Dear Derek

Chapter 78 (Derek)

"Daddy, Daddy! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up."

I felt a small shove as someone screamed in my ears. I had only been around the children for about a day or two, therefore, I couldn't really tell who's voice belonged to who. I sat motionlessly as I tried to process the voice. I took a wild guess that it was Ellis's.

I opened my eyes slowly. The morning sun blinded me for a minute. Eventually the world became clear again. I sat up a little bit and saw Ellis smiling right in front of me. I was genuinely surprised I actually got her voice right. I giggled a little bit. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Oh...nothing." I smiled.

I turned and looked at the small clock sitting on my nightstand. It read 6:00 am. I didn't need to move to figure out if Meredith was sleeping or not. Her snore could wake up the whole neighborhood. "Hey honey why are you up so early?"

"Because....it's a special day." she said.

"What kind of special day?" I hesitantly questioned.

"You don't know what day it is?" her little eyes filled with tears.

My face went blank. Oh my gosh what did I forget. I must be a horrible father. My thoughts were interrupted by another voice. "Ellis calm down. Dad hasn't been around long enough to even know who you are. How do you expect him to remember your special day?"

I could tell without even looking that voice belonged to Zola. She was all dressed and ready for the day. Me, still being so puzzled asked the question again. "Guys what is this special day you all keep talking about?"

Zola laughed. "Dad...it's Ellis's birthday."

I froze. How could I forget my own child's birthday. Before I could respond, Bailey walked in the room. "Hey Ellis...happy birthday." he chanted.

"Thank you Bailey." she responded, blowing him a kiss.

"Guys...get out of there...your mom and dad are sleeping." I heard Maggie whisper as she walked into the room quietly.

"Don't worry Aunt Maggie, Daddy is awake." Ellis yelled.

Meredith instantly sat up. "What's going on." she gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"Ellis look what you did. You woke up AND scared Mom." Zola rolled her eyes.

"Zo it's fine. I need to get up anyways." she yawned, hopping out of bed.

She made her way to the bathroom and shut the door. Seconds later I could hear the shower turn on. The five of us sat in complete silence until an aroma caught Ellis's attention. "Do you guys smell that?"

"Yea...it smells good." Bailey said, looking surprised.

"Nothing every smells good in our house..."

Zola's eyes widened as she bolted out of the room. I followed her downstairs to find Link and Amelia making breakfast. "What's that smell? Is April here or something?" Zola asked.

"Haha very funny." Amelia replied, "We heard today was someone's birthday and wanted to give them a special surprise breakfast."

Link pulled out some plates and set the table. Scout was already in his high chair attempting to eat the mashed bananas in his bowl. If you ask me at this point he was bathing in it.

The children all found a seat as Amelia started coming around and putting pancakes on everyone's plate. Link came around the table after here and gave everyone a slice of bacon. I leaned on the counter as I watched everyone sit down. "Hey, you want a pancake? They are chocolate chip....just like how mom used to make them for us." Amelia smiled.