Sokeefe: The Next Generation

Recap:   

Then, in a flash, Ellie knew what to do. She would tell her parents -- yes, they deserved to know she knew -- but not anyone else. If Sophie and Keefe Foster-Sencen wanted no-one else to know, so be it. She would keep it in her heart, until it was safe to say so. She might receive scorn, for being the child of the Neverseen and for being the child of a Bad Match...But, that didn't matter. She was innocent in all of this. This mess that Brant Elgar had planned.

And, with that, Ellie picked up her imparter. It was time to get some answers. 

"Keefe! Is that your imparter ringing?"

"Oh, yes, could you pick it up?"

Sophie Foster was at Sanctuary, the place where alicorns Greyfell and Silveny were first put in. She, Keefe and Dex were visiting the new Saber-Toothed Tigers' area. Dex, as the tech-savvy guys he was, had gone off with Julio -- one of Sanctuary's new staff - to check up on the human monitor/computer systems. 

Now, it was just Sophie and Keefe, like it had always been before. They were lying down on the grass, side by side. Taking a well-deserved rest -- well, that was after they had herded twenty tigers and three cubs into their enclosures, of course. 

Sophie reached across to her bag, pulling out Keefe's imparter. She read the dialler -- Ellie Foster, her daughter. 

"Hello?" Sophie said, after picking up.

"Mum!" Ellie's face filled the screen. "Are you with Dad? Are you too alone? I need to talk to you guys."

"Kid, don't tell me you are trying to get your mother and I kissing. Because, you don't get any extra points for that." Keefe leant in, a teasing smile across his face.

"Shush, Keefe. Ellie's talking." Sophie nudged her husband. 

"Go on, Ellie. We're alone." Sophie told her daughter. 

"Okay, so I thought you should know this. But...I found something you guys probably already knew," Ellie says quietly. "I-I found out the Adoption Papers. On Mum's noticeboard. I swear, it was by accident. But, when were you going to tell me this?"

No, Sophie thought. Not the papers. Ellie wasn't supposed to know, not for another five years! She was too young. No, this was not happening. I'm not going to go through my birth daughter's death. Melody's death.

Tears sprung in Sophie's eyes, Sophie looked away. It was silent, no-one said anything.

Finally, Keefe spoke. "Well-Uh-Your mother and I," He began. "Were going to tell you when you got older, maybe when you reached the Elite Levels. And..Yeah, you are adopted, so ---"

"What he means," Cut in Sophie. "Is that we love you very much, but -- yes, you are adopted. You are still of bloodline to us, well, more to your grandparents. And yes, your parents are Jolie and Brant Elgar, you were left at the Neverseen sight when Biana found you...So, we only recieved the news a few months after - after--" Tears started flowing freely from Sophie's eyes. "Our first daughter's death."

"Death?" Echoed Ellie. "You had another daughter?"

"Well, let me explain." Sophie said, hoping that she didn't sound too harsh. "A few months before the attack of the Neverseen, I had just given birth. To your father and I's first daughter. A girl, we named Melody Jolie Foster -- Jolie after my sister, as you could guess. But, Melody was a newborn, when her heart started failing her."

"It-It was my fault," Sophie continued. " I had a seizure, fainted right before her birth. Then, somehow, she was underweight, she wasn't coping. And then, just in a few minutes, she was gone. Her eyes were glassy, dead-like, I remember so well. We didn't want to tell you this, because we thought you might've thought badly of us. That-that we only cared for our biological children."

Sophie looked away. How could she have been so stupid? To not tell Ellie, her daughter? The only daughter she had left? 

"Ellie," Sophie said, after a few seconds of silence, to the now-tear-stained girl. "You're our only daughter left. Even if you're adopted, we still love you and care about you. You might be the daughter of a Bad Match, you might be a descendant of the Neverseen...But, you're also good. Your heart is good. We adopted you, months after Melody's DNA sapling was planted. I was in grief, I couldn't think straight. We decided to adopt you, to give not just you a second chance -- but us, too. We might've already had three wonderful boys," Sophie glanced at Keefe. He nodded, smiling. "But we needed something else. Someone else. You. You might be the daughter of a so-called vilian, but you are also the daughter of Jolie. You resemble her so much -- your long, shining blonde hair, your turquoise eyes, your smile. Go talk to your grandparents, they will tell you so much more." Sophie encouraged. 

"Will I ever get to see what Jolie looked like? How my biological mother looked like, Mom?" Asked Ellie, her voice almost a whisper.

"We can." Sophie offered to her daughter. "Keefe, anything else you'd like to add?" 

"Yeah, so," Keefe cleared his throat, glancing at Sophie. "Uh, I just wanted to say -- this might sound very like what your mother just said -- but, you have our full support here, Ellie. We love you so, so much. Your biological father might've been bad, but..You're the good one here. You matter, not Brant. We think somebody must've tweeked with your genes, like what happened to your mother, too. And, uh, we did have to tell your siblings. We understand, if you feel resentment towards us." Keefe quickly added awkwardly.

"I don't think I do," Ellie shook her head. "I just find it weird that you guys are -what? - my aunt and uncle? That's just weird, so I'm just gonna call you by 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Ellie smiled sheepishly. 

Sophie smiled. "I'd like that, Ellie. I'd like that very much."

And with that, Sophie and Keefe bid goodbye to their daughter, telling her that they'll be back on Monday. 

"I can't believe that just happened." Breathed Sophie. "We have amazing children."

"Yes," Keefe agreed, glancing up at the skies, towards the heavens. " I think Melody and Jolie would agree too."