Drumbeats into My Heart

45. Seth's Birthday

"Did you invite her?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Mom, for the third time, she said she's coming."

"Good. I want to meet the girl who's been making my son all googly-eyed whenever he's on the phone." She tweaks my nose with a finger like I'm a toddler.

"Guys don't get googly-eyed, Mom."

"If you say so." She grins and returns to the kitchen where my Aunt Stacy is decorating a cake while swatting away her twin toddler hellions at the same time. They don't visit much—maybe twice a year since they live in a different state—but when they do, Mom tends to perk up a bit. Maybe she'll behave after all.

"Luke, get that stick out of Logan's hair!" Stacy barks. "And where did you get a stick from anyway?"

A two-year-old clad in nothing but a pull-up diaper flashes through the hallway, giggling. I catch him and lift him high into the air. The boy squeals with delight and smacks my arm with a stick. "You must be Luke, you little troublemaker." I grin at him, taking the stick away and carrying my errant cousin back to the kitchen.

"Thank you, Seth." Stacy wipes her damp forehead with the back of an arm, which sends more brown strands of hair into disarray. "I swear, sometimes it feels like I adopted two Tasmanian devils instead of giving birth. Do you think a zoo will take them?"

I laugh as I set the boy down, ruffling his dark hair. "He's not so bad."

She lifts an eyebrow and points at me with the bag of frosting she's been squeezing. "Babysit him for a week, then get back to me."

Luke jumps and swipes at the bag, eyes intent on the white frosting.

"Lord help me," she says, setting the bag out of reach on the kitchen counter. "The last thing these boys need is more sugar."

"Sugar!" Luke repeats, arms raised in a pick-me-up plea.

I scoop him up again and whirl him in a circle, sending him into another round of squeals. When I set him down, he waddles out of the kitchen to join his quieter twin in the living room.

I follow him. "You guys want to watch a movie?"

"Fish!" Luke plops his padded butt onto the floor and presses his hands against his cheeks, moving them like gills.

This gets Logan's attention. He sets his action figure down. "Nemo!"

"All right, Finding Nemo, coming right up." I locate the DVD and pop it into the player.

The doorbell rings right when I hit Play, which is an interesting effect.

"I'll get it!" I call and bound to the front door.

Tai stands there in his cargo shorts—the nice ones—holding an obviously man-wrapped present. The gift wrap is lumpy and lifts up in one corner as he holds it up to me.

"Thanks, man." I take the box and gesture him in. "Aside from Aunt Stacy and the twins, you're the first one here." I pause and tilt my head dramatically. "Which is surprising, actually. You feeling okay?"

Tai chuckles and glances around the room before whispering, "I thought you might need to be rescued from your mom."

I grin at his thoughtfulness and nudge my fist against Tai's meaty arm. "Good thinking. You're the best."

Glancing at the clock, I keep wondering when Jordi is going to arrive. Or if she'll show up at all. We haven't talked again since that unfortunate phone call, so it's quite possible she's changed her mind.

My mom comes bustling out of the kitchen, ripping her apron off and tossing it onto a nearby recliner. "Goodness, I have to pee so bad." She pauses by me, brow wrinkling as she peers at my t-shirt. "You're planning on changing, right?"