Someone Like Us | Completed ✓

Chapter Thirteen: Let's Get Kicking!

21 weeks, August 26

It was the day of the baby shower, and Joan was outside putting the finishing touches on the tables, food, etcetera, while waiting for Ace to arrive.

He and Joan had decided to include both women and men in the baby shower, so they had been very careful to select a theme, games, and food that appealed to both genders. At times it was difficult, but with Ace's help it was easier than it would have been on her own.

They had finally decided on the theme of "I Love You To The Moon And Back." A tent was set up in the back yard with tables under it. The tables had baby blue table clothes on them, and the centerpieces were small circle-shaped vases of white flowers that looked like clouds. There were blue, white, and star-shaped balloons, and the buffet table also had a blue table cloth, but there was a white curtain behind it and an arch of one moon-shaped balloon and blue and star-shaped balloons bending over it, with the gold decorative letters of "BABY" dangling from it.

At the moment, Joan was straightening silverware in her anxiety. What would the guests (both she and Ace's families and friends) think of their decision to include men? What would they think about the fact that they were teenage parents, and had decided to keep the baby? Would they all act like Nick?

A car horn honked from the driveway. Joan knew who it was. She smiled and jogged to the front yard, where Ace's car was parked. Ace got out, wearing his "BABY DADDY" t-shirt that matched Joan's "BABY MAMA" one that she was wearing. (She'd had to buy a new one, because the one that she'd bought at the beginning of the first trimester no longer fit her.)

"Hey, baby!" Ace exclaimed. Joan wasn't sure if he was talking to her or Jellybean, until he swept her into his arms and kissed her. "You ready for today?" he asked. Joan gave him a forced smile and bit her lip. "I'm.. a little nervous," she said. "But... that's normal. Right?"

Ace forced a smile back at her. "I don't know. I've never done this before. And I don't know if this is comforting or not, but I'm pretty nervous, too."

"For the same reason I am?" Joan whispered. "Probably," Ace whispered back. He kissed her again, bent down to kiss her belly, then took her hand and walked around to the backyard with her.

At the sight of the setup under the tent, he whistled. "Nice!" he said. "You and the girls did a great job! Sorry I wasn't here to help."

"You were busy studying," Joan said. "Dads need good grades, remember?" "Yeah, sure," he said. "But the next time you need to study, I'm doing the work and you're staying home, okay?" "That's fair," Joan said with a smile.

The 34 guests arrived in a trickle. The first that arrived were Ace's foster parents Emily and Ellis, and Nick and Kyle. Then Alyssa, Brittney, and Clara arrived, then the Ross's neighbors, and then Ace's friends Adam and Gabe. Then came all of the family: Joan's two grandmothers and her grandfather, her three aunts, two uncles, five cousins (two boys and three girls, all under the age of 15), and Emily's parents.

Ace's relatives arrived last, as there were only four of them that were close enough to attend. They were Ace's aunt, uncle, and two cousins on his late mother's side. When they arrived, tears came to Ace and Kyle's eyes and there was a mess of sappy hugging. Joan tried to give them their privacy, but the small snippet of conversation she caught was something close to what she had mentioned before—what would Ace's parents have thought about being grandparents this soon?

Joan had never met Ace's family before. She had met Ace when they were ten years old and Ace and Kyle had just been placed in the foster system. Nick's family was the first home they had been placed in, and Joan, Ace and Kyle were thankful every day that that hadn't had to move yet.