I couldn't believe what I was hearing when she told me she loved me. I was just thinking how she finally trusted me. But I never expected love.

"You love me?" I asked her in complete shock.

She cried harder and nodded her head.

"In what way?" I asked her.

It would kill me to hear that she just loved me in a platonic way.

"Like... I don't know... I always want to be with you, I never want to be taken away from you. I want you to be happy, I always want to help you with anything you need help with." She said.

"Ok." I said, nodding.

I still didn't know if that meant that this love was romantic or not. She was still crying about it. Maybe she was afraid of these feelings.

"Why does that make you want to cry?" I asked her in confusion, trying to hide my feelings on this particular subject.

It was definitely a good thing that she loved me.

"It's stressful." She whispered.

"It is?" I asked, wanting to know exactly how she felt.

"Mhm... you're too nice to me. I'm a brat and I don't deserve your love. I'm ugly, you deserve someone pretty. So I should just not love you but I can't." She told me.

It felt like I'd been stabbed in the chest when I heard her say she was ugly. She was far from it.

She said that I deserve someone pretty? So this is a romantic kind of love?

"Kiara." I sighed, not knowing what on earth led her to believe she wasn't enough. She was so perfect. She deserved the world. I guess I just needed to work harder to rid her of her past mentality that she'd adopted. "I want to show you something, Kiwi."

She nodded her head and let me carry her into the villa. I took her to my room and I sat on my bed, facing the mirror to the side of the bed. I set Kiara on my lap facing it as well and she pouted at herself.

"Who's that?" I asked her.

"You... and me." She whispered, leaning back into my chest.

"It is. It's me... and it's my pretty little Kiwi." I told her, kissing her cheek.

She frowned at my word choice but I was insistent.

"Let's get a closer look, shall we?" I asked her.

She shrugged and I carried us up to the mirror, sitting on the floor right in front of it.

"Look, Baby. Look how pretty you are." I said to her.

She shook her head, turning and hiding her face in my shirt.

"No. None of that. I want you to look at yourself." I told her.

She tilted her head so that she had her cheek against my chest.

"Look at this pretty hair." I said softly, running my fingers through the slightly knotted hair.

"It's not pretty. It's messy and knotted." She cried.

"Ok, I'll fix that then." I said, setting her down on the ground in front of the mirror. I walked over to the vanity and grabbed a hairbrush.

I returned to her and I made her look at her adorable face and decide what she liked most about it while I gently brushed out the knots.

"Did you find anything that you like yet?" I asked her.

She was still crying, but this was a time where I couldn't do anything about it. If she was going to cry, she was going to cry. But we weren't moving until she told me about something she found beautiful about herself.

I don't think it helped her that I didn't respond to her declaration of love by reciprocating it, but I couldn't just say I loved her until I was completely sure I did and ready to hand the title of caregiver over to someone else. It would be wrong of me to mess with her emotions that way. If I loved her the way she wanted, I wouldn't be able to act on that love until she was in another person's care, legally. But I had just settled down with her, and she didn't need change right now. She needed to find her place in this family. Then we could discuss the details of our relationship.

I also just wasn't ready to take that step with Kiara. Right now I was struggling to adapt to having a girl around. To cuddling her and having her mean more to me than anything. I felt a lot of things but it was a stressful situation to be responsible for someone and their life. I was feeling too many things to truly pinpoint one emotion.

"Ok, now look at how pretty this hair is... it's so silky and soft, Kiwi." I said, kissing the side of her head.

She looked at her hair through the mirror then her eyes found me.

"What?" I asked her.

"I don't want to do this." She said to me.

"I don't care." I said bluntly. "We're going to look at my little Kiwi until you learn to appreciate her."

"But I'm ugly." She sobbed.

"That's a lie. Whoever told you that was a liar. Stop saying it." I said firmly.

"Don't I have an appointment?" She asked me, wiping away her tears even though they kept falling.

"Oh shoot!" I said, looking at the time.

She let out a relieved sigh when I picked her up and carried her to the copter as fast as I could. She was still in a pair of leggings and one of my sweaters from the previous night.

We flew to the city in the helicopter, then I drove us to the clinic. I picked her up and carried her in. As soon as we arrived, I heard Kiara's name being called into the office. I led her into the office and then she clung to me like glue. She was not happy about this appointment. She was stressed out and still emotionally exhausted.

"This is your new psychiatrist, Kiara." I said softly as I shook the woman's hand. I couldn't for the life of me remember the psychiatrist's name from the email I'd received.

Swallow? Hallow? Hollow? Goodness, what is her name?!

"Hello, Kiara." The woman said with a bright smile.

Kiara hid behind me and stuffed her face into my back. I just knew that this was going to go horribly. In all honesty, I wasn't in the mood for this therapy session, and Kiara clearly wasn't either.

