@trueluthor | Lena carefully smooths the paper, quadruple checking that there are *no* wrinkles in it. She’s only five and she knows that this isn’t much but she wants to give it to her new mom. The picture of their family–with her mother holding her hand–was something she made in her art class and she had been *so* careful not to let the paint drip while it was drying. She finds her mother as soon as she gets home, practically bouncing with excitement. “This is for you!” she says and hands her the paper.
Lillian’s still not used to the difference Lena makes in their household. It was always so dark and quiet, but wherever Lena goes she seems to bring light and energy with her, and she can’t help the smile that curves her lips as the girl bounces into her office. ‘Oh?’ she says, placing down her pen and turning towards her, her brow raising as she takes in the paper Lena is holding out for her. ‘What do you have there?’
She takes it from her carefully, laying it flat on her desk, her fingers stilling as she takes in the scene. Her eyes widen, her throat constricting without warning, and she can’t help how choked she sounds when she breathes, ‘oh, sweetheart… this is lovely’. She turns towards her again, and bends down, reaching out to pull the young girl into her arms and squeeze her in a gentle hug. ‘Thank you. I love it’.
Lena beams as her mom takes the pictures and hugs her back as hard as she can. These moments she has while Lex hasn’t yet come home from school and their father is away and her mother is home are few and far between and Lena, even after less than a year living here, knows that these times are important. When Lex is home, Lena has to play with him. When their father is home, everything is different. The whole house, staff included, is on edge and Lena doesn’t really understand why. Her father is always kind to her--always--and she knows that he loves her very much. She doesn’t understand why Lex gets so upset so easily when he’s home or why their mother is so quiet. All she knows is that she likes her mom like this. When she’s soft and happy and holding her.
“We were supposed to paint something happy today,” Lena explains. “What our best day would be.” She had only added her father into the picture when her teacher asked about him but she put him at the edge, away from the other three.














