35
Ryder - Surprise!
You ever made a plan and then started to regret it when it’s much too late to cancel? Because it took many people to help you pull it off and there is no way to turn back? No? Just me? Great.
At least I was able to stop at home and change not just my shoes, but also my clothes. I can never look at Jell-O the same way again, thanks to Gran and her merry band of geriatric miscreants. I swear that retirement community is more like a summer camp for delinquent kids than it is a relaxing place for old people to spend their golden years.
We’re on our way to Alex and Connor’s place, for what Denise thinks is just our normal Sunday family dinner, when in reality we’re throwing her a party to welcome the baby to the family and to let her know she will have all of our support, no matter what.
Except she told me she didn’t want to tell anyone else yet, and this ensures that now everyone knows. And it was my idea. And there is a very good chance she’s going to rip my balls off for going behind her back to make this happen. Visiting my Gran was mostly a way to keep her distracted while everyone else decorated and did all the actual work of putting the party together. I was more of an idea man on this project, but that doesn’t mean all the blame doesn’t lie squarely on my shoulders if this goes sideways.
“Looks like everyone else is already here,” Denise observes as I pull up to park beside Travis’s car. They parked all the other vehicles in front of the garage or along the driveway, but left the spot closest to the door available for us. Real subtle guys.
This isn’t a surprise party, necessarily. It’s just a party that will be a surprise for the recipient, namely Denise. No one is planning to jump out and yell surprise at her. I hope they’re not anyway.
“Hey, so, thanks a lot for coming to visit my Gran with me,” I say, grabbing her hand before getting out of the car. “I’m glad you guys got to meet each other. You are the two most important women in my life. Well, there are five of you, if we include Lana, Alex, and Gladys. I’m sure I’d face much worse than Jell-O if Gladys didn’t make the cut.” I laugh. That Gladys is a character, it’s a shame her grandkids don’t visit her more. “I just want you to know that no matter how dinner goes down tonight, I really care about you, and I only want to support you in whatever you choose to do.”
I drop her hand and get out of the car before she asks questions. Apologizing in advance was a coward’s move, but I can’t bear the thought of her being angry with me. I suppose if I were smarter I wouldn’t have planned this party if I really didn’t want her to be mad, but no one’s ever accused me of being smart. The best I get is that I’m not as dumb as I look as Aiden pointed out just this morning.
I go around and open the passenger door and help Denise out of the car, taking advantage of how she’s allowing me to hold her hand as I walk her to the door. I open the door to the house, ushering Denise inside in front of me, and we are greeted with the most amazing sight.
Hundreds and hundreds of beach ball sized helium balloons in black, silver, and white decorate the entire front entryway and continue down the hallway past the dining room and on toward the kitchen.
“Wow!” Denise looks impressed. “They really went all out to celebrate their engagement again, didn’t they?” She whispers. She has no idea this is for her and her baby, and not for the newly engaged couple. “Let’s get in there. We’re the last ones here.”
She drags me by the hand to the dining room, and before she says hello to anyone, her friend Xena sees her.
“You’re already here!” Xena yells. “I told you they’d be early. Pay up, Tiny Dancer.” She holds her hand out to Devon, who rolls his eyes and slaps a twenty-dollar bill into her palm. “Clearly I know them better than you do. That must make me an honorary member of the band or something, right? I play a mean rendition of Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. I’m sure you’d all be very impressed.”
“That’s enough, Princess,” Devon tells her. “Let’s allow our guest of honour some time to get accustomed to her own party.”
Denise looks around, finally noticing that everyone is looking right back at her. And then she sees the banner on the wall. It reads ‘Welcome to the family, Baby! We love you already,’ and it’s surrounded by even more helium balloons. She spins around and jabs a finger into my chest.
“You did this?”
I take her hand in mine and rub my other hand over my chest. What? She jabbed me really hard. It’s probably going to leave a mark.
“Um, sort of?” I can’t leave my friends hanging out to dry. “I came up with a plan, and while I kept you busy today, Alex and Aiden did the rest. Well, with all that they’ve accomplished I would say everyone here helped in some way.”
“Wait? So you planned to have a bunch of elderly people attack you with Jell-O filled balloons to keep me distracted? And your Gran and Gladys just acted like a couple of pervs to keep me occupied?”
“Nope, I can attest to the fact that Gran and Gladys are just as pervy as you experienced, probably even more so. You wouldn’t have had much directed at you since you’re a woman, but if you’d been a man? Shit. I’ve never blushed so hard in my life as when I met them.” Aiden shudders at the memory of the first time I brought him with me to visit Gran. She had recently taken a lap dance class at the senior’s center and she insisted on giving him a demonstration. And then Gladys had to show him her moves, too.
There’s a reason I spend most of my visits cleaning her house instead of talking. Some things a grandson just doesn’t need to know or bear witness to.
“So the visit was part of it. In hindsight, I should not have let Gran know I was bringing you to visit. That’s what gave her time to organize the Jell-O fiasco.”
Denise is looking down at her feet and shaking her head. I can’t see her face so I can’t tell what she’s feeling right now, but I really hope she isn’t furious with me. For a guy so intent on proving how reliable andtrustworthyI am, I sure didn’t wait very long to show her I’m not.
Waxing my whole body might prove to not even be the dumbest thing I dothis week!
“Denise, I’m so sorry.” I start my apology. “I thought it would be nice for you to know just how much support you have with all of us behind. I wanted you to see that you will have more help tha-”
She launches herself at me, grabbing fistfuls of my hair and pulling me down for a kiss. I shake off my surprise and wrap my arms around her, pulling her body close and kissing her back with everything I have. I lift her off the floor and turn to take her out into the hallway. And that’s when the whistling starts. Assholes won’t even let us kiss in peace. Not that I let that stop me. I push Denise against the wall, softening the kiss until I pull away and rest my forehead against hers.
“You make it so hard to stay away from you, you asshole,” she says, lifting her lips and kissing me again, just a quick brush of her lips against mine. “I don’t want to force you into life with a baby.”
I pull her into a hug and hope that I can reassure with my words. “You’re not forcing me into anything, Denise. I would consider myself the luckiest guy on earth if you let me be with you and your baby. Let me love you the way you deserve to be loved. Youandthis baby. I want it all with you. I want to watch you grow this baby, and then give birth, and then everything that comes after. Late night feedings, horrifying diaper explosions, unexplained spit-up, first smiles, first steps, first day of school. Let me be the one to do father-daughter or father-son events. And most importantly, let me be the one you turn to when you need a partner, a friend, and a lover. I want everything, always.”
