Eventually, Kiara fluttered into the room and placed a plate of cookies on the bed in front of me. I looked up in shock. I could smell them, so I knew what they were, I just never expected that they'd look this good. She made me some comfort food because she knew I was upset from my talk with my mother and aunt. Some cuddles would have sufficed, but this was incredible.

I took one and bit into it, then I decided to just forget about everything and cuddle with my kiwi while we ate her delicious cookies.

"Did you turn the oven off? I always forget to do that." I chuckled nervously.

She nodded and she let me pull her into the bed.

"How can someone possibly make such delicious cookies?! Aunt Sophie is gonna love you!" I said, then I remembered the pained look on her face when she saw Kiara. How afraid my aunt seemed about Kiara and her past and I felt upset again.

Kiara's soft hand fell on my cheek and pushed my face to look into her eyes. I felt better when I saw her look at me like that, as if telling me that I should forget my worries and enjoy this moment.

"Come here, Kiwi." I said to her, pulling her to straddle my lap. "You didn't have a problem eating the fruits today."

She nodded once.

"Is this cookie going to be like yesterday's soup and cheese bite?" I asked her.

She looked at the cookie and nodded.

"Take the cookie." I instructed her and I took the cookie I'd already taken a bite out of.

She stared down at her fresh cookie that she made herself and then she pouted at me.

"No. No pouting, Kiwi. It tastes so good." I said softly. "I'm gonna take the first bite, show you how easy it is and then you'll take a bite, ok?"

She nodded softly. I took a huge bite out of the cookie and smiled.

"Such a good baker, Kiwi. It tastes delicious. Your turn." I told her.

She took a tiny bite out of the cookie and then she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Wow. I'm so proud of you, Kiwi. You're such a brave girl." I encouraged her.

She shook her head, ready to burst into tears.

"Can you tell me why you don't like to eat?" I asked her.

She came closer and snuggled into my shirt.

"Fat." She whispered.

"What? Do you think it'll make you fat?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"You can't survive if you don't eat though." I said to her. "And it's not going to make you fat."

She looked down at her belly as if there was something there.

"There's nothing here." I said, stroking her belly.

She let a few tears fall when I said that.

"There isn't, Kiwi. Look, I know this might be mean, but you're only going to be healthy if you eat and gain weight. So we're going to do something." I said to her.

I brought the scale Arabella left in my cabin and I placed it down on the ground.

"Alright, get on." I said softly and she got onto it.

I expected her to weigh a little more than she did. She was 85 pounds which was not at all healthy for a girl of her height.

"We're going to work up to at least 108 pounds, ok?" I asked her.

She had tears in her eyes but she nodded.

"I want you to forget everything anyone said to you when you were there. Those people were horrible people and they were trying to hurt you, but that's over now, and you should know by now that they were liars. You're so beautiful, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. But it's a little scary that you're all skin and bones, there are no muscles on here." I said, stroking her arm.

She nodded.

"So we're gonna gain weight, alright?" I said softly.

She nodded and I smiled at her.

"That's my good girl. That's my brave, beautiful girl." I told her, kissing her forehead and hugging her tightly. I didn't want her to feel upset anymore and hurt like this. It was so painful to watch.

I hated that she didn't try to get any closer. It was frustrating, but I knew she needed time to get more comfortable. She spoke though. It was only three words in total, but it was better than nothing.

I sat her down on the bed and then I turned my laptop on and tried to find a movie for us to watch.

"Which one?" I asked her.

She looked at the screen and frowned at the Monsters Inc. movie.

"This one?" I asked her, clicking on it.

She stared at it with a frown and nodded. I turned on the movie and then went to the kitchen and got some snacks that I had bought for Mila and Mia. She was too engulfed in the movie to eat anything. But she really seemed to be enjoying the cuddling. When it was over she looked up at me.

"What? Did you like the movie?" I asked her.

She nodded but started crying.

"Why are you crying?" I asked in shock.

She looked at the screen with the credits rolling through and she cried even harder.

"Do you want to watch another one?" I asked her.

She nodded her head vigorously. I scrolled through some of Ari's favourite movies and then I found Wreck it Ralph and again, Kiara was into it. I turned it on and watched it for what felt like the millionth time.

After a whole movie marathon, all of the movies being cartoons that Ari was into. Kiara pointed to a Harry Potter movie.

"This is a series, Kiwi. We can start with the first movie. Would you like that?" I asked her.

She nodded her head and I put on the first Harry Potter movie, something I was actually more interested in myself. At least it wasn't a cartoon.

We watched the whole movie and then she turned in my arms and closed her eyes, cuddling into my shirt.

"What's wrong, Kiwi?" I asked her, rubbing her back.

