Don't Give Up On Me ✔

Chapter 44 ~ I've put the house up for sale

"No, you overgrown man-child." Sofia yawns loudly. "We all need to eat the wonderful breakfast that Hayden made us. It smells delicious."

Luke snickers at me and Hayden laughs. "Actually, I didn't make breakfast. Isla did."

"Oh!" Sofia says embarrassed. "Sorry, Isla. I just thought he made breakfast because he normally does."

"It's okay." I giggle. "Luke thought the same thing."

"Merry Christmas, Angel!" Killian says while kissing my cheek.

"Merry Christmas to you too." After telling everyone else 'Merry Christmas' too, we all sit down and eat the kolaches I made for breakfast.

"Do we get to open gifts yet?" Isabelle asks while jumping up and down.

"Let's go into the living room and see what Santa brought us." Isabelle grabs Emma's hand and runs into the living room.

We let Emma, Isabelle, and Isaac open all their gifts before anyone else, that way they could go and play while we open our gifts. I liked that idea because I was still a little nervous about how everyone was going to react when I told them the news I had for them.

I recently set each person up with their own personal bank account. I transferred ten thousand dollars into each person's account and told them that an additional two thousand would be added every month until we graduate high school. I didn't want anyone to have to ask me for money. They could spend the money however they wanted to. They all tried to decline it at first, but I had explained to them that it didn't even make a dent in the amount of money that I have.

We sat in a circle around the tree to open presents. Tyler was in charge of passing out presents. Everyone loved what everyone got for each other. Some of the gifts that I received made me cry. Luke and Killian got me jewelry. Luke got me a charm bracelet that had charms of things that would remind me of our friendship. It had a sun because he calls me sunshine, a slide because we first met at the playground, and a heart because he loves me. Killian bought me a beautiful necklace with angel wings because he says I'm his angel. There were several other gifts too, but the best part was being here with my friends

"Are you having a good Christmas?" Hayden asks as he sits beside me.

"Yeah."

He hands me a white envelope. "Merry Christmas, Love."

I slowly open the envelope and pull out a note.

Dearest Isla,

I wanted to get you something that is as special as you. I searched through several stores, but no item seemed worthy enough. I then thought about everything you had told me, and the perfect gift came to mind. I donated to a foster home anonymously for you. Merry Christmas, Love!

~Hayden

Tears are falling from my eyes as I hug Hayden tightly. "I can't believe you did that. You don't know how much that means to me. Thank you, Hayden." I whisper. Out of all the gifts, his really meant a lot to me. Hayden knows how important it is to donate to the local foster homes and it reminds me of my parents. It makes me even happier knowing that other kids are having a good Christmas because of it.

"Is everything okay?" Sofia asks because I'm crying.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I say, "Yes. Everything is great!"

Sofia looks at me like I'm crazy but shrugs. She then walks out of the room and comes back with a box. "This is from all of us." She says handing it to me.

Lifting the lid of the box, my eyes widen in shock. There's a photo album that has 'My Family' written on it in cursive. As I go through the photo album, I start to cry. There are pictures of the ten of us. They had all been taking pictures of us without me knowing. As I flip through each page, the smile on my face continues to grow. In every picture, we all seem so happy. No. We don't seem happy. We are happy. This is my new family and I am happy with them. "I-I can't believe y'all did this for me. It's amazing."