Jordi and Noah went back to Alberta a few weeks ago and now it was time for me to talk to Gabe about having kids. He called and said he'd be home late, so I took the liberty of driving down to Angel's and picking us up some food. I was preparing how I was going to explain everything to him, when he walked in with tears streaming down his face.

He was a complete mess and my heart dropped at the sight of him.

"Oh my God, baby, what happened?! Is everything ok? Are you ok? Did something happen to someone?" I asked.

He wrapped an arm around me and he took a deep breath.

"Lily is in foster care." He told me.

"What?! What happened?" I asked.

"She... she had a bruise on her arm, her father threw a chair at her, and we were right, they've been awful towards her, it's neglect but like totally intentional. Like they don't want her in their lives and they don't even put in an effort. They signed their custody away without hesitation, they didn't want anything to do with her, and she's in foster care now." He explained.

"Uhm... did you go with her everywhere?" I asked, wiping his tears away and thinking how badly we needed to go get that little girl and bring her home.

"Yeah, we took her to the hospital for her arm and then the child protective services office and then to the foster care facility..." He told me.

"And you just left her there?!" I yelled angrily, feeling like my fiancé was an idiot.

"Of course I did, what am I supposed to do? Stay with her there?" He asked me.

"No! You bring her home, Gabriel!" I groaned, grabbing my car keys.

"No. You said you didn't want kids, I'm not about to get even more attached to a kid that I can't make mine... And I don't want to push you into anything. You said you didn't want kids, so we aren't going to have kids." He said to me.

"No. We have a daughter now, get in the car." I said, making my way towards the door.

"Ava! You can't just do that. You have to think... think, Ava. You don't want to take time off work and Lily is a lot to handle, I refuse to let her be neglected even in the slightest. So, we can't handle this, we can't." He said to me.

"You have the summer off, and I have loads of free time on my days off. We can do it. First, there's this summer and then she'll be going to school with you every day and I'll be free on weekends, I'll even take time off next year if I have to. That's our daughter, Gabe! It was just meant to be, ok? Now, please. Get in the car!" I begged him.

"Ava. Ava, just breathe for a second. Think about what you're saying... you don't want kids, baby, so we don't have to do this. I can find her a good home, I will find her a good home. But our home has never been an option. You're the one who said that you didn't want children." Gabe said.

"I want children, Gabe. I love kids, I've always wanted one. But then I became a doctor and things changed, I started to think that if I took time off I'd just prove I wasn't a good enough doctor and now I realize that I don't care what anyone thinks, ok? I am a good doctor, and I'm so successful that my life is more than just being a doctor! I have you, and now I'm going to have a daughter. Please, Gabe. Let's go." I said, begging him to come get that sweet little girl and bring her home.

"Look at me." He said to me.

I looked up into his big, brown, emotional eyes and I smiled.

"I'm really serious about this. I was even going to tell you I wanted to have kids tonight when you came home, but then this happened, and it's all happening at once and I can't bare to think she's there all by herself. Please, Gabe. She needs you." I said to him.

"Ok, ok... let's go." He said.

"You do want this, right? I'm telling you that I want children. So, you want to adopt her, right?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes, I do. I care so much for that little angel." He said, taking my hand.

"Does she have clothes? Did she eat? Should we take something with us?" I asked.

"No, no. She's all good for now, baby. I just want to get back to her, she was really broken up about me leaving." He said.

"Alright, but please let me bring her a stuffy, please!" I said.

"Alright. But quickly." He said to me, kissing my forehead as we got into the car. Gabe called the people at the foster care facility, letting them know that he'd discussed Lily with me and that we wanted to take her in. He also called his parents and talked to them about it.

Meanwhile, I went down to the store and bought her a little elephant stuffy, I thought it was adorable and it was really fluffy and soft. I felt like she'd love it. I hoped she did.

When we arrived at the facility, Gabe was ready to burst in there and just grab his little girl. We went in there and they lead us to her room. As soon as the door opened, she looked back and she ran into Gabe's arms.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetie. I'm so sorry. I'm not leaving. You're coming home." He said to her.

She nodded, holding onto him like he was about to evaporate. He was holding onto her just as desperately though. I knew Gabe felt like he had lost her when he had to leave her there. The poor little girl had been through a lot too, she was left there all alone in a foreign place.

"N-now y-you'll take me h-h-home to the doctor lady? Even if I don't know if I like her? You'll take m-m-me home to her?" Lily asked as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Yes, I'll take you home. Of course I'll take you home." He said to her.

"I-I-I don't like it h-here. C-can you t-t-take me h-home now, p-please... please?" She cried.

"Yes, we're going." Gabe said, picking her up and leading her to our car while I handled all the paperwork and the formal stuff.

I got all her little bags and the stuffy that she left on the bed. My little black-haired, blue-eyed girl was coming home with us.

When I got to the car, I saw that Lily was still crying while Gabriel strapped her in. He handed me the key and I drove my little family home. We were her foster parents now and if things worked out well enough, we'd be able to adopt her soon. But the way she looked at me wasn't exactly accepting or welcoming.

When we got there, Gabriel grabbed a little sniffling Lily from the backseat and he carried her in. He sat her down on the couch beside him and I walked over to them.

"Welcome home, Lily." I said softly.

She looked at me, looking unsure how she felt about me, and then she rested against Gabe's chest.

"I got you something." I said to her.

She just grabbed Gabe's arm and pulled it closer, making him tighten his grip on her. I sat down and I held out the elephant stuffy.

"It's yours if you want it." I said to her.

She reached out and touched it gently.

"Do you like it?" I asked her.

"Him." She corrected me.

"Right. Do you like him?" I smiled.

"What's his name?" She asked me.

