The Bully's Nerd

Chapter Forty One

Chapter Forty One

      "Yes. That's right. Two cheese pizzas, two pepperoni and one meat lover's." Mateo confirmed over the phone his eyes lighting up at the thought of food. Cathy and Jacqueline were bottle feeding Sofia and Chance while I entertained the younger kids with a movie on Netflix. Jake was in the game room with the older kids and baby Toby. For the past hour, neither of us have said much to each other unless it has to do with what time they go to bed and what kind of Gerber Toby should have. In the end, it was almost like he wasn't there. At least to me.

      "Lenne, can we go play in the game room while the pizza gets here?" asked Robert, one of the twins. He was the most restless, always had to be moving, talking or messing with Caleb. Caleb was more reserved but just as mischievous. I nodded, and Robert rounded up the kids, leading them to the game room. Celeste padded over and made grabby hands, meaning she wanted me to carry her. I laughed and picked the smiling toddler up, kissing her chubby cheeks as we made our way to the game room where now everyone but the babies resided.

      The little girls squealed when they noticed I had joined the room and ran over to me. I put a shy Celeste down and smiled at all of them, taking Celeste's hand along with a little blonde girl who pulled us over to a small pink dresser that had all kinds of fake tiaras and jewelry draped all over it. They sat me down on a large bean bag and started putting necklaces on me while one of the older girls painted my nails. After many little hands tugged at my hair and body parts, they were satisfied. I looked in the mirror and my hair was in two braided pigtails, my nails were pink and I had a blue tiara on my head. For a group of 5-year-olds, they had done a decent job.

     "Now you are ready for the Princess Ball, Lenne. Come on. We got your prince ready." Lindsey said, winking at me and pulling me over to the center of the game room. She turned me around and there was Jake, wearing a foam king crown and some type of white cape. I laughed and shook my head at Lindsey who was now sitting with the rest of the kids on the black futon, watching us. He did a mock bow and held out his hand, causing all the younger girls to giggle, the younger boys to fake gag, and the older kids to 'ooh' and 'aah'. I reluctantly took his hand and stepped towards him, not looking at his face.

      "Ok. Ok. Cut!" Lindsey shouted making me jump and move away from Jake. Lindsey strolled over to us with a smirk and grabbed our hands. She pulled us together and placed one of his hands on my waist and one of mine on his shoulder. Nodding, she pushed me towards Jake, till we were practically breathing the exact same air. I looked nowhere but down, for I could feel his gaze on me and I was too afraid to even look up. Lindsey took out her phone and put on a random slow song, basically urging us to sway around in each other's arms. We danced for a minute or two in silence until Jake began to sing along and turn me. That's when I looked up. His eyes were already on my face, letting me know he was singing to me. The music finally cut, making me flinch backward and take off the crown. As if on cue, Mateo walked in holding Chance and a slice of pizza.

      "Pizza is here so let's go people! Move it!" he excitedly urged, running out of the room and down the hall. I quickly set the crown down, grabbed Celeste by the hand and walked out of the room, not even looking back at Jake. I was putting pizza slices on paper plates for everyone when Jake finally came down the hall, holding Toby who was rubbing his eyes. We had about half an hour to get everyone in bed, meaning we had to eat quickly. Everyone grabbed a plate and went to sit down on the living room floor, rushing to scarf down their pizza cause the knew whoever wasn't in bed on time, was in trouble. After literally everyone finished, Cathy and Mateo herded everyone up the stairs like sheep, Jacqueline following after them to put them to bed. I grabbed Sofia and since Jake had already taken Chance to his nursery, I left Toby in the living room with Lindsey. I swaddled Sofia and laid her in the crib, turning on the mobile. She cooed for about five minutes before she fell asleep, making me smile and close the door quietly. I padded over to Chance's nursery, peeking through the doorway and seeing Jake holding Chance. That's when he started singing.