by S M Olivier
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Great actually,” Remy stated with a smile. “Open Mic nights on Fridays are bringing in people and packing the place.”
I missed performing there. I smiled a bit sadly. “That’s great!”
Remy reached out and squeezed my knee. “When things…calm down maybe we can take a trip home. You can sing at an open mic night.”
I smiled. “I’d like that.”
“This is amazing,” I gushed as we set the superhero cake on the table.
“Isn’t it?” Megan smiled.
Megan, Miranda, Cora, Hazel, and Beth had left base an hour before we did to set up all the decorations. The place had given us a large banquet room, and everything was meticulously decorated. I couldn’t believe how fantastic it looked.
“How far out is the bus?” Lincoln asked excitedly. He was beyond excited to hand out his GoPros.
“Jaxson said they’re five minutes out,” Will stated with a small smile.
“Perfect.” Lincoln began to unbox the GoPros.
I didn’t really expect to beat the bus here, but I guess they had a few stragglers, and Jaxson being the man he was, noticed some of the older tweens were upset that they weren’t invited, so he had added them in.
“We didn’t know what to do with this box.” Megan held up a huge box.
“That’s more party favors, and you really can’t have a superhero party without capes and masks.” Lincoln grinned.
I walked over and couldn't believe how much stuff was in the box. “This is a birthday party, not Halloween,” I joked as I pulled out gift bags with handles on it.
Lincoln snorted. “You should see some of the birthday parties I’ve been too. My goddaughter had a circus for her birthday party, and she just turned three. For her party favors each guest was given a personalized gift. Liquor and cigars for the men, designer bags for the women, with spa gift certificates, and then gift bags for each child that had at least one hundred dollars worth of stuff in them.”
“You have a goddaughter?” I asked in surprise. I started opening each of the gift bags. They had different superheroes hand painted on the brown paper. It didn’t look chintzy, it actually looked high quality.
“Yeah, Anna’s daughter,” he nodded.
“Wait, what?” I asked in surprise. “Anna has a daughter?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “I thought you knew. I know you guys talk a lot.”
I shrugged. “We mainly talk about you,” I teased as I rolled my eyes. “Where was she−” I began to ask.
Lincoln reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone. Moments later, he turned his screen towards me, and there was a picture of Anna, Lincoln, and the cutest little girl I had ever seen. Mind you, I thought my Ella had been beautiful, but Anna’s daughter looked like she was a real-life baby doll with her large blue eyes, tiny frame, porcelain skin, and dark, almost black hair.
“She’s such a doll baby!” I exclaimed.
“She is.” He grinned, and I could see the love he had for her. “Hailey’s dad decided to show back up after ditching Anna when she was pregnant. The court was allowing him to have supervised visits. But he didn’t show up last weekend and didn’t show up for court this morning. So he might be out of the picture again.” He frowned.
“They’re here,” Remy informed us. “I’m going to meet them up there with these.” He held up a card that resembled a credit card.
We had checked in with the front desk when we got there and were given wristbands and the Amusapalooza cards for the arcades. They had a limited amount on the cards, but we really didn’t think they needed that much, considering all the other activities the kids had available.
“You guys go, too.” Hazel shooed Lincoln and us away. “We’ll finish stuffing the goody bags, and they’ll announce when it’s time to eat.”
“Okay,” I agreed readily.
I would never admit it out loud, but I really wanted to go on the zip line. It spanned the whole complex, and it looked like so much fun. It was the first thing I noticed when I came into the building.
“I’ll pass these out as they get their wristbands and cards,” Lincoln smiled as he picked up the box with GoPros in them.
We walked back out to the lobby, and it looked like pure chaos. The children had already seen the activities provided for them, and they were chomping at the bit to get to them.
“Okay, everyone!” Jace clapped his hands.
Barely anyone seemed to take notice until a shrill whistle sounded. I placed my hands over my ears and looked behind me. Lincoln had a smile on his lips, his fingers still in his mouth.
