Shrieks emanated from the playroom window. I ignored the normal camaraderie as I put the final touches on the decorations in the yard. Satisfied with the streamers and balloons, I headed back into the house to put the supplies away. The doorbell rang, barely audible in the kitchen. I hurried to the door, letting Joey and family in.
"Welcome to the loony bin," I told them as they walked with me to the backyard. They continued to the backyard while I went into the playroom and found most of my kids piled on the floor with Josh's legs sticking out from the bottom of the pile.
"Tickle! Tickle! Tickle! Tickle!" the pile said. I leaned against the door frame and crossed my arms, watching the scene.
"Bri's here," I announced. I laughed as the twins started to untangle from the pile and run towards the back door. Josh took the opportunity to get up from the floor. He tried to get out of the room before the children caught on.
"Daddy's getting away," I remarked. Zara, Olivia and Scottie started after Josh. He started after me, but I danced quickly out of his reach and bounded for the safe haven of the kitchen. I busied myself with gathering up the food items to take out to the grill. Josh shuffled by the door with one girl on each leg. He made them get off before following them outside.
"Celine!" I called as I picked up the tray. She came into the kitchen, a finger holding her place in her book. "Go and see if Harry's awake. If he is, could you bring him outside, please?"
Celine nodded and disappeared in the direction of the stairs. I took the tray out, setting it next to the grill.
"Moooom!" Celine yelled from the doorway. I turned and faced her.
"What?"
"Harry needs a new diaper!"
"Alright, I'll be in in a second," I called back as I rolled my eyes and headed back to the house. As I was changing him, the doorbell rang. It rang again before I could get to the door, freshly changed Harry on my hip. I let Jen in, giving her a quick hug as she handed me a gift.
"Thanks for the invite."
"It's a pleasure to have you here, really," I said as I closed the door. "Party's going on out back," I said, heading towards the backdoor.
"Look who's awake!" I announced as we reached the backyard.
"Yay!" Joey cheered. He swooped in and grabbed Harry from me and took off around the yard making airplane noises. I ducked back into the house to grab the rest of the things we needed outside and leave a note on the front door for the rest to come around back.
As I stepped back into the yard, the older kids were bouncing on the bouncy castle we rented and Joey was flying Harry around Josh. Harry was squealing 'Dada!' between giggles. I settled in at the table with Kelly and Jen. Josh got the grill started and I relaxed, catching up with Kelly. Jen stayed pretty quiet as we swapped stories about the kids and our husbands.
Lance arrived with his new boyfriend Pedro. They settled down across from each other at the end of the picnic table. Lance introduced Jen to Pedro. Josh put the food on the grill and he, Joey and Harry joined us at the table.
After a few minutes, the twins came up to the table, Brianna in tow.
"Can we go swimming?"
I looked over at Kelly, who nodded. I turned back to the three six-year-olds. "Did Bri bring her swimming suit?"
The trio squealed and started to turn towards the pool.
"Hey," I said. They all stopped and turned back to me.
"Go get changed and your towels first," I pointed towards the house. As they went in to do as I asked, I got up and unlocked the fence that surrounded the pool and opened the small shed that housed all the toys. I sat back down at the table, smiling at Harry who was sitting on the table part between Kelly and Lance. The twins and Bri returned, immediately jumping into the pool, adding splashes to the laughs and shouts. Josh checked on the food and some of Celine's class friends arrived and they seemed to hang around under one of the trees, apparently gossiping amongst themselves.
"My baby girl's growing up, it looks like," I sighed. "Eight going on fifteen. I'm getting old." Jen and Kelly laughed.
"Sam, the food's almost done," Josh called from the grill. I nodded and went into the house to get the cold food items, buns and the plastic dishes and silverware. I set up the buffet table with the food as Josh pulled the meat off the grill and onto their respective plates. We gathered up the kids and started our meal.
I held Harry on my lap and let him eat the cut up hot dog off my plate.
"You're awfully quiet today," I commented to Jen as I helped Harry eat a mouthful of macaroni salad.
"Oh, um, sorry?" she replied.
"I was just checking if everything was alright," I looked over at her.
"Oh, um, yeah, I'm good. It's just," She quickly took a bite of her burger. I watched her, patiently waiting for her to finish her thought. After she swallowed, she dropped her voice to the point I had to lean in and hear her.
"It's just weird to watch them be dads," she finished.
It took me a minute before I realized what she meant. "Because they were famous?" She nods. "But they're just guys. Okay, so they've got money and it lets me be a stay-at-home mother," Jen nodded. "And there's a huge house and a shelf or two of awards and stuff, but they're just regular guys."
"I know." We went back to eating.
"How did you meet them?" she asked. I looked up, thinking back for a moment, surprised from the answer.
"Lance ran into me at the mall, actually." I answered. "Then I didn't hear from them for like nine months and then he called me up and invited me to a party," I continued.
"And surprised us with your plus two," Josh added, joining the conversation.
I looked at Jen. "I found out I was pregnant with Celine a few days after I met them," I clarified. "But yeah, they surprisingly kept in touch after that. I mean, who would keep in touch with a teen mom? Lance and I started dating, eventually marrying, and I'm sure you can figure the rest out," I wrapped up the general story.
Jen nodded and the conversation changed again. I concentrated on helping Harry eat, grabbing bites while he was chewing.
"You know, I was never Mrs. Bass legally," I said, glancing down the table at everyone. I just got blank stares. "I don't mean that our marriage wasn't legal," I started, looking at Lance. "But I never filed the paperwork to change my name. We were on tour, and then settling in and I got pregnant, and then we were seperating so it never really mattered that I never filed the paperwork. Actually, it made it easier that I never did."
"Interesting," Lance said. I gave him a half smile and a shrug.
"I always meant to," I added.
We let the topic drop as everyone finished eating. I handed Harry to Josh and went in for the cake and presents. I brought the cake out and lit the candle. Everyone sang to Harry and Olivia blew out the candle for him. I cut pieces for everyone and doled them out and sat back down. Pedro handed the camera back to me. I took a few shots of Harry feeding himself his cake, most of it ending up on Josh's shirt and lap.
"You know," Joey said between bites. "I can't get over how light his hair is. JC, you sure he's yours?" he joked.
"He takes after my family, actually. I'm the only brunette in my generation. They're all blonde. My brothers, my cousins? Blonde. Me? Brunette."
"Really? I didn't even know you had brothers," Kelly added. I nodded.
"They're half brothers really. Dad was married once before he married my mother. They're ten and thirteen years older than me. We were never close growing up so..."
"Mommy," Harry said, stretching his cake covered hands towards me. I returned my attention to him.
"You ready for presents?" I asked. He smiled. I reached over to the tv tray I had put the presents on and handed him the first one. Josh helped him open it and Harry giggled when an Elmo doll appeared underneath the paper.
"Oooh, thank you Uncle Joey and Aunt Kelly! I think he loves it," I thanked them.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur of photos and good company and conversation. As I put Harry down that evening, I kissed the top of his head, thanking the fates that he made it to this milestone and was healthy.
