Chapter Eight: The Surprise Party
When Ryan and Natalia got to work, there weren't any cases, so they finished up the remaining paperwork that they had. Both were especially happy about this since they could leave once their paperwork was finished. They finished two hours before shift was to end, told H they were leaving and went to collect the cake. After collecting the cake, Eric called and asked them to pick up his parents and collect the food since he had to bring Calleigh and the kids without raising suspicion. When they got to Ryan's place, they took out all the food and carried it inside. They began organizing the decorations and when they were finished, Ryan and Natalia got out utensils, glasses, and plates to put on the table with all the food.
As they finished doing that, Ryan told the Delkos to make themselves comfortable while he and Natalia went upstairs to get ready for the party. In Ryan's room, Natalia asks Ryan all who is going to be at the party. He responds to her question, "Everyone who was at dinner on Sunday, Mr. Duquesne and Alexx with her family. H is picking up Mr. Duquesne and I told him and Alexx to park in the back so Calleigh does not get suspicious when she gets here with Eric and the kids. Eric told her that we invited them over for dinner." Ryan goes to shower while Natalia organizes her clothes for the party, then lies on the bed while she waits for Ryan to finish his shower. Ten minutes later, he re-enters the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and one in his hands drying his hair. Natalia notices him and approaches him. She wraps her arms around him, and he drops the towel in his hands as she kisses him. She pulls back and tells Ryan, "We'll continue this later," then she goes into the bathroom to shower. When she has finished showering, she finds Ryan lounging on the bed wearing dark jeans and a blue T-shirt with his eyes closed. She decides to leave him be and change into her clothes. As she is putting on a necklace, Ryan opens his eyes and asks, "You need help with that?" She responds, "Sure, thank you." Ryan walks up behind her and clasps the necklace securely then kisses Natalia on the neck and tells her that she looks beautiful. When they get downstairs, Alexx is there with her family and Walter is there as well. Five minutes later, H arrives with Kyle and Mr. Duquesne.
Fifteen minutes after H arrived, Eric messages Ryan and tells him that they are five minutes away from his place. Ryan tells everyone and they prepare themselves to surprise Calleigh and the kids. Eric parks the car in the driveway, and they all walk up to Ryan's front door. Eric takes out some keys and goes to open the door. When Calleigh notices, she asks, "What are you doing?" Eric replies, "I've got a key for Ryan's place." Calleigh asks again, "Since when?" Eric responds, "Since the tornado accident." Calleigh inquires, "Why didn't you tell me?" He says, "I forgot." As he opens the door, Calleigh and the kids are shocked when the lights are turned on and everyone inside yells, "Surprise! Congratulations on the adoption!"
The party had been going on for an hour when Eric asked for everyone's attention. He took Calleigh's hands, knelt on one knee and asked Calleigh to marry him. She began to tear up but answered, "Yes." Everyone congratulated them and Mr. Duquesne decided to make a toast. After another hour, H left with Mr. Duquesne and Kyle. Followed by Alexx and her family, then the Delkos, Calleigh and the kids. Natalia and Ryan cleaned up then got ready for bed. While Natalia was in the bathroom, Ryan decided to turn on the television in his room. He found a channel that was showing baseball highlights. Ryan was so distracted by the highlights that he didn't notice Natalia sitting on the bed until she took off the television and straddled his hips. He said, "Hey, I was watching that." "So? We decided on continuing what we started earlier." Ryan responded, "Yes, we did." Natalia started kissing his neck and Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist. They spent the rest of the night in engaging activity and fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.