Adopted By Phil Lester

Chapter 14

Delilah's POV

I never slept, the night before my birthday.

It's not the usual kind of excitement-I don't get all wound up about whether I'm getting a macbook or an iPhone or a new pair of shoes. Dad spoils me rotten 24/7 anyway so it makes no difference.

I'm not stressed out about a party or a sleepover or a trip to the cinema. It's all planned out, this year. Dan, Dad and I will stay at home at order takeaway while watching a movie of my choice. If I was little I would have went for soppy stuff like The Little Mermaid or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but this year it'll most likely be anime of some sort, and I'll be munching pizza while I
start at the screen, transfixed.

Birthdays are pretty cool, I guess, but I just can't relax no matter how hard I try. A little part of me is always reminding me how happy my parents were this day, how many years ago. And for what, for all our memories and love to crumble.

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"FOR SHE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW, FOR SHE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW, FOR SHE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOWWWWW..." Dan and Phil chorused, bursting into the room, while toppling over one another. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU BEAUTIFUL LITTLE THING!" squealed Phil, racing over to hug me and shower my face in kisses.

"Get away," I moaned, sitting up and wiping imaginary sleep from my eyes. I yawn and stretch, before Dan pipes up with one of his bright ideas.

"Let's go out for breakfast! We can get pancakes or muffins... or waffles... or..." Dan trails off and stares up at the ceiling, gormless.

"I think we lost him," I whispered to my Dad.

"Good idea though, get dressed and we'll go at about 11:30, chop chop," he ordered, sarcastically. As he left the room, he grabbed Dan's hand and dragged him out, with a bubble of laughter following. My heart still melted a bit when I saw how much they cared for each other, come on, I was still a phangirl at heart.

I'm all showered and dressed by the time the post plops on the map at the hallway. I flick through the pile of bills, letters and birthday cards to find a vouchers for Phil to sign for his... Dog kennel. "Philip Michael Lester, would you be so kind to come down and explain something to me?" I bellowed down the flat.

Phil calmly paced down the stairs to greet me, before he caught what I was looking at. "Crap badgers," he breathed. "You weren't meant to see that. All I'm saying, is that we might be going to a place with animals after lunch. Might."

"Oh my goodness Dad!" I yelled, and threw my arms around him. "I love you so much."

Air caught in his throat, before he gently squeezed me back. "I love you too."

A short while later, we pile into the window seat at the café, Dan, Phil and me. All in giggles and smiles, the waiter hands us our menus and we scan through them.

"Oh my goddd I want it all in my mouth right now," Dan tells us, his mouth watering.

"Dan," I laugh, reaching over to close his dangling mouth. "Control yourself, we're in public."

Once we had ordered, Dan fumbled in his bag for something. "What are you doing?" Phil questioned.

"I'm just..." he began, still rummaging. "Aha! Here you go, Del, happy birthday."

In Dan's hand was a smallish box, neatly wrapped in blue paper, and finished off with a silver bow. I grinned excitedly, and pounced on it. Once the wrapping paper was torn off, I saw and velvety green box, similar to one I saw in a shop with Louise, that containing a stunning gold pendant necklace.

Sure enough, when I opened that box I uncovered the same beautiful necklace, it took my breath away. "Dan," I whispered, without taking my eyes off the present. "it's gorgeous! Thank you so much!"

I dashed over to his side of the table and he wrapped me in a warm hug, and his short hair tickled my cheeks. "No problem honey, turn around and I'll put it on." Dan spun me round and secured it safely around my neck. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.

Soon enough, hot, gooey chocolate chip pancakes were plonked in front of me, accompanied with a hot chocolate with all the trimmings. Forgetting all rules of basic manners, I divided straight in and shovelled each mouthful down me, and Dan and Phil soon did the same, until we were out of breath, with empty plates. "Oh my godd," we synchronised, and burst into another giggle fit.

"Was there a zombie apocalypse while we were having breakfast? Where the hell are all the shoppers?" Dan asked, quizzically commenting on the emptiness of the underground.

"I know right! And it's Delilah's birthday as well, how rude." Dad retorted, as we made our way to the tube.

"Next year, I expect two presents from everyone in London," I demanded, resulting in a burst of laughter from the boys.

When the tube finally dropped us off at the place near the dog sanctuary, we made our way over with a ting of excitement. "Now Delilah," Dad began. "A dog isn't just for your birthday, it's going to teach you to be more responsible, and you have to meet him or her halfway. They're not all cuddles and kisses, I want you to promise me that you'll walk it daily, wash it and pick up his... droppings. Promise?"

"I promise." I told him sincerely.

"Good girl, I didn't doubt you for a second."

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"Hello, we're here to adopt a dog?" Phil told the receptionist when we arrived.

"Name please?" Asked the smiley blonde woman behind the desk.

"Lester."

The woman, Pauline, grabbed her keys and lead us into the kennels, where we were instantly greeted by the loud buzz of barking and excitement. Along the side of the walls were cages of dogs of all different breed and size. A jack russell bounced up to almost make eye contact with me, and a beautiful husky with sparkling eyes took my breath away. However, one quiet little grey collie at the end, jerked my attention. Every single other dog in the room was going crazy, but not this one.

I moved closer and carefully put my hand through the cage to stroke him. He nestled into my hand and licked it lovingly. "Wow thank you for the kisses!" I said in a weird dog voice.

"Oh my gosh," said Phil, behind my shoulder. "He's so cute!"

"Would you like to see him?" Asked Pauline.

"Yes please!" I answered, nodding eagerly.

When in the cage, Dad and I crouched down so the puppy could climb onto our legs and play. "He looks like... an Olive..." I mumbled.

"What? No he doesn't he looks like a dog!" Phil remarked.

"No silly, I mean for a name." I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Oooh," Phil giggled, and the puppy licked my face, protesting not to be ignored.

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Once we were hope, we were straight into cosy pyjamas and the pizzas were ordered within 5 minutes. "Attack on Titan?" suggested Dan.

"Nah, I'm feeling sword art online tonight." I decided, so we flicked in on an snuggled up in blankets. Hours later, once the pizza was eaten and the anime drawing to a close, sleep won the battle of staying awake and with my head on Dad's lap, legs over Dan's, i drifted off to sleep after the best birthday I've ever had.

Woo!! Another update😊😊sorry it's been a bit delayed, wattpad wasn't working for me idk why🙊please comment what you thought, (we only have 15 comments on this story and half of them are probably ours😂) and thank you for reading!!
~Aine