Chapter: Piper's Birthday Miracle
With Piper's birthday and Christmas quickly approaching, Renee pulls the teen over and asks her what she wants for her birthday. Piper's birthday is Christmas Eve, so she normally has to choose Christmas or Birthday. The girl usually would choose Christmas since you get more presents that way. She tells Renee as much.
"You let me worry about that Sweetie," was how Renee responded to her friends daughter.
"Well, in that case. I just want to get my friends and classmates together and do a sniper versus kids paintball war. It would be you, me, daddy, Horatio, and Calleigh against my schoolmates. No presents just that," is what Piper told her dads friend.
With that, Renee set out to pull a Christmas miracle out of her hat. The woman did have connections to everyone needed to pull off such a miracle.
When the teen went to school, Renee dropped her off.
"Bye, Sweetie. I'll pick you after school," Renee shouts as Piper meets up with Max Mason, and Maize Monroe.
As soon as the teens where out eye sight, Renee walks up to the door. She needed to talk to the principal. The principal was the only one who knew that Renee was paying tuition for the six SEAL team member's kids.
"Hi, I have a problem that I was hoping that you could help me out with. Can you help me get Piper's party. I know it's Christmas Eve but she just wants everyone to play a paintball war. With her, her daddy, and some close friends of his against her whole school. I have McGraws Paintball and Gun Range booked for the whole day. I was wondering if you can get the word out without Piper finding out. I told her to invite her core group of friends. Maize Monroe, Sarah Rossi, Max Mason, Lukas McGraw and William Lewis are the ones who she will tell," Is what Renee asks of the principal of Piper's school.
"I'll see what I can do about that," was the response from the principal.
Renee quickly left to organize the rest of it. Piper's birthday and Christmas Eve was only two weeks away. Renee still needed the decorations and the cake. She already knew the teens favorite flavor of cake. As well as her favorite colors. But where do you get olive green and camouflage party decorations. Renee was wondering that, when she got an idea.
She was friends with the military recruiters that go to the high school. She knew that they would put up olive green and camouflage balloons to get the kids attention. So she quickly called them up, asking a favor.
"Hey, Andrew. Can I get some of those balloons that you use when you recruit at the high school. My friends daughter's birthday is coming up. Her favorite colors are olive green and camouflage.
Her daddy is a United States Marine Corps Master Sergeant and sniper," was what she asked the recruiter on the phone.
She got the answer that she thought that she would get, "Of course, We Marines' help each other."
Renee had some surprised in store for Piper on her birthday. She was able to set up the party inside one of the cargo containers in the middle of the course. Setting it up as a home base of sorts. Anyone inside was safe. Outside anything goes. Only rule was no intentional head shots.
Renee had gotten her hands of about a dozen paintball claymore mines. Giving them to Piper early on Christmas Eve.
"If you want, we can get there early to set some up for your classmates," Renee said when she saw the excitement in Piper's eyes.
Renee had gone early anyways to set up the decorations and the cake.
"Seeing the cake, Piper comments on the size of it, " That's a bit big for my group of friends, but I suppose that we will just have leftovers for Christmas Day.
When the guests start showing up Piper was floored. Not only did her core group of friends come but so does her whole school. All the teachers, students, and even the faculty were there. Piper was surprised that the veterans even came.
"Grandpas you came too. This is more than I asked for," she squealed as she threw her arms around each of their necks.
"Wild horses couldn't keep us away, Sweetie," the Marine Lieutenant Colonel said to the young girl.
Piper wanted to be the one who got the veterans settled down in the container that they were using as a home base.
"Can I leave you distinguished gentleman here to guard the cake," Piper says to the vets as she winks at them.
"We shall guard it with our lives,' one of the Navy Rear Admiral says to the birthday girl.
Once the teen had run off to join her friends, the veterans all took out several small wooden boxes and gently laid them on the present table. Piper said that she didn't want any presents but some of her friends did anyway. They even wrapped the present in birthday paper.
