Lily spent the journey home from Botswana thinking about the future. She knew that she wanted her future to include Alex and that he wanted the same. Their families were supportive. The only problem was that, for the first time in her life, she didn't know what that future might look like. Alex had a good idea of what he wanted his career to look like. Meanwhile, Lily had still not thought about her career prospects beyond the general expectation that graduating with a first-class degree in PPE from Oxford would guarantee success. Pushing it out of her mind, she lifted Alex's arm and leaned on him to nap away the rest of the flight.
By the time they returned to Oxford, everyone was still tired from the overnight flight, early arrival and journey from the airport. Lily was looking at her luggage in Mike and Sarah's living room, thinking about how much she didn't want to make the extra journey back to her flat. She was about to say goodbye and thank her hosts one last time when Sarah's voice pulled her out of her trance.
"Right, naps for everyone, I think. We'll get some pizza for lunch and worry about the rest later. Lily, Alex, you know where to sleep. If you don't want a nap, help yourself to anything you might be able to find."
Lily watched as her friend left the room with Will cradled to her chest while Mike did the same with Lettie.
"Nap sounds good," Lily said quietly, reaching for Alex with her hand.
"Babe, is everything alright?" Alex asked, equally quiet, not immediately following her.
"Yeah, fine. I didn't sleep much on the flight. I had a few things to think over. I'll tell you after a shower and some sleep."
A couple of hours later, Lily woke up to Alex stroking her cheek. Smiling, she leaned into his touch before kissing him.
"Hey," Lily said, feeling much more refreshed than she had earlier.
"Hey, yourself. Want to tell me what's been on your mind since we left Botswana?" Alex asked gently.
Lily shuffled into his arms, tucked her head under his chin, and kissed his chest.
"It's hard to explain, but for the first time in my life, I don't know what my future looks like except that I want you in it. I've imagined having a successful career, but I don't know what that career is. I just assumed that my degree would get me one."
"It's not a bad assumption. A PPE degree from Oxford tends to have successful results," Alex replied cautiously. "Lily, I told you when we came back from your parents after New Year's, do some research, find a path you think will give you fulfilment and work towards that."
"I don't know how. I've never thought about it before," Lily admitted. "It's always been do the work to get to the next stage. Trinity term starts next week. Then it'll be summer, and before we know it, we'll be in our final year, and I still don't know what comes next."
"Lucky for you, you attend one of the oldest and most respected Universities on the planet. There's a pretty good careers office. Make an appointment, see what options are out there, and what appeals to you," Alex advised.
"That's a pretty good idea," Lily whispered before tilting her head to kiss him. "I love you. I love how you filter through my thoughts and simplify everything for me. It's like you understand me better than myself sometimes."
Before Lily could channel her emotions into a physical response, she heard the sounds of the house waking up around them. Then, a knock at the door was caused by little hands.
"Lily, Alex, Mummy wants to know what pizza you want," Will yelled through the door.
"I got this.
Capricciosa
still your favourite pizza?" Alex whispered. "Coming, buddy," Alex shouted back after Lily nodded her reply.
A few minutes later, Lily followed Alex downstairs to find her second family waiting for her. They all had big smiles, as if they were all keeping a secret from her. Lily looked around, waiting for someone to clue her in.
"Starting in a couple of days, the open door policy at the Smith house is going to be suspended temporarily. We'll need a couple of weeks to settle," Sarah said cryptically.
"What's going on?" Lily asked, confused.
"While you were napping, we got a call, a call that's going to change our lives. Will, Lettie, do you want to tell her," Sarah continued.
"We're getting a new sister," Both kids screamed in unison.
Lily took a moment to appreciate what had just been said before looking at Mike and Sarah in wonder, "Congratulations, wow. When do you get to meet her?" Lily asked.
"Her name is Kate, and she's roughly Lettie's age. We'll sign the paperwork tomorrow and pick her up in a couple of days," Sarah replied. "It's a long-term match. We'll be supervised with monthly check-ins for the first six months, and if all goes well, we'll be allowed to adopt her in 18 months. So, we're going to take a couple of weeks to help her settle before slowly introducing her to the rest of the horde. Even the grandmas are going to have to wait their turn."
