Page 133 of Tanner

I’m not lying. Wafts of garlic and Italian spices fill the air.

“It’s your recipe. Charlie asked for a spaghetti and meatballs birthday dinner. Well, actually, first, he asked for Chinese food, but Tessa said she can’t do the sodium right now because her ankles swell, so he said Italian would be fine.”

“Did you pick up the birthday gift?” I ask her as I grab a bottle of pinot noir from the wine rack.

She takes out a pot for the water. “It’s the biggest Lego set they had. Bryce is going to work on that with him for a week. Is Austin bringing the cake?” she asks.

“Yes. Avengers-themed. Decorations?”

She nods toward the corner where a plastic bag sits on the floor. I open it up and start setting the table for an Avengers-themed birthday party. Being that Charlie will be the only kid at his birthday dinner probably means we can calm down on the kid decorations, but none of us would have it any other way.

This little boy has become the love of our lives. Having his innocence around reminds us of the George Bernard Shaw quote, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

At the end of the day, we’re all just children pretending to be adults.

I’m blowing up the last balloon in the pack when the doorbell rings. I walk to the front door where Harper has nailed a yellow picture frame around the peephole. It’s her homage to Friends. I open the door.

“It’s party time!” Austin comes barreling into the house with a sheet cake in his hands. It can easily feed forty people.

Jalynn is behind him with a bouquet of Mylar balloons, shaking her head. “You left the wrong person in charge of the cake. I told him to get one for seven people. He came back with that thing.”

Austin puts the large box on the dining room table. It’s decorated to the nines with every Avenger’s face on the white icing.

“What kid doesn’t want more cake on his birthday? Besides, they couldn’t fit Scarlett Johansson’s boobs on the small one.”

Jalynn hits him in the stomach. “We don’t need breasts on a seven-year-old’s birthday cake.”

“I didn’t see anyone complaining when Tessa put Henry Cavill’s entire body on last year’s cake. He was rather endowed in that image if you ask me.” Austin raises his brows to Jalynn, who snickers beside him.

“Fine. Whatever. Cake looks great. Boobs and all.” She rolls her eyes and then gives me a hug. “Hi, Tanner. Thanks for hosting.”

Jalynn gives great hugs. She says it’s because she was deprived of them as a kid, so she’s trying to make up for it as an adult. I give her a squeeze and slap hands with my brother.

When I see his Batman T-shirt, I frown. “He’s not an Avenger.”

“Yeah, but I am Batman.”

Jalynn has on a Black Widow T-shirt, and Harper is wearing an Iron Man fitted tee. I run upstairs to change. Austin might be Batman, but I’m Thor, and he’s so much cooler than the rest of them. I mean, he has a hammer. He kinda makes me want to grow my hair out again.

When I come down in my jeans and T-shirt, Harper and Jalynn are gawking over Jalynn’s engagement ring. Austin proposed on the rooftop of the Sexton building. He spread hurricane lanterns along the perimeter and had hundreds of red roses in illuminated vases all over the place. Bryce helped keep Jalynn away from the office while everything was being set up, and I painted the floor to look like it was scattered in rose petals, leading Jalynn from the rooftop door to where Austin was waiting for her in a suit and tie.

He got down on one knee and gave her our mother’s ring. I might have taken our father’s wedding band, but Austin has Mom’s rings. When he asked Bryce and me if we minded Jalynn wearing it, we didn’t even hesitate. In fact, we’re honored to have it on her hand.

The bell rings again, and I look at the clock, happy Bryce didn’t stay at the office much longer. Austin opens the door, and Bryce comes in with Charlie on his back.

“The man of the hour is here!” Bryce bellows, shaking Charlie, who laughs wildly.

Austin points to Bryce’s and Tessa’s Superman T-shirts. “See, they’re not wearing Avengers either.”

Charlie shakes his curly red hair in disappointment. “I tried to talk them out of it, but they refused to listen.”

I laugh as I take Charlie off Bryce’s back and sling him over mine. “Come on, Captain America. It’s time to turn seven in style!”

I throw him down on the couch and give him his birthday punches, followed by a ton of tickles. The kid’s got a great laugh.

Tessa puts her bag down and rubs her large stomach. She’s seven months pregnant with a little girl. “You have no idea how hard it was to find a Superman maternity shirt. If you look, it actually says Super Mom.”

I walk over and kiss her hello. My sister-in-law is absolutely glowing. She and Bryce married over the summer at the Tahoe house. Her hand is glistening with a massive diamond Bryce gave her.