Chapter 224: Family (3)
"I think you shouldn’t be angry with me since I wasn’t going to fall and I made her laugh. She’s playing with a smile now instead of looking really sad. If anyone wants to come to take her as their daughter, they must ask for my permission first since I am feeling really protective of her now," Annalise said as she watched the little girl play on the rope again.
"If you are so worried, you should adopt her," Rafael suggested.
Annalise didn’t respond to his option since it was impossible for her to adopt the little girl. She couldn’t take her home with her to the border. It was a long trip and more importantly, outsiders weren’t easily welcomed.
There was also the possibility that the child heard stories about the border and would be afraid. Annalise would not be able to just bring her back.
"I wasn’t being serious, but you seemed to have been considering it," Rafael said, joining Annalise down on the grass to watch the little girl play.
"If I hadn’t spent a little time with her, I wouldn’t have thought about it, but seeing how quiet and small she is, how could you not want to protect her? I have a soft spot for people who are unable to defend themselves. I want to protect them. I am still trying to figure out if she can’t speak or if she is scared to speak. Maybe she doesn’t want to waste her energy doing it and I don’t blame her," said Annalise.
It was a waste of time and energy to speak to others sometimes so staying quiet was good. You wouldn’t get annoyed with people not understanding your words or have someone twist your words.
"She seems to be in her own little world over here instead of playing with the other children, but she did look like she wanted me to come over when I first saw her. I hope that she can make friends with the other children so she isn’t alone. She shouldn’t be alone at this age. As strange as you may think I am, I had many friends at this age," Annalise replied.
Thomas was not her only friend. He was just the one brave enough to travel far from home with her. There were others at home who were most likely waiting for her to return so they could shake her shoulders and ask her what she was thinking.
"Rafael, is it alright if I ask you about your grandfather Nicolas? About the other Callahans," Annalise said, wanting to test if it was something she couldn’t talk about with him.
"What is it?" Rafael asked, lying on the ground to take a quick rest before his mother or father came looking for him to fix something.
"Where are the other Callahans? I hear about your grandmother Nicolas but no one else. Was he also an orphan or did he come from a small family?"