"I can't wait to meet her, and if you ever need an extra set of hands, give me a call," Lily said honestly, feeling pleased for them, knowing how much they wanted it.
"Thanks. Do you mind spending today with the kids so we can go out and shop? We need to stock the house and get our new addition the essentials."
For the rest of the afternoon, Lily played with the kids while Mike and Sarah were out. Alex left her alone for an hour so he could go home, drop his things and check in with his grandmother. Lily let herself be drawn into the kids' excitement over having a new sister and listening to them tell her everything they had planned to show her once she arrived. She encouraged them and reminded them to be kind and patient as it would take time for Kate to get used to having a new family.
When they returned, Lily left the kids with Alex and Mike so she could help Sarah set up the nursery.
"So, do you know Kate's story and why she's coming to stay with you?" Lily asked as they made the bed.
"We didn't get too many details over the phone. I imagine it's something we'll discuss with the social worker when we meet her tomorrow. We do know her mother died in a car accident, and her sperm donor is out of the picture. We'll ask about grandparents tomorrow," Sarah answered.
"Why do you want to know about the grandparents?"
"Mike and I spoke about it while we were out. We won't stop them from having a relationship with her if they want one. We don't think much will come of it since they aren't being treated as an option to take her in, but we're willing to leave the door open to them."
"That's kind of you, so how are you feeling now it's real and happening?" Lily asked. "Will and Lettie have been nonstop with their excitement."
"Excited, nervous, afraid. What if she doesn't like us? What if she doesn't settle with us? It would break my heart to have her stay with us and then lose her," Sarah admitted. "I've wanted this for so long. When Mike and I were newly engaged and discussing kids, one of the first things I insisted on was that we would adopt regardless of whether or not we would be able to have our own. I didn't know how much money he had or that we would have this life. All I saw was Mike and I building a life together, taking in a child who didn't have anyone and giving them the family they needed. Now it's real; this baby girl must be so scared; she's lost her mum, she doesn't have a dad, and we're taking on the responsibility of filling those roles for her."
"Sarah, you're a great mum, and Mike is a great dad. You've got a massive support network to help you. It'll take time for her to adjust, but she will be surrounded by people who love her; that's all kids need," Lily said, hoping to reassure Sarah.
"Thank you, especially the part where I'm a great mum. I suppose part of me knows that, but it's still a fear," Sarah said, hugging her. "Stay the night? Here or at Jean's with Alex. It would help if you could watch over the kids in the morning while Mike and I go and do the paperwork and meet the social worker."
"Of course," Lily replied, returning the hug.
"Thanks. Now, let's coerce our menfolk into making us dinner while we play with my babies. Hopefully, they tire themselves out of their excitement and don't fight us at bedtime."
Over the next few days, Lily settled back into her normal routine, getting herself ready for the new term. A few days into the new term, she followed Alex's advice and made an appointment with the University's careers service to look at her future.
She had also begun thinking about the upcoming summer. Her circumstances hadn't changed. She would need to work during the summer, and she didn't want to make any assumptions about whether or not Mike and Sarah would ask her to be their summer Au Pair again. She would be happy to help, but what she really wanted was that once she had an idea of a possible career path, she would hopefully find a summer job or internship that would help her with her eventual goal.
Lily found the careers advisor warm and helpful. They went through the typical career paths people with her degree typically went for. She was turned off by many of the finance and politics careers, and she wasn't sure about academia but did like the idea of working in research. Using this information, she settled at one of the computer terminals in the building and went through possible jobs and internships that might help her. She scrolled for nearly an hour, mentally dismissing most of the jobs as uninteresting, before she found something. A geopolitical analysis and advisory consultancy was looking for a summer research assistant. What made it interesting to her was that it focused on Southern Africa.
Researching the company, she noticed that one of her politics tutors was one of the consultants. Lily noted her office hours and decided to ask for a reference. Happy with her work, Lily arranged a simple burger date with Alex at the pub. She wanted to make sure her summer plans aligned with his.
"Hey, Babe," Lily said happily, finding Alex already waiting for her with a drink and a kiss.
