Chapter 10
Trent
Travis sleeps with his bedroom door closed. He didn’t when he was little, but probably about two years ago, he started closing it when he played video games late at night and didn’t want to bother his little sister.
He probably hoped we would think he was sleeping too, but we ain’t fools. Even so, the tradition continued, and now I think he just liked his own space.
The closed door was the perfect opportunity for birthday shenanigans.
Shenanigans, as in Drew and me staying up late to hang caution tape across his door, securing it on each side of the frame.
It crisscrossed and zigzagged from floor to ceiling, making it look like a bona fide crime scene.
Once the caution tape was up, we blew up a lot of balloons—a mix of black and hot pink—and stuffed them between the tape and the door.
We were lucky he slept with AirPods in his ears because the noise we made wasn’t exactly nonexistent. And also… when did blowing up a massive pile of balloons get to be so hard?
I mean, sure, Drew had gray hair and was talking retirement, but me? I was a spring chicken.
Once that was done, we set up a camera in the hallway and angled it to the door, you know, to send to the fam later.
Trav’s seventeenth birthday dawned, and we huddled in the hallway, drinking coffee and waiting for him to wake up. I knew he wouldn’t sleep half the day away because our entire fam was here for his party.
Down the hall, a bedroom door opened, and Arrow’s dark head peeked out. Even years after he’d buzzed all the blond off his head and let it grow in to his natural shade of brown, I was still sometimes surprised when I saw him. I guess he’d be a bleach-blond kid to me forever.
Seeing Drew and me, he lifted his chin. “He awake yet?” he whispered.
We shook our heads.
The bedroom door opened farther, and Hopper appeared, wearing nothing but a pair of sweats. Arrow took one look at him and pointed into the room. Hopper smirked like he knew exactly what he did and sauntered out of frame as if he were proud of himself.
Farther down the hall, another door opened, and Joey came out with Lorhaven towering behind her.
Joey’s dark hair was the longest I’d ever seen it, hanging almost to her waist, and she was wearing a pair of silky-looking pajama pants with a matching button-up top.
“Is he awake?” Joey whispered.
“No,” Arrow whisper-yelled back.
Jagger ducked under Lorhaven’s arm and stepped out into the hallway, looking at all of us before shaking his head. Pulling his phone from his pajama pants, he hit the screen, and seconds later, a muffled ringing burst from behind Trav’s door.
The ringing cut off, and Jagger said, “Just get up already.”
After tucking the phone back into his pocket, he rolled his eyes. “You guys are so lame.”
“Andi,” Trent called toward our daughter’s room, and seconds later, she bounded out, hair floating around her. Sophie came out behind her, and both girls waited impatiently.
Travis’s door handle rattled, and I smacked T in the stomach to get his attention.
It rattled again.
Whoosh. His door pulled open, and all the balloons between him and the caution tape tumbled in, raining over him in a wave of black and neon pink.
“What the f—”
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” yelled everyone crowding the hallway.
Andi pulled out a confetti popper and pointed it at him.
“Andi, don’t even—” Pop! Multicolored confetti exploded out of the tube and blasted Travis and the balloons piled around his feet.
He folded his arms over his chest and scowled as sparkly confetti clung to his black clothing and the caution tape holding him hostage.
“Is this what you two kept whispering about all day yesterday?” Travis asked, glaring at Drew and me.
“It’s not every day our son turns seventeen,” I said, basically agreeing even though this was definitely not what we were whispering about.
He shot us all an unamused look and then swiped the tape still draped across his door free with a swing of his arm.
Balloons bounced and rolled into the hallway when he stepped forward, and I grabbed him by the shoulder to pull him into a hug. “Happy birthday, son,” I said against his ear.
“Thanks, Dad.”
I pulled back, and Drew moved in, embracing him in his iconic hug. When Drew pulled back, Travis saw his aunt and uncles waiting and let out a groan.
Joey laughed and wrapped her arms around him anyway. “Happy birthday, Trav. We love you,” she said, swaying back and forth.
“Thanks, Aunt Joey.”
Lorhaven offered him his fist, and then Hopper did the same. Arrow hugged him.
“Can I have some coffee now?” he asked.
“Yes, please,” Sophie echoed.
I gestured for them to go downstairs, and they went instantly with Jagger and Andi hot on their heels.
“What is it with kids and coffee these days?” Lorhaven wanted to know.
“They drink it because it’s trendy,” Drew muttered. “We drink it for survival. We are not the same.”
“More balloons!” Andi exclaimed from downstairs, and Drew and I shared a smile.
When we all walked into the open kitchen, Trav turned from the island, a slight flush to his cheeks. He glanced at me, then away. Then to Drew and away. “You didn’t need to do this.”