He shrugged as he looked over at us. “Hey, it worked,” he smirked.
Jace chuckled. “Guess so.” He then turned back to the crowd. “Remy will be handing out wristbands. Don’t remove them. You can only participate in the activities with these wristbands. I will be handing out the Amusapalooza cards. Don’t lose them. They are already loaded for the arcades. Don’t go too crazy, though, because there is a limit on them.
“Lincoln will be handing out these GoPros. At the end of the night, we will be collecting them and downloading the content, but we will return them after we do. Do not lose them. You will only get one. Dinner will be served within the next hour. Please listen to the announcements. Pay attention, but most importantly… have fun!”
The excited chatter began once again.
“Where’s the birthday boy?” Remy yelled.
“Right here!” Terrance hollered back as he lifted Alex up and over his head.
Alex let out a loud peal of laughter as Terrance ceremoniously carried him through the crowd.
“What about me!” I heard Ella yell.
“Just the birthday boy. When it’s your birthday, I’ll hook you up.” Terrance grinned.
“Oh man!” she whined.
Terrance brought Alex up to the front of the line. “One eight-year-old reporting sir,” Terrance joked.
“That’s not my eight year old,” I teased. “My Alex is seven. He’s not allowed to have any more birthdays. Let’s cancel this party. Is the bus still here?”
“Noooo!” Alex cried out plaintively. “I’m eight!”
“Oh, all right.” Remy laughed as he placed a wristband on Alex’s wrist. “I guess since we’re all here, might as well make use of this place.”
“Yay!” Alex cheered happily.
Jace handed him a card with a lanyard attached to it. “Don’t lose it,” he reminded him.
“I won’t,” he promised.
“Give me some of those cards,” Gavin insisted as he made his way up to the front of the line.
“We’ll help with the wristbands,” Drake said, coming forward with Jemmy.
Noah said, “We’ll help with the GoPros.” Dawn and Noah grabbed a few cameras and began to open them up.
Terrance, Marcel, and Sierra came forward and began helping out as well. Soon we had everything handed out.
I noticed that Victoria, Patrick, Micah, and Kade were standing by the desk.
“We want to play laser tag,” Micah stated.
“Okay.” Jemmy laughed. “Go play, then.”
Micah shook his head. “No, with you guys.”
“No gifts?” Jaxson smirked after looking around.
“No gifts,” Patrick confirmed.
“Someone has to chaperone,” I reminded Jaxson as I fastened a wristband on my wrist.
“Go and play,” Will encouraged us as he came up behind us. “We have this.”
I turned and saw Will, Greg, Miranda, Megan, Mr. Moore, and Cora were all there.
“Let’s go,” Lincoln stated with a grin.
⸟
“…Happy Birthday to Alex, Happy Birthday to you!” we all belted out.
Alex had a huge smile on his face, and I was pleased to see that Jemmy had her camera out and was busy snapping pictures.
“Sorry I’m late,” Troy stated as he came up behind me and wrapped
his arms around my middle.
I wrapped my arms around his and looked up at him, smiling. “At least you’re here. Everything okay with the helicopter?”
He looked confused for a moment. “Oh that,” he said, frowning. “Yeah. I couldn’t get it.”
“Well, what are we supposed to do now?” I asked with a frown.
“We’ll figure it out,” he replied with a smile that never reached his eyes.
Something was off about Troy. He knew how important it was that we got the helicopter, but he was acting like it was no big deal.
“Blake!” Alex called. From his tone, he must have been trying to call my name a few times.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Can I open up my gifts now?” he asked once again.
I laughed. “Of course.” I pulled out the notebook I brought. “Make sure you tell me who it’s from and what it is so we can write thank you cards.”
He groaned. “Do I hafta? I can’t write that good.”
“That well.” Will smiled out of the corner or his mouth.
“Yeah, that,” Alex said.
I laughed. “They didn’t have to give you gifts, but they did…”
“I’ll help you with the cards when you write them,” Kade put a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulders.
