Seven of Diamonds

The next morning the two of them got up and quit their jobs on the spot, not even bothering to give a resignation letter. And boy did it feel great. Those jobs had screwed them over for years and they were finally paying back in kind. Now they were able to live as they saw fit. But where to live with over a billion dollars? Lombard Street in San Francisco? New York City? DC? They had so many options.

"Where do you want to move out too, Trixie?" he asked

Trixie thought for a moment

"Hm... I don't know. I've always loved the mountains. They remind of the times when I was a child. Snowy, but not too snowy."

Anon giggled

"Snowy but not too snowy?"

”Well, I like the cold better indoors you know?”

He wraps his arms around her, resting his head atop hers

"Of course, my love. Why not Colorado?"

"That doesn't sound bad at all. It's such a pretty state." she said "But before we nail that down, what about Sunset?"

"I thought about it during the show."

"And?"

"I think we should at least try. I know at least one person here is a good parent."

Trixie lets out a snort as she giggles

"And I know another one who's a brown noser."

They both kiss again

"So, do you know the orphanage?"

"Yes. It's called Cavalry Point. It's just on the other side of town."

"We'll go once we figure out where we're going to move."

"Thank you Anon. You don't know how much this means to me. For so long I've felt so inadequate..." Trixie clutches her tummy "That damn disease took away our ability to have a child..."

Anon hugged her tighter

"You were never anything but perfect to me. I hope you know that. Child or no, you'll always be the woman I love."

The two of them pull out a laptop, the only one they had, and started going down the list of places to live. There were so many beautiful locations. Grand Lake, Salida, Pueblo. The choices were just endless. In the end, they chose a nice big house in Telluride, a rather secluded mining town east of the capital.

Now it was time to adopt. For the first time in years they went to the train station together, their arms locked together then entire time. The orphanage was quite a musty little place. It was made entirely of wood and painted coal black, standing at five stories tall. If he hadn't know better, Anon would've mistaken it for a haunted house. They pushed through the large iron gate and into the large building.

The inside was somehow worse than the outside. The wood floor was obviously ancient, broken in some places and creaking from every step. The blue paint on the walls was peeling and worn, giving off a rather pungent odor. It was uncomfortably warm, almost humid. An old woman sat at a counter in the center of the room, looking through a thick stack of papers. Trixie walked up to the counter, a strong air of pride about her.

"I want to adopt someone" she said

The old woman merely raised her eyes from the stack of papers, letting out a sigh.

"Would you like to take a look around to see who we have?" she asked in a raspy voice. She sounded as if she had been smoking a pack a day for twenty years.

"Nope. We already have someone in mind. Her name is Sunset Shimmer."

The old woman sighed again, moving away from her paper work too an old, white computer, typing Sunset's name into the search bar. She clicked a few times, and printed out a large stack of paperwork.

"Fill these out please." the old woman choked out

Trixie snatched the papers from her and began filling in all the blanks like a pro. Financial information, place of residence, both his and her own social security number, she knew it all by memory. Once completed, the woman pressed a button on her desk and an aide walks out from the hall to the side. She was short and round, with medium length brown hair.

"Right this way please. I'll show you to her room." the aide said

The two followed her down the hall, rooms lining either side of the walkway. The rooms didn't even have doors, just blue curtains that you'd see in hospitals to separate beds of patients. Finally, they reached the end of the hall and Sunset's room. It was a bit drab inside, there was a bed with the thinnest mattress they had ever seen, even thinner than the twenty dollar mattress they found online. The blanket was a ratty blue cloth, hardly fit to even be called a towel. There was a desk directly across from the bed and a cork board above it. On the cork board was the seven of diamonds card that Trixie had given Sunset. Sunset sat on the floor, playing with a doll and in a pretty blue dress. She turned and instantly jumped up, surprised to see them. She ran and gave Trixie a big hug on her leg.

"Magician lady!" she said

"Magician lady? I don't prefer that. How about mommy?"

Anon had never seen someone's face light up the way Sunset's did. It was such a beautiful thing it nearly brought him to tears.

"You wanna meet daddy sweet pea?"

Trixie pointed to him. Sunset began to cautiously walk over to him and he kneels down, his arms wide open. She came up to him, looking him over as if trying to look for a trap before finally accepting his embrace. She was as sweet as honey and twice as cute.

"She's perfect." he said

The aide checks her phone and taps Trixie on the shoulder

"Your paperwork has been approved. Whenever you're ready, come to the main lobby and we'll get the final preparations sorted out. Sunset will be ready to leave by tomorrow morning."

Trixie smiles wide

"You hear that Sunset? You're officially a Lulamoon now." she said "Tomorrow you'll be able to live with us. So be patient ok. If you do, I'll teach you magic."

"Really!?" Sunset gasped "You mean I won't have to wait a hundred years until I'm seventeen!?"

"That's right. But only if you're a good girl for the entire night."

"I promise I will be mommy! I'll be the goodest girl ever! I'll even eat my veggies!"

Trixie giggled

"Good. I'll see you in the morning sweet pea."

After filling out the last of the paper work and finalizing the adoption, the two head back to the train station. Trixie's eyes were hot and watery.

"What's the matter my magic wand?"

"I'm just... so happy. We're not poor, we get to leave this shithole they call a town and now we have a kid. Everything just worked itself out."

"Right you are." he said "I always knew it would though. So what shall we do today? We're moving as soon as we get Sunset. Anything you want to do before saying goodbye to this shithole?"

"Wanna go to that nice, yuppie restaurant downtown? I've always wanted to eat all fancy."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Anon calls in another uber, going to a nice little breakfast place. It was like a castle. The walls were hung with silk drapes, the tables fine oak, and the food extremely pricey and well made. The sky outside became gray once again and Trixie look out the window at the clouds with a thousand yard stare.

"You alright, Trixie?" he asked "You're getting all spacey on me."

Trixie doesn't break her gaze from the cold grey clouds above as a gentle snowfall begins to float down on the street below.

"There's just something so tranquil about snowfall. I don't know what it is. At the same time it's so sad and quiet."

Anon we beginning to worry about Trixie a bit. Maybe this big change was messing with her head.

"Are you alright, darling?"

"I'm just getting emotional again." she paused "Do you think it'll come back again?"

"My cancer."

"It can't Trixie. We already removed the effected organ. It's impossible for it to return."

"And you?"

"What?"

"You aren't planning on leaving me behind are you?"

Anon got up from his chair and gave Trixie a big hug

"Trixie. You're scaring me."

Tears begin to run down Trixie's cheeks

"I'm sorry it's just... I don't know. I should be happy but I'm so sad."

He rubs her back gently, pulling her into an even closer embrace

"It's a big change. We're going from struggling just to survive to being in the lap of luxury. It's not an easy transition to make. The shock of it all is probably messing with your head."

Trixie returns the hug, letting the tears flow for a while

"I know. I know."

"You've had a rough life Trixie. But it's over now. Today we're finally starting the chapter of our lives were things look up." he said "You don't have to be afraid any more."

The look on Trixie's face was one so beautiful, yet one so sad at the same time. It was the look of someone who finally realized they could stop fighting. The one of someone who could finally get rest after being beaten down by the storms of life. But most of all, the look of a person who had finally been given permission to let herself feel joy for the first time without guilt. She had finally achieved bliss.