The next day Katy went out with Natali and Oki to fix up more of the cottage. Milli, Mark and Brianne stayed back at the house with Kitty. Adrianna had gone back home to her Grandma, but left with promises to visit again soon.

Kitty varied between running outside with Mark, helping Milli help Brianne learn to read. And when Brianne had, had enough she stopped to paint while Milli and Kitty talked about costumes and Milli showed Kitty a few hairstyles she knew.

The more time Kitty spent with the kids, the more she knew that they would be perfect for Brianne.

The way Milli looked at her when she thought nobody was paying attention... Kitty wished she could help her out.

And Mark was so kind and energetic, and Kitty could tell he already cared what happened to the girls. He hated the unfairness of it all. He couldn't help it. It was part of his nature.

And as if that weren't all, Natali was exactly what they both needed. And Adrianna as well.

The twins especially had suffered while living apart. While it had been the best choice for them at the time, Brianne and Adrianna always suffered when they were seperated. And Brianne had thought Adrianna hadn't wanted to see her for so long. But now... there was a chance they never had to be apart long anymore.

But it was such a fleeting chance. Kitty thought it really didn't seem fair. What were the odds that Natali could really win a court battle for custody. Surely someone would come knocking talking about kidnapping shortly. There had to be something she could do.

And then there was Katy, she thought with a quiet sigh, to herself. Katy who had spent so much time trying to protect all her little sisters, from their monstrous father. Katy who had such a good and kind heart. Katy whose entire face lit up when she was happy, and how she was never happy often enough.

The way her eyes got all cloudy when she was thinking or dimmed if she was sad... and sparkled like the sun when she had a new idea that she believed in...

Kitty didn't realise she had sighed out loud as she flopped down at the kitchen table. Until Milli asked her what was wrong.

Kitty looked around and realised alot more time had passed than she thought and it was practically lunch time. Brianne was no longer at the table she noted, her eyes darting to the girls empty spot.

"She went to the loo," Milli mentioned, before repeating herself. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes. I was just thinking about this entire situation with Brianne and Katy," she answered. "We really don't want your Mom to get into any trouble, but Genoise and Marcus... They'll report her for kidnapping... I'm just trying to think of a way for yous to keep Brianne especially safe, without ending up charged... or worse."

"Mom's already thinking about that," Milli told her. "She's got a friend in the force... Caroline, you might remember her from before... She's gonna talk to her. It'll all be fine. You'll see!"

Kitty chuckled at the girls optimism and wished she could still see the world as brightly as that.

'Maybe one day soon I'll be able to again. Maybe Natali and this family can be a torch to brighten my world too,' she thought to herself.

🐾 ✴️ 🐺 ✴️ 🐾

Kitty didn't feel comfortable leaving the two girls inside to cook lunch alone so she called Mark in and they all cooked something together.

Since none of them knew if the others would be back they decided to just cook enough for themselves, and then the only barrier was what.

After many, many, ums, rearranging the fridge and freezer twice and checking the cupboards over and over Milli suggested they just have cereal. And pulled out a large box.

"Are those Lucky Charms?" Brianne asked, wide eyed.

"Mm-hmm," Milli nodded.

"I've never had them before..." Brianne admitted with a shy chuckle. "My parents wouldn't even buy them for us. Said we didn't need that much sugar. Aiden was allowed of course."

Brianne and Kitty rolled their eyes. Aiden was allowed to do a lot of things the girls weren't allowed.

Kitty didn't say anything, she didn't need to, of course, because Brianne had already said it all. Well, that and she knew Katy had actually had Lucky Charms before. Not for any reason other than Kitty herself.

Kitty also knew that Katy did not understand the hype. The marshmallows she thought were flavourless.

Brianne was rapt though. She thought they were delicious. Milli even gave her some of her own marshmallows.

🐾 ✴️ 🐺 ✴️ 🐾

At the cabin, Katy, Natali and Oki were using some brooms they'd bought for this specific use. It was better than using Natali's home broom and safer than using their hands. Natali had brought her garden rake as well. The house was actually coming along really well. Still no one had been upstairs. Katy had asked Kitty if she could come up later the next day and they'd try together.

Currently all the sticks and dirt and debris had been clear out of the main house and a three metre area cleared around the house. The grass was still overgrown, long and flopped over itself. They'd even made progress with the building its self. Natali thought if they weren't able to get upstairs she might be able to, with some help, patch them enough for someone light to get up.

They'd patched the windows with plastic sheeting and duct tape, that was one of the first things theyd done after getting the floor cleared. But before that theyd had to give all the walls a wash so the tape would stick. That had taken all day because of how filthy it was inside. They'd stayed late that night to cover the downstairs windows. Not wanting all their work undone through the night.

When they all arrived back at the house they were greeted by a very excited Kitty and Milli. The two girls were shouting about knowing a way upstairs. Brianne had talked them into telling the older girls after shed accidentally let slip to Kitty, that Milli knew a way up safely.

🐺 🌑 🐺

I'll be honest it's mostly my fault this had to become 6 parts, seems my co-writer learnt the hard way that I can't finish stories because I don't like them to end. Wolf Girl will be much more active in writing the final part. Truth be told there was also too much to add into just this final part...
I apologise. I do hope you've enjoyed it though.