We’d been decorating for his birthday since he became ours. We did the same for Andi. Every year, we set up the island with balloons, a cake, candy, streamers, and anything else we picked up so it was the first thing they saw when they came downstairs.
“We wanted to,” Drew told him as he walked to the coffeemaker to brew a fresh pot. Sophie was already at the Nespresso machine making herself a latte, and he tugged on her dark ponytail, making her laugh.
Sophie favored Lorhaven with her facial structure and cheekbones. Her eyes were hazel like a mix of Joey’s green and Lorhaven’s dark. At nearly sixteen, she was already five feet seven, and her hair was made up of wild ringlets like her mom’s.
Jagger had wide green eyes and a mop of curls. He was still young yet, but judging from the size of his feet, dude was gonna be tall.
“It’s tradition.” I reminded Travis.
He huffed. “I’m not a kid anymore.”
“No, but you’ll always be our son.”
Andi punctuated that with another explosion of confetti, which blasted over the island and onto everyone standing nearby, mostly her brother.
“Seriously.” Trav sighed, brushing the shiny flecks off his black shirt. “Where are you hiding those?"
"I'll never tell.”
The front door swung open, and Rimmel stepped in, partially hidden by a stack of presents covered in bows. “Happy birthday,” she sang.
Ketchup rushed her, and the pile of gifts toppled onto the floor, revealing her wide-eyed expression.
“Cleanup crew on aisle Rimmel!” Braeden called, coming inside. His hands were filled with boxes of donuts.
Blue, Asher, and Jax all rushed in to pick up the scattered boxes while Romeo picked up his wife. “I told you not to carry all that.”
“You aren’t the boss of me,” she retorted.
The boys piled the gifts on the island, sending loose confetti everywhere.
“Did we already miss the party?” Ivy asked, propping her hands on her hips to stare at the mess. Her blond hair was in loose waves around her shoulders, and she was dressed in a pair of wide-leg jeans and some sort of vest with oversized gold buttons.
“No, you’re just in time,” Drew said from behind the counter.
After hugs and more birthday greetings for Travis, all the kids plopped onto the sectional in the living room to stare at their phones.
Seriously, how are almost all of them teenagers already?
Andi carried Panda around to show her to everyone—and everyone pretended they hadn’t seen her yesterday—and Lolo went behind her to introduce Sampson.
“The caterers will be here at three,” Ivy told me as I got to work cracking eggs for a breakfast casserole. We were gonna have to make at least two of them to feed everyone.
Because it was such an undertaking to feed all of us, we hired out catering for Trav’s party. No one wanted to be in the kitchen because this was family time.
“We’ll meet them at the gate and bring the food in,” Drew said. “I don’t want them on the property.”
Yeah, usually hiring a caterer made things easier… but today, it seemed to be just the opposite.
Ivy slid a worried glance to me, and I lowered my voice. “We thought we would have found her by now,” I said of the woman who’d tried to kidnap Andi. “The longer it drags on, the more worried we get.”
Understanding filled her face. Laying her hand on my shoulder, she turned to Braeden. “Go with Drew later to get the food. Take the truck.”
B nodded. “Will do. Me and Rome can man the grill later too.”
“I’ll be on standby with the fire extinguisher,” Lorhaven cracked.
“Har-har, Lor. It was one tiny fire,” Braeden retorted.
Lorhaven smirked. “Good to see your eyebrow grew back in.”
Braeden rubbed his eyebrow, almost checking to make sure it was still there. “A man singes his eyebrow one time.”
Everyone laughed.
“What can I do to help?” Joey asked.
“Balloons are being delivered too,” Rimmel said. “Maybe you can help me bring those down.”
Arrow stepped forward. “Me and Hopp will do that.”
Joey turned, giving her brother a look. “You think we can’t handle some balloons?”
“Rim would probably float away with them,” Braeden muttered.
Rimmel gasped. “I would not!”
“Your organizational skills are needed to organize the food and table, baby,” Romeo said.
Sighing, Rimmel looked at Joey. “That’s mansplaining for they don’t want us around a bunch of strangers at the gate.”
“They have a point,” Lorhaven added.
Beside me, Ivy straightened. “There’s a lot of stuff to do anyway since the caterers won’t be setting up. We can’t let them do it.” She nodded toward the guys. “They wouldn’t know how to style a charcuterie board even if we showed them a picture.”
“I know it goes in my belly,” Romeo cracked.
“Get in my belly!” Arrow chanted.
Hopper snagged a blueberry donut from a box and shoved it into his mouth.
“Hey,” he said, pointing to the mouthful jammed between his lips. “That’s my favfrite.”