Renee had set it up in waves. Handing out a colored card. The color corresponded to the wave you were in. Red was the first wave. Blue was the second, and Yellow was the final wave. The goal for the school was to locate and neutralize the snipers. The snipers goal was to take out the school people before they got found out. Yelling out where the snipers are after you get hit is an instant expulsion.
Piper and her team all set out to set themselves up all around the course. They all had earwigs in to talk to each other. Piper took Renee up to her favorite spot up on the top of the four cargo containers. The location of her shooting. That was still Piper's favorite spot to hang out.
Piper had brought up her ghillie blanket again this time she was determined to use it. Seeing where Piper was setting up, Renee jumped the eight feet to the next cargo stack over. The way that Tobias had set up the course, it was a stack of containers an eight foot aisle way than another stack of cargo containers. There was no ladder up to any on the other stacks just Piper's stack.
Piper did have the best view of the course. So Renee settled down one container over. James settled down near the claymores to take the straggles off.
Horatio set himself up by hiding behind a point of egress. One way in and one way out. A bottleneck so to speak of. Calleigh had seen Renee jump over to the next cargo container and climbed up herself. Using a running start she jumped the space than she jumped over another few containers.
They new had three snipers up high and two down low. Renee had told them to wait for her to radio that it was all clear for the first wave of contestants to try to find the snipers.
"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," Piper comments through her earwig.
"Shall I make it more interesting," Piper knew that voice. It was Horatio. Without another word, they hear his shout as he ran out in front of a group of kids letting them see him before he ran off to another location.
This did have the desired response from the kids. Piper could here the other kids yell, "found one, after him," Piper knew that voice too. It was Max Mason, her best friend. Shortly after that, Piper hears Max's voice again, "hit", as he walks back to the home base. Immediately after she hears Horatio also shout, "hit" they were now down to three snipers.
By this time they were onto Blue wave. This consisted of the older more experienced students. In this round Maize Monroe and Sarah Rossi were among the contestants from Piper's school. Calleigh took out Maize in the first few minutes of blue wave. Right before Sarah took her out too. Again, Piper hears two friends yell, "hit" in rapid succession.
Two sniper down, three to go and the school wins. Suddenly they all hear a loud bang. Someone had stepped on one of the claymores that they had set up earlier. Instantly they hear about five little, "hits", yelled out. The claymore had the wanted reaction.
"They have paintball mines now, you have got to be kidding me," Piper knew that voice but she hadn't heard him for a long time . It was Lukas's oldest brother, Jamison. He must be home from training to fly the Raptor fighter jets."
Quietly Piper smiled. She had always admired Jamison. He was very tall and handsome, not Piper's type but handsome none the less.
Piper knew that Jamison was not hit because, he never called, "hit." She was also very nervous because if anyone would see a sniper hidden it would be a military person.
"Hit", James shouts. Jamison had seen him hiding near the mines. It was now down to Renee and Piper against the yellow wave. This wave was her teachers wave. This was also the wave that Piper was really looking forward to. All the students had been taken out by Piper's team, and were know waiting in the cargo container for everyone else.
Yellow wave was much smaller than the last two waves. Only about a dozen teachers plus half a dozen faculty members. As Piper and Renee started to whittle that number down it got down to three teachers plus the two snipers.
Renee knew what she needed to do. She was going to sacrifice herself so that Piper could get the drop on the remaining players. From where James was standing near the cargo containers he could see what was going on. The only reason he could see everything was that simple fact that he was well over six feet tall.
He could clearly see how much Renee cared for Piper and how much his daughter loved Renee. He saw Renee stand up and shout. As she shot two of the remaining players.
"Hit," "hit," then he heard the inevitable, "hit" from Renee.
The instant he heard that he hears another, "hit," it was the last player getting hit by Piper.
"Game Over," they hear booming from the loudspeakers.
"Birthday day team win, good game everyone," the loudspeaker continued to boom.
When everyone was in the container, Renee had the cake brought out.
"Here, you cut it Grandpa," Piper says as she gently leads the Lieutenant Colonel up to the table.
"Are you sure you want me to do it," he asks the girl. Piper just nudged him closer to the table.
