Unseen Legacy, Hearts Guardian

Olivia watched through the classroom window at the young girl painting. It was a picture of two people holding hands, with a giant smiling face sun in the corner.

She was a pretty five year old. Her curly dark blonde hair would occasionally fall onto her face, which she would push back with her hand, getting paint on her face. Olivia chuckled.

Harper Morgan. Riley's daughter. Olivia wiped away the tear that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Harper, darling? Come over here," called the lady from the welfare department.

Harper turned to look in the direction of the voice. Upon seeing Olivia the little girl smiled. She had bright blue eyes, just like her mother. The sight of it took Olivia's breath away for a second. She watched as the colourfully dressed child came bounding over; full of excitement.

Olivia squatted down so that she was on the same level as Harper.

"Hi, Harper. I'm..." Before she could finish the sentence, the little girl jumped forward and hugged her tightly. Olivia was shocked as see looked to the lady next to her for a clue.

"Aunt Liv!" the little girl cried happily.

"Y..You k..know me?" said Olivia.

The little girl leaned back and cupped Olivia's face with the her small hands. The bright blue eyes, filled with intelligence, stared at her. They were Riley's eyes.

"Of course I do, Aunt Liv!" she beamed. Olivia was utterly confused now.

"How? H..How do you know me?"

"From your pictures silly," the girl stated. As if it was something that was completely obvious to everyone. "Mommy had your photo's at home. She said you were her bestest friend."

Olivia sat on the floor, then looked at the child. Unable to contain it any more, the tears started rolling down her cheeks, fueled by hurt and regret.

"Hey, don't cry Aunt Liv," said Harper with a concerned look on her face. "There's nothing to cry about..."

The little girl used her thumbs to wipe away the tears, then gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. She whispered to Olivia, "Everything is going to be okay."

Olivia pulled her back into a tight hug and cried into the little one's shoulder. The hurt and pain from the years finally releasing. Harper held her tightly, and patted her on the back softly. The woman from the welfare department looked on at this strange scene, where a grown woman was weeping as a 5 year old comforted her.

"I'm sorry, sweet-heart. I just miss your mother so much, and you look just like her," said Olivia who managed to get control of herself.

Looking at Harper's face clearly, the small girl looked back with curiosity.

"What would you say about coming to live with me?" asked Olivia.

Harper raised a finger to her temple and tapped it, while looking at the ceiling as if deep in thought.

"Mmmm... Okay. But on one condition," she said with a cheeky grin.

"What condition?"

"You have to give me a kiss, here and here," Harper pointing to each cheek," and a hug. Everyday!"

Olivia beamed with delight. She then kissed the girl once on each cheek, and pulled her into a hug. "Deal!"

"It will take a few weeks to process your application, do the background checks etcetera, but you'll be allowed to have supervised visits in between then," said the welfare department officer.

Olivia nodded in relpy, without taking her eyes off Harper. She was already in love with this small child. How much of it was because she looked so much like Riley, she didn't know. All she knew was that for the first time in many years, her heart felt something other than pain.

Olivia stood up to take her back to class. Harper placed her small hand in Olivia's and gave her a large smile. As they walked back into the classroom, Olivia managed to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She stared in disbelief at the small paint handprints on her face.

She looked at Harper who was now running away giggling. She finally managed to laugh.

*****

Olivia sat in the middle of the yet to be opened florist shop. Aside from the apartment, she had also purchased the small shop to setup a business. Although she had not needed to work previously, she had completed studying business at college, and had some invovlement in her own family business from time to time.

As she took a sip from her coffee, she looked at the photo on her phone. It was taken on the day that she and Harper first met. It was a selfie of the two of them, the paint still fresh on Olivia's face at the time. That was now a few weeks ago.

Looking at Harper's small face, it was remarkable how similar she was to Riley. Not only in looks, but her personality. She then looked at herself. She had a smile on her face, but the difference was, the smile reached all the way to her eyes.

She was truly happy in that moment.

Lost in thought, the sound of the bell over the door rang, startling her. She looked up to see a small child enter. She had straight black hair, put up into pig tails.

Her dark brown eyes were bright against the rich brown tone of her skin. On top of her head was a yellow hat and sunglasses.

"Hello?" enquired Olivia. "Can I help you?"

Before she could answer, the door opened again and in stepped a beautiful women. Her black hair was pulled back into a simple pony tail. Like the little girl, she also had a lovely brown tone to her complexion, which set off warm brown eyes.

"Rebecca Carter! What have I told you about running off!" the women steamed. "Come here right now!"

Rebecca giggled at the women who was clearly her mother. The laugh was quite contagious, and Olivia couldn't hold back the laughter herself.

"I'm so sorry," the women apologised. She could see that the store was not yet open for business. "She has a tendency to run off. Especially at flower shops. She just loves them."

"It's not a problem," said Olivia as she smiled at the pair and waved her hand. "How could I get angry at someone that is so cute."

The woman blushed, as Olivia had been looking at her when she said it. Realising how it could have been interpreted, Olivia blushed herself.

"Sorry, I meant her," pointing at Rebecca.

The other women gave a feint pout, "Well that's a shame." Olivia blushed even more. The other woman said with a smile, "I'm just teasing you."

"Oh.." Olivia was relieved, but also a little disappointed for some reason.

"Sorry to disturb you, we'll get going," waved the women as she hauled the little girl out of the store.

"It was no problem," Olivia mumbled to no-one. Her phone rang, giving her a start. It was the welfare department.

"Hello, Miss Bennett? This is Casey, from the welfare department. We have a response for your adoption application."

"Yes?" Olivia closed her eyes, praying for the answer she wanted.

"Congratulations, Miss Bennett! You are going to be a mother!"

Olivia was speechless for a moment, then screamed in joy, "Thank you! Thank you!"

"It will take a few more days to finalise all the paperwork, but you should be able to pick up Harper next Wednesday. Does that work for you?"

"Yes! I'll be there. Just let me know when!"

Olivia held the phone to her chest, and looked up towards the ceiling.

"I couldn't give you all the love you deserved in this life Riley. But I will make sure that Harper gets it. All my love for you, I will give it to her. I promise to love her for the rest of my life, Riley." Olivia wiped away the tears.

She looked at the photo of the two of them, Harper and Olivia.

My beautiful girl, she thought to herself.

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