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“You’re about to be an uncle,” Simon grinned.
Stefan scowled back at him. “Yeah, I know. Are you feeling okay?”
“But did you know you're going to be an uncle to a niece?”
Stefan choked on his mouthful of chips. “No! Are you sure? Anna’s having a girl?”
“Yep,” Simon grinned rocking on his heels. “Cade just told me and asked for help with a surprise. You want in?”
“Hell, yeah. What’s the plan and who’s the surprise for?”
“Cade wants to paint the nursery pink for Anna and wants our help painting and stuff.”
“Oh, okay.” Stefan cocked an eyebrow and nodded. “I can do that. I happen to rock at painting.”
“Since when?” Simon snorted.
“Always, you Neanderthal. Some of us actually painted our own houses.
“Whatever,” Simon snorted. “You painted the front door.”
“Well, it’s more than you’ve ever done.”
“If you can manage to fit your inflated head through the doorframe, I need to ask Thomas if he wants to help.”
*****
Thomas leaned over the deck banister to see who was at the front door. “Hey, what are you two up to?”
Simon squinted up at Thomas as he shaded his eyes. “Cade wants to surprise your mom by painting the nursery. Want to help?”
Thomas frowned when he saw Stefan standing next to Simon grinning like an idiot. “I don’t know; it depends on why Stefan looks like that.”
“Pfff, he always looks like an idiot. Ignore him.”
“Hey!” Stefan objected, thwacking Simon’s shoulder.
“Why do I get the feeling this is a really bad idea?” Thomas asked through gritted teeth.
“I have no idea,” Simon shrugged innocently. “We’re just surprising your mom with a freshly painted nursery so she won’t try to do it herself and breathe in the fumes.”
Thomas gave them a good, long look. “All right, I can help out, but we better not get into trouble. My mom’s really scary when she’s mad.”
*****
Cade crept into the house as quietly as possible. Anna had been up all night. Worrying over the ultrasound had compounded her insomnia, and she was finally getting some rest. If his luck held out, they could get the painting done before she woke up. Setting the paint cans on the newspaper he had spread over the carpeting, he looked at the closed window. He’d better crack all the windows, so the smell of paint didn’t wake her either.
The quiet sound of a tiptoeing army let him know the guys had arrived. Keeping them quiet was going to be a challenge.
“Hey, Cade,” Simon whispered.
“Hi, guy’s. Thanks for coming. We don’t have a lot of time, so let's try to hurry. Simon, could you start taping the trim?”
“Sure.” Simon dug the painter’s tape from the shopping bag.
“Thomas, could you cut in the edges?”
“Cool, my favorite part of painting.”
“You’ve done this before?” Cade asked.
“Sure, haven’t you?” Thomas asked over his shoulder as he grabbed his supplies. Suddenly, he straightened and spun around. “Oh, shit! Please tell me you know what you’re doing.”
“Well...the guy at the hardware store told me what to do and made sure I had all the brushes and stuff. We’ll be fine.”
“Shit,” Thomas hung his head in defeat. “We’re going to die.”
“Oh, come on. Quit being dramatic and get painting.” Cade scowled.
“Okay, but when she goes atomic, rabid wolf on your ass, I’m laying all the blame at your feet.”
That thought had Cade hesitating for a moment before he shook his head.
No, this is a good idea, he thought, as he convinced himself to follow through with his plan.
Shaking it off, he turned to Stefan. “Take one of these pans and fill the end with paint and start rolling it on. I’ll work on this wall with another roller. The hardware guy said paint at angles, so we’ll do that.”
Stefan rolled a few random stripes on the wall before he pulled the roller away and stepped back to eye the paint. Frowning, he looked at Cade. “This looks really bright. Are you sure this is the right color? It looks – neon.”