As the veteran cut the cake, Renee couldn't help but notice that he was not wearing his Medal of Honor nor any of the other medals that he had earns. Noticing that Renee looks over at the other vets. None of them had their medals on. Looking over at the table Renee recognized eight small wooden boxes on the gift table and she instantly knew what they had brought the birthday girl. She also knew that they had thought long and hard about this decision. As she knew that the medals were their prized possessions. The most precious thing that they had.
Quietly Renee swelled with pride and excitement to see how Piper responds. Renee quickly put the boxes away. She knew that Piper would be reduced to tears upon seeing what the vets had given her. Renee was going to give them to her when it was just the veterans left after everyone else had left.
Lukas and Jamison gave her new paintball equipment. Maize Monroe gave her a new protective vest for paintball. Her last one was ruined when she got shot. Sarah Rossi gave Piper a World War Two style bomber jacket. Piper was very pleased with this present. Her best friend Max gave her a couple bottles of compressed air to refill her paintball gun as well as a box of her neon florescent pink paintball ammo.
As everyone left the party, Piper looked over to Renee who was fighting back tears.
"Nae, are you okay," she asks Renee.
"I'm fine, but I put away a few presents since I thought that you should open these when it was just the vets and us left. I know you are going to cry," is what Renee said to Piper.
Gathering the veterans and James around the girl. Renee pulls out the small boxes and places them down on the table. When James sees the boxes he too knows what they are. He also knows that his daughter is going to lose it when she opens them.
"Here, Sweetie." James tells his daughter as he helps her sit down to open these little surprises.
Grabbing the first one, Piper looks at who it was from.
"Bill Kingston, USMC LC," Piper reads out loud. As she gently opens the box you could feel the emotion when she reveals what was inside.
"I can't take this,"Piper exclaims as she pulls out the vets most prized possession. In Piper's hands she was holding the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"I insist, Sweetie. You make us all oh so happy. None of us have any kids or grandkids. We all just adore you," The Lieutenant Colonel tells the teenager.
Looking around at the vets she just knew what they had done.
As she opens the next seven boxes she was crying more and more.
In all they had given her: A Medal of Honor, A Navy Cross, A Silver Star, A Bronze Star, A Army and Marine Corps Medal, A Distinguished Service Medal, A Flying Cross, and a Purple Heart. All totaled Piper got two medals from each of them.
By now she was reduced to tears. One by one, Piper approached the veterans and thanked them, giving them a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Piper stayed with her dad while Renee drove the vets all back to their assisted living home near Renee's.
Once away from the party, Renee turns to them. "That was just so sweet of you," Those medals are now Piper's most prized possessions. I know that she is going to have her dad build her a display case from them. The next time you all are over, you will be front and center on the fireplace," Renee turns back to the road. As she had arrived at their home.
Parking in the parking lot, Renee got out and walked them all in arm in arm one at a time. Before she left she kissed them on the cheek and gave them a hug and a little salute.
Getting home, Renee was almost knocked down by Piper jumping into her arms.
"That was the best day ever, I don't know how you did it, but thanks you so much," Piper tells Renee.
"I have another surprise in the kitchen. This is what I did with my mom every year on Christmas Eve." Renee had put up the tree and all the decorations on Black Friday. The veterans were still there so they all helped.
In an instant Piper was in the kitchen to see the surprise.
In the kitchen were three dozen fresh baked undecorated sugar cookies all cut out in little Christmas Trees, Stockings, Candy Canes, and Stars.
There was also tubes of red, white, and green cookie icing. Along with sprinkles of every color. All ready to decorate. The three of them spend the next three hours decorating cookies.
At that time, Renee shooed Piper off to bed. The two adults stayed in the kitchen. That is when James looks at Renee.
"What do you have up your sleeves?" He asks her.
"You'll see when she falls asleep." They only needed to wait two hours until Charlie walked downstairs. The canine would stay with Piper until she fell asleep, then she would go back to Renee.
Once Piper was asleep, Renee grabs James and leads him to the hidden entry to Renee's underground shooting range.
