Chapter 3: The Kids' Surprise

Later on this afternoon, the kids spent time back in Z's beach and Manny and Crush played a little guitar and started to feel the peace in the island. As they looked at the sky, they realized that this is their new home. Cody listened to the sounds of the guitar and took a minute to embrace it all.

"That sounded pretty cool." said Cody.

Manny looked behind and saw Cody looking impressed. Manny sighed and said, "I taught myself the guitar when I was about 12 at the most."

"He's an awesome guitarist. He performed in many events and arenas and everybody likes it. He even got rid of his stage fright. He's been performing ever since." explained Crush.

"Wow. That's cool." said Cody.

"That was nothing compared to Crush's ability to play the eletronic guitar. He likes to party like a rockstar, impress everyone in L.A. with his music creation and makes all the amateur guitarist envious. It's so awesome!" said Manny.

"You could say I'm music material." said Crush.

"Awesome! Mind if I join you guys?" asked Cody.

"Sure!" exclaimed Crush.

Cody sat down and watched the waves with Crush and Manny. Crush asked Cody, "So, what made you want to live in Pen Gu Island?"

Cody sighed and said, "I thought you'd never asked. They had this 10th Annual Big Z Memorial Contest 7 weeks ago and I was one of these people. I've been trying to follow my dream so badly, I could almost taste it. Anyway, when I saw Big Z for the first time, I didn't know what I expected. He changed his name to 'Geek', but he's really Big Z. He taught me to make a surfboard of my own, though, it wasn't easy as it looks the first time, but when I made my board, I did it on my own and gave it a chance. He taught me that you don't have to surf because you want to win. You should just have fun. When the contest came, I was extremely nervous at first, but I showed off my moves and they liked it a lot. When I saw Joe in trouble, I came around and saved his life. He's like my best friend and I don't want anything to happen to him, so I threw myself out of the board. I was hanging on to those jagged rocks and just before my life flashed in my eyes, Big Z saved my life. So me, Joe and Z and Lani ended up being good friends. Because everyone liked me, I decided to live here."

"Wow. That's an awesome story." said Crush.

"Thanks, man." said Cody.

"So, do you have family?" asked Manny.

"I do. I only had a mom and an older brother. Unfortunately, my mom died 4 weeks ago." said Cody.

Crush and Manny looked at Cody and said, "I'm sorry."

"I miss her so badly. Whenever I feel this way, I just go up to everyone and tell them exactly how I felt and they always seem to be there for me." said Cody.

"That's really sweet." said Manny.

"You have a family, so where's the dad?" asked Crush.

Cody sighed and said, "I never had one."

Crush and Manny looked at each other and said, "No!"

"Are you serious?" asked Manny.

"Very serious. All my life, I lived without a dad and it became pretty hard for me. Until this day, I feel like I have nobody. Here, I feel like I've got a great big family here." said Cody.

"That's amazing." said Crush.

Timmy, Miranda, Joe and Brick came up and saw Manny, Cody, and Crush talking and saying, "Can we join you?"

Manny said, "Absolutely."

They all sat down and began to socialize. Timmy asked, "How did you meet Joe?"

"Cody and I go way back, like 7 weeks. I first saw him in, I forget the name where you live." said Joe.

"Shiverpool, Antarctica." answered Joe.

"Right. What he said. Anyway, when he followed us in the whale, we were pretty impressed. I saw him fall and I picked him up with my board. We've bonded very quickly and we became like brothers. We have the same things in common. I like to surf, I never knew my dad, all the good stuff." said Joe.

"You don't know your dad either?" asked Crush.

"Nope. Me and Cody are like loners." said Joe.

"That is unbelievable." said Manny.

"So, why are you guys orphans?" asked Cody.

"Well, me, Miranda, Timmy, Brick and Manny have been living together by our birth and adopted parents and as we got older, they died from HIV/AIDS. It strikes on everyone. We've been living in the foster home for 9 years. Waiting for someone to adopt us. We've been like family to each other." said Crush.

"That's amazing." said Joe.

"Yeah. We've been bonding and hanging out like we're best friends." said Miranda.

"That's cool." said Cody.

Mike came over and called out the 5 kids for their surprise. "Hey, kids. I found out who's gonna be adopting you."

The kids stood up and looked a little nervous. Mike asked, "Are we a little nervous today?"

"I'm afraid to know who's it gonna be." said Crush.

"We already met." Z came as he walked across the beach.

The kids looked at them with shock and excitement knowing that Z is their new caretaker. They came over and gave them a hug. Cody and Joe was impressed to see them happy. They couldn't believe that Big Z is adopting Manny, Crush, Miranda, Timmy and Brick.

Brick asked, "How did you step in to adopt us?"

"When I first saw you guys, I thought maybe you guys need a new foster dad, so I asked Mike and he couldn't take 'no' for an answer. You guys are awesome!" said Z.

"That's so amazing!" said Miranda.

"Z filled out the adoption files and made sure you kids are taken care of. I wanted to keep it a surprise. I guess that was surprising, isn't it?" said Mike.

"Why didn't you let us in on the secret?" asked Miranda.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore." said Mike.

"Well, you surprised us." said Crush.