"And in that moment, he knew that he would do anything for that girl."
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Chapter 26
July 27, 2015
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He had to admit, he was quite shocked to see how well his family had accepted Ella.
But he couldn't have been happier with how highly they thought of her, even with just having met her.
It was the Fourth of July, and his mom had a huge party planned, with at least 30 more people coming.
Ella had helped Trisha, Zayn's mom, and all of his sisters, prepare.
Foods, decorations, seating arrangements, and even the fireworks display, although they hadn't even gotten any of the fireworks.
Ella was sleeping in the guest room, while Zayn was sleeping on the couch.
Out of wedlock, Trisha wouldn't let the couple sleep in the same bed.
And that didn't at all bother Ella. After all, this was Trisha's house. So it was her rules. But it did, however, bother Zayn.
He wanted to spend every sleeping, and every waking moment with this girl.
He was completely infatuated with her, and he knew it. There was no kidding about that.
"Zayn" Ella whispered, shaking him lightly.
She leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Baby, it's time to get up. I've got to help your mom, then we get the exciting job of fireworks hunting."
He groaned, "5 more minutes."
"No, sweetie. You have to get up now. Like, right now."
Zayn huffed, then grabbed Ella's arm, pulling her down next to him.
She laughed, and cuddled up next to him.
"Two minutes, Zayn. Then it's go time." she implied.
"Good morning, baby girl" Zayn said, 2 minutes later, once he had finally woken up.
"Hey, you" she said, wiggling out of Zayn's grasp.
"I'm going to go help mom with breakfast, then cleaning up the house, just a bit. Then once I get cleaned up, we can go shopping for boom-booms" Ella said enthusiastically, her eyes lighting up.
"Boom-booms?" Zayn said, laughing.
She nodded, walking into the kitchen.
•••
"Mom, we're heading out." Zayn shouted to his mother, who was still in the kitchen.
Trisha walked out to say goodbye, wiping her hands on a towel. "We'll see you later then, darling." she said, hugging Ella.
"What is this? I'm your son, and you choose my girlfriend over me?" Zayn chided.
"Oh, are you jealous?" Ella said, pinching his cheeks.
Zayn made a kissy face at her, making everyone laugh.
"We're leaving. You can laugh at us later."
•••
"What about these?" Ella asked, pointing at large combination packages of different fireworks.
"Let's get 2 of those, and then a bunch of assorted single fireworks, yeah?" Zayn suggested.
Ella smiled at him, standing on her toes to give him a kiss. "Our first Freedom Day together."
"We're going to make some fireworks." he joked.
"Don't tempt me, Malik." Ella laughed, looking him right in the eye.
12 packages of sparklers,
8 combination packages,
multiple smoke bombs,
& dozens of little odds and ins later, they loaded the rest of their firecrackers into their rental suburban, and headed back to the house.
•••
Hours of planning, preparing, and perfecting had gone by, and finally, Ella and Trisha could step out of the house, and join the rest of the family.
Zayn hadn't seen much of Ella all day.
She had been busy, running around with his mom and sisters, whist he had been preoccupied with his guy friends, and family.
Ella had finally been able to take a quick shower, and change into a pair of white shorts, and an American flag printed shirt.
She pulled her hair into a ponytail, and applied light makeup.
Waliyah, Zayn's sister, joined her when she walked outside, taking her around to meet everyone.
Zayn watched as Ella walked around, checking up on people, and smiling.
She sat down at the table, with a can of coke in her hand.
"Is that the missus?" Hayden, Zayn's good friend, asked, pointing at Ella.
Zayn smiled, and nodded. "That's my girl"
"She's beautiful, Zayn" he threw in.
"I know. I'm very lucky to have her."
•••
The way the colored sparks of the fireworks lit up her eyes, made him smile.
Her crystal blue eyes shimmered when the silver, and dark blue sparks fell from the sky, as she and Zayn laid on a blanket on the ground, watching as the beautiful fireworks lit up the sky.
"Zayn! Come light these." Waliyah yelled, running back from lighting a firework.
"Come on, baby girl" Zayn said, standing up and reaching out his hand for Ella to take.
She stood up, fixing her shirt, and taking Zayn's hand.
He pulled a lighter out of his pocket, and walked with her to the middle of the street.
"Help me light this, will you?" he asked her.
"Ooh, Zayn. I've never even played with a lighter before."
"It's okay, baby. I'll be right here with you."
"Do me one better, and help me" she pleaded.
He chuckled, and put the lighter into her hand.
Ella took it, Zayn placing his hand over hers, standing behind her, and holding her to him as she leaned down and lit the firework.
"Run, baby" he whispered in Ella's ear, pulling her behind him.
Ella's laugh was intoxicating, making the entire family laugh as she hid behind Zayn.
"Sparklers, Zayn! Sparklers next" Waliyah begged.
Zayn obliged, and handed everybody a sparkler.
After everybody had theirs lit, Zayn lit his and put it up to Ella's, lighting hers as well.
The sparks began to fly, not only because of the fireworks, but especially when he kissed her.
"Happy freedom day" she whispered against his lips.
"You two need to get a room" Hayden called, making Ella look at him in disgust.
"We're just kissing. It's not like we're going to have sex in the middle of the street." she said quietly, sitting down next to Trisha.
"You're so sassy" Zayn said, rubbing Ella's shoulders, with a smile on his face.
Ella playfully held up two fingers, making a peace sign. "Let freedom ring"
