REQUESTED BY: Loaqis

A/N: Hoo boy, this one was a doozy! After a long time of not writing for this fandom, it gets difficult to get back into writing for canon characters. Nevertheless, I had fun with this one! I hope you enjoy.

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It was rainier than usual that Tuesday morning. Edd had decided to go grocery shopping during a lull in the moody weather, and so he hurriedly got his jacket on and hopped in the car.

He hummed to himself, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he drove. When he turned to glance at his right, he noticed a little girl slumped against a tree, looking hurt.

He frowned, looking up at the deceptively-blue skies. He probably had about five minutes before the rain started up again. With a sigh, he cut the engine, unbuckled himself and stepped out onto the curb.

When the girl heard him slam the door shut, she looked up, teary-eyed and bruised. Her nose was very visibly broken, and she was trembling from the cold and from the slowly-seeping blood down her face. It dirtied her hair, appearing to originate underneath

"Are you hurt?" He asked in mild concern.

She wordlessly nodded, pointing to her leg. She must've twisted it.

He winced in sympathy. "Do you, uh, do you know where your parents are?"

She shook her head, hesitated, then spoke quietly, "I... I don't know... I think I'm lost."

He nodded once in understanding. "That... that makes sense."

She merely stared down into her lap, every so often wiping away a trickle of blood from her cheek.

He watched her for a few seconds before speaking up, "Would you like to stay with me until I can find them?"

She looked up sharply, eyes slightly fearful. She shrank back from him a bit, the bark digging into her exposed (s/c) skin. "I dunno-- Mother told me not to go with strangers--"

Edd knelt down in the grass beside her, ignoring the growing dampness on the fabric of his pants. He gently held out a hand with a smile. "Just so we aren't strangers, then, I'm Edd. What's your name?"

She stared at his hand for a second before her eyes slowly slid up to meet his.

Then, finally, she cracked a small smile and took his hand, shaking it timidly. "(y/n)..."

"A lovely name." He praised. "How about we get you to hospital and then go about finding your parents?"

At this, her smile dropped, and she looked uneasy. "I don't..."

"I'm sure you at least want your nose fixed, don't you?" He asked, pointing it out. "And I don't really know how to reset noses anyways, so..."

She seemed to think about it for a moment. Then she nodded, taking his hand to help herself up.

It had been about an hour since they'd arrived at the hospital, (y/n)'s injuries having been treated. Edd had promised to take the girl out for some ice cream before getting the groceries and settling her into his home. He'd already asked her about her home life, but all he really got out of her was her full name [(y/n) (l/n)], her age (12 and three months), and a general area where she'd last remembered seeing her mother (near the park).

In a nutshell, not that much. She did shyly admit that she liked (f/fl) ice cream though, so at least he knew one more thing about her.

He raked his hand down his face in exhaustion, his spoon still in hand. His ice cream was half-eaten, but all he could think about was this little girl.

She was a scrawny little thing, probably around five feet tall, and wouldn't even weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet. Either she'd been abused, or she really was lost.

She noticed his intense gaze into the distance and timidly nudged his arm with her finger. "Um, Mr. Edd? Your ice cream is melting..."

He blinked, glanced down at it, and sighed. Yeah, it was well on its way to being ice cream soup.

He gave her a smile and shrugged. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. Oh well, I like soup a lot more anyway."

She giggled a little bit, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear so that it wouldn't dip into her spoon. "You're weird, Mr. Edd."

"You don't have to call me 'Mister'," he gently chastized. "If you'll be staying in the house, you can call me Edd."

Another half an hour later of shopping (and getting some necessities for (y/n), such as extra clothing), he finally pulled into the driveway. He gave her a small smile as they both unbuckled. "You don't need to worry about the groceries; my flatmates and I can handle them."

"A-- are you sure?" She asked, hesitating. "I can help."

"It's fine, you don't need to worry." He chuckled, gently patting her on the head. Her hair was oily under his fingers. "You've had an exhausting day. Why don't you go take a shower, get changed, and I'll get dinner?"

"Okay..." she nodded, waiting around long enough for him to open and enter the front door before grabbing one of the clothing bags, scurrying in behind him.

"Guys, I'm back!" Edd called.

A scruffy-looking man with pitch-black eyes - no sclera, literally just black -- took a swig out of a flask and nodded to him from the couch. "Hey, Edd. Who's the girl?"

"This is (y/n)," he introduced, right as she hid behind him. "She's going to be staying with us for a while. Don't freak her out, okay?"

"I'm not that kind of person," the brunet man grumbled to himself, before sighing and turning to where she was peeking out from behind Edd's green sleeve. "I'm Tom. It's nice to meet you, (y/n)."

"... thanks," she mumbled shyly, hiding again.

"Where's Matt?" Edd asked, leading her past the TV and into the kitchen.

"Probably admiring his own reflection again," Tom called out in reply, sounding a little annoyed.

Edd sighed, but turned to the girl. "Since our flatmate Tord moved out a few months ago, you can have his old room. I've gotta warn you, though, he may have left a few things behind. If you find anything..." he hesitated here, "... out of place, tell one of us immediately."

"I got it," she nodded, eyes wide. She clenched the bag in her fingers tightly as she followed him down the hall.

As they came to an empty room, her breath left her. It was nice, albeit a bit barren. There was a bed with no sheets, a chair and table, and a closet and dresser. She noticed an empty photo frame still sitting on it, but she said nothing as she sat her bag down on the chair.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

She nodded eagerly, smiling again. "Yes, it's really cool. Thank you, sir."

