Chapter Text
Cellbit simply wanted to take a walk before he returned home. Luckily, when you live in the middle of a beautiful red forest, it's easy to find a nice place to have a walk. He had been under quite a bit of stress, and he wanted to wane of some of it before returning home and letting Roier rid the rest. With whispers from the federation about how everything was falling into place, Cellbit had been on edge for a while, and today he just kept hearing everything and he pushed his brain a little too far. He had seen several people on his walk, had waved and said a few words to most, so seeing Tallulah shouldn’t have been so strange. Except for the fact she was curled up, alone and sitting on the grass, close to the castle and up against a tree.
Cellbit immediately knew something was wrong. The kids each had their own sense of independence, Richas, his own kid, was known for disappearing and reappearing as they so wished, but Cellbit couldn’t remember a single point where he had seen Tallulah all alone.
He carefully stepped towards her, and he noticed how she didn’t realise that anyone was around her, stuck in her own world. “What are you doing out here?” he asked her, kneeling down to her height and placing a hand on he’d shoulder. He could only know what was wrong if he tried.
Tallulah finally understood she wasn’t alone, and slowly lifted her head, dislodging a red leaf that had stuck into her hair. Cellbit was immediately shocked at the sight. Her mouth was twisted in a frown, and her eyes were red and wet. Her face was in a similar sight, both tears and snot staining it.
“Tallulah, what happened?” he urged, scared that something bad had happened. He couldn’t even begin to think about what could have caused Tallulah to fall into such a state.
She looked down again, sniffing to try and stop more snot from falling down her face before giving up and simply using her sleeve. “Nothing happened,” Tallulah stated as her voice raised beyond what it normally was. “And nothing ever will happen.” Despite her attempts to make herself look more presentable, tears still raced down her cheeks, and the snot she had ridden herself of was renewing itself and threatening to pass her lips. Luckily Cellbit knew to bring tissues with him, so he got some and passed them to the girl. She immediately blew her nose and used another to wipe away her tears before dropping them in her lap.
Cellbit sat down next to her. Her face was much better, but he still had the issue of what caused her to be like that. “What do you mean nothing will ever happen?”
Tallulah continued to wipe her tears away with a new tissue, but they just kept coming. “Papi will never come back, I’ll never see him again.”
Cellbit felt his heart clench at the words. Suddenly his normal response to the topic of Payne felt like something in the distant past. There would be no words of Phil being her father, and Payne was just someone she made up, because he wasn’t. Payne was a real person, and he was one he suddenly had a far worse opinion on for making Tallulah cry. His rage at the moment didn’t matter though, as there was a crying girl in front of him, and she needed help.
“He’ll come back; he couldn’t straight up abandon such a perfect girl such as you.” He tried his best to give her happy words, ones that would make her feel confident.
Tallulah just sniffled again, and Cellbit passed her another tissue to clean up the mess running down her face. “But it’s been so long,” she started. “It’s making me so scared, what if he does come back, but he hates me? That’s worse than him never coming back.” Cellbit hated Tallulah’s words. She doesn’t deserve to worry like this. “He hasn’t sent a letter in so long,” she continued. Tears continued to fall from her eyes, sobs being ripped from her throat. How long had this been bundled up inside her?
“Let it out, you can do it,” Cellbit tried to comfort. She needed to let out her misery, and if crying was how she’d do it, he’d encourage her. Tallulah continued to cry, but got up on her knees slightly and all but tossed herself into Cellbit’s lap. Cellbit didn’t know what to do in the moment, the situation just kept pushing, but he started rubbing at her back as she cried into his chest. “I promise you; we will make sure you get to see him again, I’ll make sure you see him again.” His words seemed to help a little, but something about her still dripped misery.
“I just feel like a big crybaby,” she explained, sniffing a bit. “For being scared, Abuelito and Chayanne says everything will be fine, that I’ll see him again, and I might get to, but my brain tells me he’ll never come back, or if he does come back, he won’t love me anymore.” She reached for another tissue and blew her nose again.