As they walk into Renee firearms collection room, James notices several unwrapped presents.
"You didn't, Did you?" He asks as he turned to face Renee.
"What do you mean?" Renee was just playing with James. She knew what he meant. "Yes I did. It's an auntie's motive." She says as she winks at him.
James opens up the boxes one at a time.
Inside was a brand new expensive paintball gun in the first box.
Opening up the next box, James looks Renee dead in the eyes. "Is this the gun that saved your life when you were her age." He asks her.
"Yes, that is the Browning Bar 30-.06 that saved my life. Piper's old enough to learn how to shoot a rifle. Don't you think. She already knows gun safety. Don't worry she will not be left alone with the gun."
"Besides that, I was already in a shooting club and hunting at her age," Renee tells James.
The last box was much much smaller that the other two. Looking at the first two, James thought that he knew what was in the last box.
Sure enough when he opened it he saw the name stamped across the gun slide. Sig Sauer P-226 9mm. He knew why Renee chose this gun. Renee has had the same Sig since the joined the Marines. That gun has never failed her." James was happy that Renee took such an interest in Piper. He could clearly see that Renee adored Piper and Piper loved Renee very much.
"I'll give her the paintball gun. You can give Piper the other two if you want," Renee says to James casually.
"No, you give her those. I just need to go home and grab hers. I left them at home so she wouldn't see them. We spend all our time here so she would never be able to find them here since they weren't here but rather back at home." James says as he goes out the door and jumps into his truck.
James quickly got back to Renee's house. The two start to wrap the presents for the girl. James had gotten Piper a new iPad, iPhone and a GoPro camera." Piper had been begging for those things for years
Early in the morning of Christmas Day, James went up to wake Piper. This was the first time that Renee was part of their lives as far as Piper knew.
How was she to know that Piper was over all the time for Christmas before Piper was born. Renee had spent every Christmas that she was stateside over with James and Mac.
Piper knew not of that fact. All she knew was that Renee was awesome to have around. Was there anything that she couldn't do.
"Here Sweetie, open these presents first," Renee then gave the girl the gifts from her dad.
Renee was hoping that Piper would get distracted by the gifts from her dad and not notice the ones from Renee till much later.
Renee's distraction tactic worked like a charm. As the girls set up her iPad and iPhone, Renee wordlessly tucked her gifts back under the tree.
When she saw that James had noticed her slight of hand, she whispered her response.
"She can open them when Horatio gets here in a few hours. You can have this time, James." Is what Renee tells James.
Renee had plans for later. Horatio was going to bring the vets over for Christmas dinner. Piper had put the ribbons up on display the second that she had gotten to Renee's house.
Piper never let on but she saw Renee's slight of hand. She also knew what Renee was trying to do and really loved the effort.
Once the gifts were open, James got up and went back into the kitchen. Renee didn't know what he was doing until she smelled one of her favorite odors.
James was in the kitchen frying bacon and scrambling up eggs.
James walks out carrying two large platters.
"Breakfast is served," he proclaims as he puts the platters down on the dining room table.
Renee and Piper quickly get to the table eager to eat.
James pulls out the chairs for them then pushes them back in for Renee and Piper.
Within a few hours the house was full again.
The vets were eager to ask Piper what she got for Christmas. Piper was very eager to show them her new iPhone, iPad, and Go-Pro camera. It is at that time that one of the vets points out the three presents still under the tree.
Renee, can I open your presents now. I saw you hide them earlier, your presents wouldn't compete with his for my attention," Piper asks Renee from the other room.
"Sure Sweetie, just give me and Horatio a few minutes to get in there. Did you she your Grandpa's the little area you put your presents from yesterday?" Renee tells the teen through the kitchen swing doors.
Gently Piper takes the hands of the vets and leads them over to the fireplace. It was just as Renee had told them the girl would do.
A few minutes later everyone was gathered around the Christmas tree so Piper could open her presents from Renee. Piper opened them up medium, large, small.
As she opened up medium sized present, she stopped and looked at Renee.
