~+Evening: Mary's Home for Hope Children+~

The man standing in front of Tika looks back at her confused as to what she called him. "I'm sorry?" He couldn't hear what she said since she said it so quietly to herself. Although he thought she might have heard her say a old name, he shakes his head thinking he misheard her.

Tika shakes her head, "Sorry you look similar to someone I've met. Anyways thank you for catching me and sorry I bumped into you." He manners quite fair since it was her fault for being in a hurry.

"It's not a problem at all," The man says waving the problem off.

Tika moves around him, "Excuse me, I have to be meeting Madame." She quickly leaves him behind not wanting to be late.

Unaware she had already caught the man's attention and most of all interest.

Tika round the corner of the hall and makes it to the head Mistress's office hallway. She knocks on the door twice until she a called in.

"Come in child!"

Tika turns the knob and opens the door. She entered into the room and bows her head slightly. "Sorry Madame, I heard that I was called on my way back."

"Yes, please take a seat dearie." Madame Vena says gesturing to the seat across from a beautiful blond haired woman and an empty seat next to her.

Tika walks a bit stiffly to her seat. Sitting down she takes a cautious glance at the woman. She's so pretty with jewel blue eyes and her porcelain skin. The woman reminded her of an antique doll for display only.

"This is Ms. Emilia Valentine, she and her fiancé were looking to adopt. You fit around their preferences so they've been waiting patiently for your arrival once they heard about you." Madame Vena explains simply, now leaving it up to Tika and Emilia to speak to each other.

"It's nice to meet you," Emilia says first to get things started off. "My Fiancé and I were looking forward to meeting you. He's out handling a call at the moment but he should be back soon."

The door opens once again, Tika and Emilia look back to see said man at the door. Tika took a double take as the man to be her potential dad was the same man from earlier from when she got off the elevator.

"I see she has arrived." The man said coming over and taking a seat next to Emilia. "Hello, princess."

Emilia notes the way Tord already sounded so fond of the child before them. His face relaxed and tone gentle as if he was handling a baby.

"My name is Tord Lawson, would you like to be our daughter?"

~+Later: Thompson HouseHold+~

Tom sat behind his desk in his study humming to himself when Torm and Tomi ran into the room. Both his sons panting and red in the face.

"Boys, what did I tell you about running? Especially up the stairs." Tom sternly says putting his pen down before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sorry Dad, but you'll never believe what Tika texted us." Torm said after catching his breath. He pulls out his phone to show his dad the text.

Torm:
So what happened?

Tika:
...
I just got adopted.

Tom took the phone from his son to let his eyes reread the text message again. A smile stretching his lips at the good news.

"This is great! We should treat Tika for it!"

Tomi claps his hands, "Can we invite her new parents too?! That way we can get to know them and be friends!"

Tom hands the phone back to Torm so he could continue chatting with Tika. "Go ahead, it'll be fun. Make sure to tell me their names thought so I don't make a fool out of myself asking later."

Torm texted Tika back as he moved to sit own on one of the bean bags near the bookshelf. Tomi stages his beanbag next to Torm's to sit by him to continue reading by him.

The older Thompson went back to his freelance work, this time working part time as a clean up animator for a new web series on MeTube.

Tomi giggles behind his hands while leaning his head against his brother's shoulder. "That's funny."

"No it isn't, Tomi."

"But his name is so similar to yours." Tomi says next to his older brother.

Tom hums as he gets the attention of his kids, "What are you boys fighting about now?"

"The name of Tikky's new dad. It's similar to Tormy's." Tomi says cheerfully as he takes his brother's phone. Torm of course let's him in exchange for handing him a book front the shelf behind them.

"Oh? And what's her dad's name?"

"Someone named Tord Lawson."

At the name, Tom drops his pen to the floor.

His two sons look over at him when they heard the pen fall against the floor. They thought their dad was being funny but no, not this time.

Instead, his expression is blank, unreadable. It was like he didn't know how to react to the name at all.

"Dad?"

"Papa?"

Tom takes in a sharp breath and tries to calm down. "Uh, boys... how about we just," He breaths again to remain calm. "How about we just treat Tika? I'm pretty sure her new parents are busy."

