𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Ninety-Nine ~

Everyone wants to make sure a little kid's birthday party is the best one ever. But ever since Diego and Lila became parents to three children, there was always some mishap or miscommunication that caused boatloads of stress. And it didn't help when they were constantly surrounded by children screaming for no reason at all. This time was no different. Lila stressed about every little thing, from the timing of the party to making sure the younger kids didn't accidentally kill each other.

"What are you doing?" Lila questioned her husband as he finished placing the candles atop Grace's birthday cake. "Cake," Diego gestured as if it wasn't obvious enough. "We haven't even done the pinata!" She sighed, adjusting her grip on the cardboard animal. "Pinata first, then cake! What the hell is wrong with you?" She blew past him as Diego plucked out the candles. The stress of his oldest daughter's birthday was starting to bring on a splitting migraine. "Excuse you! Pardon you!" Lila swore she could see a glimpse of red hair approaching them in the crowd.

"Oh thank god, you're here!" Lila sighed when she saw Five and Victoria, quickly embracing them. "Is everything okay?" Victoria asked, patting her shoulder. "So much to do in such little time!" Lila panted as if she just returned from a long run. "If you could help me hang up the pinata, Vic, that would be great!" She looked towards the redhead. "Sure, anything else?" Victoria questioned. Lila nodded and turned her attention to Five. "There's some juice boxes in the trunk, can you and Diego bring them in?"

With a slight nod, Five followed Diego out to the van, each carrying a box into the party. When it came to catching up with his family, Diego would mainly vent about problems with work. And after making sure Lila and Victoria weren't around to hear him complain, the occasional frustrations with raising three young children also crept in. "The money's decent, and I make my own hours, so there's that. But my team supervisor is a real dickhead. He's always riding the stick," Diego explained as they set the boxes on a nearby table. "Yeah, that seems tough," Five responded sympathetically.

"Most importantly, it's just a waste of my God-given talents," Diego continued. "Hey, when do you think I'll be hearing back from the agency?" Five reached into the cooler and grabbed a beer, only catching half of Diego's question as he cracked it open and took a much-needed sip. "Sorry?" He questioned. "The CIA, bro. You gave them my resume, right?" Diego repeated, lowering his voice. "Yeah, right. That's heading up the ladder as we speak," Five assured. Diego excitedly patted Five's back as he cut open one of the boxes.

"That's what I'm talking about! You and Vic told 'em I know multiple disciplines? Hand-to-hand, Karate, Aikido, Hapkido, Krav Maga, Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Kendo, Sambo-" "Diego, I let them know. I told them," Five cut him off. From the other side of the party, Diego watched as Lila and Victoria were struggling to hang the pinata. If the world hadn't been reset, Victoria could've easily used her powers to set it up. But those days were long behind her, and learning to live without her powers was like a toddler learning to walk for the first time.

"Okay, this thing is supposed to be at least three feet off the ground," Victoria huffed, glancing down as she carefully stepped onto the ladder. "Well, I'd say it's about one and a half right now," Lila squinted as the redhead tugged at the rope with all her might. "You guys need any help?" Diego questioned as he walked over to them. "I think we're good, darling," Lila assured as Victoria finally managed to get it at the right height, wrapping it tightly around the overhanging metal pole.

Upon closer inspection, Diego noticed there was something off about the pinata. No candy was falling out, no compartments were left open. But rather, there seemed to be a design flaw. "You said you were on the west side this morning?" He turned his focus back to Lila. "Yeah, I dropped off the kids, and I picked up the pinata, so what?" Lila asked. "So, this is an east-side pinata," Diego stated. "Excuse me?" Lila rolled her eyes as her husband went on to explain it was clearly an east-side pinata with the difference in the craftsmanship and the fringe.