Carter and Harry visited Poppy every day for twelve months. Often, they would bring her presents and Harry would teach her something new about various types of art. The other kids were jealous, but the appearance of her new parents and their multitude of tattoos kept them away.

Poppy thought that Christmas was the best visit though, because Carter and Harry had appeared as soon as the orphanage opened and they had stayed with her until it closed. They gave her so many nice things, but Poppy valued the love and the memories the most.

When the day finally came, Poppy was bursting with excitement. She was finally leaving the dull walls and mean children behind; she finally had a real home.

Carter and Harry showed up right when the orphanage opened and helped her put her things in their car. After spending so much time with them, she learned where all the money came from. Carter had won a television show for her tattoos and Harry was continuously recognized for his works at galleries all over the world.

They'd pulled up to a nice house on the other side of town and Poppy's eyes widened.

"You live here!?"

Carter removed her seat belt and turned around only to smile at her, "We live here. C'mon, I'll give you a tour while Harry gets your things."

Poppy followed Carter excitedly, she hadn't been in a real home since she was four.

"This is the only downstairs bedroom, but it has its own bathroom. Oh! And if you don't like the things in the room, just let us know. You can have anything you want, new sheets, new paint, anything at all."

Carter let her walk around and explore the room before leading her upstairs. She stopped at the first open door, "This is our bedroom, so, if you ever need us we're in here pretty much all the time when we're home."

Poppy giggled as she peeked inside and saw that their room was a mess. "You have paint on your sheets!"

Carter smiled in return, "It happens."

She laughed and Poppy laughed with her as they walked a little further down the hall. They stopped in front of the last door on the left.

"This is the other option, it doesn't have a bathroom, but conveniently the bathroom is right next door."

Harry walked up the stairs with Poppy's belongings and smiled at the two girls, "Made it."

Carter playfully rolled her eyes, "What if she wants the one downstairs?"

Harry stood up straight and shrugged, "Then I'll move her stuff downstairs. But I'm 100% positive that she'll pick this one."

Poppy beamed as she stepped inside the room and took a long look around. Harry was right, she definitely wanted this room. However, she was curious about the door beside what Carter had said was the bathroom.

She stepped back into the hallway with a bright smile, "I want this one."

Harry grinned triumphantly as he picked up Poppy's trunk full of miscellaneous things, "Told you so."

Carter smacked his chest as he walked by and he set the trunk down immediately. His arms wrapped around her waist and she tried not to grin as he pouted, "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Poppy smiled as he dipped his head down and kissed her sweetly. She wasn't afraid of going back to the orphanage because it was very clear that Carter and Harry loved each other very much and that they planned on sharing their love with her.

Carter beamed and kissed him back. They exchanged brief 'I love you's' before Harry finished moving Poppy's trunk into her new room. He'd left a few boxes in the hall, but they followed quickly and soon everything was ready to be unpacked.

Poppy hugged each of them tightly and expressed her gratitude multiple times.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to thank us for loving you."

Carter smiled and added, "You don't have to call us Mom and Dad if it's uncomfortable, we understand and we don't mind either way."

Poppy wiped her eyes and nodded, "Okay. Can I ask what's in the room next to the bathroom?"

She noticed that both Carter and Harry lost some of their happiness at its mention. Harry cleared his throat, "The nursery. We uh..."

He couldn't seem to finish his sentence and Carter stepped in, "We were going to have a baby and that was supposed to be her room. I...I lost her before we could meet her, at six months, and we just haven't had the heart to clear out that room yet."

Harry hugged her from the side and she smiled, "Eventually, we're going to try again, but for now we wanted you to be our daughter, and that's more than enough."

Poppy practically ran across the room to hug Carter. She could feel her heartbreak from across the room and she could also feel the love.

Poppy hugged her tightly, "I love you, Mom."

Carter hugged her back even tighter, "I love you too, sweetheart."

Harry was next and he mumbled a thank you against her hair as she hugged him. They spent the rest of the day helping her unpack and plan what she wanted her room to look like. Eventually, they ordered a pizza and made a blanket fort in the living room downstairs.

The next few nights were spent in the same manner because they painted her room dark gray with beautiful white trees. Poppy had painted the bird from her drawing on one of the branches, but she had added two more and placed them huddled together to represent her new family.

Carter and Harry bought her everything that she needed and more and soon she was settled in and getting used to their routine.

