Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Which only made me all the more pissed off at my own mother and father.
Because loving your kid?
That shit was the easiest thing in the world.
But they hadn’t even been capable of that.
The difference being, I was. Capable of love, of support, of seeing that my kid’s and wife’s needs were met.
If anything, I was a little worried about being overprotective as they got bigger. But after talking with the club, I found that was a normal part of the process and that they’d all struggled to figure out the right balance for that.
I’d cross the bridge when I got to it.
“I know,” I said as I lifted our baby up into my arms. “I don’t ever want to be away from your mother either.”
But when we made our way back out to the living room, Gracie was out cold on the couch.
“Just you and me, kid,” I said, making our way outside instead.
We sat and watched the birds and squirrels for over an hour before Gracie made her way out, scooting in at my side and resting her face against my shoulder.
“Thanks for letting me sleep.”
“Anytime,” I said.
“Look,” she said, nodding toward the picnic table full of whole peanuts. “I told you Steve was a girl. Look at that pregnant belly.”
“Gotta put out some extra fluff for her to build her nest,” I said.
“God, I love you,” she said, smiling up at me.
And, fuck, I loved her too.
Gracie - 11 years
“I’m gonna say what everyone else isn’t,” Layna said, moving in at my side. “This is batshit crazy.”
“Probably,” I agreed.
I glanced out at a sea of bounce houses, trampolines, water features, and games.
It started out as an idea when I’d been pregnant with our third baby as the first finished up their first year of school.
By the next year, I had it all planned, ordered, and executed.
And just like that, the Summer Kickoff party tradition was born.
On the first day after the last day of school each year, we took over a massive field and filled it with fun and games for the club kids as well as our closest allies’ kids.
It was loud, chaotic, messy, and a complete blast for the kids.
But because I was me, I always tried to make it better each year so no one ever got sick of it.
“Baby,” Perish called, lumbering up with a little fur ball tucked under his arm like a football.
“What’d he do?” I asked, reaching to take the fluffy merle Pomeranian from him.
“He is trying to deflate the balloon house.”
The balloon house was mostly for the little kids. It was a transparent round tent where a bunch of balloons were blown up so the kids could play ‘keep up’ without losing any of the balloons.
“I know you love a good balloon,” I told Sprinkles. Yes, his real name. Obviously named by the kids.
“How about I take him,” Layna suggested. “And you,” she went on, speaking to Perish, “make her go take a break. She’s been here since the crack of dawn.”
“That I can do,” Perish agreed.
“The kids…” I insisted, catching sight of a head of sunny blonde hair.
“Are surrounded by their family,” Perish reminded me.
“But what if—”
“Desperate times,” he said, ducking down, then throwing me over his shoulder like a firefighter.
“What’s this?” my father asked as we walked past, as he and two other club members were making their way back with the pizza.
“Forced break,” Perish informed him.
“Carry on then.”
“Dad!”
“Been standing in the hot sun for eight hours. I support your husband getting you off your feet. Penny and I will watch the kids. Take her home.”
“Will do.”
“What if someone needs—”
“There are several dozen other adults there if someone needs something,” Perish reminded me. “Plus your entire team.”
Yeah.
I had a team now.
It was crazy how my business had gone from a tiny little dream, to a baby side hustle, to, well, a whole little party planning empire.
I went from having one assistant to having five different party planners, each with their own team of assistants and secretaries.
We were busy.
Work was really, really good.
Life was even better.
Three kids.
One dog.
A squirrel family.
A few hundred backyard birds.
And one absolutely amazing husband.
Who was always looking out for me. Always picking up the slack. Always taking care of me when I got too busy taking care of everyone else.
“This really isn’t necessary,” I said when Perish finally pulled me down and set me inside our family SUV.
“It is,” he told me, closing the door then moving around the car.
When he turned the car over, the speakers immediately started blasting the most obnoxious song either of us had ever heard in our lives that the kids were currently obsessed with.
“Fuck no,” Perish said, switching over to our music that we almost never got to listen to.
“That feels nice,” I said as the air started to blast from the vents.