Never Late, Never Away (Vivian and Finnick)
Chapter 3254

Chapter 3254 Pretend Parents

"Here we are. This building is where the children reside in."

The three of them came to the building right next to the director's office. The four floors here were occupied by the orphans that had been taken in. Jake and Megan noticed that some rooms had their curtains drawn, and they could see the children sleeping peacefully through the windows.

At the sight of this, Jake didn't want to rouse the children from their slumber. He then motioned for the director and Megan to turn around. However, a door flung open just as they were about to leave.

All three of their gazes snapped over to the opened door. There, a small figure rubbed her eyes as she walked out. The little girl wore pajamas that were clearly too thin to shelter her from the gusting winds. Her tiny body trembled ferociously whilst she stared at them with rounded eyes.

Megan's face scrunched in concern. She wanted to scoop the child up and take her back into the warm room. However, the child darted behind the door frame before Megan could. The little girl managed a timid squeak, "M-mister director... are these my parents? Are they here to pick me up?"

Hearing this, the three adults fell silent. An inexplicable emotion flashed in Megan and Jake's eyes as they locked gazes. They felt pity and were unsure of how to respond to the poor girl.

Maybe Megan was soft-hearted, or how the tiny girl stood hopefully whilst being blown by the cold winds. The girl reminded Megan of how she hid away and cried miserably after losing her parents. Forcing away these painful memories, Megan slowly crouched down before the little girl. She cast a gentle gaze whilst tenderly caressing the child's cheeks.

"I'm sorry, we're not the parents that were supposed to pick you up. Please don't be too disappointed..."

It's a horrible feeling to get your hopes up high, then have them crushed abruptly, Megan thought to herself. She knew this feeling well enough from the countless times that she had underperformed in comparison to her sister, Mia.

Even if I lied to protect this little girl's feelings, someone else will eventually tell her the truth and burst her bubble.

"Is that so..." the girl questioned whilst tilting her head and looking at the couple with big, round eyes. Bubbly laughter then came from her lips, shocking the adults. She continued, "That's okay. Mister director says I should get used to these things. Although, you really do look like my mom and dad! Except they don't want me anymore..."

She's only a child, yet she's so understanding towards hurtful things that children her age shouldn't know of... Megan sighed. She pressed her lips together, as she didn't know what to say.

At this moment, a voice sounded from behind Megan-it was Jake's. "How about this? She and I will be your pretend parents for the night. We'll tuck you in and sleep by your side."

The cold breeze prickled gooseflesh down Megan's arms. On top of this discomfort, Jake's words were like an icy storm that disrupted her peace of mind. She whirled around to frown at him as if she didn't understand what he had just told the child.

Jake could tell that she was shocked by his words, but he couldn't care less.

He added, "What's with that face? We've obviously gone past the point of sleeping innocently next to each other."

Did he seriously say that in front of the child and the director? Megan's eyes widened. She shot onto her feet and slammed a hand over Jake's mouth.

Then, she quickly scolded him through gritted teeth, "That was an accident!"

Their awkward dispute didn't go unnoticed by the director. He cleared his throat to capture their attention before eyeing the ground, indicating that they were still in front of a child.

Realizing that she had lost her calm, Megan's hand recoiled and awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

She then cracked a tense smile at the little girl. "Well, would you like to sleep with us?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Megan wanted to slap herself for stupidly digging her own grave. Crap. Did I just... agree to sleep with him and the child?

Nevertheless, she couldn't bring herself to resist the little girl's sparkling eyes. She would have eventually given in and offered to spend the night with the girl, even if she hadn't asked now. As expected, the little girl clapped and skipped around excitedly after hearing Megan's question. She then lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Megan's legs. "Yes! I want to sleep with Mommy and Daddy!"

Shortly after, the director brought Megan and Jake, who gave the little girl a piggyback ride, to a separate bedroom on the top floor. This was the room that Jake used whenever he visited.

The director then unlocked the bedroom door and switched on the heater so that the three could spend the night here comfortably. Finally, he excused himself and said, "It's really late now. I'll let you guys get some rest."