Poppy loved living with Carter and Harry because they were such fun people and they made her feel like she was their daughter all along. They took her on amazing vacations over the summer and she learned so much from them that she put out work that could almost rival theirs.

Carter had become her best friend and Poppy loved to come home from school to talk to her and snack on whatever junk food they had in the house. Poppy learned so much about their past and she loved them even more because their pasts proved that they weren't the type of people to just give up.

Carter stayed home from work for a day and spent time drawing and cleaning things around the house. Living with two other artists tended to get messy. Harry was coming home early from the warehouse to spend some more quality time with her and Poppy.

Lately, he'd been caught up with shows and he wanted to make it up to them.

The front door opened at two thirty exactly. Harry walked through with a massive smile and jokingly called out, "Honey! I'm home!"

Carter flew down the stairs and jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly and catching him by surprise. What he didn't know, was that she'd been trying to get pregnant since their honeymoon. She hadn't told him because she wasn't sure if her body would keep the baby this time around.

Nothing had happened for just over a year and it was looking pretty bleak, that is, until Carter went upstairs and decided to take a pregnancy test just for the hell of it. She cried for an hour after seeing the little plus sign.

Harry chuckled lightly and held her close, "Well, hello to you too."

Carter laughed and he felt tears seep through the thin material of his t-shirt, "I'm pregnant. Harry, I'm pregnant."

It felt like all of the air had been knocked out of his lungs. The news was such a surprise, but he was so overwhelmingly happy. He sat her down carefully, his smile overtaking the sun and tears springing in his beautiful emerald eyes, "Really?"

Carter laughed again and nodded quickly, her smile mirroring his, "Really."

In a moment, he had her in his arms again. Harry spun her around and kissed over every inch of her face as she giggled

Harry sat her down again and kissed the air straight from her lungs. Carter nearly gasped for air when he pulled away. Harry rested his forehead against hers, "I love you, I love you, I love you."

Carter laughed softly and kissed him sweetly in return, "I feel really good about this one."

Harry smiled at her, his eyes sparkling, "I do too. Why didn't you tell me that you were trying?"

"I didn't want you to worry or to freak out about it. Also, I wanted it to be a surprise a little after the wedding. Clearly, that didn't work out the way that I had planned it."

He looked at her curiously, his eyes and his smile still bright, "How long have we been trying?"

Carter blushed, "About two years."

Harry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "Two years!?"

She wanted to laugh, but the truth was that she was afraid for most of that time. About a year into trying, Carter had begun to think that maybe she just wasn't able to have kids despite what the doctors said.

Carter nodded, "Yes. I was worried after a little while. The doctors never said that I couldn't have children, but that's what it started to feel like when more time continued to pass. But, now we have Poppy and I started to be okay with it. And, well, here we are now. Do you think that she'll be upset?"

Harry pulled her in close and enveloped her with his arms. He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled, "I think she'll be thrilled. Do you want to pick her up early and go celebrate?"

"I'd love that."

. . .

Poppy was confused when she was called down to the office for dismissal. Usually her parents told her when they were going to pick her up early, and today was not one of those days.

Clearly, something was going on, but she had no idea what it was. Poppy hoped that it wasn't anything bad.

Carter and Harry beamed and waved to her through the glass as soon as she had made it to the front office. Poppy returned the gesture and internally sighed in relief. Neither of them had said much about what was going on until they were all standing outside of the car.

Harry held Carter's hand and each of them were smiling brightly. Harry spoke first, "We've got something to tell you."

He hadn't said anything wrong, but Poppy was anxious to know what it was that they had to tell her. She nodded and waited for one of them to continue.

Carter bit her lip briefly before she decided to just say it, "You're going to be a big sister."

Poppy grinned, her eyes wide with excitement, "Really!?"

Carter and Harry nodded and she ran to them. Immediately, she was enveloped in a three-way hug and she was so happy. Poppy was overjoyed because now she had a family that loved her and a soon-to-be sibling that she could love too.

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

Carter laughed lightly, "We don't know yet, but, we'll tell you as soon as we find out. How about we go celebrate for now?"

Poppy nodded happily, her thoughts already drifting to what her younger sibling would look like and how she hoped that it was a girl so that they could be best friends and she could teach her things.

They spent all night laughing and playing games in the living room. Carter had finally let go of her fears of losing another baby and she let the joy take over. This time was different, and she didn't know how she knew, but she did and so did Harry. Everything was finally falling into place.