“Abuela says we have five minutes before the fireworks. So you have to stop ignoring your guests and take a seat,” Mia said, and hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Abuela said that, not me.”
“Hmm.” Dash tilted his face to mine as if remembering where we were, then glanced beyond.
He and I were the only ones on the dance floor. No one remained in the swimming pool. He brought his hand to Mia’s shoulder.
“Go get the blanket we brought outside and bring it over here. We’ll watch the fireworks from the floor.”
Where Stone had helped create Dash’s vision, Amelia was the sergeant at arms, taking the role seriously.
“Okay, but she’s gonna lift her eyebrow when I tell her,” Mia said. I chuckled softly. My girl wasn’t wrong. Ava, Fisher, and Hunter saw the look regularly.
“Guests,” Amelia beckoned a moment later, her voice amplified by the microphone she’d purchased years ago in order to talk over the children. “Please take a glass of champagne and get comfortable. The fireworks begin in four minutes.”
I lifted Fisher into my arms. He crawled high until he circled my neck. My fearless boy didn’t like the dark.
A waiter came to us with two glasses of bubbling champagne. Our children were like adorable little magnets, wrapped in terry cloth towels, holding plastic glasses of sparkling juice. Mia graced me with the blanket. I fluffed it out, letting it float to the floor. The family, once you included my mom and Kailey, barely fit on the surface. Carter was stuck in an airport somewhere between here, and the other side of the world.
Scott and Lauren, his parents and their children were somewhere around there too. As if on cue, Scott cleared his throat into the microphone to gain everyone’s attention. “I have a few words to say before the fireworks begin and while everyone can still hear me. Beau, we’ve been friends since birth. As you brought Dash then each of the children into our lives, you’ve given me, and Lauren, a larger family to love.
“The preparin’ of this anniversary party has brought back some pretty amazin’ memories for me. Beau, remember when we were children, and we raced across the football field, end zone to end zone, and I won?” Most everyone there knew about the constant competition Scott and I still lived under. The laughter was irritating, but I tried my best to hide it, not wanting to give him the win. Scott nodded happily at me. “Then the time we bet on who caught the most fish from Dog River in a day? I won that too.”
He wasn’t shy, I’d give him that. Luckily, Lauren swooped in, snatching the microphone from his hand. “Since Scott’s told you about the two times he bested Beau, I’ll add we couldn’t have asked for better friends than Dash and Beau. Together we share an unbreakable bond, and Scott and I are better off in the world because of you two. Please raise your glasses to celebrate Dash and Beau’s anniversary. Twenty-three years is a long time to be devoted to one another.”
Cheers erupted, glasses clinked, including ours with our children, before we all took sips.
“Get comfortable,” Amelia said. Fisher, who sat between my legs, stood and wrapped himself around my torso, until I was forced to hold him there. His face ducked into my suit coat. “We have a firework show to rival the City of Seas Springs’ show last night. We’ll begin in one minute.”
Dash shrugged his suit coat off and began untying the bow tie. The property lights darkened. The candles were already blown out. Darkness enclosed us in her warm blanket. Hunter screeched and scrabbled for me. He trembled at the first boom. When the fireworks burst brightly in the sky, Fisher was torn between the color of the lit sky and the darkness that always followed. By the end, Hunter had crawled in the circle of my lap too, mimicking Fisher.
My little guys.
Late July 2023
“But I saw the invoice for the fireworks show,” I hissed, making it around the hood of the Tahoe in record time, stepping on Dash’s heels as he left the SUV parked in front of the house. “You spent more than I make in a year just on the fireworks. I get having a big deal for our twenty-five-year anniversary, but why twenty-three? And why so much money? We agreed to a budget.”
Dash trotted up the front porch steps as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Beau, we’re not hurting for money, and we celebrated an anniversary that means everything to me with these people we call children. After being on deaths door, I want to build lasting memories. The kids were delighted with the party. You were doe-eyed, and my heart was full of joy. Our friends and my staff haven’t had any sort of formal celebration since the practice opened. On a normal day, the only people we hang with are Scott and Lauren. The entire evening was perfect for all of us.” Dash clutched the front doorknob, and I slapped my hand against the wood to keep it closed..
“Did the party cost more than fifty thousand dollars?” I asked.
Dash pushed open the front door, causing me to topple past him into the house. Damn, he had me so flustered I got mixed up on what way the door opened.
“It cost about half that,” he said, surprising me with his honesty.
“Why would you spend so much?” I asked, once I managed to keep my body upright.
“For you,” he answered as if that was the obvious response and leaned in with puckered lips. I left him hanging and aimed for a critical brow raise and set jaw so he’d get a full sense of my displeasure.
“What did the school say?” Mia said from the kitchen table. She was the pixie-est looking one of the three with a new Tinker Bell hairstyle for the start of school. The cut fit her face perfectly, but I missed her long hair. They weren’t little anymore, but sometimes, I was lulled back into those sweet toddler years, where we had to be careful of color placement between them, otherwise we wouldn’t know which child was which.
What a serious mistake it had been to tell the girls that their school wanted to speak with us before the year began again. They’d been hounding us for days, wanting answers.
“Go get your sisters and Amelia,” Dash said. “Meet at the kitchen table in five minutes. I want to change my clothes.”
“I’ll get the boys watchin’ television on the porch while we talk to them,” I added, heading for the backyard to bring the little guys and the dogs to the porch where they could be seen from the kitchen. I whistled and gained their attention like every other time. The dogs made it to me first for a good rubdown before the boys skidded to a halt in front of me. Hunter bent with his hands on his knees, dramatically puffing out breath like he’d run a mile in a matter of minutes.
“We need to talk to Livie inside the house. I’m gonna turn on the television out here. I need you to sit down properly, and be good until we’re done,” I said, using the remote to find the Nickelodeon channel. It usually held their interest.
“Livie’s in trouble. Livie’s in trouble,” Fisher chanted, rocking his hips as he did his best to climb into the chair while keeping the dance going.