"Papa," Tomi could tell something is wrong. He's never seen his Papa react like this so it's all the more reason to believe he's not alright. The teen gets up from his bean bag seat, going to his papa to hug him.

The phone left of Tomi's bean bag, until Torm picks it back up at the buzz.

The message replied to the last sent text is Tika replying yes to the invite with her parents. It was already too late to go back now.

Torm looks back at his Dad who is holding onto Tomi tightly in his embrace.

He thinks back to the name, Tord Lawson.

'Isn't that the name of the CEO in charge of the Red Company?'

~+Back To Tika and her New Parents+~

Tika looked at her phone waiting for a reply but there wasn't anything. Maybe, she thinks, they're talking about where they were gonna celebrate together.

She looks at her new dad uncertain, "Are you sure you want to celebrate with me and my friends?"

"Of course," Tord replies without hesitation, very unaware of what he got himself into. "It's only normal to meet with your friends to get to know them. We only want what's best for you after all."

Tord, for Emilia's perspective from the passenger's seat, is gonna spoil their new daughter rotten.

Emilia looks back at Tika, "I hope you'll love living with us Tika. Plus, you'll be able to participate in our wedding ceremony! Isn't that wonderful?" She certainly was looking forward to the event itself after so long.

The young girl nods in agreement from the back seat of the car. She decided to play twenty questions with her new parents to get to know them.

"So what do you two do for a living?"

"I work as your father's secretary at his company." Emilia answers.

"You may know it as the Red Company," Tord says surprising Tika a whole lot.

'Wait,' She thought time herself. 'Did I just get adopted by the Boss himself with his fiancée?!' She started to sweat a bit. Tika looks back up to look back and forth between the man and woman seat at the front of the car. Oh my gosh she did.

"I was the one to call your agency after all about letting you off set early today. I was dying to meet you." Tord jokes as he stops at a red light. He looks in the rear view mirror to see her internally panicking. The man couldn't help but chuckle. "There's no need to be shy Tika, our relationship won't change much now that your adopted by us. We're going to be a family after all. You'll be Tika Lawson before you know it. Which, by the way, you already are."

Tord has done the necessary paperwork himself and signed his name on all the documents relating to Tika. So when Tord married his fiancée, Emilia, she would take his last name and they wouldn't have to go the extra mile in getting Tika's name changed up again.

"So should I start calling you dad?" Tika asks still unsure of how to address the man.

"If you're comfortable with it." He shrugged his shoulders at the idea. "I'd rather you call me dad when you feel more comfortable around me. The same would go for Emilia being called mom." The blond woman next to him nods in agreement as she rests back in her seat.

"Then I'll call you Mr. Tord and Miss Emilia for now..."

Tord chuckles, "Alright Princess."

~I saw him there~
~I saw the devil standing in the doorway~
~Ready to whisk me away with a dance~

Tika takes out her phone again when her ringtone for Torm is playing.

Emilia giggles, "Nice ringtone."

"Sorry it's my friend calling," Tika apologizes. She brings the phone up after accepting the call. "Hello? Torm?"

The familiar name caught Tord's attention. The name she quietly called when she first saw him.

"Yeah, I'm in the car with them." There was muffled talking on the phone that her parents couldn't quite make out clearly. "What? Is he okay?!" She asks a little panic.

"Everything alright dear?" Tord asks.

Tika didn't answer him as she continues to listen intently on the phone. "Are you sure? Do you want me to come over?"

More muffled talking.

"Um, Mr. Tord, could you drop me off at my friend's house? Please?"

"What's wrong?" Tord asks concerned for his daughter's friends.

"My friend's dad isn't feeling too well for some reason." She looks back at her phone and back to her dad. "So can I?"

Tord made a good decision and asked for the address to the house in question. He drove full on without hesitation.

It took about an hour but they made it. They all got out of the car, locking it after leaving, then went to the front door. Tika had already run ahead of them and rang the doorbell.

The new family waited until they heard the locks being undone. Opening the door, the family was greeted by a tall teenager.

