Storge - The Love of a Family I
"Storge or familial love refers to a natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a parent towards their offspring and vice versa. Storge is the love that parents naturally feel for their children. It is based on natural feelings and effortless love. It is the love that knows forgiveness, acceptance and sacrifice and it is the one that makes you feel secure, comfortable and safe."
Against what most would expect, Alex knew exactly what the love of a family, the love of a mother, meant. His father may have been never around, but his mother was always there for him... until she was not. But the feelings for her would be in his memory forever, just like her kind smile, her beautiful voice and the love she gave him. Seeing her getting sick broke Alexanders heart and not being able to recover anymore shattered his world into a million pieces. As the years went on, the pain never really went away, constantly reminding him of what he had lost. Her love for him was still present, but thinking about his mother hurt so much that Alex started to block out the memories and feelings to the point where he thought that the love of a family was not anything he would ever be able to feel again.
Lafayette, on the other hand, never knew what parental love even truly meant. He was by himself most of the time, even or maybe especially when his mother and father were still alive. They had always been busy, busy with work, busy with getting on the good side of important people, busy with everything except their own son. Gilbert had a caregiver, of course - a nanny. She was an old stoic woman, not interested in giving any kind of affection that was not necessary in her eyes. Instead she only focused on his education and proper behaviour. Lafayette did not like her at all, but at least someone was always around until he was old enough to look after himself.
On the other hand, the Madisons, his foster family, were always kind to him and at least one of them was always at home all the time which meant he was never truly left alone. Gilbert still felt lonely though, like he simply did not belong there. He was not their real child and he never received the same kind of affection their biological son received. Lafayette did not mind though, he knew he was more an intruder than a part of the family even though the Madisons tried their best to include him as much as possible. However, it never felt right and the French boy did not expect that this kind of feeling would ever change, no matter with whom he was going to stay. At least this time he had a friend by his side.
Alexander was different, but they had some connection Lafayette could not explain. They were drawn to each other the moment the French stepped into the group home and he truly wondered if this was similar to the bond brothers shared. Lafayette never had any siblings, except for his foster brother, but brotherly love was the first thing that popped into his mind when thinking of his relationship with Alex and it seemed like the younger one had at least a similar feeling. It was crazy what a few weeks of knowing each other could lead to, but they would not have it any other way.
Right now the two boys were sitting in the backseat of Alexanders' social worker's car. Ms. Cross was young maybe in her late twenties, though Alex never bothered to ask her. She was not that bad, always believing him when he told her about the things hist foster families did to him and had been on his side the whole time. However, Alex knew she was getting tired of trying to find a place for him, even if she never openly blamed him for the fact that none of the placements ever worked out.
The drive to the Washingtons was not that long, maybe an hour, but it was enough to let the thoughts of the boys wander and for them to get really nervous. What kind of people would the Washingtons be? Who would be willing to voluntarily take in two unrelated teenage boys at the same time simply because of their childish wish not to be parted and on such a short notice, too? Alexander was not able to image those kind of people. Were they really just that nice or were ulterier motives included in the decision making? His head honestly began to hurt, thinking about all this.
Finally pulling into the driveway of a huge mansion his thoughts were abruptly cut-off though. They soon would find out the answers to all those questions, not matter if they were ready or not. The only thing both boys could do was hope for the best when they exited the car and already saw Ms. Cross ring the the doorbell. Alexander hesitantly grabbed Lafayette's sleeves looking at him with unsure, but still hopeful eyes. He was not ready, he probably never world be but at least they were in this together.