“Where’s Locke?” I ask. Doesn’t matter who answers me at this point.
“He went to pick up Daisy,” Emmy says softly next to my side. “Or maybe it was Candy.” She smirks and walks away.
I shake my head, thinking, once again, it would be nice if someone stopped making me feel like I am stuck in the middle.
Walking back into our living room, I push aside the balloons that seem to be floating in every direction and stand in front of the fireplace. Hanging dead center is the picture I gave Izzy for Christmas. Immediately, a sense of calm rushes through my body. I take a deep breath and remember what the point of this massive headache is.
My girl.
My girl and returning her birthday to a day of happiness and not one of heartbreak.
With a new determination, I turn and walk back to out to the porch, where we are finishing up with the decorations.
There are pink and white balloons flying from every available banister. The path down to our dock is lined with torches, and there are lights streaming from the branches of the trees that line our yard. It looks like it is raining white lights.
Emmy spent hours littering the yard with pink and red rose pedals. Coop and Beck had a good laugh over the roses. Laugh all they want, but when they find their women, they will be pulling out all the stops to make sure that life is perfect, too.
We set up tables across the yard and to the side for all the food. My backyard has been transformed into a princess’s dream. I can’t wait to see her face when she takes it all in.
“Greg!” I snap, yelling into the house for him. “Any word on those motherfuckers with the food?” This is what I get for hiring out a big company to cook some fancy shit. Should have stuck with Heavy’s. It is all she craves these days anyway.
Fuck, Heavy’s!
I cut him off before he can even open his mouth. “Call those assholes and tell them since they couldn’t show up on time to forget about it. Coop, get your ass in the truck and drive to Heavy’s. Buy the place out. Everything you can think of and get it here.” I throw my wallet at him and turn back to Greg’s smiling face. “What the fuck are you smiling at?”
He holds his hands up and walks off laughing.
“You need to calm down. I haven’t heard you this uptight since last fall,” Emmy says, sneaking up to my side again. I swear that chick floats. She is always popping up out of nowhere.
“I am calm.” I’m not calm. I’m losing my fucking mind.
My girl is sad, trying hard to keep it hidden, and I can’t fix it. My son refuses to come out, and if one more thing goes wrong today, I’m going to say fuck it and kidnap my woman and drag her up to the bedroom. At least I know I can keep her happy there.
“You aren’t calm, but you will be,” she says before she vanishes again.
I look around for her before I stomp back in the house and grab a beer.
By the time Dee calls to tell us that they are leaving the salon, things have finally calmed down. Coop gets back with so much food that it looks like he has, in fact, ordered everything Heavy’s has to offer. Locke has finally arrived and gotten the rest of the sound system running. Emmy is running around, making sure all the tables have flower arrangements and that all the bubble machines are still hidden from sight but functioning. Coop is somewhere with his date and Beck is bringing out all the coolers with drinks and dragging them down to the yard.
You can’t see the lights yet but the torches are lit and the rose pedals against the green grass make it look like there is a blanket of pink and red. The balloons are rocking back and forth in the slight breeze. It is perfect.
Nothing else could go wrong today.
“They’re pulling up the driveway!” I hear Greg yell through the house.
We pulled all the cars behind the garage and down a little ways on the property. She won’t see them from where she would park. If she comes through the garage, she won’t notice the balloons invading the living room either.
“Be right back,” I say, handing my beer to Locke before walking into the house.
I wipe my sweaty palms on my shorts and walk into the kitchen to get my girl. She comes walking out of the garage looking like the angel I’ve always thought she was. She’s wearing a long white dress that hugs her tits and large belly. It flows around the rest of her body, making it look like she is walking on air. Her skin is still glowing from all the time we spent down at the lake this summer. Sway did whatever it is that Sway does on her hair and it is hanging long, thick with curls.
“You look beautiful.”
“You don’t look that bad yourself, baby,” she says, walking into my arms and giving me a kiss. I can feel my son rolling against my stomach.