How My World Changed Forever...Again

Happy Birthday...you're screwed

Colleen's POV
     As the babies wake me up crying, Erik walks into the room with breakfast for me.  "Aww!  Lovey!"
     "Happy birthday," he says shyly.
     "Thanks!  You're so cute!"
     Later in the day, Erik, Rachel, Matt, and I are all up and ready for the day.
     Erik and I walk down the stairs with the girls to find the living room and kitchen decorated thanks to Rachel and Katie.
     "Oh my god!" I say, rolling my eyes fakely.
     It totally looks like a kids' birthday party but I'm 100% okay with it.  Today Christopher and Jessica are coming with the kids as well as my mom and dad and Trent.  Also, the Leblanc-Donnelly crew is coming over, before the rest of the family I believe.  Katie LeBlanc is already here though.
     Fifteen minutes later, Annie, Hayley, and Katie are here with Jill.  I'm actually really, really happy they came before everyone else.  I absolutely love my family to death, they're my everything.  However, it's physically and mentally exhausting to have the Ballinger kids here sometimes.  They're constantly asking questions, they want to get into everything, and the energy is through the roof.  Bailey is sometimes the most hyper; she just can't seem to settle down.  She always wants to be on top of me, and I just gave birth to two babies.  Not to mention the fact that my filter for what I say has to be on red alert.  Hayley is younger than Bailey and more mature.  It's probably because Annie is above her, but still.  It's so easy to have them all around.  Also, I am careful of what I say, just because I still don't know them that well, but it's not a big deal if I slip up.

Jill's POV
     "Happy birthday!" We say, entering Colleen's house.
     "Hey!  Thanks guys!"
     We exchange greetings and all settle in on the couch.  I know how Colleen feels; she gave birth two short weeks ago.  For her birthday, I would love nothing more than to just be chill.
     A little while later, still before the rest of Colleen's family is here, she looks down at her phone and her face falls.
     I look at Rachel and see she's on high alert.

Rachel's POV
     "Shit!" Colleen says, "What the hell?!"
     "What?!" I ask, having absolutely no idea what's going on.
     Colleen practically shoves Violet (?) into Jill's arms, who is conveniently next to her, and stands up, clearly very upset.
     "What's wrong?" I ask again.
     Erik gets up and passes Hazel to Katie.  Everyone is so confused.  He stands beside her and says, "hey, what's up, love?"
She hands him her phone and leans into his chest.  He holds her phone with one hand and the back of her head with the other.  They're literally goals.
I watch Erik's face change as he reads the screen. He whispers in her ear through her hair and she nods. Without warning, he reads aloud, "we are deeply sorry, Colleen, to inform you that there is no way we will be able to host your May 9th, 2020 wedding.  Please get in touch for details."
      "Hey," I say, "let's not panic.  Call them, and find out what happened.  We have six months.  If it's all off, we'll figure something out, okay?"
     Colleen nods.  I watch everyone else sit awkwardly, not really knowing what to do.  Colleen calms down and goes upstairs with Erik to call the theater.
     I stand up and say, "on behalf of my older and much less emotionally stable sister, I apologize for her immediate reaction.  In defense of my older and much more responsible sister, it is her wedding.  Oh, god, this is really bad timing."
     "Don't apologize, Rach.  Like you said, this is her wedding.  Besides, our kids are on the internet.  There's nothing new for them to hear."  This comment by Katie gets laughs from the girls.
     "I mean, my brother's kids are internet kids too, and between us, their ears may have started bleeding.  I really should stop joking, and go help Erik, but I'm sure they're okay."

Colleen's POV
     "Okay, I need to know what's going on with this wedding cancellation stuff," I say into my phone, sitting on Erik's lap as he rubs my back.
      "Again, we are very sorry about this.  You've done so much for us over the years and we would have avoided this at all costs.  We told you as soon as possible.  So anyway, we lost our food, drink, and ultimately, wedding, permit.  Weddings are not something we typically do.  We've done them before, but it's not a regular thing.  Of course we wanted to make yours special.  However, when this happened, it was decided by cooperate that they would not be renewed even if we could, which it wasn't looking good anyway.  It's not just food and drinks, we legally cannot host a wedding as of 2020."
     "So what about the rest of this year?  What can we do to make this happen?" Erik's shakes his head as I sound absolutely crazy attempting to plan a wedding in less than two months."
      "I'm sorry, Colleen.  You know how hard it is to get in here.  There's just no time."
      "I know.  That was silly.  Besides, I couldn't pull that together in that amount of time.  If I can ask, why did you loose it?  Did something happen?"
      "No.  The permits were going to be up anyway.  It's becoming a bigger and bigger realization that it can become dangerous to have a lot of people in a small area with a lot of alcohol.  We aren't built for weddings.  Again, we've done it before, and nothing has ever happened, but I guess cooperate and whoever approves advertised wedding venues in Santa Barbra decided it just wasn't a good idea.  One incident is too many.  Along with the drink permit, we inevitably are loosing the food and marriage permit.  If you were to try to get married here, it would not only not be a legal marriage but also an illegal one.  I'm sorry."
     I'm devastated, but through my career, I've learned to maintain professionalism on the phone.  "Yeah.  I guess life happens.  Let's talk about contracts.  We have one.  What do we get back?"
     "You get your deposits and will not be charged for anything.  We are also legally bound to offer to find you a venue in equivalent price if you would like."
     "That won't be necessary.  We'll figure something out."
     "Okay.  Again, I'm really sorry.  Trust me, we've fought for you specifically.  There's just no way.  If there's anything at all we can do, reach out, please.  You and your family have been incredible over the years.  I hope you understand."
     "I do.  Thanks for letting me know with time to actually fix this.  Bye bye."
     "Wishing you the best."
     I hang up the phone and collapse into Erik's arms.  This sucks.

     Once I'm back downstairs feeling a little better, I text Jess who still isn't here.  "Hey.  What's up?  Where are you guys 😂"
     "It is so your birthday!  Sorry, we had to turn around halfway there because Parker didn't have shoes and I forgot the diaper bag.  Mom of the year, right here."
     "It's fine.  Guess who doesn't have a wedding venue anymore?  Best birthday news evvahh 🤦🏻‍♀️ 😭"
     "Oh my gosh!  Spill the tea when we get there, girl!"
     "Oh don't worry, I will.  Now I'm just a stress ball."
     "Don't stress.  We'll figure it out.  I might have an idea 😏"

Jessica's POV
     As we get to Colleen's, we're the last ones here, per-usual. I already had the talk with my kids in the car that Auntie Panties is going to be very tired and not have a whole lot of energy. This is the first time since she gave birth that they're going to be spending an extensive amount of time with her. I also know that Colleen's wedding venue just cancelled so she's probably not in the best mood. I'm pretty sure every word I said is completely disregarded as soon as we enter the house.
Everyone's extra excited today because Katie, Annie, and Hayley are here.
As my kids run across the room, Duncan just following behind, I see Colleen's head spring up from the couch. She smiles but anyone could see all the exhaustion and stress in her eyes.
I greet Colleen and she says, "so what's your plan, cause I got nothin?"
I smile. "Well I talked to Christopher and..."