Thankful for a Family

Calfuray was laying in bed staring at the ceiling. She had been adopted for a couple weeks now, there was a routine that she was relatively adjusted to and even enjoyed. Usually. It was still hard to adjust to having an adult watching out for her, she was just so used to being just around the other kids so not having them around and having one adult that kept an eye on her and help her out. She sat on and felt a light sensation on her leg. She looked down and seemed confused, her paw reaching up to touch her cheek. She was crying? She ran her arm over her eyes and was surprised to see there were in fact tears in her eyes. As if that was what broke the dam she started just bawling. She couldn't stop, she didn't know why she was crying, and she couldn't stop herself.

Fantasia was in the doorway before Calfuray knew it, and in an instant she had her arms around the young Imperial. She was petting her hair and humming in an attempt to soothe the young girl. Calfuray just cried harder, her arms locked around Fantasia now that she was there and she just cried against her chest. Fantasia just sat there and continued to try and soothe her while she cried herself out. It took about five minutes but finally she was hiccuping and trying to take deep breaths.

"Are you ok?" Fantasia asked, the worry clear in her voice.
"I don't know, I don't know what happened." Calfuray whimpered.
"It's ok, it's ok." Fantasia whispered, rubbing the child's back.
"I-I-I just-" She stuttered when the other kitsu just hugged her tighter. Calfuray nuzzled closer and just worked on calming her breathing. "Thank you." She mumbled.
"Hmm?" Fantasia asked, not quite hearing her.
"Th-thank you." She pulled back a bit and looked up at Fantasia, "Thank you for caring for me. I'm just really grateful for everything and I love it here and I..." She trailed off and whimpered.
"I know baby, I know. It's ok and I'm so grateful you're here too." She placed a small kiss on the top of Calfuray's head and smiled down at her.

Calfuray just sat like that for a while. She didn't actually have any idea how long but it felt nice to be held and comforted. The crying had come out of nowhere and just as quickly she felt calm and reassured. She didn't view Fantasia as her mom, she was old enough to know they weren't really family but it seemed like Fantasia saw her as a daughter or at least...close? That would be nice she thought.
"We both know I'm not your mom but I want us to be a family." Fantasia told her.
Calfuray nuzzled back against Fantasia again. It was like the older woman read her mind and it was surprisingly reassuring. They were't blood but she really was starting to believe that didn't matter. Every day she was more and more looking forward to a future as Fantasia's family.