Small Miracles Part 41
Quatre stood on the steps of the DYFS-run orphanage, feeling as though he'd completely lost his bearings. He'd been sitting with Laura, watching her as she slept, wondering how long until he was forced to give her back to Delia, when Trowa had called. At first, he'd been overjoyed to hear from his lover, his worry about where Trowa had gone after leaving the court only adding to his stressed state of mind.
But before he could launch into a full interrogation, Trowa had asked him if he was still at the orphanage.
"Yes," Quatre answered. "I'm still here with Laura. I wanted to be here when she finally woke up."
"Good," Trowa replied succinctly. "I'll meet you there in about fifteen minutes." Quatre's brow furrowed in confusion. Why was Trowa coming there? When he'd asked the question, the other man's response left him gasping.
"I have a little girl I need you to take care of. I think she's about eleven years old and she's probably a prostitute. I'll sign the order to make her a ward of the colony."
"W-where in the world did you find her?" Quatre shouted. He couldn't imagine how Trowa had come across the path of a child prostitute.
"I found her at Hervé's house." There was a long moment of stunned silence as Quatre gaped at the phone.
"What?! Hervé's? What was she doing there? What were you doing there?"
"I'll explain later," Trowa replied calmly. "Right now I need you to do me a favor. Call Duo and Heero and tell them to come down to the orphanage right away. They need to take their daughter home."
So there Quatre stood waiting for Duo and Heero to arrive, utterly amazed as he remembered the rest of Trowa's explanation. The young judge had somehow managed to convince the Commissioners in the middle of the night to, not only throw out Hervé's ruling and reinstate Trowa to the case, but to initiate an investigation into Hervé's misconduct as a prelude to having him removed from the bench.
He could hardly believe it. After all of the preaching and moralizing Hervé had done that morning in court, he was nothing more than a pedophile. And to think that Laura's future had been in the hands of someone like that. It made Quatre sick to his stomach. And when he thought back to the strange expression that had come over the old judge's face when he'd forced Laura to relive the night of her rape, the social worker felt bile rise up in his throat.
But, now, it was all over. Trowa had acted on his reinstatement by verbally giving his decision to the Board, which was permissible since he'd sat in on the entire hearing and had heard all of the evidence. All that was left was for him to sign the order granting Duo and Heero full custody and he'd promised to do so as soon as he arrived at the shelter.
Quatre looked up at the sound of squealing tires and watched Heero's sedan careen into the parking lot with reckless speed. He winced at the whine from the abused brakes but a smile quickly grew on his lips when Duo and Heero alighted from the car as though it were on fire. Duo's face was still pale, though his cheeks burned with two bright spots of color. His eyes were slightly dazed and thoroughly bemused. Heero, on the other hand, located the blond social worker with a fierce, piercing gaze. As they ran up to him, Quatre opened his mouth to greet them but he was cut off by one terse word from Heero.
"Where?" he growled.
"Room 367," he replied, deciding that the niceties could most definitely wait. He turned briefly to watch them as they ran past him and disappeared into the orphanage. His smile returned, turning into a full-fledged grin as he looked back towards the street and continued to wait for Trowa.
~*~
Heero was finding it difficult to hold any thought in his mind other than the room number provided by Quatre. There was a strange sound echoing in his head, akin to a dull roar, and he knew he was feeling the same shock that was so evident on his husband's face.
Merely a scant half-hour ago, Heero had been thoroughly convinced that he might drown in the anguish that had filled every corner of his soul. He'd somehow managed to get himself and Duo back to their apartment, but had quickly collapsed onto their bed, dragging his husband into his arms. Duo had long since stopped crying and had instead begun to stare listlessly into space, which was infinitely worse. Heero could do nothing but hold him, letting his own tears fall silently into the think mass of Duo's hair.
He wasn't sure how long they'd lied there. There just didn't seem to be any point to moving. There was no point to anything. They'd lost the most precious thing in their lives and the ache tore at their hearts.
