Josie brings out a bigger cake, and now everyone is happy. Amelie works as the distribution assistant and makes sure everyone has a piece.
“How come mine is so small?” I ask her. She runs away giggling.
“Because you need to be on a diet,” she says without missing a beat. I glare at her father. And here I thought we were friends.
Frenemy.
When it’s time for presents, Amelie volunteers to help but so does Oliver. It can’t be easy for a toddler to see the presents and not want to open one. Amelie helps him and directs him to which baby the present belongs to. He then helps them open each and every one.
“Where is all of this stuff going?” I ask Josie under my breath.
“Peyton cleaned out most of their toys last week and took them around to different places. Nick’s office, the hospital, some of the daycare facilities in town, and the police station.”
“Why do they need toys?”
“They’re for the women and children’s shelter.”
I nod and feel a sense of pride especially as I look around. My mom sits there, looking out at all the people gathered in our backyard. She has Stevie Nicks and Beau at her feet, and I catch her feeding them something pink. My guess, watermelon. Where Josie found watermelon this time of year is anyone’s guess.
Mack and Tristin have somehow convinced Noah to go throw the football with them.
After the babies are done opening presents and have been cleaned, changed, and made presentable again, Josie brings me Juniper. With Quinn around, I need to take advantage of holding my granddaughter as much as possible. Junie grabs my collar and starts babbling.
“Oh yeah, and what else did Grandma say about me?”
Juniper continues, ratting her grandma out.
Quinn steals her from me after ten minutes but gives me Jace. We talk about everything going on, how my music’s going,and what toy he’s excited to play with. It’s a very one-sided conversation.
Maverick crawls over to us, uses my legs to climb and take Jace’s pacifier from him and sticks it in his mouth. “Oh, I see how you are.”
Jace doesn’t seem to care and rests his head on my chest.
The boys and I stay like that for a bit, just being present. People come up and thank me for the party, even though all I did was show up. They take their party bag and tell me they can’t wait for the next one. I don’t know if they expect the next one to be for Sonny and Jett, or next year when the triplets turn two.
The boys are asleep on my shoulders when I carry them into the house. I find Harrison on the couch, with his boys asleep on his chest. “Hey,” I say as quietly as I can. “Do you want to take them upstairs.”
He nods and somehow manages to get to standing without much shoulder discomfort. Upstairs, I tell him, “Put them in the third one,” I tell him. I set Mav and Jace in the first, leaving the middle one open for Juniper. Not that Quinn will ever put her down. Being the only girl among four boys—she’ll never lift a finger.
When Harrison and I get downstairs, Ben greets us with beer.
“Woohoo, adult time.” We clink bottles and then head back outside where everyone’s sitting by the fire pit. I find Peyton, huddled next to Noah. “The boys are asleep.” She thanks me and pulls out her phone to turn on the monitoring app.
I take a seat next to Josie, and sigh.
“You didn’t do anything to earn that sigh.”
“Ouch,” I say and kiss her hand. “Amazing party.”
“Thanks.”
Justine picks up her guitar and starts strumming. Soon, words follow. Quinn watches her while Juniper is zonked out on his chest.
Paige, Mack and Tristin come through the garage and she comes toward me. “Is it okay if I go hang out with Mack and Tristin.”
“Where are you going?” Teagan asks. I glance at her, and then across the way at Nick. I don’t know how to get these two together and it’s annoying me. I was so successful with Harrison and Katelyn.
“Arcade,” Tristin says. “And then bowling.”