"He doesn't have one yet. Do you think you could come up with a name for him?" I asked her.

"Uhm... he's Cornelius." She said to me.

"Wow. That's an awesome name." I giggled. "I think Cornelius wants to hang out with you... he doesn't really know this house and he was wondering if you two could get to know it together."

Lily seemed to like this elephant a lot more now that he had a name and he wanted to hang out and explore the house with her.

"Cornelius." She sighed, pulling the elephant out of my hands and into her lap.

"Now... n-now I live here?" She asked, seeming to still be in high alert.

Gabe seemed to be shocked by how much she was speaking. But I knew it was just out of fear that she was asking questions and trying to understand her situation.

"Yes. You live here now with us. You're gonna stay with us for a whole week, and then those guys that we talked to today, they'll come talk to you again and see if you want to stay here and then you'll either stay or leave." Gabriel said to her.

"No... I want to stay." She said.

"Then you can stay, Lily. Whatever you want is going to happen, Sweet Girl." Gabe said, hugging her tightly and kissing her forehead.

"And what do we do here? Do I go to my room?" She asked.

"Only if you want to." I told her.

"You can go wherever you want within the house, Lily. Just tell one of us if you want to go play in the yard, ok?" I asked her.

She nodded her head.

"And... and what about if I want to have some snacks?" Lily asked.

"You just tell me or Gabe and you can have a snack right away. We'll get you one." I said to her.

"And even breakfast?" She asked me.

"For breakfast, you'll always get it in the morning with us." Gabe told her.

"And what about my bath time?" Lily asked, hanging onto Gabe.

"We'll have bath time every night before bedtime." I said to her.

"By myself?" She asked.

"Do you want to have bath time by yourself?" I asked her, not wanting my girl to drown if I left her in the bath on her own.

"Uhm... I don't like bath time..." Lily said, her eyes watering.

"You think if you and Ava tried to have bath time together it would be better?" Gabe asked her.

"Uhm... Uhm... I don't know." She shrugged. "What about you?"

"You think we could try it... you and me... and anytime you want me to leave you can tell me?" I asked her.

She nodded her head hesitantly.

"Alright, Sweetie. We can try that." I smiled.

"When is it bedtime?" She asked.

"Soon. Are you hungry?" Gabe asked her.

"Uhm... no. I want bath time." She said, seeming uncomfortable in her current state.

"You feel a little icky?" I asked her.

She nodded her head.

"Alright, baby, let's go have bath time and then we can go see if we can get some sleep in your room." I said softly.

"Gabe... why don't you go see if Lily's room is ready for her?" I asked, suddenly realizing how completely unprepared we were.

Gabe immediately nodded and called Romeo as Lily finally agreed to take my hand and follow me to the bathroom.

"Romeo, hey... I need stuff." Gabe's voice could be heard as Lily and I entered the upstairs bathroom. I sat on the edge of the tub, and I let Lily's wide eyes explore the bathroom.

Poor thing, she seemed totally lost in thought and hesitant to do or say anything.

"Like a bath robe... bedsheets, blankets, a little bed, Uhm... Uhm... a hairbrush... oh! Shampoo! And... and.... Uhm... like kids stuff." Gabe's confused and flustered voice filtered through the bathroom door.

Lily looked completely lost as her eyes zeroed in on a spot on the wall. I turned and looked at what she was looking at to find a very bright, colourful bottle of my body wash.

"You wanna see it?" I asked her.

She didn't respond, she just looked between me and the bottle.

"It smells good." I said to her, grabbing the bottle.

I brought it closer to her and she stepped a little closer, sniffing the bottle.

"It smells nice, doesn't it?" I asked her.

She nodded her head, taking the bottle from my hands.

I let her explore the bathroom as if she'd never been in a bathroom before. She scratched her head as she looked at the ceiling and then she looked at the shower curtains. They had colourful circles on them.

"You like the bathroom?" I asked her.

"Hey, Ava! Two minutes, Baby!" Gabe called out gently.

"Got it. Call me if you need anything." I called back to him.

Lily looked into my eyes and started examining my face.

"You wanna pick an outfit for bed?" I asked her.

She nodded, pulling her backpack closer and unzipping it. She pulled out the clothes and she pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, along with a pair of underwear.

I made a mental note to take her to Em. She needed new clothes.

About two minutes later, Gabe knocked on the door with eight bags in his hands hands.

I opened the door and he dropped all the bags, getting down on his knees in front of Lily.

"I got you some special stuff." He smiled at her.

She moved closer to him and he pulled her into his lap. He opened one of the bags and he pulled out a little white pyjama onesie with strawberries scattered all over it.

Lily gasped and took the onesie in her hands.

"And this." Gabe said, pulling out a little kid bathrobe with a bunny hood. He even had night slippers and a hairbrush. Her shampoo was strawberry scented as well.

"Do you like strawberries, Lily?" I asked her.

Gabe chuckled as she nodded.

"Why don't you two finish up with bath time and then we can have a snack before bed?" Gabe asked.

Lily nodded and he smiled, letting her get up and kissing her forehead. I took the bathrobe and hung it up and Gabriel took the onesie with him. Lily was left holding my body wash and her new shampoo.

This poor little girl just needed some comfort. We were completely unprepared, we had both made a very bold decision when we decided to immediately bring her home. But this particular bold decision was worth all the trouble. I could hear Gabe in the other room trying to set it up, he kept yelping quietly and hissing in the spare bedroom that was between our room and this bathroom.

I knew I had a lot of cleaning of cuts and soothing cream application to do after Lily's bath. But for now, there was the task of giving Lily the privacy she needed while supervising her bath and also making sure she didn't mess up the bandages on her injured arm.