Hollywood Journey

Welcome Willow

"Mamaaa!!" Nolan runs into what will be Willow's room, following me excitedly "Will here!"

"Buddy why are you half dressed?" I turn from the bed I'm decorating to see my two year old in only his diaper and one sock "Where is your other sock? And the clothing I put on you this morning..."

"Dadda off." He shrugs, jumping on the bed "I sleep."

"No, Willow's going to sleep here. You're going to sleep in your new bed." I pick him up, walking out of the room "Let's go get dressed so we're ready for Willow."

We find Brad walking around the living room nervously, cleaning up everything. I put Nolan down to play, and try to calm Brad.

"They should be here any minute. You can't get the house much cleaner than this."

"I know, I'm just worried. What if we aren't ready for a teenager. According to my mom they aren't the easiest."

"We got this, babe."

I pull him in closer, scared to death myself, but fully aware that we will try our hardest.

"It's just as scary and difficult for her, we have to at least make it look like we have our shit together. She's leaving her home to be here. She'll need all the support she can get from us."

"You really do make this easier. I don't think I could do it without your constant reassurance." He leans in for a sweet kiss "I love you, and our little brat so much."

"We love you too."

"Yeah, dadda!" Nolan runs up to join the hug "Love you!"

"Are you excited to see your cousin?" Brad picks up Nolan, holding him between us "She's going to be staying here with us."

"She play?"

"I'm sure she will if you ask really nicely."

Nolan doesn't say anything for a few seconds, thinking very hard about his answer.

"I hungy!"

He completely avoids the question, making Brad and I laugh.

"Well I guess we better feed you then. Should we order pizza?" I walk towards the fridge, opening it to see that we really should have got food earlier "We don't have much more than wine and yogurt."

"It amazes me how we've kept him alive for 2 years." Brad walks up behind me, handing Nolan the half eaten candy bar they've been hiding from me "We should really work on his diet."

"You think?"

I call for the pizza and feed the dogs quickly while Brad and Nolan play with all his trains. Willow's flight landed an hour ago, so I make some room for her luggage next to the couch and put the few snacks we actually have out.

"Door!" Nolan darts out of the playroom a few minutes later at the sound of the doorbell. He stands at the door, trying his hardest to reach the handle and open it "Hewp!!"

"Hold on." I laugh, walking up to get it "You aren't supposed to open the door anyway."

I quickly open it, and Willow and Doug Brad's brother quickly run in.

"Hey, honey!" I give Willow a hug while Nolan attaches himself to her leg "How was your flight?"

"It was good, it felt really long since I'm excited."

"Or it was long because she kept counting down the minutes." Doug walks over, reaching out towards me "Thanks again for doing this. We really appreciate it."

"We're so excited to have her here. I just hope it isn't too big of an adjustment."

Brad walks out a few seconds later, finally catching up to all of us.

"We can switch and you can take him for the summer. He lives off chicken nuggets, jello and milk and wakes you by 6 every morning. You never need to remember an alarm."

"He's so cute!" Willow picks up Nolan "I can't wait to see him more."

"I would gladly take him, but all mine are past that stage so he'd be lonely..." Doug brings in some of Willow's suitcases "But on the bright side you now have a live in babysitter!"

"That's true," Brad turns towards me smirking "Maybe we can finally go see that movie."

"I think we'll be staying home for a little, let Willow get used to everything before leaving her with Nolan. He's a handful."

"Well he is part Brad. You have to expect that."

"They are alike."

We all go in the living room to sit around and eat while they relax from their flight.

"I wish I could stay longer." Doug looks around at all of us as he finishes his food. Willow seems upset thinking about him leaving, but definitely tries to hide it from us.

"Just make sure you call me when you land, I wanna see everyone when you get home. They'll be jealous of everything here."

"You're all more than welcome to come visit anytime. We love having everyone here."

Doug leaves shortly after, so I take Willow up to her room while Brad gets Nolan ready for bed.

"I didn't want to open your boxes you sent, so we just put them to the side. Hopefully everything else is good."

"I love it!" She falls on the bed "Thank you so much for letting me stay here. I'm so excited for everything!"

"We're excited for you too. We love you so much, having you here is going to be fun." I sit next to her on the bed, pulling her closer "Just let us know if you need anything, okay? We want to help you as much as we can."

"I love you, Uncle Brad and Nolan so much." She leans over, hugging me "I'm so lucky to have you guys. Thank you for always being there for me and giving me chances like this. Your motivation means so much."

"We love you too, honey. More than you're ever going to know."

I leave her to go to bed and find Brad in our bed already half asleep. I get changed and crawl in next to him exhausted.

"Do you think we're ready for this?"

"Not at all."