Time Ahead

chapter nineteen

Leigh-Anne's POV:

Today is Rhea's birthday. She's turning two. For being two, she doesn't speak much. Andre and I are getting concerned about it but we just brush it off and hope she'll grow out of it. Her and Izzy's birthday is only a week or two apart, so last year they had a joint birthday party but we decided this year to have separate ones.

I go into Rhea's room and gently shake her awake. "Happy Birthday babe," I say as her eyes flutter open. She looks at me and smiles. "Are you ready for breakfast?" I ask her. A laugh escapes her mouth meaning yes. I pick her up and bring her downstairs to the kitchen. I put her in her high chair and give her food.

I walk over to make some coffee and Andre and Jacob join me in the kitchen. "Do you want pancakes baba?" I ask Jacob, running my figures through his hair. He nods looking up at me. "You go sit, i'll make them," Andre says. "You sure? I can make them," I say. "Go, sit," he says, handing me the finished cup of coffee. I smirk and walk back over to the table. I take a picture of Rhea eating and tweet it saying "Happy Birthday Princess."

Once Jacob's pancakes were done, Andre grabbed us both a yoghurt. We all ate as a family, we don't get to do this very often because I am either on tour or in the studio while he's home and he is training or playing while I'm home, it was nice.

"Jacob, you go get changed and then help daddy with decorations okay?" I tell him while I clear the plates. He nods and runs up the stairs into his room. I take Rhea out of her highchair and set her on the ground, where she runs over to her dollhouse in the playroom.

When I finish doing the dishes, I head upstairs and change into a sundress and do my makeup and hair. I only put on a little bit of makeup and put my hair into a neat, but messy bun since Rhea's party is a pool party. I walk back downstairs to see Andre and Jacob struggling to hang something. "Do you want help?" I ask, laughing while taking the banner from them. "This is some wizardry," he says putting his hands on his head. I hang the Happy Birthday banner and help them decorate. The theme of her party is a Caribbean, Jamaican, beachy theme. I bought some inflatable palm trees to put around the pool and to put in the sandbox. Once that was done, I grab my keys to run to the store. "I'm grabbing the food," I yell, walking out the door.

I get to the restaurant where I ordered the food from. I got some Mexican food catered and some desserts to set out. I also got a cake that looks like the ocean. I check my phone to see some texts from the girls. "Do you want us to come now? We can help you set up," Jesy offered. I responded, "Yes, please."

When I got home, the girls came within a few minutes. Each of them with gifts and decorations in their hands. "You girls didn't have to get all that stuff," I say when I see how much stuff they have. "But we wanted to," Perrie said, handing me a few things. I see the kids run by with their bathing suits on and dresses over them. Izzy was matching Perrie, both wearing a yellow bathing suit and white dresses over it. Jaz and Jolie were wearing matching polka dot bathing suits and blue dresses. Jesy was wearing a black bathing suit and a red dress over. Alex and Chris followed the kids into the house.

"How are you Chris?" I ask when we settle inside. "I'm actually really good. I get my cast off soon and then I can start physical therapy," he says with a smile. Jesy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Go sit babe, i'll help them set up," she says. He nods, walking with his crutches over to the couch, joining Andre and Alex.

We talked about nothing while we decorated. By the time it was done, it looked like a resort. "This is amazing," Jade says, looking around. "Is it bad I kinda want to keep it this way?" I ask laughing. I leave the girls to go put Rhea into her bathing suit. I put her in a cute flowery one piece and grab her floaties. I put her hair in two braids and put a purple dress on her. I come downstairs and stop for a second. I place Rhea back on the ground and let her run off. I went into a daydream. Thinking about how fast both of them are growing up. Letting all of the decorations really hit me. "You okay babe?" Perrie says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, it's just, they're growing up so fast. It's a lot of take in," I explain. Perrie nods, "Oh, I know. It's weird to think five years ago, we were just living without a care in the world," she says. I nod laughing, "It's so surreal." Perrie grabs my hand and leads me outside to the pool, "Let's go babe."

We get there and everything's finished. Including the food being set up, the bartender making cocktails, and the decorations in place. "Want to go in?" Perrie says pointing to the pool, "Andre said he can greet the guests." I nod, taking off my dress. Jesy comes outside, followed by Jade and all of the kids.

The kids each took their turn jumping into the pool. Jacob going first doing a cannonball. Izzy following, doing a dive. And Jaz and Jolie holding hands doing a leap. I hoped onto one of the floats and just relaxed.

After the chaos of the pool had gone down, I look around to find Jade missing. Concerned, I look over on the deck to see her laying in a lounge chair. "Babe, you don't want to come in?" I ask her. "I mean, I would love to, I just don't want to go into labor on Rhea's birthday," she answers. I look back to see the kids distracted by a ball. "Come here," I say, swimming over to get out of the pool. She stands up and I offer her my hand. She takes it and I help her into the pool, getting her settled on a float. "Thanks," she says laughing. "Anytime, now watch out," I say, splashing her. "Hey, we want to join," Perrie says, swimming over with Jesy. "Oh, it's on," I say after she splashes me.

It had been an hour or two and all of the guests had arrived. Some joined us in the pool, others played volleyball. "Who wants cake?" Andre said from the door way into the house. Immediately, all of the kids shouted and cheered hearing the word "cake."

Once everyone was settled, Andre appears from the hallway with a cake and a 2 candle. I grab my phone and start taking pictures. Everyone starts singing happy birthday and a smile grows on her face. When the cake was in front of her and the song was done, Andre said, "Make a wish." She listened and blew out her candles, with the help of Jacob.Everyone clapped after, which made her laugh.

When we were done with cake, we moved onto gifts. Everyone brought so much, which was insane for a two year old. Out of everything, her favorites were a barbie doll from Grandma, a new dress from Perrie, and a toy cash register from Jade.

Everyone started leaving and Andre and Alex cleaned up. The girls stayed a little bit after but the kids were getting tired and cranky, so they took them home. Andre had put Jacob to bed and I was laying on the couch with Rhea. We were watching Pitch Perfect. It is a little inappropriate for a toddler, but she loves the songs from it. When the movie was over, I tucked her in bed. Giving her a kiss on the head, her eyes started to close. "Happy birthday babe," I say, turning off her lights.

a/n: hope you liked this chapter! have a lovely day! -honey