“Okay,” Alex said eagerly.
“Blake, would you like me to cut the cake?” Miranda asked, and I could see the desire to…please in her eyes. She had been trying so hard lately.
I nodded. “Sure, thanks.”
“We’ll help pass it out,” Megan, Beth, and Cora offered.
Jace, Remy, and Jaxson took positions behind Alex and started handing him gifts.
“I’m going to grab a trash can,” Drake offered.
Noah looked up from helping Harry into a seat, and his eyes lit up. He made his way across the room smiling. “Hey man!” Noah came up to us. “How was your trip?”
“Good,” Troy said in a clipped tone.
“How sweet is the helicopter? Show me the pics!” Noah said eagerly.
“I forgot my phone,” Troy shrugged. “I’ll show it to you later, man.”
Noah and I exchanged glances. Hardly any in small family were ever without their phones. Remy because of his business, and Troy for his social media addiction and his company.
“Well…okay,” Noah said slowly. “You sounded really excited out about it.”
“Oh I am, I really am. My phone died, and I was running late.” Troy shrugged nonchalantly.
“Where is it?” I asked.
“Where is what?” Noah asked in confusion.
“The helicopter,” I explained to Noah. “Troy said he doesn’t have it.”
“What?” Noah exclaimed.
As if on cue, my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. Troy’s name was on my display. I stared down at it bewilderment.
“Who’s that, lovebug?” Troy asked.
Suddenly my stomach felt like it was in knots. Lovebug? Troy never used that endearment, and who was using his phone?
“It’s Anna,” I lied with a feigned smile. “Noah can you write down the gifts and who got them for Alex?”
“Sure, but you’ve seen me write,” Noah joked.
I smiled at him. “I’m sure you can handle it for a few minutes. Just make it legible.”
I answered the phone, walking out of the banquet room. “Hello?”
“Blake!” Troy's voice yelled in my ear.
“Troy?” I asked in confusion. I looked through the clear glass of the banquet room at Troy. “Where are you?”
“That’s why I’m calling,” he said frantically. “I just woke up in an abandoned building. I had to fight five men to get out of there. I’m really sorry I’m running late, but I’ll be on base in about twenty minutes and at the party in an hour.”
“Troy?” I asked hesitantly.
“What?” he asked. He still sounded frazzled.
“When and where was the first time you told me you loved me?” I asked him as I watched the man in the banquet room standing awkwardly.
He cleared his throat. “I never have,” he said quietly. “You know…I mean…”
The other Troy turned and looked at me.
“It’s okay Troy,” I said with a sigh. I feigned a smile and waved at him before I turned around and looked at the chaos in the arcade area. Amusapalooza was getting packed. “Come home safe okay?”
“What’s going on Blake,” Troy asked in concern.
“Don’t worry about it. Just come home,” I insisted quietly.
“Okay,” he said uncertainly. “Blake you know that I−.”
“Stop right there,” I cut him off. “I never wanted to force you to say the word. I love you, and that’s enough,” I hung the phone up.
The truth was I knew that he loved me. He said the sweetest things to me. He may have never directly told me he loved me, but I didn’t need to hear the words. He showed me.
I took a deep fortifying breath and turned back around. My eyes sought out Herman and Greg. Something told me that the man inside that room posing as Troy wasn’t alone. That realization was followed quickly by trepidtion. I didn’t know what their plans were, but they obviously didn’t care if they were willing to show up at a child’s birthday party.
“Herman, Greg!” I called out silently, making sure to include Pops, Jaxson, Drake, Jace, Remy, Lincoln, and Noah. Greg and Herman looked at me in question. “That’s not Troy, and I’m pretty sure he’s not alone.”
I saw all of them straighten up and start looking around. Greg leaned in towards
Lincoln and whispered something to him. I grimaced slightly. He had yet to talk to me silently.
“Whoa buddy,” Herman yelled out exuberantly. “That has to be your twenty-third gift.”
