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“When I was really little, I remember a few birthdays,” the girl shares sadly without taking her eyes off her brother. “Back then Dad was still alive, and they didn’t abuse alcohol that badly.”

“But later, my presents and birthday cake got replaced more and more by vodka, industrial alcohol, and whatever else they could get their hands on,” Masha fell silent, lowering her eyes to the floor. It was obvious this was hard as hell for her to talk about. “Luka… doesn’t remember any of it at all. When his birthdays were still at least somewhat celebrated and not forgotten in some drunken blackout, he was too little to remember. And once he got old enough to actually understand things, the celebrations stopped completely. Dad died, and Mom completely lost her mind and just doesn’t remember we exist anymore.”

The girl’s voice trembled, and hearing that made me feel so fucking awful inside I can’t even describe it. Anya was staring at Masha, and I could see tears in her beautiful eyes.

“But I tried. I always congratulated him however I could. Maybe it wasn’t anything as fancy as today, but I tried…” a tear rolled down the girl’s young face, “I want him to remember…”

Anya finally breaks and wraps the sobbing girl in a tight hug, unable to hold back her own tears anymore. Hell, even I’m standing there feeling my chest cave in from the unfairness these kids got handed.

I quickly kneel beside my emotional girls and hug them both. Squatting down, I look at these two beautiful wrecks and tuck strands of hair behind their ears.

“Alright, hey, what’s with you two?” God, I want to lay the whole damn world at their feet. So they’d never be sad about anything ever again, only dazzling everyone around them with those breathtaking smiles. “We’ll help you kids from now on, and we’re not letting you starve ever again.”

After our little emotional moment, we went back to the fun. Masha wiped away her tears and joined the other kids, finally letting herself relax and stop acting so serious.

Luka blew out the candles, and we all ate the amazing cake. His eyes were glowing with happiness, and somehow it spread to everyone else too. In a burst of emotion, he hugged us tightly, then his sister, and there was something in that gesture that shifted something deep inside all of us.

When we got home, the kids were already dead on their feet, so we sent them to wash up. Later, when we decided to go wish them goodnight, we noticed the bedroom door was slightly open, and we overheard part of their conversation.

“Masha, let’s tell them,” Luka was quietly pleading about something. “They’re good…”

“Luka,” the girl sighs heavily. “God, you’re still so naive. Don’t get attached to them. Don’t get used to them. They’ll play family with us and then throw us away. People like us aren’t needed by anyone.”

“But they said they’ll help afterward,” the boy insisted stubbornly.

“Would be nice if that’s true, but don’t count on it too much. Right now they’ll promise us golden mountains just to get picked. But you know yourself how things usually go… Nobody gives a damn about our problems…” she pauses tiredly. “It’d already be nice if, after all this is over, they’d at least partly look after you. I’d feel calmer that way.”

“But Mashaaa…” Luka whines sadly. “I love you a lot.”

“And I love you,” the girl sighs. “Just enjoy the full stomach while you can, but don’t build castles in the air.”

What we heard cut painfully deep. Judging by Ann’s face, she felt exactly the same.

We exchanged understanding looks and silently decided we’d prove the kids wrong someday. I definitely have no intention of abandoning them, but they wouldn’t believe that right now. So we just walked into the room pretending we hadn’t heard anything and warmly wished them goodnight.