Truthfully, I probably shouldn't have picked him up with my back the way it was, but eh. I'd deal with the aftermath of that later. Though ignoring the problem was probably how I'd kept reinjuring it the first place.
"I'm turning into a man," Colton confirmed for me.
Heidi and I both laughed.
"Who did you come with? Your nanny?"
"Nanny Jenn flew with me, but Aunt Kimber brought me and Lilyanne over for the party."
And just then Emery's sister, Kimber, walked into the room. She was holding her daughter, Lilyanne's, hand while her husband, Noah, toted their eight-month-old baby, Bethany.
"Hey, Landon. Heidi," Kimber said. She pulled Heidi in for a hug, not noticing how flustered she had been a second before. "Good to see you."
"Hey, Kimber," Heidi said.
"Are you all set for the party?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Just waiting for everyone else to get here."
I set Colton down, and he and Lilyanne immediately started kicking the black balloons all around the living room. I had a feeling they were going to all be popped before Emery even showed up.
"And you, Landon," Kimber said, giving me a hug. "How are you holding up? Emery told me you hurt your back again."
"Nothing some of your famous chocolate cake can't fix."
Kimber owned a bakery downtown called Death by Chocolate. She was an amazing cook and baker and I used to eat her chocolate cake all the time in high school.
She laughed and shook her head. "Well, you haven't changed a bit."
How wrong she was.
My eyes shifted to Heidi's, and at the exact moment, she looked at me. Judging by her expression, she was thinking the same thing. Things had changed a hell of a lot since high school. Right now, I was looking at my ex-girlfriend's best friend like I'd give up the chocolate cake in a heartbeat to eat her for dessert.
Seventeen
Landon
The rest of my family showed up-Austin, Morgan, and Sutton along with her husband, Maverick, and their newborn baby, Jason. Julia showed up last, running into the room as if the house were on fire. She'd taken one look at Austin and parked herself on the opposite side of the room.
I was for sure going to ask him about that later. I had gotten enough shit from him about Heidi that having dirt on him about someone was probably a good way to deflect later.
Emery was stunned when she walked in. She seemed genuinely thrilled to see everyone in a room, celebrating the day of her birth. We all sang "Happy Birthday" with varying levels of skill, and then she blew the candles out.
"So, do we get cake then?" Colton asked. He had nudged Lilyanne out of the way and was leaning on the island in the kitchen, staring at the chocolate cake that Kimber had brought with her from the bakery.
Emery laughed. "Yes, we all get cake!"
She winked at Kimber, who took a cake-cutting knife from the counter and went to work.
Emery hummed under her breath to the Bagel Bites theme song, "Cupcakes in the morning, cookies in the evening, chocolate at suppertime. When Kimber's in the kitchen, you can eat baked goods anytime."
"Oh my God," I said as Kimber passed out cake to the kids first. "I have not heard that song in a long time."
"You're lucky," Kimber muttered.
"Does she still sing it to you every time you bake?"
"Often enough."
"Hey," Emery said, "it's a good song! It's catchy."
"It's a commercial jingle for Bagel Bites that you changed the words to."
Emery shrugged. "And? I'm clever."
"Let's not argue with the birthday girl, huh?" Jensen said, butting in between me and Emery.
I took a step back and realized that everyone was looking at us. I hadn't really meant to seamlessly fall into their family dynamic, but I had dated Emery for two years. Sometimes, it was easy to be around them. But that didn't mean anything about me and Emery. We were long over, and she was head over heels for my brother … and I was head over heels for her best friend.
Heidi's eyes found me. They were searching, and she looked confused. Julia grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room without a word. I wondered if Heidi had told Julia. If she had told Emery. Except that now that I'd seen Emery, she looked completely oblivious to it. So, I didn't know. Whatever. Maybe I was overanalyzing everyone's reactions.
I took a piece of cake that Kimber had offered me and followed the rest of the party out of the house and into the backyard. Jensen was planning to grill out for the afternoon, and there were games for the kids and drinks for the adults.