I don't own any of these characters.

Thanks to all that reviewed for Children of the Vills! It was a story that insisted on being written. I hope you all enjoyed the intrigue!

Peace out,

Fiery Peace

Part 8

"Come on Warren," Steve Stronghold said to his foster son as they walked up to the house after a doctor's appointment that labeled Warren as on his way to a full recovery, "I'm starved. Let's go get some lunch."

"Yes sir," Warren laughed at his foster father's words, "Now I see why Will is always hungry."

The young man didn't notice that Steve allowed him to enter the house first and the older Super had to quickly stabilize a shaken Warren when the rest of the family and Layla all jumped out from hiding places blowing party horns.

"Surprise!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear War-ren!

Happy Birthday to you!

For he's a jolly good fellow!

For he's a jolly good fellow!

For he's a jolly good fel-low!

For no one can deny!

Hey!"

Warren had to laugh at his foster family's antics as they sang him Happy Birthday on his sixteenth birthday and presented him with a large cake covered in candles. The surprise party had been unexpected. He was slowly losing a lot of his shyness and very rarely did signs of his former life pop up in his speech, attitude, and behavior. In fact, the former Vills never looked so good. He had gained a considerable amount of weight and was showing the signs of a sleek muscle tone, much to many of the opposite sex's pleasure. Warren smiled and participated more often which made him appear more his age. Only his eyes gave away that he had seen too much in his lifetime to be able to completely reclaim his lost innocence, but the twinkle allowed others to know that he was content.

"Make a wish before you blow out your candles," Will insisted as the cake was lowered in front of the birthday boy.

"There is nothing more that I could ever want than I already have," Warren said looking up at his family.

"You have to make a wish," Layla chirped happily, "It's a tradition."

"Well I'm sure that there is something that you have always wanted," Steve Stronghold said to his foster son, "Just close your eyes, make the first wish that comes to you, and blow out all of your candles."

Warren smiled up at everyone before closing his eyes in concentration. He stayed still except for a hand that pushed his now shoulder length hair behind his ears. The teen suddenly smiled a secretive smile and opened his eyes to blow all of his candles out in one puff of air.

"Good job!" Josie Stronghold said laughing, "If you had blown any harder the cake would have ended up in someone's lap."

"Thank you," Warren giggled, "You didn't have to do anything for my birthday."

"Nonsense!" Josie said ruffling his hair, "This is your sixteenth birthday today. We are going to have lunch, gorge ourselves on ice cream and cake, open presents, go to the fair that the two of you have been begging to go to, and finally wind up at home exhausted and sick to our stomachs thanks to fair food."

"Sounds wonderful," Warren said with twinkling eyes.

"Let Warren open his presents before we eat," Will said in excitement, "Please?"

"Of course," Josie said getting into the spirit of things by grabbing the young man and sitting him on the couch in front of a large pile of gaily wrapped gifts.

"Oh my," Warren gasped seeing the pile, "This is too much."

"Nope," Will said as he bounced beside his foster brother, "Its exactly right. Now open my gift first."

Warren had a blast ripping the wrapping paper to get to the treasure within. He loved the leather jacket that Will had gotten for him since it was the exact jacket he had always wanted and couldn't stop thanking his friend enough. He received a lot of CDs he had been wanting, some new clothes, a gold necklace with a flame charm from his foster parents that he immediately put on, and a few other funny knick-knacks. He had also received some books he had been eager to read.

Warren had taught himself to read on his own and was an avid reader. He was remarkably intelligent and was now working hard with a private tutor to catch up to his proper grade level in school. He was also making leaps and bounds in his training to control his powers. Thanks to the Strongholds, Warren would be completely ready to start school with Will and Layla the following school year. It was known in the UN League of Supers that Warren was going to be a very powerful hero and teamed up with Will, the two would be unstoppable.

"Thank you so much," Warren said beaming, "This is the best birthday I have ever had that I can remember."

"I also have this," Will said handing Warren his Memory Doll, "I went to the Memory Forest and retrieved your doll when I was released from the hospital. You are alive and do not belong among the dead. The UN have taken all the Memory Dolls to set up a memorial to remember the Vills that died. They will never be forgotten."

"Will," Warren breathed, "That's wonderful. I will always keep my Memory Doll to remind me of the past. Thank you."

"There is one more gift," Josie said nervously, "And if you don't want it, please know that you can turn it down and it won't hurt any of our feelings."