Cellbit finally understood the situation. Everyone around her told her that her fear surrounding Payne and if she’ll ever see him again doesn’t make any sense, that it isn’t rational, but she just wants someone to understand her fear and tell her that it is rational, even if it won’t help with the ending.
“You’re not a crybaby, tears are normal,” he explained. He needed a better view of her, so he gently guided her face to be looking at him. “Fear just does that, it makes you worry about the worst, so that if it happens, you’ll be prepared, but what happens isn’t always the worst, and the fear you’re currently experiencing isn’t nice, is it? It’s making you cry, and you don’t like that, do you?"
Tallulah shook her head and sniffled. “No, I don’t.”
“So, even if fear can be helpful, you don’t want to be scared, you want to be happy, right?”
Tallulah nodded again. “Yes.”
“So, can you give me a smile? A real one?” Cellbit wasn’t sure if he’d get one, but after a few moments of hesitation from Tallulah, she smiled. A soft, real smile. Cellbit smiled back and wiped some tears away from her eyes using his thumb. “That’s a sight I like to see.”
Tallulah leaned her head on Cellbit’s shoulder, much calmer than she had been before. Cellbit was happy he was able to bring her this comfort. He expected her to stay still for a few minutes before getting off his lap, but instead she began to speak. “Are you scared of anything, Tio?” she asked.
Cellbit was very shocked at the question. He hadn’t gone out expecting to have to answer such a question. Still, before his mind could even begin to wrap itself around the question, he was answering. “Yes, terrified even, all the time.”
Tallulah pulled her head away from his shoulder and tilted her head. “But you don’t look scared.”
The innocence of the words was adorable. “That’s because I’ve gotten good at hiding how scared I am, but I’m scared of so many things,” he explained.
“Like what?” she asked, her questions curious and never-ending.
Cellbit was cautious in saying his fears typically, he knows how easily it would be to use them against him, but when Tallulah was looking at him with such curiosity and genuine worry for the man, it was easy to understand that this little girl was someone to trust.
“Well,” he started. “There’s obviously Cucurucho and the federation, I’ve worried about them for so long, they have so much power over us, they’ve shown their power, and we can never truly know what the extent of their power is. If they’ve already done so much, what will their next move be? I have my own suspicions, but with how little they’ve been giving me, I feel so on edge.” Tallulah nodded through his explanation, caring about what he feared in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. Due to this, it was easier to let one of his more personal fears slip out. “And there’s also Richas’ issue, when they look like they’re fine, but they also don’t look like itself. I’m always worried about them, and I want to find the answer, but at this point I don’t even know where I would start looking.”
Tallulah manoeuvred in his lap, confusing Cellbit a bit. She then wrapped her arms around him. “Everything will be okay,” she whispered. In that moment, he did believe everything would be okay.
He wrapped his arms around her as well. In this moment, they trusted each other more than anything. They were scared, but they had each other, so maybe everything would turn out right. It was so strange finding comfort in Tallulah, a mere seven year old compared to any of the adults on the island, but he didn’t mind, because he was also giving Tallulah this comfort.
He heard a small yawn from Tallulah, and looked up at the sky and saw it was getting dark. He hadn’t meant to stay out this late, but Tallulah needed it, so he didn’t care. He looked back to her. “Finally ready to go back home to Phil?”
He expected her to say yes, or say she wanted to stay with him for just a bit longer, but instead she shook her head and said, “Can I stay at the castle tonight with you? I don’t want you to be scared, I’ll protect you.”
Cellbit was certainly surprised, but he felt his heart melt slightly at how she wanted to protect him, so how could he possibly ever say no? “I’ll ask Phil, and if he says yes, you can, alright?” Tallulah’s face lit up, and Cellbit got busy asking. He was immediately sent back a message saying it was fine and he showed her the message, causing her to be even happier.
They warped to the castle and found a spare room for her to spend the night in, one that hadn’t been touched much. Cellbit put Tallulah in the bath and went to get her some clothes, as he knew Leo kept some around the castle.