"You got me a Tippmann U.S Army Project Salvo. How, they have a back order on these." Piper asks Renee with her jaw hanging open.
Renee didn't answer she just winked at the girl. Opening up the largest present. Again she stopped. Gently taking out the hunting rifle. A Browning BAR. Is this like the one you told me about. The one that saved your life when you were my age."
Looking Piper square in the eyes, Renee tells the girls, "This is not like the gun I told you about. It is the gun I told you about. It's yours Sweetie."
As Piper opens up the last present she looks at it then looks at Renee and her dad then back at the present.
Slowly and carefully Piper removes the Sig Sauer and looks at it. Before exclaiming, "This is just like your daddy and yours Nae. I know that Nae you have a larger caliber but it's the same type of gun. Can we go down to the range and shoot later.
Renee turns to face the vets, "Do you want to come. I have a hidden shooting range downstair." The vets just look at Renee like deer in the headlights.
"Of course. Can we shoot too?" One of the Navy Rear Admirals ask Renee.
"Sure, you all remember gun safety. Follow me to the range." Renee then leads the group to the entryway to the range. Renee wanted to show Piper where she could keep her guns in Renee collection room.
"Sweetie, you can keep yours here I opened up some space for you."
Setting up the cutouts Renee sends them down range. Handing the veterans unloaded Beretta Bobcats.
"Tell me when you are ready and I'll hand you the magazines," Renee tells the vets.
Renee then got her James set up with his Sig sidearm.
"Do you want to use yours or do you want to try something different?" Renee asks her brother.
Horatio thought about that for a few minutes. "You pick, one of your collection," is what he tells her.
Renee thought about it. She knew the prefect gun for her brother. It was her least favorite. Whenever she shoots it it nearly dislocates her shoulder.
Handing Horatio a large revolver. "Here's my Smith and Wesson .500 Magnum. I like to call it my hand cannon."
When James hears the gun type she gave her brother he nudges her.
With everyone set-up in their own compartment, Renee gets ready to send the cutout down range.
One at a time they take their turn shooting at their own cut outs.
When the gun smoke clears, Renee recalls the cutouts to see who won. It was no surprise that everyone of both her dad and Renee's shots hit dead center.
The vets were actually very good. All hitting close to center mass. Now it was Piper's turn. What Piper's cut out showed was shocking to everyone including Piper.
Her cut out made it clear who was the better shooter at close range. Every one of Piper's shots hit in the kill zone. The area right between the eyes and right over each eye. Instant kills.
They all took the same number of shots. They all fired five times. Since that was the capacity of the smelliest gun.
Horatio was amazed by the recoil in the Smith and Wesson. After everyone had a chance to shoot a hand gun. Piper wanted to shoot her hunting rifle once.
"Sure, just go get me a single 30-.06 SPRINGFIELD in the ammo cupboard. They are clearly labeled," Renee tells the teen.
The girl quickly returned with the round of ammo in her hand. Renee quickly got Piper ready to shoot the rifle once.
"Ok Sweetie, Now take a slow steady breath. Now pull the trigger as you exhale," Renee coached the teen. This was the girls first time firing a rifle. Renee had put a cutout for Piper to aim at.
As she pulled the trigger, Piper looked like a professional. Sending the cutout, everyone was surprised except Renee. There at Center mass was a single bullet hole.
"Are you done Sweetie," Renee asks the teen. When she nodded everyone headed upstairs. It was time for dinner.
The whole time that they were downstairs, Renee had been cooking dinner.
The table was already set and just needed to be plated.
"Piper, Sweetheart, Can you help me get grandpas's plates done," Renee asks Piper as she hands the teen two plates full of food.
"Of course, Nae. I'll serve the Navy officers and you can serve the Marines," Piper proposes.
"That sounds good," Renee responds as she takes the other plates to the table.
When they both get to the dining room, The veterans again get to their feet.
The next morning Renee took the vets back home, but she was sadder this time. She feared that this would be the last time she sees any of them.
Renee was starting to go to respiratory therapy to rebuild her lung strength after Christmas.