The Lady Of The Manor

Chapter 10~ As The Years Go By Pt. 1

Chase's POV

Hey, Pumpkin?" I asked Melody at lunch one day in January.

"Yeah?"

"When's your birthday?"

"February 13th, 2001. Why?"

"That's in less than a month," Google said.

"Our little girl's going to be 6 in less than a month and we had no idea. We are horrible parents," Wilford said, smacking himself in the head.

"Did any of you read the documents where you legally adopted her?" Dark asked.

"Why? What does that have to do with anything?" Anti asked.

"It had her birthday on it, Dumbass."

"Oh," The rest of us said, lowering our heads.

"You guys are silly," Melody giggled.

"We try," Marvin responded.

Timeskip to February 13th, 2007

Marvin's POV

I woke up and smiled. It was Melody's birthday today and the other egos and I had been working nonstop preparing the best birthday we could. It was, after all, the first one she'd ever had with us and it needed to be perfect. I knew the other egos would be up soon, which was good because we had an entire Manor to decorate. I knew Google would make an elaborate breakfast, and that left the rest of us to handle decorations. Each of us had planned something special for our hour with Melody, and the best part? She had no idea about any of it. She thought we'd just do cake and ice cream after dinner. The day was structured a bit different than every other day, and that helped make it special. After breakfast, where every single ego wished our daughter a happy birthday, Dark took her outside and had a snowball fight with her for about an hour until he was about frozen. Mel being a kid, was nowhere near cold yet, which was awesome for Isaac who made snow angels with her for another hour. 10 o' clock rolled around and Isaac insisted her go inside for a bit. She agreed and Google took her to back her cake, and since they had extra time, they made and decorated cookies too. Host came for her at 11, and the two of them made all kinds of origami structures. We all regrouped at noon for lunch and then Simon played 'Simon Says' with her until 2 when Wilford took her back outside for a scavenger hunt in the woods. Who knows what they found, neither of them would speak of it when they got back. Anti was able to get our happy-go-lucky girl back at 3 when the two of them popped every single bubble in an entire roll of bubble wrap. At 4, Chase took her into the conference room and the two of them filmed a special 'Bro Average', which Melody was so happy with. At 5, Henrik took her outside for the final time that day and the two of them made snowpeople, and Henrik insisted they be as accurate as possible and Melody didn't seem to care. Jackieboy-Man took her ice skating at a small pond not too far into the woods until dinner. After which, Jameson played charades with her until 8 and then I put on a small magic show for her, doing standard tricks since that would be more magical to a young which who wouldn't be able to replicate them exactly on her first try. When I was done the 13 of us had cake and ice cream before Chase and Wilford took her up to bed. She looked so tired, but the last time I saw her that happy was the day her adoption finalized.

"We did good, guys," I said, collapsing on the couch.

"Yes, we did," Simon agreed as some of the other egos sat down.

"Do we really get to do this every year until she turns 18?" Anti asked.

"We'll do this long after that," Dark answered and we all knew he was right.

4 Years Later

Wilford's POV

Years passed and Melody started growing like Human children did. She had started going to school, and thanks to GOOGLEplier, she was thriving; she was always ahead of everyone else. This had led to problems, she often came home upset because everyone made fun of her for her academic achievement, her lycanthropy, her being a witch, and even for having as many dads as she did. She became withdrawn, and didn't really speak to anyone at school; Melody only really talked to the other egos and I. And sometimes, she'd barely talk to us. Over the years she grew depressed, and all any of us wanted to do was help her. We left her to sulk after school; we let her be alone then, but on weekends we'd alternate two egos, one Septic and one Ipler, and we'd do things with her. It was to keep her from getting too bad and it seemed to be working fairly well.

But today was her 10th birthday, and I was so excited. She was entering the double digits. Over the past week, she'd become more responsive, and I took that as she was excited too. It was going to be awesome. Breakfast was at 7, just like any other day. Every ego in the Manor wished our girl a happy birthday, and she seemed just as happy as when she'd first come to us. The real fun began at 8 when Simon and Chase took Melody into the living room where the three of them made the biggest pillowfort they could. They entered the first and told exaggerated stories and when another ego tried to enter the pillowfort they were 'banished from the living room'. At 10, Melody was 'captured' by Jackieboy-Man and brought back to the kitchen where the new trio made Melody's birthday cake, cookies, and white chocolate brownies sense Melody was allergic to milk and dark chocolate. Once the baking was done, they had fun decorating their creations, Melody laughing harder than she had in a long time. Lunch followed and Melody was so happy and eager to see what else we had come up with. At 1, the doctors took her to the living room which had been set up for a tea party. Somehow those two managed to make it last two hours, don't ask me how. But at 3, Jameson and I had her for two hours. For about an hour we did archery as Jameson suggested, but at about 4 I handed my baby girl a replica of my golden gun, the only difference being hers was solidly silver and had 'Gumdrop' engraved on the left side. Jameson and I taught her to shoot it until 5, which is when we went in for dinner and then cake and ice cream. After that, she had time with the Host and Marvin who taught her card tricks and then put on a magic show, making Melody the audience assistant on some tricks. After they were done with that Dark and Anti had her until bed. They had been gone most of the day until the found someone to have...quality... time with. All I know is Melody game back almost giddy with a glint in her eye and blood all over her. I ended up putting her to bed that night, after forcing her to bathe.

"Will you thank the others for an amazing day?" She asked before falling asleep. Success.

3 Years Later

Melody's POV

I was so excited for my thirteenth birthday. It marked that I was officially becoming a woman. I knew that I'd be in agonizing pain soon as I grew my reproductive organs, but I didn't want to worry about that today. Today, I just wanted to enjoy life. And that's what I set out to do. But today, breakfast seemed... off. Something was wrong and nobody was talking to me; everything seemed strained.

"Daddy?" I asked after we all left the table and he was headed to his office.

"Yes?" He answered, seeming agitated.

"Did I do something to make you mad?"

"Don't worry about it, Melodonna." With that, he turned his heel and left, closing the door in my face. He used my whole name. Gods, what did I do to piss him off?