"Don't be so formal, silly." He chuckled. There was a merry twinkle in his eyes as he turned to leave. "You can call us by our first names if you'd like."

He paused, then turned and cupped a hand to his mouth. "Actually, I know that once Matt gets to know you, he would just melt if you called him Uncle Matt. If he asks, I didn't say anything."

"I got it!" She saluted with a giggle. "Thank you... Edd."

"You're welcome." He replied. "We'll bring your stuff in. You can go ahead and take a shower and change, and I'm pretty sure we'll have your bed set up by then."

True to his word, once Matt actually met (y/n), he fawned over her like a niece. It was surprising just how well they got along, considering how shy she was. She gradually began to open up to them as the days passed and as her injuries healed. Tom was surprisingly good with her, oftentimes just sitting with her on the couch or sharing stories about their whacky past adventures. She seemed to like listening, always content to curl up at his side and listen to him tell about that one time they found an ancient Egyptian ruin in their backyard.

Of course, the person she became closest to was Edd.

Over time, he'd called in favors from an old friend, he'd put up ads online describing the lost girl, and even tried googling her name to see if it gave any results. So far, nothing had worked. As far as he knew, the kid was an orphan.

He looked into her trusting (e/c) eyes and he felt his heart tug a little. As the days turned to weeks, he'd began to think of her more akin to a daughter than as a little girl healing. At this rate, he couldn't imagine a life without her living with them, laughing with Matt at some stupid TV show or watching Tom strum songs on Susan.

One day, a few months after bringing (y/n) into their home, after much discourse with a lawyer, he made his decision. He'd already spoken to Matt and Tom about it, and both gave varying degrees of enthusiastic consent. So one morning, he slipped out of the house bright and early, without letting (y/n) know of where he was going.

She woke up a couple of hours later, sleepy yet happy for some reason. She chalked it up to the weather getting better, got out of bed, and put on some fluffy (f/c) slippers.

She walked to the kitchen, where Tom was making breakfast.

"Hey, kid. Hungry?" He asked as the toast popped out of the toaster.

"Yes, I am!" She nodded, taking a seat at the counter. "Can I have a Pop-Tart?"

"Sure. What kind?" He asked, going over to the cupboard.

"(f/fl), please!" She affirmed.

Just then, Matt walked in, appearance well-groomed as usual. He patted her on the head, chirping a "Good morning!" as he passed.

She frowned when she realized someone was missing. "Um... Uncle Matt? Where's D-- Edd?"

He frowned for a moment before looking to Tom. "He... didn't tell me. Tom, do you know?"

"I do, but I can't tell you where he is," he replied simply, watching the Pop-Tarts cook.

"What? That's not fair!" Matt whined.

"We all know you'd squeal to (y/n) if he ever told you," Tom retorted, giving him a short-lived glare. "You're horrible at keeping secrets."

"I am not!" Matt cried, indignant. Then, he thought about it for a moment, and he frowned. "... okay, maybe I am kinda bad at keeping secrets."

(y/n) giggled at the banter.

As soon as her Pop-Tarts popped up, the front door opened, and Edd stepped in, a folder in his hands.

"Edd!" (y/n) exclaimed, hopping off the chair and running to him. She threw her arms around his middle. "Where were you?"

"Yeah, Edd, what gives?" Matt asked with a pout. "Why didn't you let me in on this?"

"Because I wanted it to be a surprise," Edd explained, sending a smile at the girl before taking off his shoes and walking in. "What's for breakfast?"

"Toast and Pop-Tarts," Tom answered, handing him a piece of buttered toast. "It's gourmet."

"I bet," Edd agreed dryly, taking a bite. He set the folder down on the counter, sitting beside (y/n).

"So Edd, mind telling us why you were out so early this morning?" Tom asked.

Edd swallowed his bite of toast, nodding. "Oh yeah."

He turned to (y/n), who was munching on a (f/fl) Pop-Tart. "(y/n), you know how you've been staying with us for a few months now?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"And you know how we haven't been able to locate your mum or dad?" He continued.

She frowned, but nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Weeeeell..." he stretched out the word, reaching for the folder. "I was at the courthouse this morning, and I was wondering something kind of important."

"... what is it?" She asked nervously, looking from him to a smiling Tom.

"Would you like to stay with us forever?" He asked softly.

Her eyes widened, and she almost dropped her toaster pastry. "Are-- are you serious? I get to live here forever?"

"Serious," he nodded with a smile.

"YES!" She screamed, throwing her arms around him. She quickly began sobbing out of happiness into his coat.

"There there, don't cry," he soothed, smoothing down her hair. "(y/n), love, hey."

She looked up at him, still teary-eyed but smiling.

"I decided to adopt you." He finally said, wiping her errant tears away. "That means Uncle Matt is Uncle Matt for real now."

"Seriously?! This is the best day ever!" Matt exclaimed, fist-pumping the air. He turned to Tom with a big silly grin. "I'm an uncle! I'm an uncle!"

"Yeah, the dumb one," he grouched, but he smiled behind his cup of coffee. "Meanwhile, I'm the cool uncle. She likes me more."

"What? Nuh-uh!" Matt argued, folding his arms across his chest. "You and I both know that I'm the cooler uncle! Isn't that right, (y/n)?"

She laughed, choosing not to answer as she snuggled into the embrace of her new father.

"Thank you, Daddy," she whispered into his coat, inhaling his usual scent of cologne and the sweet hint of cola.

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A/N: I will not have any daddy kinks in my good pure Eddsworld fanfiction, thank you.

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