“I…”
They were inside now, and she came to a stop, not daring to walk in further. In the light of day, the orphanage looked even more depressing than it had last night because now she could see the extent of the misery these poor children were in.
“What do I do?” she asked again. “I don’t know what you expect of me.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Sebastian assured her gently, always smiling to calm her nerves. “Like I said, just being here is enough. Let them see you. Let them understand that the world outside these walls isn’t so scary.”
She laughed nervously. “And if it is?”
He shook his head. “Oh, come now, you don’t really believe that.” He winked and then turned to walk further into the orphanage.
“Wait!” She grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”
“To help?”
“Help? Help how?”
There were dozens of small children scattered around the warehouse. Some sat on the ends of their beds in groups, others on the floor playing with toys, and many more simply walked around as if trying to kill time.
“By being there for them,” he said. “You’ll see what I mean.”
Gently, Sebastian pulled his arm free and walked toward the children. Helena, as nervous as she had ever been, stayed back, not daring to get too close. She felt she might do something wrong, that she would say the wrong thing or scare them away or… or…
She did not know. So, rather than following Sebastian, she stayed by the door and watched.
She could not say what she expected Sebastian to do, but it certainly wasn’t what she saw. Nothing too impressive. Nothing outlandish or bold or even that exciting. All he did, as he had toldher she needed to do, was be there for them. And the children loved it.
The same little girl who had hugged him the previous night ran to him, and he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to one of the beds. There, he sat down, and a group of children surrounded him.
Helena could not hear what was being said, but she saw the way they looked at him, how they admired and loved him. And most of all, she saw how he loved them all back.
For the next hour, she stayed put and watched.
She watched as Sebastian joked and made the children laugh.
She watched as he played with them on the floor, games that she did not recognize but that looked like ones they knew well and were practiced at.
She watched as one little boy with jet black hair and the biggest blue eyes she had ever seen handed Sebastian a wooden horse with a snapped leg. She put her hand to her mouth to cover her smile as Sebastian took the boy by the hand and led him to the corner, where a table covered in paints, pencils, and other tools sat.
There, he glued the horse’s leg back on, putting the boy on his knee so it seemed as if he was helping. Once he was done, and the horse was fixed, he set the boy down, at which point theboy wrapped his little arms around Sebastian’s leg and held him tight.
This is all too much. I don’t know how to feel, what I should be feeling. Never in a million years would I have guessed that Sebastian could be so kind and caring, that he was capable of such warmth and generosity.
She felt a stirring in her stomach as she watched him. She felt her chest tighten. Her chin trembled, and she sniffed back tears. And not once did she take her eyes off him.
“Excuse me?” a soft voice spoke right in front of her.
She started and looked around, at first not seeing who spoke. That was until she looked down to find the same little boy with jet black hair and big blue eyes looking up at her. He still held the wooden horse in one hand, and he used the other to pull on her skirt.
“Oh.” She smiled awkwardly. “I did not see you there.”
“His Grace said… He said… he said that you are his wife.”
“I am.”
He beamed. “My name is Daniel.”
“My name is Helena.”