I took out my phone and saw a few messages from Theo. He was being passive aggressive and was telling me that he needed me to fill out the orders for meat if I wasn't going to show up to the wildlife park to help them out like I said I would.

My entire family was annoyed with me. I hated it, but I did nothing wrong and all they were doing was jumping to conclusions. I told them I'd explain, told them I wasn't doing anything wrong. But truth be told, I didn't know what to say. I could tell them about her past. And tell them I liked Kiara and wanted to keep her safe. But I was worried about how they'd react, maybe some of them would still think I was taking advantage of her state. Part of me felt like maybe I was rushing into it and forcing Kiara into something she might not want.

"Are you just tired, Kiwi?" I asked.

She nodded and I smiled down at the one thing in my life that was bringing me happiness at the moment.

"Ok, you can rest, I'm just gonna do some work." I said to her.

She nodded and refused to suck her thumb when I suggested it, so I dropped it, not wanting to push her. I stroked her hair with one hand as I filled out orders for meat for the animals at the park.

"Kittens?" I suddenly heard her say. I looked down at her and saw her looking at my screen.

I smiled.

"No... not really. They're very big and dangerous kitties." I chuckled.

She smiled and looked up at me for more details.

"We have a big park where we keep a bunch of animals that are hurt. We usually find them as babies and then we can't really let them go because they're dependent on us." I said to her.

She pouted at the mention of injured animals.

"Do you like animals?" I asked her.

She nodded her head.

"Do you want to come with me tomorrow?" I asked her, deciding it was good for her to have lots of distractions and fun. It would give me an excuse to take her back to the city with me.

She smiled widely and nodded her head, her eyes shimmering with excitement.

"Ok, you can come with me. We're going to have to take the helicopter again. The thing that flew us here." I said to her.

She pouted but nodded anyway.

"It's getting kind of late. Let's get some food in your little belly and get some sleep." I said to her. Getting up and going to the kitchen.

She followed me and watched me make her the garlic bread that my Aunt Sophie taught me how to make.

I took out some tomato soup as well and warmed it up for us. I sat down and I ate with her, she didn't say anything and I saw her struggling to actually eat despite being hungry.

"You think you can at least finish half of the garlic bread?" I asked her.

She nodded her head and really pushed herself to get through all the food.

"I don't want you to make yourself sick, if you feel sick you don't have to eat more." I said to her and she nodded.

She took a few more spoonfuls off the soup and then she put her spoon down.

"All done?" I asked her.

She nodded her head.

"Perfect, such a good girl." I praised her.

She smiled and I took the rest of her garlic bread, eating it myself. I also finished her soup and then we both went to bed.

I brushed my teeth and showered and Kiara took my spare, unused toothbrush and claimed it. I brushed her hair and we both changed our clothes. I also finished up the forms for the meat orders and sent them off to the supplier and then I got under the big comforter.

Somehow it was just natural that we both sleep in the same bed together. No one tried to move or say anything and the cuddling was also very natural. She was just so perfect, she fit perfectly in my arms, she was much smaller but we fit like two puzzle pieces. She tried for two hours not to suck her thumb, but it was clear that she wasn't going to go to sleep without it.

"Kiara, why? Why, Sweetheart? You don't have to go through all of this." I said, urging her to put her thumb in her mouth.

She shook her head, she was so tired and she even started crying. So I just pulled her into my arms and I rocked us gently from side to side. She eventually calmed down, but still couldn't go to sleep. So I got up on one elbow and I started tracing her eyebrows. I even rubbed my thumb up and down her forehead and just tried my best to do anything I could to get her to fall asleep.

"I'm not going to sleep until you do." I said to her, running my fingers through her soft hair.

She was about to just give up on herself and just suck on her thumb, but I stopped her.

"Do you want to?" I asked her.

She shook her head.

"Then don't. We'll figure something out." I insisted.

She shook her head and tried putting her thumb in her mouth. I wanted her to be comfortable. I wanted her to know that I was willing to stay up all night with her just so we could find an alternative to sleep that she was more comfortable with.

"Kiara. Look at me. If it's making you that uncomfortable to suck on your thumb, we're going to stay up together and figure out how you can sleep without using it. If you use it, you'll get used to it and you won't be able to stop using it." I said to her.

She climbed into my lap and I held her tightly, massaging her scalp and rocking her back and forth.

"Sleep, Kiwi. I've got you. Nothing will happen to you. I'm here to protect you." I promised her.

Her grip on my shirt started to weaken and I leaned back, resting against the headboard and rocking her from side to side now. Her grip on my shirt eventually loosened completely, letting me know she was asleep. I allowed myself to lay down in the bed with her laying on top of my chest. Before long, I was asleep as well.