Chapter 25
Lilyana managed to sleep through most of the flight. Just before they were to land, John woke her by gently shaking her and calling her name softly. Lily opened her eyes slowly and smiled at her dad. She yawned and stretched out her arms a little, trying to wake up.
"Hey Princess, we are getting ready to land. Time to wake up my little Sleeping Beauty." John said to her.
"If I'm the princess then you are the king. So, yes sir Your Majesty." Lily said giggling.
John smiled at his daughter. She was his world. As the plane was landing, he thought about the day Lilyana was born. That had been one of the happiest days of his life. He remembered it like it was yesterday. He had been there for the whole delivery and had even cut the umbilical cord. When he held her for the first time, she had looked up with him with those blues that were just like his own. He couldn't help but smile.
John was brought out of his reverie by the flight attendant talking. The plane had landed and it was time to unboard.
Meanwhile, Anna had gotten in the pool with all of her floaties and the guys had laughed until their sides hurt.
"What is so funny?" Anna demanded.
"All of the floaties Babe, you can't seriously need them." Cody said smiling at her.
Anna splashed him and then splashed Mike.
"I am perfectly serious. I love my floaties. I will not swim without them." Anna said sticking her tongue out at them.
Cody swam over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Then he pulled her close and kissed her. That shut her up for the moment and seemed to lessen her attitude some. The three of them swam for a while, laughing and splashing each other. They had a great time but soon had to get out and dry off. Cody had to be at the airport soon to pick up the others. Anna rode along but Mike waited at the house so that there would be enough room for everyone. He decided to wrap his surprise for Lilyana. The others didn't know he had gotten it for her.
Sam, Randy, Lily and John got off the plane and walked out of the terminal. They didn't have to look for very long before they spotted Cody and Anna. Lily ran over and engulfed Cody in a huge hug. Cody laughed and hugged her back.
"Awe did little Lily Pad miss me?" he asked.
"Yeah I missed my favorite Flying Squirrel." Lily said giggling.
She was hugging Anna when the others walked up with their luggage. John had both his and Lily's while Randy had his own and Sam's. The group chatted happily as they walked out to the hummer. The others laughed as they watched Randy inspecting his hummer. He walked all the way around it and didn't seem to find anything.
"You're lucky Runnels. It appears that my hummer is unharmed." Randy said looking at Cody.
Everyone laughed including Cody. After that, they all got into the hummer, Randy driving this time, and headed to the house. Lilyana chatted happily with Cody and Anna. They were talking about the all-night party they were going to have that night. Cody assured Lily that they had plenty of caffeinated soda to help her stay awake. They also had energy drinks but he felt it wouldn't be good for a 12 year old to drink them.
"Now don't go corrupting my daughter, Cody." John said laughing.
Everyone laughed while Lily gave her dad a mock glare. It sure felt good to have things starting to get back to normal. Soon, they were at the house. Mike was waiting at the door and Lily's face lit up when she saw him. The second Randy stopped the hummer in the driveway; she was out and running to Mike. Mike smiled and scooped the 12 year old up in his arms. She giggled and hugged him.
"Did ya miss me or something Mini Miz?" Mike asked the giggling girl.
"Duh, of course I missed my AWESOME big brother." Lily said to him.
He carried her into the house while Randy and John brought in their luggage. Sam just smiled as she watched everyone around them. She could picture this as her future. This life would suit her just fine. She could see herself as Randy's wife and being the host to the WWE Superstars when the show was in town. Little did she know, Randy was thinking along the same lines.
"Hey Mini Miz, I have a surprise for you." Mike said as he carried her into the house and sat her down on the couch.
Lily giggled because Mike was tickling her. This continued for a couple minutes until the others broke it up. Sam asked if anyone was hungry and it was unanimous. Smiling, she walked into the kitchen and began preparing some food for the group. Randy walked in the kitchen shortly after Sam had begun preparing the meal. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her gently on the top of her head. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"I love you Samantha." He whispered sweetly.
"I love you too Randal." Sam said back while blushing.
After that Randy helped Sam prepare lunch. While they were in the kitchen, John led Lilyana to her room so she could put her things away. When she opened the door she started giggling. Uncle Randy had been telling the truth. The room was exactly the same as she remembered it. The walls were a rosy pink with little white bunnies on it. The bed was a white canopy bed with a pink frilly canopy and matching spread. The two dressers and small desk were all white to match the bed. This was a room fit for a small princess. Even her toys were still there. She turned and looked at her dad wondering if her room at his house in West Newberry, Massachusetts was still how she remembered it also. John laughed and then answered her unasked question.
"Yes, Princess, your room at our house is still exactly the way you left it the last time you were there. I refused to change a thing until you were there to decide how you want it." He said to his daughter who giggled.
After that, John left her to put her things away and get reacquainted with her room. While she was sitting on her bed looking around and remembering the last time she was there, someone knocked on her door. She called for whoever it was to come in and in walked Cody, Anna, & Mike.
"We all decided to get you something special." Anna began to explain. "So we stopped at a Build-A-Bear store and each made you a cuddly friend."
Anna held out a stuffed grey wolf that had the most magnificent blue eyes. Lily took it and hugged it. Then she thanked Anna for it.
"Oh Anna, he is beautiful! I will call him Randall like Uncle Randy but with two L's at the end. I read somewhere that it means shield wolf, house wolf, or protector. Thanks Anna!" Lily said happily.
Next Cody handed her a stuffed green frog that had a purple bow around its neck. Lily couldn't help but giggle when she saw it. Again, as she did with the wolf from Anna, she took the frog and hugged it close. It was so cuddly. Cody had stuffed it just right and she knew the perfect name for him.
"Thank you Cody. He shall be named Prince." Lily said giggling as she hugged Cody.
Cody smiled and then pulled out another stuffed animal from behind his back. This one was a little stuffed flying squirrel. He was going to wait until her birthday to give it to her but just couldn't make himself wait.
"I couldn't decide between the frog since I call you Lily Pad or the flying squirrel since that is what you call me." Cody explained.
Lily smiled and hugged the squirrel to her along with the frog. She loved them both. She started to giggle when she figured out a name for the squirrel.
"Thank you so much Cody. His name will forevermore be Cody." Lily said giggling.
The others laughed at that and then Mike handed her the stuffed animal he had gotten her. It was a white tiger with eyes that matched her own. Mike had remembered Lily telling him how much she loved tigers, especially white ones. That was the reason he had gotten this one for her. It had a green collar on it with a place for her to put its name.
"Thank you Mike, he's perfect. I can't believe you remembered how much I love tigers. I shall call him Awesome because he is awesome just like you and me!" she told him.
She hugged them all again and then stuck her new friends on her bed. Mike stayed behind after Cody and Anna left the room.
"Mini Miz, I have another gift for you. This one is a very special gift. I hope you like it." Mike told her.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out the little wrapped gift. Lily smiled as she took it and unwrapped it to find cardboard box like you get jewelry in. She gasped when she saw what was inside.