Irium

50 Orphanage

"Adopting from an orphanage?" A tall, handsome figure of a man in black, office garments asked to the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Yes, an orphanage. Isn't it a good idea?" the woman with fair skin and delicate, cute features said as she tightened her fists from excitement.

I suppose it's not a bad idea. That man, no, that fool thought.

"Well, it's a hard choice." He acted as if he hadn't decided yet even though he already had. He acted like that just to tease the woman, and as always, she fell for it as she started to show a little worry on her face. Then, being amused by it, he said, "Okay."

Hearing that, a bright smile came on the woman's face. She almost jumped at him and hugged him in her glee, but then she realized that he had already decided and was just teasing her. As soon as she realized that, and the man understood that she had realized that from her face of anger and pouting, he started to run away with a smile.

"Wait! You-"

She started chasing him with a smile too.

*****

How stupid! How childish! How ridiculous!

I can't believe that man was me. I can't believe that stupid man who loved to tease his wife was me. I can't believe that stupid man who can smile as he runs from his wife was me.

Hah! Looking at him makes me remember the fact that I was a human too, WAS!

*****

"Okay, Madame, we are at the orphanage now." That man bowed to his wife in another attempt to tease her again, "Would you lead the way?"

Seeing him do something like that in front of the sisters running the orphanage as well as the orphans made her blush and she tried to stop him. That blush and reaction, of course, was his goal all along.

"Excuse me, are you here to-" a sister stepped forward and asked them but was cut off by,

"We are here to adopt four children." The woman immediately answered as she tried to distract herself from the embarrassing situation her husband had put her in by bowing as if he's a servant.

"That is correct. Madame wishes to adopt four children and so, we have endeavored to this place."

The woman only grew more embarrassed by the fact that he continued with the 'Madame' charade and tried to shut him up by looking at him angrily. Even in her anger though, that woman only looked beautiful and oh so dear.

"S-stop that, you!" the woman can only look at him in anger though, as she knew not much worse than that.

Seeing all that, the sister who had stepped forward earlier realized that the whole 'Madame' thing was a charade and that they were actually a couple. As she realized that, she started chuckling. And hearing her chuckle, the wife covered her face in embarrassment.

*****

Just look at that man enjoying all of that.

Just look at him enjoying those moments of his life like nothing will ever go wrong.

Just look at him ignoring all the pain and sadness of the world to enjoy those moments.

Yes, I truly was a human. I truly was a human because I could smile knowing how much pain and sadness there is in the world. I could smile knowing that, in some corner of the world, someone will be sad and grieving over something.

The fact that I could smile despite of knowing all that proves how much of a human I truly was.

*****

"Well, I rarely see people trying to adopt four children at once. This is truly a surprise." The nurse laughed with a gleeful face and on seeing that, the couple gave their brightest smile as well.

"I suppose it might be a hard request to fulfill though." The wife grew an anxious look on her face as the possibility came to mind, "We wouldn't want to separate orphans who are close to each other and so, finding four children to adopt would be quite challenging, wouldn't it?"

She started getting anxious over a worry that she herself had caused to appear.

"Mm? There's no need to worry about that, miss!" The sister said with a smile and continued, "There are four orphans here who really want to be adopted, are actual siblings and don't have that much of a connection with other children. Perfect for you, aren't they?"

Hearing so, the wife's cheeks brightened up and she looked at the husband in glee.

"Well, that's some luck you got there .. Madame!"

With that last word, the husband and the sister both start laughing again at the expense of the wife.

*****

How lame of a joke is that! How can anyone enjoy such a lame joke! Just what kind of stupidity was my brain engulfed in that I was able to enjoy such things back then.

And why is it that tears fall down my face when I look at all these memories?

*****

When the four siblings were called forth, the oldest one of them stepped forth, as if to protect the rest of them. She was a girl of about 12 years of age. The eldest sibling – a 12-years-old girl with brown hair and a round face and stature 5 feet tall.

The second oldest, a boy of around 10 years of age also stepped forward a little, albeit not as much as his elder sister, and looked at the couple with some hostility and caution. This boy, about 4'6 tall was also brown-haired and round-faced and had cute features just like his elder sister and the rest of the siblings.

The third oldest, a girl of around 7 years of age stood nervously behind her two elder siblings and looked at the couple from time-to-time. Her features were similar to her elder sister's, to the point that one might assume they looked alike, though that might have been because of the features of both siblings being underdeveloped.

Finally, there was a boy of about 4 or 5 years of age who was clinging to the eldest sibling and using her as a cover to hide from all the adults around.

Seeing all of them, the wife's eyes sparkled as she said, "Okay, I have decided. We are going to adopt the four of them."

*****