You saved me Maddie

Bonus!

Maddie ran around the apartment like a tornado.

"Ellie, have you seen my phone?" She called.

I chuckled, watching her search through cupboards with the flashlight on her phone.

"What?" She asked.

"Mom" I said between chuckles. "What's in your hand?"

Maddies face dropped when she realised.

"Oh"

I smiled and walked over to her, my blue dress flowing as I walked.

"I'm sorry" Mom giggled. "I'm just stressed."

"It's okay" I grabbed her hand, sliding my fingers through hers. Hand in hand, skin to skin.

"You ready to leave?" She smiled, to which I nodded.

"Let's go then!"

We arrived at Bobby and Athena's together with Mila a few minutes earlier than we thought but when we went to knock Buck came running out. He held his hands up.

"Stop" he said. "We're not ready yet?"

"Ready for what?" Mom smirked, glancing over at me.

Buck rolled his eyes before darting at me and picking me up. He threw me over his shoulders and I laughed.

"Let me down" I giggled.

"Uncle Buck has decided to kidnap his niece" He grunted.

Buck obviously didn't realise that I was heavier than he originally thought.

"Uncle Buck should put his poor niece down" I said, crossing my arms.

I glanced over at mom who was laughing hysterically. Buck turned around and ran back to her, letting me go when he came to a stop next to his sister.

"Not fair" I fake pouted, a smile forcing it's way onto my lips.

Buck ruffled my hair and a voice yelled that they were ready now, whatever that meant. We made our way inside and was met with confetti raining down. I felt Mila twitch behind me so I grabbed her hand, our fingers intertwining.

"Welcome to the family" they all yelled.

I whipped my head around at mom to see her grinning from ear to ear. May ran up the stairs and dragged me back down.

"Come on" she pleaded. "You need a party hat."

Chimney put a blue party had on my head before walking over to Maddie and Mila to give them one as well.

Bobby had made a buffet with all my favourite foods and May and Harry had baked a cake for dessert. As we sat down I fell into a conversation with May and Mila about our dresses while the grownups talked about their day. The June air made its way inside through the open back door that led out to their garden.

As I looked around the table at my friends, no my family I couldn't help but tear up a little. Not even a year ago I would've thought that this was impossible. My father was sent to prison for my abuse and something to do with drugs. My biological mother and I wrote letters together now that she had moved to New York to research something to do with bio engineering. Evie and I try to meet as often as we can to catch up on each others lives. This life, my life is everything I've ever wanted. I looked over at Mila. Her long hair was curled and flowed past her shoulders. The white dress with green details on the collar that she was wearing somehow went perfectly with her brown eyes. Her eyes turned to meet mine as her hand found it's way to mine.

"Ellie, you okay?" Maddies voice pulled me back to reality.

"Yeah." I smiled, a genuine one.

"Now that we are all here." Bobby stood up, holding his glass in his right hand and lifting it up. "I think we should do a toast. A toast for Ellie and for Maddie and for our big mixed family!"

Everyone at the table cheered, clinking their glasses together. Mom put an arm around me and pulled me close, placing a kiss on top of my head.

"I love you." She whispered into my hair.

"Love you more." I responded.

The dinner progressed and when it was time for dessert, the space was filled with the scent of cake as Bobby put it on the table. The cake was just as delicious as the dinner was, if not more. The rich chocolate filling paired with raspberry sauce and whipped cream just melted on my tongue.

Mila and I made our was outside after dinner. We sat in the driveway talking because I needed to recharge my social battery. Her head was leaning on my shoulder as her hand rested in mine.

"You know," I started "I'm so happy I met you."

Mila turned her head to look at me, her brown eyes glowing.

"Me too." She smiled, nudging her knee with mine.

I stood up from the grass, my hand dragging her up with me.

"What are you doing?" She laughed.

"I want to dance." I decided as I pulled her onto the grass, her white dress flowing in the summer breeze.

She took the lead as we danced, my hand on her shoulder and hers around my waist.

"You know," I smiled up into her beautiful eyes "you're the most beautiful person on the planet."

Mila smiled back, gently stopping our dance. Her hand moved up to my cheek, eyes glittering the way they always did when I looked into them.

"I love you Ellie Buckley." She whispered.

"I love you more Mila Smith." I said, pulling her face close and pressing my lips against hers.

—

When Maddie and I had dropped Mila home for the evening we talked for a while before getting ready for bed.

I couldn't fall asleep, the memories of the evening I'd just experienced replaying in my head. I got up, grabbed my stuffed giraffe that Athena had gotten me and walked over to Maddie's room. My hand knocked against the wood of her door.

"Yes?" Her voice asked.

I opened the door.

"Can't sleep." I sighed. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Maddie smiled, patting the mattress next to her. I got in next to her and she pulled me close, my head against her chest.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"I love you." She whispered into my hair.

"I love you more."

"That's not possible 'cause I love you most." Maddie retorted and I could almost feel her smile.

"Thank you for choosing me to be your mom."

—————-

And that's a real wrap on this story! I felt bad leaving it as it was and it took me weeks to write this. This story was the first story I've ever had that a lot of people actually read and I'm so grateful. As my writing has progressed I feel like it's time to really let this story go. I've loved writing every single word in it. This story was a way for me to escape reality for a while and for that I'll always be thankful. But all good things must come to an end and this is it. I'm sad to let Ellie and Maddie go but I feel like it's time. As Scarlett Johansson says; If you love something, you gotta set it free. So that is what I'm doing.

Thank you for reading my story, I'm eternally grateful for each and every one of you.

This is not a goodbye though, this is a see you later x.

I love you, thank you for reading my story ❤️