Page 1 of Kian's Devotio
Prologue
Kian
Growing up with the knowledge that you already found the girl you were going to marry was something Kian loved.
They'd met right after his little sister had started kindergarten. She'd come home and told their mom about a new girl at school.
Emery said that the new girl was smelly and dressed in clothes that didn’t fit her well.
And, according to Emery, she didn’t have her hair brushed, nor did it seem as if she had eaten much.
She had even seen the girl walk home. The school was strict on its policies for the bus and this girl must have lived too close to ride the bus, but still far enough away that most parents wouldn’t dream of letting their 5 year old child walk that far.
Emery said that the girl, Karalee, was sad when she left the school and Kian didn’t like knowing that.
Kian’s heart hurt for this small girl. For some reason, when Ailith had told Emery to ask if the girl wanted to come over for a play date, he was kind of excited.
He felt so grown up at the age of 7 and watched out for his sister the next day when they were at school.
She was there with a girl who was wearing a shirt that was too big for her and it was stained and dirty.
The girl had brown hair that looked like it was thick and curly but was matted together in spots.
And then she looked up at him, and her emerald green eyes stole the breath from his lungs.
He was only 7 but knew that this girl was someone special and that he needed to be nice and treat her like his dad treated his mom.
Emery looked up at him and smiled, “Kian, this is my new friend. Her name is Karalee. She's going to play at our house after school.”
Kian grinned, and the girl gave him a tiny smile, as if it wasn’t something she did often.
“You're missing a tooth.” She said quietly and he nodded, “Yeah, I pulled it myself. The next one is wiggly, but not ready to be pulled yet. But I got a dollar from the tooth fairy.”
She raised her eyebrow, “What’s a tooth fairy?”
Kian gave a startled laugh and Emery gasped, “What’s a tooth fairy?” Karalee nodded and he said, “She brings you money when you lose your baby teeth.”
Karalee raised her eyebrows slightly, “Oh. I don’t think she would come to my house. I lost a tooth once, and she must have forgotten about me. Or maybe I was too bad. My mom always said I was.”
Kian dropped to his knees beside the girls and put his hand out, “That’s okay. If you want, I can give you the dollar she gave me.”
Karalee gave a shy smile and shook her head. Kian could see the want in her eyes for the dollar, as if this was the first gift anyone had ever given her, but she said, “I don’t need it. Thank you.”
Kian shook his head, “Can I play with you before I go back to class?”
They both nodded and played in the sand until the bell rang.
After school, Kian skipped out to the car and sure enough, Karalee was there.
She had a plastic bag full of her books and papers and was kicking her dirty shoe, not sure if she should get in the car with them.
Kian nudged her shoulder, “Come on. It will be fun to play at our house. I promise. My mom probably made cookies.”
She looked up, and her stomach growled, “Cookies? Really?”
Kian grinned, “Yeah, chocolate chip ones. My mom makes the best kind.”
Karalee bit her lip, and then nodded and when they got in the backseat, Ailith turned around, “Hello there darling. And hello Karalee. We're happy yer comin' to play with Emery.”
