A New Family

Chapter 12: Joy

Four felt a shiver of fear running down her spine. Where was everyone? Where had they gone? She was with the Squid Sisters, just a few moments before...

"Marie? Callie? Please someone turn on the lights, i...I don't like darkness." She tried to call out for their names, scared. No answer at all. Leah gulped, her breath becoming more and more uneven by the minute from the panic. She had absolutely no idea of what was happening, but it didn't look like anything good.

She had no choice, other than to press forward in the hallway, searching for a light source. After taking a deep breath and building up enough courage, she started moving. Her steps were silent, as she tried to be as quiet as possible. She didn't know why she was trying not to be too loud maybe it was just her being afraid and unaware of what was happening, all of a sudden. Eventually, she got to the entrance of the living room.

And as she stepped in, something happened.

The lights suddenly turned on without her doing anything, revealing one crazy and colorful living room as it had never been before: there were balloons everywhere, confetti flying all around, chromatic lights shining left and right, and even a giant disco ball hanging on the ceiling. On a table in the left corner, there were so many chips, snacks, drinks, and, most importantly, a giant chocolate cake with countless layers and her name written on it.

"Happy Birthday, Leah!" That's all she heard, as Off the Hook, the Squid Sisters, Four, Eight, and even Cuttlefish, came out of their hiding spots. Another surprise party, and she REALLY hadn't seen it coming this time. The girl covered her mouth with both her hands, widening her eyes and looking around in complete disbelief.

"We surprised you? Cool, i guess we achieved our objective then." Jessica said, walking towards her and putting an arm around her neck, followed right behind by Chloe.
"I can't...I can't even...just...how?" Said Four, while trying to find the right words to describe...that. So many different emotions, and it was so hard for her to tell how she felt.

"My little girls here thought of collaborating with Pearl and Marina to give you a good day. You deserve it, after all. You've done a lot for all of us." Captain Cuttlefish explained, giving her a warm smile. Leah watched all around her. Everything felt so unreal to her. That moment felt like nothing she had experienced before. She would have never guessed that Marie could have bested the party from last year, but...here she was.
"It's true, Marie and Callie have been planning this out for a while now. I and Jessica thought of taking part in the project too!" Eight followed up, with three nodding to what she was saying.

"They helped us a lot, ya know? They both decided to stay up all night to help out with all of this. Aaaand Callie almost blew up the oven while making your cake, but, ain't the time to go deep in details." Pearl said, still thankful that her oven was fine and working still. Callie shrugged, simply laughing off her silly mistake.
"I...I honestly don't know how to thank you all for this. It's...it's unbelievable."
"Hey, don't think too much about it! It's your special day, so... Let's just dive right into the party, alright?" Eight said, grabbing her by her sleeve, with Four simply letting her do it.

"Well, what are we all waiting for then? The cake isn't going to eat itself!" Marina pointed out, walking towards the table with all the food.
"AWWWW YEAH, CAKE TIME!" Callie yelled, running behind her with Pearl following.
"Thank you..." Four muttered under her breath, but Three, who was close to her, heard her.
"You heard the cap, Four. You're great, and you deserve this. Now let's go enjoy that cake of yours. I'm quite hungry, myself..." Three answered, shortly before the birthday girl got dragged away by Eight.

A hour later...


"Aw Cod, I am full." Callie looked exhausted, lying on the couch beside Pearl, who was pretty much in the same situation. The rapper was already deeply asleep, as her stomach tried to get rid of the massive quantity of Cake she had swallowed in no time.
"I told you two not to eat the cake that fast. Your gluttony is beyond any reason..." Marina said, sighing hopelessly.
"Their stomachs are going to take forever to digest all that food..." Marie added, while drinking some hot coffee that Marina had kindly offered her.

Meanwhile, the three Agents had gathered around Cuttlefish to hear him talk about one of his days back in the army. He always had such interesting stories with some surprising and unbelievable twists, and to believe they had actually happened was incredible. Plus he was really good at storytelling, really capturing the attention of his listeners and making them relieve what he had.