Accidentally Overheard ( A Before You Exit / Riley McDonough Fanfiction )

Chapter 4

I walk back over to the cupboard and see Riley sorting the boxes and cans on the floor. 

" Hey I'm going to try and organize this closet a little bit so everything won't attack the next person that opens it. Would you hand me the cans and boxes of stuff ? " I ask him and he nods. 

It takes about twenty minutes but we finally finish and walk back into the kitchen with Connor and Mrs.W. Each of us ,except Melody, grabs a plate of wrapped burgers or some other part of the meal and walk to the dining room. When we get there the rest of the kids have come out of their rooms and are sitting around the table. Most of the kids here are between 5 and 11 but a few are older or younger. Have they all been waiting for us here ? 

" Hey guys. We brought a surprise for you for after we eat ! " I say before we set the food down. 

" Yay ! " They all chime in unison. 

" But first the birthday girl gets her special meal. " I say bringing Melody the happy meal I ordered. 

" Okay now everyone sing happy birthday ! " Mrs. W starts us off. 

After we eat I take all the kids to the den and tell them to sit in a circle on the floor. They all seem pretty anxious to know what the surprise is I guess because it takes them maybe half a minute to make a perfect circle. Connor sat on one side of me and Riley sat on the other holding Melody. They seem to have gotten pretty close today. I'm sorta glad though it's going to make her surprise all the more amazing. 

" Okay Connor can you bring me the box please ? " I said looking at Connor who got up and brought the box back with him. 

"Okay guys close your eyes and when I tell you to open them again you'll have your surprise. " I say looking from Connor to Riley. After all the kids closed their eyes I stood up and Connor followed. We put a little gift from the box in front of each kid and went back to sit down. 

" Okay guys you can open them now ! " I say as I sit down. 

When the kids open their eyes there are all kinds of excited comments like, " Wow an IPod ! " ( from teenagers ) ,or  " Yay ! A teddy bear ! " from the younger ones. I've been saving up my money to buy them something because they don't usually get much of anything, even on their birthdays. 

" Thank you Ella ! " They all cheered. Then I looked over to Melody, she had a sad expression on her face and I couldn't help but chuckle at my sneakiness. 

" What's wrong Melon ? " I asked her and she looked up a little disappointed. 

" I didn't get anything. " She said. 

" That's because I saved the best for last. " I said and she looked up at me with a smile so bright it could blind a person if they stare too long. 

" Everybody quiet down for a second I have an announcement. " I said as I stood up and took a packet of papers out of my back pocket. Everybody settled down and looked up at me happy as could be. 

" I would like to now give Melody her present. I saved hers for last because I personally think it's the most special gift of all. " I said walking towards Mrs.W. 

" As of now I am the proud legal guardian of Melody Samantha Valentine. She will come me whenever I come to visit you guys so you won't be saying goodbye to her forever. Mrs.W helped me arrange the whole thing and your bags are already packed to go so when we leave later you can come with us. " I said handing Mrs.W the last of the papers I was supposed to fill out. 

Melody screamed as she jumped up and ran to me. I picked her up and she hugged me for a long while before she pulled back and said something I didn't see coming. Luckily it was only loud enough for me to hear though. 

" So does that mean Riley's like my dad if he's your boyfriend ? " She asked cutely and I couldn't help it I shook my head yes. I'll explain to Riley in a minute but why ruin her happiness on her birthday. I set her down and walked over to a little radio sitting in the corner of the room. 

" Now lets party ! " I said turning on the music before walking over to Riley. 

" Hey ! That's incredible that you got to adopt her ! " Riley said excitedly. For some reason I don't think he's going to mind having her think he's her new dad.