Binding Agreement- Book 1 of the Tipton Dynasty

Happy Birthday Sterling

The guests began to arrive for Sterling's party. The first ones here were the Bryant's and my mother. Then came the children from the orphanage and the peers from Sterling's class at school. Damon and I greeted the parents as the children ran in to greet Sterling.

It was a beautiful day for the beginning of March. Everything worked out perfectly and Sterling got the bounce houses he had requested. He was so excited when we arrived here at Martin's and he saw everything being set up. It had been quite the task to keep him inside Martin's house to avoid bugging the people hired to put up these bounce houses.

Once everyone was here I sat back and watched as Sterling played with his friends. There was one little girl in particular he tried to spend the most time with. She had chocolate brown hair in a ponytail with a blue bow to go with the outfit she wore. I had seen her a few times when we visited the orphanage.

"Mrs. Tipton, thank you for having all the children attend today. They were all so excited when Emily and I told them about it." I heard Mrs. Strahm's voice as she approached me.

"It's a pleasure to have you all here." I smiled as I took a sip of my bottled water. "Mrs. Strahm, who's the little girl Sterling is playing with?"

She looked for the children to see who I was talking about. "Oh, that's Isabelle. Sterling was really close with her at the orphanage. There were times when they were practically inseparable."

"What happened with her parents?" I was curious to know more about the girl.

"She came to us about three years ago, she was two. Her father was a soldier and died when he was deployed. After that her mother had a mental breakdown and ended up in the mental hospital. The only other family she had was an uncle who was not fit to raise a child." Mrs. Strahm answered.

"Do people really not adopt them because of their ages?" I questioned.

"Nowadays there's agencies that help mothers who seek adoption. Most people who come seeking a child want a baby. There seems to be a stigma that older children are harder because they are aware of how they came to be or because their personalities are already set. People think babies are easier." Mrs. Strahm sighed.

"Those poor children." I responded. I couldn't help but feel a little sad. All these children knew were the walls of the orphanage.

"They have each other though, they develop unbreakable bonds. Sterling was around four when Isabelle came to us. He watched over her and if she got hurt on the playground he was right there for her." Mrs. Strahm spoke further. "I'm glad he visits, I think it would've broken her heart not to see him again."

I stood up from the seat I was in. "I have a few things I need to go do. Mrs. Strahm if there's ever anything we can do for the children please let us know."

"Of course." She gave me a small smile as we parted ways.

I went inside to check in on the cake. Everyone had made it so soon we would have Sterling blow out the candles. After the cake was served then Sterling was able to open his gifts. Damon had a specific time for opening presents as we had something special planned for Sterling.

"It is here yet?" Damon asked as he snuck up on me.

I rolled my eyes as I turned to face him. "I thought we discussed the whole sneaking up on me thing."

"Sorry." he apologized. "Is it here yet though?"

"No it's not here yet. You told them not to bring it until three when Sterling opens his presents." I reminded him of the time frame he had set.

"I guess I'm just a little antsy." Damon sighed.

"Antsy for a present you didn't even want to have in your house." I chuckled. "Let them play longer and we'll do the cake in thirty minutes."

"Alright." Damon nodded in agreeance.

The thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. In that time frame Damon and I spoke with a few of the other parents for a brief moment. We even watched Sterling go from bounce house to bounce house. He occasionally went to the table filled with snacks to get his fill of sugar. When he needed to take a break he would go around and spend a little time with each of his grandparents. I was thankful that everything was going perfectly for him and he could have everyone important to him here.

Damon instructed for Rose to bring the cake out as we got the children gathered around. She set the cake down on the table and lit the seven candles. Damon helped guide Sterling over to the table and we all began to sing happy birthday to Sterling. There was a massive grin on his face as he looked around the crowd that had gathered for him. When we finished he was quick to blow out his candles.

Rose and Davis proceeded to cut and hand out the cake. Each child and every adult got a decent sized slice along with some vanilla ice cream. I sat down in a chair next to my mother.

"You know Kaybug, if I was told a year ago that I would be sitting at the Tipton residence celebrating a seven year old who I've come to love dearly I would've never believed it." My mother spoke as she looked over the crowd of people.

"I know. It's interesting how things change." I responded.

"At least they changed for the best." She smiled. "Where's he off to?" My mother asked as we watched Damon run into the mansion.

"I'm going to guess Sterling's present is here." I answered.

Damon remained inside while everyone finished eating. He came back out once Davis went into the house as he didn't want Sterling's gift to be unattended for very long. We stood by Sterling as he opened the presents from his friends and classmates. He got a number of different remote control cars like he wanted, some other toys and a few clothing items from his handful of grandparents. Then it came time for our present to him.

Damon ran back inside the house and returned moments later with a German Shepard puppy on a leash. We decided that Sterling needed a playmate for the house. Scarlett would be too little to play the way he did for a while so the next best thing was to get him a dog. It was my idea and while Damon put up a fight about it at first he finally ended up agreeing to having the dog.

Sterling's jaw dropped when he saw the puppy. "For me?"

"Yes for you." I smiled. "Happy birthday Sterling."

"What's his name?" Sterling looked up to Damon.

"What do you want his name to be?" Damon asked Sterling.

Sterling thought for a moment before answering. "I want to name him Jet."