Torm and Tord caught each other's eyes, both shocked by how similar they looked to each other. Even Emilia was surprised that she stepped a little closer to Tika.

"Torm!" Tika rushes forward and hugged the surprised teen, pulling him away from the locked gaze with her new dad. "Is you dad okay?"

"He's resting..." Torm said softly as he hugged her back gently. He cautiously looks back at Tord who still staring at him. "Please, come in."

Tika and Torm move out of the doorway to let the two their adults in. Torm lets go of his friend to close the door and relock it securely.

"Tormy? Who's at the door?" A soft voice questions from down the hall of the entrance way.

"Guests Tomi, Tika is here as well."

The older man tenses at the other name and their voice.

Soft footsteps patted against the wooden floor until a head peeks out from one of the open doorways.

Tord's eyes widen realizing just whose house he's entered.

Tomi smiles at them, welcoming to the three as he comes further out of the doorway to make his way over to them. He stops in front of Tord happily and holds his hand out to him.

"Nice to meet you sir! I'm Tomi Thompson! Over there is my older brother Torm Thompson if he hasn't introduced himself yet.

For the love of god, Tord was seeing Thomas in the boy. They look so alike, the two boys he made for his past love grew to this. They were so grown, respectful, and loving... He... He-

"I..." He felt dizzy, like he was going crazy after so long.

"Sir?" Tomi asks gently in a similar manner of how Tom would when he was conceded for him.

Tord places the palm of his hand against his forehead. He couldn't believe his eyes, he couldn't believe this unimaginable fate.

In the home of his ex love and two sons he had given away like nothing.

Tord slumps against the wall next to him and slides down shocking his daughter, fiancée, and his unknowing sons.

It's was light out for him.

+With Emilia, Tika, Torm, and Tomi+

Emilia fretted over her passed out husband while the teens remained shock at what happened.

Tika looks at her friends a little unsure. "Sorry about that guys! I'm not sure why he passed out." She looks between her new parents with concerned at what had just happened. "Do you mind if we move him to the couch?"

"Of course," Torm said as the remains of the surprise fall away from him. He looks at his brother, "Tomi, help me move him to the couch."

Tomi nods and moves over to the man who had passed out. Torm picks him up under the arms while he takes him up by the feet.

"I can help-"

"It's alright ma'am, we'll do it. Tika you can get your mom a cup of water in the kitchen to help her calm down." Torm interrupts knowing she would want to help. The gentleman side of him taking over as he sees to it that the lady and their friend go calm down at the sudden event.

Torm and Tomi set the man down on the couch across from the tv. Once settled down, Tomi looks at his brother with confusion.

"You know he looks like you, Tormy."

Light silver eyes steady gaze towards his brother. His voice soft as he says, "I know... I've noticed that too." He crosses his arms over his chest and sighs. "I bet this is why Dad didn't want us meeting Tika's new parents. His name must of set off a old memory perhaps."

Tomi hold his hands together with a squeeze. "So you're saying they knew each other before us."

The light haired teen had always known he and his brother were missing something in their puzzle. During kindergarten the two brother could even tell the difference when they saw other kids' parents come to pick them up. Papa was always there for them but there was no other person beside him who cared for them. As if all the responsibility of them was left on him.

This man may just be their missing puzzle piece given that there was no denying the similarity between Tordand Torm.

"What was his name again?" Tomi asks resting his cheek against his hand.

"Tord Lawson, he's the boss of the Red Company." Torm informs as he moves away from the couch, his brother trailing after him. He stops walking for a moment that makes his brother bump into him.

"Tormy?" Tomi peeks out from behind his brother to see Tika and her new mom in the kitchen.

Both females nursing a cup of water in their hands, sitting behind the counter of the island table. The blond lady looked drained and tired. Tika herself worried with conceded for her new dad.

Tomi makes his way pass his brother to do his normal cheer up treatment on them. In short, talking to them about many things or just getting to know them in general. He would even show them a few magic tricks he can do with a couple of utensils in the kitchen.Torm could only watch from the doorway for a moment before coming into the kitchen himself as well.

He might as well cook dinner for everyone until his Dad and Mr. Lawson wake up.