“Gatinho?” he heard from behind him. He shut the draw that held Leo’s clothes and turned around, noticing Roier. “I heard water running, I thought it was you, good thing I didn’t slip in to come bathe with you like I wanted,” Roier teased. Roier was more than accepting and supportive of Cellbit’s asexuality, but you could never remove the sexuality from Roier. Still, Cellbit didn’t mind the teasing, he loved who Roier was.
“Tallulah is spending the night, I found her in the forest and she wasn’t in the best place mentally, so I got permission from Phil and she’s gonna spend a night here,” he explained.
Roier’s expression immediately dropped. “Is she okay?” he asked.
Cellbit nodded. “I did my best to calm her down, and she should be fine for at least tonight.” He’d much rather have confirmation that she would be fine for the foreseeable future, but Tallulah had been dealing with this for a long time, it wasn’t going to disappear over night after a single conversation.
“I’ll help you tuck her into bed,” Roier spoke. Cellbit found no reason not to let him, so they went back to the bathroom and handed Tallulah the clothes he had found.
Tallulah didn’t mind that Roier was around, enjoying having the attention of both the adults. Roier braided her hair and Cellbit decided to tell her a story, one about the time Pac and Mike had accidently bought an amusement park. Tallulah listened with intrigue and found herself giggling at several points. One of the best bedtime stories of her life.
“Goodnight,” he told her once the story was done.
“Buenas noches,” Roier followed. They stood up from her bed and moved to leave when they heard her voice.
“Can I have a goodnight kiss?” she asked. It was a strange request, but the two adults looked at eachother and nodded. Roier kneeled down next to her and kissed her forehead before getting up again. “Thank you.”
Roier smiled softly at her. “Buenas noches, Tallulah.”
He turned around to join his husband’s side again, and from behind him, he heard Tallulah speak again. “Wait.”
He turned around to face her again. “Is there something else you need?” Cellbit asked as the two kneeled down beside her yet again.
Tallulah was silent for a few moments, confusing the both of them.
“Take your time,” Cellbit encouraged.
Tallulah nodded, but hesitated for a few moments yet again, but spoke. “I love you both, a lot.”
The words shocked the two of them, but they recovered quickly. “We love you too,” Cellbit told her.
“You are very nice to me, and the way Tio Cellbit treated me today made me so happy, more happy than I’ve been in a long time,” she continued explaining. “And then when Tio Roier braided my hair and kissed my forehead, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.”
“I’m glad you’ve been so happy,” Roier spoke. He didn’t realise his actions were so loved.
Tallulah nodded. “I’ve been so stressed about Papi that I forgot there are other people who love me, and even though Abuelito loves me, it’s not the same, I felt like a daughter for the first time in a long time today, and I want to keep feeling like that.” She stopped her words, but they both knew where she was going. Still, they let her finish. “So, can I be your daughter? Even if it’s just temporary?”
Cellbit looked over at Roier. He knew what his answer was, but even if he was fine having Richarlyson as his child, he still wasn’t sure if Bobby would stop him from wanting to expand their family.
“I would love to have you as my daughter.” Luckily, Roier was ready to welcome Tallulah into the family.
Cellbit turned back to her. “And so would I.”
Tallulah smiled wide. “Thank you Papa, thank you Papi.”
The two smiled at their titles. “We’ll get the adoption papers tomorrow, okay?” Cellbit stated.
Tallulah nodded. “Okay.”
“Is that all for the night?” Roier asked. She nodded again. “Alright,” he leaned over to kiss her forehead again. “I love you, goodnight.”
Cellbit leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I also love you, sleep tight.”
Tallulah smiled sleepily. “Goodnight, I love you.”
As they left the room, they were sure she was already asleep. Things had changed that day. Even if there were still things that needed to be changed, they were on the route to something new, something big. Tomorrow they would get the adoption papers, and they’d figure out the rest on the way.