“Who would’ve thought.”
“I know. I just wanted a place that Elle could use while she and Ben were here during his treatments. I didn’t think it would turn into this. Upstairs, we turned the top floor into lofts. My station producer lives up there.”
We head down the hall to where The Love Line is and I find Bex in her office, looking exasperated. I knock and then open her door. “I thought you were heading home?”
She shakes her head. “My mom went to Mexico.”
“Ah. Plans for dinner?”
Another shake. “Great, I think we’re eating at three. Don’t be late. Come meet Harrison,” I tell her.
Bex does and the two of them hit it off. She tells him her ideas, how she’ll implement them, and what she hopes to see from him.
“I’m committed,” he tells her and then reminds her he does have a home in California, and he’ll travel back and forth.
Bex lets Harrison play with our control board and I swear, he’s like a kid in a candy store with unlimited funds. He then shows her what he can do on the drums for a few minutes. He plays off the short session as us needing to get back to the house for dinner instead of telling her about his shoulder. Bex seems impressed and tells us she’ll be over shortly.
When we get back, my driveway is full of cars. Harrison rushes in because he hasn’t seen Peyton and the triplets in a while and we all know there’s only so much video chatting one can do.
I follow behind and am in awe at the transformation. Maybe we do need a bigger house. Josie and Katelyn have set up enough banquet tables to fit everyone, and by everyone I mean the Jameses, including Quinn and Justine, the Ashfords, includingTalisa, the Millers, and the Westburys. There are five highchairs strategically placed near where the grandparents are sitting, which means I’m about to get mashed potatoes in my ears, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s Jace,Juniper and Maverick’s first birthday. There’s a bouncy house out back, a man with three ponies, and an ice cream truck. All for one-year-olds and their friends from their playgroup.
The house smells like cake. Katelyn is frosting three cakes, while Josie works on one. I start to dip my finger in the bowl and get slapped, along with a stern look.
“Don’t push my buttons today, Westbury.”
Not Page. Not Rockstar.
Today is a don’t test my wife day.
Everyone arrives at different times. Quinn and Justine bring Grandpa Michael and Grandma Tess, Harrison’s mom. My mom shows up shortly after, and the three greats sit in the corner discussing their next cruise.
Elle comes in last with a baby on each hip and no free hands, which doesn’t stop her from passing me one the second she’s through the door. “Ben’s on his way,” she says.
Sonny lasts about a minute against my chest before he’s arching his back for the floor. I set him down and spend the next stretch on my knees, steering him away from everything he shouldn’t have. I came in for a glass of water and now I’m on baby patrol. As soon as Harrison comes in, I’m free as a bird until Josie tells me to go outside and help. I greet all the parents that I don’t know, make sure no one is getting hurt in the bouncy house, and eat one too many ice cream cones.
Nick brings Mack and Amelie, and surprisingly a few seconds later, Teagan and Tristin show up. Now I want to corner Nick and ask him what’s going on, but as I watch them, he’s standing nowhere near Teagan.
What in the . . . I give up.
When it’s time, everybody gathers outside. The triplets are put into their highchairs, with Juniper in the middle. Peyton and Noah place a small cake in front of their children, and everyone sings. Jace stares at the strangers in front of him, giving them each a look that I can only define as what the fuck is going on and why are these people staring at me.
Maverick doesn’t care about the song and puts his hand in his cake. He grabs a handful, opens his hand, and watches it all fall out. He repeats the process, until both hands are now smashing into his cake.
Juniper touches the frosting, licks her finger and does a little wiggle when she tastes the sugar, and then it’s on. She lifts her cake and smashes it into her face, not caring that she’s covered in frosting.
Everyone laughs.
I elbow Paige, who has been filming since the start of the party. “Did you get that?”
She nods. “I’m going to ask Noah and Peyton if I can post it on Noah’s account. No one has seen the babies since they were born.”
“We could sell the photos,” Elle says.
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Paige adds.
“We’re not selling anything,” Peyton yells from near the babies. How she heard what we were talking about is beyond me.
