inside of her uncles home there were several bedrooms. there was her uncles and Gina's master bedroom, some rooms that belonged to the kids, a few rooms were filled to the brim with random stuff, and downstairs was a basement. the basement used to be there for partys before their children so there was a pool table, an old silver jukebox, a neon light that spelled out " stay golden " and an empty built in bar. delilah had been worried that the atmosphere would be creepy but luckily it wasnt. instead she felt peaceful below the chaotic pace of the boys upstairs. after unpacking the few boxes she brought along, she watched as her uncle and cousins carried down the new bed he bought her. delilah could only laugh when she discovered that the bedding set was decorated with the power puff girls,her favorite cartoon as a child. Gina was at work but delilah knew it must have been her that picked them out. delilah kept in mind that she must remember to thank gina when she got back. when they left she started to unpack and decorate her new space. the only one that stayed was her little cousin named Caden who sat at the bottom of the basement stairs and watched her quietly. out of all the boys she found him to be the most endearing. maybe it was because he had Gina's features with a round freckled face, honey blonde hair and bright blue eyes she found caden adorable or maybe it was the way he trailed behind her like a lost puppy. he never spoke to anyone but her. at least from what she could tell from her visits but he was a smart boy that loved puzzles and read chapter books at the age of 5.
smiling at the boy delilah pulled out one of her favorite books from a nearby cardboard box then handed it to him. the title was Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone, the first big book she had ever read as a child. as soon as the book reached his small hands caden blinded her with a beaming smile. overwhelmed by his adorable antics she gushed " too cute!" as she hugged him close.
lifting him up in a bear hug delilah nearly dropped the boy when a sudden flash of pain radiated through her arms. she had forgotten all about the deep cuts that were still healing.
gently placing caden back down a feeling of guilt rose up from her stomach. this boy didnt have any friends besides her. she had almost died leaving him behind all alone. forcing the dark feeling back down she ruffled his hair and chuckled softly
" I missed you caden. how have you been?"
happy to get a hug from his favorite cousin caden cheeks flushed red and he stammered "gg..good. I missed you a lot too. I even drew you some pictures!".
delilahs heart swelled. how were kids this cute!? what the heck?
in that moment she was really glad she didnt die. there were still people that cared.