"What?" Warren asked confused as Steve handed him an envelope.

He gasped when he saw the contents of the envelope. Steve and Josie Stronghold had petitioned the courts to formally adopt him as a permanent part of the family and they had been granted permission.

"What?" Warren asked again looking up at his foster family with wide eyes.

"Mom, Dad, and I want to adopt you," Will said smiling hopefully at Warren, "I want you to be my brother."

"I would be a Stronghold?" Warren asked aloud.

"No," Steve said making Will and Warren's heads snap up and look over at him in confusion, "We want you to become Warren Stronghold-Peace in honor of your mother. I know that you would want something permanent from her and I know that Josie and I already think of you as our second son. So, what do you say?"

"I…I…Oh! Thank you!" Warren said as tears rolled down his face and he threw himself into Steve's arms, "I would love to be Warren Stronghold-Peace!"

Layla sniffled as she watched the Stronghold's hug the newest member of their family. This felt so right to everybody that it had to be fate. The hug lasted for sometime before everybody was able to get his or her emotions back under control.

"Let's eat! I'm starved!" Steve and his son chorused together by accident making the other occupants of the house burst into delighted laughter.

"Wait," Layla said, "I haven't given Warren my present yet. It's outside."

"Outside?" Why is it outside?" Will asked his girlfriend.

"You'll see," Layla laughed before turning to Warren, "Close your eyes and no peeking."

Warren closed his eyes and waited in curiosity. He heard Layla leave and then enter the room to a chorus of gasps from his new family.

"Surprise!" Layla said as she placed something wiggly on his lap.

"Oh!" Warren gasped as he opened his eyes to see a beautiful, little German Shepherd puppy with a bright red bow staring up at him, "Layla! Thank you! How did you know that I wished for a dog?"

"I didn't," Layla said, "But when I visited my cousin yesterday she had this little girl left from a litter of puppies her dog had. This little lady has an ear that doesn't stand up straight so my cousin was going to put the puppy to sleep."

"What?" Warren said angrily pulling his puppy up against his chest protectively as she proceeded to give his neck and face a thorough wash with her small tongue, "Why? She's beautiful!"

"Some dog breeder put animals down that aren't considered perfect," Layla said in anger before smiling up at her friend, "When I saw her, I just knew that she was meant for you. I didn't have the chance to ask Mr. or Mrs. Stronghold for permission."

"May I keep her? Please?" Warren asked his new parents with pleading eyes.

"How could we say no to those two face?" Steve chuckled referring to the puppy and his adopted son, "You will be responsible for her training and upkeep."

"Yes sir," Warren said happily as he hugged his new puppy.

"I'll help," Will offered as Warren allowed him to rub the pup's head, "I've always wanted a pet as well."

"I'll share Sadie with you," Warren said to his new brother.

"Sadie?" Josie asked, "Is that your puppy's name?"

"Yes ma'am," Warren said before sobering up for a moment, "Will it hurt your feelings if it takes some time for me to be able to call you 'Mom' and 'Dad?'"

"You call us what you feel comfortable calling us," Josie said smiling at her adopted son, "Steve and I understand Honey and it won't hurt our feelings if you call us Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold for the rest of your life. I'm not trying to replace your mother in your heart."

"I know," Warren said shyly, "I want you to know that I do love all of you dearly. I wouldn't be alive today without you. Thank you so much for wanting me."

"No," Will said to his brother, "Thank you for making all of us a better person by setting such a wonderful example of kindness and compassion. We all love you dearly as well."

"Amen," Josie and Steve chorused as they sat on either side of their two children.

"Smile," Layla said holding up a camera, "This will be the first full, family portrait. Say cheese!"

The picture sat in a place of honor from the day it was developed. Steve and Josie Stronghold sat holding their two smiling sons between them. Will and Warren seemed about to burst into laughter as Sadie sat cocking her head to the side to look up at the camera. The joy reflected in the picture mirrored the joy that filled the Stronghold home for many years as more and more pictures of the family joined the first. Even during times of loss the family remained strong together. None ever regretted Will and Layla meeting the gentle Child of the Vills on that cold winter night. It could only be explained as fate.

The end.

Done! It's done!

Yippee!

I hope you enjoyed this and I hope to hear your reviews soon. This was a joy to write and it was nice to use the characters of Sky High and place them in a different world for a while. No Boomers were actually injured in the course of the story.

Read what you like folks.

Love ya,

Fiery Peace