Seeds of Tomorrow

20

Audrey's thirteenth birthday and the fourth of July fell on the same week. Per her wishes, her party was held on the fourth so she could have a huge fireworks display at the end of the night.

On top of that, she insisted on camping out in the yard with her closest girlfriends and cousins. Grandpa Douglas insisted on renting several clear dome-style tents that were lined with fairy lights to give it a sort of girly, ethereal vibe that Audrey loved.

Like always, Cami was commissioned for the three-tier cake in silver and violet. A caterer was hired and a buffet-style setup of fruits, veggies, hummus, and finger foods was served at Audrey's request. If it wasn't for rich grandpa Douglas who spoiled the kids, she would have wound up with a few Walmart party platters with pizza like most kids her age. Not that anything was wrong with that and thankfully, it was all Gabriel wanted for his party two months later.

Jeordie, the "cool uncle" even pulled out his DJ equipment to spin the latest pop hits along with all the cringey school dance party favorites like the Cupid Shuffle and the YMCA.

"Is this how your parties were at her age?" Krist asked as he and Atira set up the tables beneath a pop-up tent.

Atira blew a blond hair out of her eyes, "Oh absolutely. They were always over the top to do," she grinned.

"You ever miss them? I mean, I feel like compared to this, I'm kind of whack for your birthdays."

"Ha! Absolutely not. I hated them," she admitted, "I just wanted normal kid parties with sheet cakes."

Krist nodded, "Ain't nothing wrong with those, for real. That's all I ever had. Do you think Audrey would tell us if she didn't want big-ass parties?"

Atira cocked her head, "Audrey? Oh-ho-ho-ho yes. You know she's all about these big extravagant parties," she laughed.

"Fuck, at least we don't have to do quinces," Krist pointed out, "Fernando was saying those cost like fifteen G's."

His wife widened her brown eyes, "And he has how many girls...three?"

"Four if you count Gwen," Krist said, "Good thing Cisco got him set up with some money before all that shit went down with the feds. So he got it covered."

Atira winced, unfolding a chair, "They're all so close together in age too. At least after Rosie, he's good."

Krist shook his head, "I don't know how he does it, for real. I got a vasectomy for a reason," he laughed.

"Well, it wasn't like he was exactly making smart choices back then."

"That's all part of his charm," Krist joked.

As the two began to joke about the poor choices also being part of Krist's charm, Gabe stepped into the tent, "Hey, Dad, you think I can have some money for COD points?" he asked, still in his pajamas even though it was well after noon.

Krist scoffed initially, he fucking hated when Gabe hit him up for his digital crack feeling that it was a giant waste of money. But then he rethought it

"Yeah, you just got to set up the rest of these chairs," he told him quickly.

Gabriel slumped over sighing as if he'd been asked the most inconvenient thing in the world and to be fair. It probably fucking felt like it to him.

"Never mind," he groaned, turning to head towards the house.

Krist and Atira exchanged glances.

"Ok, now you can just do it without getting your COD shit," Krist told him, annoyed that his youngest boy always expected to be given things without working for them.