Alex let out a loud laugh. “It’s only been like seven,” Alex countered back.
“But how many model cars were in that kit Ben got you?” Herman disputed as he gave me a pointed look. “And you can’t forget the rocket kit.”
“Human shifter,” I heard Lincoln’s faint voice in my head.
“Hey, Blake, want to help me get the ice cream?” Jace called out.
I tried to smile. “Of course.”
“It’s my turn to pay!” Greg pulled out his wallet.
The man had tried to pay for so many things tonight, but Jaxson, Remy, Drake, and Noah had already paid for the party package. Jace paid for the cake and decorations. Lincoln covered all the goody bags and GoPros. Troy paid for the bus. And they wouldn’t allow me to pay for anything.
“I’ll come help,” Remy volunteered.
“Me too,” Drake added.
“No more,” Jace insisted quietly. “It’ll look too suspicious.”
“I thought you said no ice cream,” Ella piped up around a mouthful of cake.
“First off, Little Bit,” Jaxson quickly spoke as he reached out to tug on Ella’s ponytail. “We said none of that SpongeBob, Batman, Angry Birds…crap.”
“We’re keeping it simple,” I added. “Vanilla, Chocolate, or Mixed.”
“I want−” Ella started to demand.
“Whatever we get you,” Remy said firmly with a grin. “Only the Birthday boy gets a choice.”
“Aww,” Ella groaned.
“Yes!” Alex cheered as he smugly looked over at Ella.
I forced a laugh as I turned back around to go to the food counter.
“I’ll go too,” Fake Troy insisted as I was leaving the room.
“Nah, man,” Noah stated. “You gotta help Lincoln hand the birthday boy his gifts.”
We left the room and got a considerable distance between Fake Troy and the banquet room “What are we going to do?” I asked with apprehension, remembering Herman’s coded words earlier about the ‘twenty-three gifts’. There’s twenty-three of them, and we are surrounded by children.”
“Compel them to leave,” Drake stated.
&nb
sp; “And go where?” I asked. “I don’t want to just set them free.”
“The base is on lockdown,” Greg stated with a frown as he pulled his phone away from his ear. “I’m just getting a recording.”
“Kirk’s not answering his phone, either,” Jace grimaced. “He was supposed to be back with his wives and children, too.”
“I’ll mentally call the real Troy again and warn him that he might be coming back to a trap,” I explained to the guys before we reached the counter.
“There’s eight of them in here,” Greg warned me quietly. I nodded in understanding. Surreptitiously looking around the room. Sure enough, quite a few people were looking at us with a little too much interest.
Greg began placing our order as I closed my eyes. Jace embraced me from behind, and I felt Drake link one of his fingers with my own.
“Troy,” I called out silently.
“Yes?” he responded back instantly with curiosity in his voice.
“The base might be under attack again,” I informed him. “Can you find an alternate landing spot?”
“Sure thing, you know I love you right?” he asked earnestly.
“How about you tell me that in person?”
“Oh I will,” he informed me with laughter in his voice.
“Please be safe,” I commanded him. “I’ll let you know when we are on our way back.”
“How about I just meet you there?”
“No, you can’t. We’ll meet you at the coffee shop in town,” I told him.
“What’s going on?” he asked anxiously.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured him. “We’re okay.”
I shut our communication down and reached for the ice cream. I began to load them up onto the trays. “I thought we decided that we were going to just keep it simple.” I tried to act normal as I put the ice cream sandwiches, King Cones, Strawberry Shortcakes, Sponge Bob ice creams, and Batman ice creams.
“That’s what you decided,” Greg said with a sardonic grin. “We didn’t pay for anything, and Alex is…”
“Miranda’s son,” I muttered with a shrug, I bit my tongue from any biting response. It was Alex’s birthday, and we had bigger things to worry about.
“We should send the send the gifted out here onto the bus,” Remy said slowly. “We can get back to base and fit them with the halos.”
