana who came here three months before being whisked away.

"Merry Christmas." Andrew muttered.

"Merry Christmas!" Mikaela yelled, unaware of the older kids' moods.

*

The Street. 2001.

Andrew stolled the street, hand-in-hand with his newly-betrothed Penny. Christmas was more joyful for him now, if he didn't think about his childhood.

This time next year, they'd have a young child to celebrate with. And Andrew would love him or her with his whole heart.

As the couple came to the zebra crossing, he seemed to recognise the young woman across the street. His wife noticed her too, as if blinking would make the figure disappear.

They crossed the street, still hand-in-hand, and Andrew tapped the girl on the shoulder. She was in her twenties, with big bouncy curls and those enrapturing eyes. "Zelana?" he asked, his voice quiet.

"Yes?" Zelana turned to him, pausing for just a second before wrapping her arms around him.

"Go to the store." he growled at his wife.

"Are you ok?" Penny asked, concern in her voice.

"Yes, yes. Sorry. I'm not mad at you." He kept staring at Zelana as she let go off him, as if staring at her enough would make her disappear.

His wife listened to him, realising he needs space to talk.

"What are you doing here?" Zelana asked cheerily, practically skipping.

"What are you doing here?" he reflected, no emotion in his voice. She left them all back there! It's a childish grudge to hold, but he didn't want to let go.

"I'm here to visit, my parents!" It might have been the worst thing she could have told him. "How's life? Do you have a good job? You wanted to be a civic engineer, didn't you?"

"Stop acting like you know me." He indicated for them to move to move closer to the wall and further from the busy road. "How's life? You were only there for a few months. You have no right to act as if you know what it was like."

Zelana's face fell. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but you don't even know half of it. I'd been in another Orphanage for years, but it was flooded, so me and all my friends got shipped out far from each other. The damage was too expensive to repair. I moved to yours on my 14th birthday. On my birthday. I know I got lucky, and I thank God for it every day."

His lips tightened into a line. Ok, so maybe she wasn't as lucky as they had all thoguht her to be.

"I set out to help others. I saved every penny I earned, so one day I could rebuild my home. It hasn't come true yet, but fundraisers have helped us get significantly closer!"

"I'm gld." Andrew relaxed for the first time in what felt like his whole lifetime. A worry of his life being ruined, and others' lives being ruined, was gone in a second. Someone who can help cares.

"And Mikaela lives with me now. It's her last year living with me, and then she'll be off to Uni. Little Tim lives with me, too. And Belinda! i don't know if you remember them. Soon, I'm adopting a young boy who has lived in an Orphanage since he was just a few months old." She placed a hand on Andrew's shoulder, smiling.

"I'm just waiting for Mikaela to move out first, so that I'll have more space."

"It's almost like a factory production." Andrew wasn't sure if he was horrified or impressed.

"Oh, no! I hope not. I'm going to be having him over for Christmas, so he can get used to the house. I hope he'll be happy with that little surprise."

"If I were him," Andrew finally smiled. "I'd be overjoyed.

When he rejoined his wife, he was bubbling with Zelana's excitement. "Should we adopt a kid?"

"And what got you to change your mind?" Penny kissed him quickly. "You always said that it'd make the other kids too upset."

He took his wife's gloved hand, reaching for the apple juice. "Our baby might like some company. Don't you think so?"

Thank you for reading. I hope you got a little Christmas joy from this story. Here, for anyone who wants it, is the maintenance.

If you enjoyed this story, please, please, please (I can add a cherry if necessary) like, comment, rate and share. It really helps me out and allows others to see these (hopefully decent) stories. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.