"Is she always like this?" The woman asked me.

"Pretty much. She's not a fan of others, but she has shown improvement with my family members." I explained.

"What about talking? I'd love it if we could hear answers to some of my questions today." The woman said.

Kiara shook her head vigorously.

"Oh, come on, Kiwi. You can say a few words, right?" I asked her, hoping it would help her pull out of her bubble and realize that she was safe around these people.

She shook her head, hiding her face in my back. Her body began to tremble and she started sobbing.

"Oh no, it's ok. You don't have to talk at all, Sweetheart." The therapist said.

Kiara was looking at me like I was betraying her. I couldn't help it anymore. I tried being harsh but it wasn't working. I quickly scooped her up and held her to my chest.

"I'm sorry, Kiwi. I just want to push you a little so you get better. But if it isn't the time, just tell me." I said to her, kissing her forehead.

She relaxed against me and wiped away her tears, her body still trembling as she let a few tears continue to fall.

"Do you like Vidal, Sweetheart?" The psychiatrist asked.

Kiara nodded vigorously.

"Do you love him? It's ok if you don't. And it's definitely ok if you do." The woman said.

Kiara looked up at me and she seemed uncertain what to say.

"Do you want me to tell her what you told me today?" I asked.

My baby nodded her head.

"We had a difficult night last night and this morning was pretty bad too. We actually haven't gotten to breakfast just yet. But anyway, when Kiara woke up, she was a little stressed out because she has feelings for me and she told me that she loves me." I said, petting my angel's head.

This was an awkward way to go about things. I felt like a horrible person for sharing her feelings about me like this. I didn't want to dwell too much on those feelings when I knew I couldn't tell her that I loved her back just yet. There was no need to hurt her or rub it in her face.

Of course I loved her back, but I needed to settle down and get used to this change before I declared my love.

"Hm... I see. Is there any chance you and I can talk together alone, Kiara?" The woman asked.

Kiara's eyes widened and she shook her head, gripping me very tightly.

"No, I don't think that's possible." I sighed, kissing Kiara's head.

"Alright. That's ok. Can I ask you why you love him? Did he do something or is there just something about him?" The woman said.

Kiara hid her face in my shirt, completely shutting down.

"Ok. So we can't talk about that... Kiara, Honey, I need you to just nod and shake your head, ok?" The psychiatrist said.

Kiara didn't respond, simply hiding in my shirt.

"Ok... did you guys get a pacifier like the previous doctor recommended?" She asked.

"No. It's just been her thumb for now." I said, knowing Kiara was probably having a horrible experience talking about these things.

"That's great, and does it help calm Kiara down?" The woman asked.

Kiara nodded softly.

"That's a yes from Kiara." I said, kissing her head.

"Great. That's amazing, Kiara." The psychiatrist said.

Kiara shook her head, her body trembling more as she cried.

The psychiatrist didn't see it, so I chose to pretend that I didn't notice it either. We were moving on from this topic of conversation and I'm sure Kiara would appreciate that more than dwelling on things she hated. But then again, this was a therapy session. She had to address the bad feelings she had.

"Alright. How was yesterday difficult?" The psychiatrist asked.

"Can I tell her everything, Kiwi?" I asked softly, knowing not to push her to speak.

Kiara nodded, grabbing a fistful of my shirt.

"So yesterday when she woke up we were at the Angel's wildlife park. I work there part time and she'd said she wanted to meet the animals. Unfortunately, she woke up to my cousin and I having a little argument. It was a little scary for her, I think. Then we went and met the animals before my cousin and I got into a second argument in front of her." I started, suddenly realizing just how bad I was at sheltering her from traumatizing things.

"Alright, let's avoid arguments in the future, but continue." The psychiatrist said, making me feel a little better about it when she didn't get too angry with me.

"After that we went to meet my brother and my father and that went pretty well, right?" I asked my Kiwi.

She nodded her head and I smiled.

"So it went well, but she was a little scared because her bunny was left in my car and she was a little worried about him. But we got the bunny back... she also got her period at the office." I explained.

"Oh, I see. Have you been around many women in your life?" The psychiatrist chuckled.

"Yes. I'm well aware of what a period can do..." I said, my face heating up at the slightly uncomfortable topic. "It was a little different though. My cousin and my aunts, mother and grandmothers have always been there for my entire life and I used to always take care of my cousin when she was on her period. I think Kiara just has a little bit more of a difficult time."

The psychiatrist nodded.

"Ok. So what actually made the night difficult? Just her period?"

"No. She got very upset with me when I tried insisting that she eat. I think the period escalated the situation. But I eventually realized I should back off. We forgot the Bunny again and that didn't help either. I decided to back off and I left her at home while I went two minutes away to have dinner with my family. I told her she could call me and left a phone with her. But I think she got a little worried and scared." I explained.

