twenty one

“Hey honey could you grab Katie’s cake from the fridge and put it out on the table?” I call, twisting a hair elastic around Katie’s blonde hair.

“Mommy, I want to see my cake!” she says, jumping up and down.

“Sweetheart if you don’t hold still and let me finish you will never see your cake.”

Katherine immediately stops moving and holds perfectly still while I just fix the few baby hairs that had fallen out. She gives me the look of remorse, “Now can I go?”

“Yes, you can go,” I say, putting her clothes back into their respective drawers. Katie goes tearing around the corner as Gia comes in, “She’s in a rush.”

“She wants to see the cake.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Tyson’s down stairs as well.”

I hand her a tiara, “Here put this on, you’ll feel like royalty.”

Gia laughs, “I think it only works on little girl and their fathers.”

“Isn’t that the truth?”

I follow Gia downstairs to the kitchen where Katie and Tyson are staring at the cake, eagerly awaiting the cutting of it. Justin grins, “Whose fifth birthday is it today?”

“Mine!” Katie sings, getting excited all over again.

“We have to wait for Trace and uncle Sam alright?” I respond, taking out some plates from the kitchen cabinet.

Lynn walks in and bends down to Katie’s height, “Just a little bit longer sweetheart and then we’ll have cake.”

Katie nods and tries her best to be patient. Her Red Sox hat that she must have put on is tilted to the side as her Belle dress glitters every time she moves. Only Katie could possibly find that appealing.

I hear a door open and Trace comes in holding a gift. He barely has time to put it down before Katie makes a run at him, swinging into his arm, “Uncle Trace!”

“Hey milk, where’s chocolate?”

Tyson starts to laugh, “Right here.”

“Listen milk chocolate,” he says in a high whisper, “your jobs are to take this inside and open it as quickly as possible.”

The kids eyes light up and they grab the present and run into the other room with it, “I’m the favorite.”

I roll my eyes, “For the moment.”

“Do not underestimate the sheer likeability factor I have Beth.”

Gia starts to laugh and he shoots her a look, “I’m likeable.”

Justin comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, “Where’s Hannah?”

“She’s sleeping upstairs.”

He nods, “Who wants a drink?”

“I do,” Gia says, getting out some glasses.

Justin pulls a bottle out of the fridge and pours some wine into the glasses. I take mine and go to take a sip but I hear Hannah start to cry over the baby monitor, “I’ll get her,” Justin says, climbing the stairs.

“Thanks,” I say, taking a knife out for cutting the cake.

Mom and Sam come through the hallway and I go over, hugging them, “Hey.”

Sam hugs me, “Hey you, where are my favorite nieces?”

“Katherine is inside and Justin’s getting Hannah.”

“I have to go give the gift to the party girl, excuse me.”

I turn to my mom, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” she says, hugging me.

“Look whose up,” Justin announces as he carries a sleepy Hannah over to me.

I take her from his arms, “Hey baby.”

She rubs her eyes a little and puts her head on my shoulder, smiling at her grandmother, “Look who came to see you,” I tell her, pointing at mom.

Hannah squeals and mom takes her from me, “Hannah Banana what are you doing?”

She smiles and reaches out her little hands to her Grandmother’s face. Katie comes in dragging a bat and some new Red Sox shirts. She tries to hold them up with her hand but it’s just too much stuff to carry as she tries not to trip over her dress, “Look what uncle Trace gave me daddy.”

Justin swiftly picks her up and lets her put the hat on him, “Very cool baby.”

I put five candles into the cake, “Alright, who want to blow out her candles?”

Katie puts her hand up and wildly shakes it in the air, “I do!”

I light a match and wait until all five candles are lit, “Happy Birthday Katie.”

We all start to sing and I smile, thinking about what it took to get to this point. Sam’s in college, mom’s getting remarried to one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, Gia and Derek are celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary and me, well Justin and I not only worked through everything but we had Hannah three years after Katie, despite our situation with trouble conceiving.

The song ends and Katie and Tyson take a big breathe and blow out the candles. Justin leans in and kisses me before taking the knife, “The birthday girl gets the first slice.”

Katie grins and licks the end of the candles to get the icing off.

So maybe it hasn’t been the smoothest ride here, but I sure as hell love my life. No matter how much stuff we had to go through to get here, it was well worth the ride.

Justin looks at me, “You okay?”

I nod, putting my head on his shoulder, “I’m just amazed how old she’s getting.”

“They will always be our babies.”

“And me?”

He smiles, “Well you’re my number one baby.”

I sigh happily as Katie shows Hannah her new Barbie, “I love you.”

And as usual, he says, “I love you more.”

“No you don’t.”

“I love you baby.”

“Love you too.”