The Gifts~ Part One.
Lady's P.O.V-
It's currently seven in the morning, Rocky and I are on our way to the kennels which is around an hour and a half away. Today is Aria's birthday and after a lot, I mean a lot of research Rocky and I decided it was best to adopt a dog then to buy a new puppy; besides Ari is always going on about how she wishes she could adopt all the dogs from the kennels so we thought it was only right we choose this option. Storm and Roman have kindly taken Ari out for the day which leaves Rocky and I to set up everything for the little party we're throwing and of course Ari's presents.
"I was looking on the website for the kennels last night and saw that they uploaded an urgent post about four dogs needing a home, I had a look and it turns out it's a mummy dog and three pups; they were abandoned"
"That's evil, who would do such a thing" Rocky replies, gripping the steering wheel tight.
"I know, I was thinking we could look into getting them"
"Is there a picture?, they also have to be friendly around other people and other pets"
"Yeah, I'll get it up" I click on the main picture at the top of the information page, in the picture is a sand coloured Golden Retriever mother with three sand coloured pups. "They look nice enough, and on the information it says they get along with people and pets fine"
"Sounds promising" Rocky winks before pulling a funny face and turning the music up loud. "I LOVE THIS SONG!" Rocky screeches out over the ear bleeding loud metal song.
Rolling my eyes playfully I shout back "SAME!", we were listening to Motionless In Whites 'Disguise' and head banging like lunatics.
Shortly after our little concert in the car we pull up to the kennels which is a large rectangle building with rainbow fencing around the outside.
"It looks like a nursery not a kennels" Rocky says frowning and looking around. "Maybe the Sat Nav got confused"
"I guess it's possible but maybe we should ask inside first" I say walking towards the bright red door. Walking in I'm greeted with the strong smell of disinfectant and wet dog.
"This is definitely the place" I say glancing back at Rocky who is stood in the doorway vigorously typing away on his phone.
Rolling my eyes again I walk up to the reception area to be greeted by a man wearing a light blue polo shirt with a little house and rainbow in the left hand corner of his top. Clearing my throat awkwardly the man finally looks up and smiles.
"Hey!, welcome to 'Happy Homes Kennels', how can I help?"
"Hi, my brother and I would like to adopt some dogs today"
"Well you've come to the right place!, did you have any particular breed in mind?"
"We are actually interested in adopting the four dogs that were posted on your website as urgent this morning"
"Ah yes!, follow me and I'll take you to see them"
"Okay" grabbing Rocky by his arm I tug him in the direction we're going; sending him a glare as we go. "I read on the post that they are great with people and other pets?"
"Yes, all four of them get on just fine with other animals and people, we have tried them around many different species of animals and they're fine"
"That's great, we only ask because we have another dog at home and a cat"
"They should be fine with both" the man says before turning to his right and pushing open a large red door. "Here we are, they've just been fed so they may be a little sleepy"
"Thanks!, do they have names?"
"Yes, we named them but as they were abandoned we have no other information on them at all"
"That's horrible" I say bending down and rubbing the mummy dogs ears. "Rocky come and look"
Rocky rushes over like a kid on Christmas and throws himself on the floor which results in him getting attacked by the three pups.
"What are their names?"
"Well, mummy dog here is called Poppy, the little girl is called Petal, the lighter coloured boy is called Porter and lastly the other little boy is called Paxton"
"Aww, I love those names!"
"Thanks!, I picked them" the man says blushing slightly.
After a while of playing and talking with the man who's name we now know is Tom, Rocky and I head inside to sort the paperwork.
"Okay, so you want all four of them yes?"
"Yes please"
"That's great!, I'm going to send my colleague here with your sister to fetch the dogs and get them all ready to go"
"Sister?" Rocky questions raising his eyebrow at me, I give him the 'Just go with it look' and follow another man into the same room as before.
The dogs now all have the standard red collar on with leads attached and are waiting patiently to be lead out to the car.
"Hi, I've packed up all their belongings and made sure they all have everything; are you ready to take them?" The woman asks me while checking the contents of the bag.
"Yes, my brother is sorting the paperwork so I'm here to take these guys to the car" I grin at her while taking all four leads and the bag.
"Let's go then!"
The woman leads us all to a back gate that Rocky is waiting patiently at, I pass Rocky the bag and continue on to the car. We both load up the back of the car with our new friends and head off to our next stop which happens to be a pet shop.
Pulling up at the pet shop Rocky grabs two of the pups from the back seats while I get the mother and the other pup, entering the store we both immediately head for the collar section, we both pick out two each and let each dogs choose their own. Once done with getting all the essentials we grab a few treats, toys and other bits and bobs before finally paying for everything.
"This was a very expensive trip" Rocky complains jokingly.
"It's worth it though, not only did we save four dogs lives today we will also make your wife super happy"
"Happy wife, happy life" Rocky chuckles causing me to roll my eyes and giggle at him. We once again jump in the car and this time we head straight home with just enough time to set up for the party.
Once we reached home I quickly introduced the dogs to Pongo and Purdy before letting them out so they could explore. I enter the kitchen and start preparing all the food for the BBQ and buffet.
"Hey, Storm just texted and they're all on their way home" Rocky says joining me at the kitchen table.