Heero had been listening to Duo's deep, sleeping breaths, glad that at least one of them had found some brief respite from the truth, when the phone rang. He'd let it ring, having no interest in speaking to anyone. Unless it was his little girl on the other end of the line, he could have cared less. And, since he knew that was impossible, he'd closed his eyes and waited for the annoying peal of the phone to cease. Finally it did, the caller thwarted since Heero had turned off the answering machine before falling into bed.
But who ever it was had been persistent, calling back no less than three times before Heero was forced to answer the summons or go mad from the noise. Amazed and saddened that the ringing hadn't been enough to pull Duo from his somnolent evasion, he'd reached over and yanked the receiver from its cradle.
"What?!" he'd barked into the phone, only to regret it a second later when he heard Quatre's voice.
"You need to come and pick up Laura," the social worker had said without preliminaries. "The custody decision has been reversed. Now get down here and take her home."
For a long moment after Quatre had abruptly hung up, Heero had been able to do nothing but stare and the phone, the sound of the dial tone flooding from the receiver like a tinny chorus. But, then, a rush of hope had swelled within him, though he was almost afraid to believe what Quatre had just told him. Battling through his shock, Heero had spent the next few minutes waking Duo and trying to explain what had happened. Duo had just gaped at him, his large, amethyst eyes filled with so many emotions that Heero couldn't begin to name them all.
After convincing Duo that he wasn't telling some sort of sick joke, Heero had managed to get the other man out of bed. A quick rush of frenzied motion, they'd finally piled into their car and broke every manner of traffic law known to man in their hurry to get to the orphanage. They'd barely noted Quatre's presence when they'd finally arrived at the imposing facility, their hearts focused on nothing but the little girl who was waiting for them.
Duo followed blindly in Heero's wake as they searched for Laura's room. He couldn't imagine what had happened in such a short amount of time. But he didn't much care. All that mattered was that Quatre had told them the truth and that Laura was really theirs once again. He saw Heero pause before a door, trusting that his husband knew where they were going since, at the moment, he was completely incapable of logical thought. The emotional rollercoaster of the past few hours had taken their toll and Duo felt as though there was nothing but a cotton wool between his ears.
Laura. That was the only thing he could think about right then. And, as Heero opened the door, there she was. Duo felt his husband pause beside him as they stood in the doorway, hearts beating a ragged tattoo of profound relief as they watched their daughter's sleeping face. She looked so peaceful, abandoned to sleep as only a child could do. Duo felt as though he could have watched her forever, wanting nothing more than to fix this image of her in his mind for all eternity.
Even though the setting of institutional grey, rather than her own pretty room, was wrong, even though there were no braids draped over her blanket, even though there was no stuffed elephant clutched in her fist, for the first time in longer than he cared to remember, Duo felt that all was right with the world.
Heero placed a hand on his back, urging him forward. For a brief second, Duo considered resisting, loath to ruin the moment. But, there would be plenty of time to watch her sleep. Right now, it was time to wake their slumbering princess and tell her that she'd been away from home for quite long enough.
Laura stirred as a gentle finger ran over her cheek, making Duo smile as she unconsciously swatted at his hand. He repeated the gesture, his smile broadening as she finally woke, blinking sleepily, her eyes still pink with recent tears. She looked up, going still as she saw who it was standing over her bed. Laura stared at them, her hand inching forward as though longing to touch them but afraid, if she did, they might dissolve into the mist of dreams.
Duo leaned down and kissed her on her smooth forehead, dispelling her fears. Heero reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand as she slowly sat up.
"How?" she whispered, her voice faltering with wishful uncertainty.
Duo shook his head as he sat on the edge of her bed and took her into his arms. He had no answers for her, but it didn't really matter. He looked up at Heero, smiling through a mist of joyous tears. Heero sat behind him, reaching around to hold both of them to the solid warmth of his body. Duo closed his eyes, content to listen to the beating of his husband's heart and to feel the fragile softness of the girl crying softly against his chest.
Duo didn't know what miracle had occurred that night. He knew he'd find out eventually and that he would happily spend the rest of his life thanking God for this moment. But, for right now, he was content to just sit quietly with his little family. Content to just be.
TBC...
Author's Note: YIPPEEE!!!!!! Almost done!!!!! ^____~
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