"Ok. No more leaving. If she needs space. You should stay out of the room she's in, but be in the room next to hers." The psychiatrist instructed and I nodded, noting another one of my horrible mistakes.

I was beginning to think that I was just a horrible caregiver, I mean it was just mistake after mistake on my part. I took her to the park knowing Theo was mad at me, I got into arguments in front of her, then I forgot the bunny several times and I left her all alone in a cabin. I mean, it doesn't get much worse than that.

"Ok. Anyway... she followed me and we had a very difficult encounter with my entire family. But we were able to calm down and get along with everyone pretty well. She even talked to some of them. Someone got a hug as well." I smiled, petting her head.

At least some things paid off last night. I was still a failure at all of this though.

"That's great. You're such a brave girl!" The psychiatrist said and I looked down to see Kiara smiling slightly.

"But since she hadn't eaten anything except a bowl of fruits and a small bite of a cupcake, we had a little bit of a problem. She was very sleepy but she needed to eat. She refused to eat, but I was told she should eat before she slept. So we had to stay up and we had a little bit of a struggle before eating, didn't we?" I said softly, kissing Kiara's head.

She tightened her grip on my shirt, pushing her head further into my chest.

"Is eating usually an issue?" The woman asked, I still couldn't remember the woman's name.

"Yes. There's a little bit of a struggle when it's time to eat. But fruits are better, right Kiwi?" I asked.

She nodded but I began to feel my shirt becoming wet. My angel was crying again.

"I don't think food is a very nice topic to discuss at the moment though." I said softly, hoping to spare Kiara's feelings a little bit.

"Alright. No more talk about food." The woman agreed and I finally located her name on one of the cards on the table in front of me.

I tried to get Kiara to put her thumb in her mouth, knowing this experience would be easier for her that way, but she outright refused.

"Kiara. Please." I said to her. She shook her head and I sighed.

"It's alright." The psychiatrist, who I now knew as Dr. Sallow, said. "You don't like sucking on your thumb, Honey?"

Kiara shook her head.

"Alright, is it because you're embarrassed?" Dr. Sallow asked.

Kiara nodded.

"Did you know that everyday after work my husband comes to pick me up and that I need to be treated very softly. Almost like a baby.... So many girls love and need to be treated delicately and you're just one of those girls, Sweetheart... Using a pacifier to calm down is nothing to be ashamed of." Dr. Sallow said, trying to convince Kiara with a lie. I didn't like that. I could've given better examples than the lie that this doctor had just come up with.

Kiara snuggled closer into my chest and I pushed her hand towards her face. She reluctantly put her thumb in her mouth. My cute little Angel was finally calming down.

"Alright. So last night was a long night. You didn't like being told to eat before you were allowed to sleep, right?" Dr. Sallow asked.

Kiara agreed with that.

"But you needed to eat, and I think you understand that now. So, what do you think Vidal could've done to make it easier?" The psychiatrist asked Kiara.

Kiara wasn't up for speaking to the woman yet though.

"You don't have to tell me. You can whisper it to Vidal if it's better." Dr. Sallow said.

Kiara lifted herself up just slightly in my lap and she whispered her answer in my ear.

"Cuddles." Kiara said softly, her cheeks flushed a dark shade of red before she hid her face in my shirt.

I chuckled and squeezed her gently, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I'll always give you cuddles, but I just need to know you're up for it. I didn't want to give you cuddles because I thought you were mad at me and you wouldn't like it." I explained to her.

She kissed my cheek nervously and then snuggled into my shirt.

I looked up at the psychiatrist after that. Expecting something else from this session. The psychiatrist watched Kiara intently.

Kiara began to doze off and the doctor was still examining Kiara's grip on me and my poor shirt. She watched how Kiara was fussing over freeing her feet. I eventually gave in and slipped her slippers off her little feet and she tucked her cold toes between my thighs. I kissed her forehead and rocked her back and forth until she fell asleep.

"She's doing well." The doctor eventually said.

I nodded my head in relief. I had been expecting to hear how horrible I was at caring for her.

"How are you doing?" Dr. Sallow asked me.

"I'm good... I'm not used to the responsibility of a whole human being yet. But I would do anything to make her happy." I sighed, still hoping I wouldn't get yelled at.

"I understand it's stressful." Dr. Sallow said. "Do you love her?"

"I'm honestly not ready to think about that... I do love her, but I just need to settle down as her caregiver and just be that for a while." I explained myself.

Dr. Sallow hummed in response, nodding her head.

"Have you told her that you love her?" She asked me.

"No." I stated simply.

There was another pause where Dr. Sallow examined me and the angel in my lap.

I rubbed Kiara's back gently, kissing her forehead as I awkwardly waited for more information or questions for the psychiatrist before me. I just really wasn't expecting the direction in which the conversation went after that.