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CALLUM
Our job todayis getting the twins out of the house so Isla and Emma can meet with a party planner to get the house set up, so we grab Vivian, check the boys out of school, and head to a ‘Family Fun Center’ that just opened up. It has putt-putt, go-karts, laser tag, arcade games, batting cages, and a couple different soft play areas for smaller kids. When we pull up, the kids seem to lose their minds with excitement, since they have been seeing the ads for this place for weeks. We park the car and get out, making the kids line up on the side.
Silas kneels down so he’s eye level with them, “Listen up, kids, this is important. You have to stay close to one of us at all times, do you understand? We can all take turns doing whatever y’all want to do, but we don’t want anyone to get lost, alright?”
“Yes, daddy Si. Can we go to the go-karts first?” Arden asks, jumping up and down.
“Yeah bud, we can do the go-karts first. Who do y’all want to ride with you? I don’t know if sissy is big enough to ride, so someone will have to stay back with her,” Silas says, standing up.
“I want daddy Bodie to ride with me!” Arden says, grabbing Bodie’s hand.
Lochlan walks over to me and grabs my hand.
“Vivi, who do you want to play with?” Bodie asks our little princess.
“Umm, Si!” she squeals after thinking about it for all of two seconds. Silas reaches down with a grin, picking her up and snuggling her.
“Okay then, let’s go kiddos!” he says, marching towards the door. We pay and get the armbands for all the rides, and head to where the go-karts are.
“Y’all come stand in front of this board so we can see how tall you are,” Orin directs the boys, showing them how they are supposed to stand.
Odin points to where Arden’s head is on the height board, keeping a finger in place so he can turn to see. “Look Arden! You’re tall enough to ride by yourself! That means you have a tough choice to make. You can drive one alone, or you can still ride with Bodie. Lochlan, you aren’t quite tall enough just yet, so you’ll still have to ride with Cal; and Vivi, you are just barely tall enough, but you meet the requirements, so you can ride too!”
We have a blast riding the go-karts. Lochlan was a little unsure at first but a couple laps in he found his rhythm and really started to enjoy it, although I like to think I helped. Arden chose to ride with Bodie just to spend time with him. Vivian absolutely loved riding with Silas, proven by the fact we could all hear her laughter all the way around the track.
After go-karts, Bodie, Odin, and I take the boys to batting cages, while Silas and Orin take Vivian to one of the soft play areas. The rest of the day goes pretty much the same. We take turns playing and doing different things with the kids, all of us spending time with each of them. I can honestly say this is one of the best days of my life, even though I never really thought about what it would be like to have kids.
Isla texts us that it’s all clear for us to come home so we can start the party. The kids are upset at first, but once we tell them mommy has a surprise for them they are thrilled and immediately start pulling us along. As we head back to the car we see a package sitting on the hood. The five of us immediately tense up, Odin reaching it first while me and Silas get the kids loaded in the car.
“Guys, I think it’s from Isla. It’s a red corset with underwear, and a note that says, “Happy Birthday Orin and Odin, can’t wait for all five of you to see me in this… better yet, take it off of me.” Odin shows us what's in the box, and carries it to the car, setting it in the trunk.
“Well, happy birthday to us then, huh bro?” Orin holds his fist up for a fist bump.
Bodie smacks them both in the back of the head. “Shut up and get in the car, ya jackasses. Isla said it’s time to get the kids ready for trick-or-treating.”
* * *
BODIE
Pullingup to the house we see Isla waiting at the door and she looks so happy with herself it melts my heart knowing how much her life has changed since she came here. She comes to meet the twins as they get out of the car.
“Odin, Orin close your eyes, please?” she grabs both of their hands, and starts dragging them behind her.
“Hold on Babygirl, there are steps. Don’t go too fast,” Odin says, illustrating his point as he trips.
“Whoops, sorry. I guess I’m just excited.” She slows down and leads them through the front door with the rest of us following after getting the kids out the car. I'm carrying a sleepy Vivian, while Si and Callum are holding the boys’ hands. We get to the door as she pulls the twins through and turns to stand in front of them.
“Are y’all ready to see your surprise?” she asks them, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She’s so damn beautiful when she smiles. We are so lucky
“Yeah Babygirl, we’re ready,” Odin chuckles.
The grin on her face is infectious. She’s come out of her shell so much these last couple of months and I’m so fucking in love with her. “Okay, open your eyes on three,” she instructs, pulling them in more so we can all get in the door. Holy shit, she went all out. Everywhere you look there are decorations, literally from floor to ceiling. She has fog machines everywhere adding to that spooky look.
“One….two… THREE!” She's staring at the twins trying to gauge their reactions, chewing on her lip like she normally does when she’s nervous.
Orin walks over and picks her up and hugs her. “Darlin’ this is amazing! You did all of this for us?”
She kisses him sweetly. “Well, I love Halloween, it’s always been my favorite holiday. Plus I wanted to celebrate y’all’s birthday but you wanted to focus on the kids. So two birds, one stone. We will take the kids trick-or-treating, then come back here for a Halloween-slash-birthday party. The guys helped me invite whoever you both would want and Maw-Maw invited some friends as well. The boys also invited a couple friends from school, so we have the playroom set up for a kid party, and Maw-Maw hired two babysitters to watch the kids tonight while we are doing the more adult stuff.”