"Okay, the dogs are in the garden exploring and all the gifts are in the dining room ready for when Ari arrives home"
"Okay, why don't you go and get changed and I'll finish up here"
"Okay, see you soon, brother!" I giggle as Rocky rolls his eyes chuckling.
Running upstairs I head straight for my room where my outfit is already laid out for me. I chose to wear a cute high neck black crop top with the word 'Baby' embroidered onto the chest, with a thigh length black faux leather mini skirt and my chunky high heeled ankle boots. I touch up my eyeliner and mascara before adding a coat of matte oxblood red lipstick and finally throwing my hair up into a messy ponytail.
"THEY'RE HERE!!" Rocky yells up the stairs causing me to slightly jump before rushing out the door and down the stairs to see a patiently waiting Rocky.
"You look amazing!"
"Thanks, you look dazzling" I giggle before quickly sobering up when I hear someone's house keys being pushed through the lock. "Where are the dogs?"
"With all the other gifts"
"Great!"
Seconds later Roman and Storm walk in with a very smiley Ari who is carrying a baby.
"Davon" I whisper looking at my little boy who's currently playing with some keys. "How?"
"We got in touch with Amy and arranged to pick him up" Ro explains whilst hugging me.
"But Amy said she was taking him on holiday with her?"
"We persuaded her to change her mind"
"Now, come over here and get your baby so I can hug my husband" Ari says passing Davon over to me.
I watch as Davon lifts his head and looks into my eyes before giving me that cheeky little grin I love soo much. I wonder over to where Storm and Roman are and pull both of them into a hug. "Thank you both, you have no idea how much this means to me"
"We can guess, and besides we want our little family to be complete"
"I love you both, more than you could ever imagine"
"Okay!, time for presents!" Rocky shouts out ruining our sweet moment.
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" I roll my eyes. "Would you like to hold your little nephew dear old brother of mine?"
"Wait!, you told her without us?!" Ro shouts. I look at Rocky who is looking very angry and gritting his teeth towards Roman.
"No, it was an inside joke!" Rocky grits out before turning to walk away.
"Hold up!, what is he talking about Rocky?" I ask looking around at everyone with confusion.
"Don't look at me, I know nothing" Ari says holding her hands up in defence. "I'll take Davon to the kitchen and let you guys talk"
"Thanks Ari" Ari walks away with a babbling Davon while I sit on one of the stairs waiting for someone to start explaining.
"Let's go to the living room so I can explain"
I get up and walk to my favourite arm chair, sitting down I watch as all three of them take a seat.
"So, I guess Storm and I should start" Ro says glancing at Storm.
"We lied to you" Ro pauses, looking at me with a frown. "We never adopted you"
"W-what?, Maggie would never let that happen!"
"They didn't adopt you, but my dad did" Rocky says getting up and walking over to me. "I know this is probably really confusing right now but I promise, you will understand soon"
"All I'm understanding right now is that I've been living with a bunch of liars!" I say as I start to stand up, I can't deal with this right now.
"Wait, please, we may have lied but it doesn't mean that we don't love you" Storm says pulling me into a hug.
"If you loved me, you wouldn't have lied to me for soo long"
"They only lied because I asked them to, you see my dad, he's, let's say, very popular with a lot of influential people and I didn't want you getting dragged into anything"
"Look, I may still be a child in your eyes but I know when people are hiding stuff and being cryptic and to be honest I've been through enough shit in this lifetime that all I want to do now is focus on myself, my son and eventually settling down and enjoying the rest of my life"
With that said I pull away from Storm and walk off towards the kitchen.
"I'm your brother!" Rocky shouts causing me to stop mid step. Slowly I turn around to see Ro and Storm with shocked faces and Rocky looking surprised at what he just blurted out.
"What did you just say?"
"I'm your brother, biological brother to be exact"
"I don't have a brother, my family died"
"That's not entirely true, the people you witnessed get murdered were our aunt and uncle"
"Why wasn't I living with you and dad?"
"When you were born our mother went crazy and changed for the worse, she'd go out every night, drink, party and do drugs, she became very violent towards all of us and dad thought it was in your best interest if he sent you away" he paused taking my hand and pulling me to sit on the sofa with him. "When we found out that our aunt and uncle had been killed we rushed over to get you but we were too late, you were gone and we searched for you everyday, we found out that our mother was behind it all"
"When you say she was behind it all do you mean everything?"
"Everything, she was the women who 'took you in' and she's the one who forced you to do those horrible things you've been through, I'm so so sorry Lady, I wish we found you sooner"
A few moments pass of us just sitting there waiting for someone to speak. How did I not recognise my own brother? I mean sure we joked about the whole brother and sister thing earlier but it was a joke, also what happens now between Ro, Storm and I? I can't really stay here anymore if I'm adopted by my 'dad'.
"When can I meet dad?"
"We've invited him tonight"
"Okay, well let's go and do Ari's presents and we can discuss this whole situation tomorrow, I don't want to ruin anymore of her birthday"
I leave the room not waiting for an answer and head straight for the kitchen where my beautiful son and, well I guess sister in law are.
"I'm sorry" Ari says looking at me with sympathy.
"What for?"
"I didn't know any of this stuff, if I did I would've told you"
"It's fine honestly, I guess this makes us official sisters now"
"Yes!, and of course this little guy is my nephew"
"He is, let's go and open your presents anyway!"
"Yay!"