Blended Family

Lin

Joey probably thought I was overdoing it on her quinceanera, but I wanted to spoil her rotten on this one.  She always had great birthday parties, but this one was going to be off the hook.  My mom was going crazy, but I told her to spare no expense.  We would have all of Joey's favorite things and people and it would be an amazing night.

The day finally arrived.  I had a tradition of waking her up the morning of her birthday to a serenade because, well, I'm me.  I sing every chance I get.  I padded down to the kitchen before anyone else was up and made chocolate chip pancakes.  Once I'd made the first batch of two, I put them on a tray, along with butter, syrup and silverware.  I found a candle, pushing it into the middle of the stack, and then lit it.  I cupped my hand around the small flame and walked to my daughter's room.

I pushed the door open and began singing with great gusto.  "Happy birthday to you!"

I grinned as she opened her eyes and smirked. 

"Happy birthday to you!" I continued and she rolled over and began to sit up.  "Happy birthday dear Josephine!  Happy birthday to you!"

She pushed herself back against her headboard and I set the tray in her lap, then planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Make a wish!"

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, opened them, then blew out the candle.  I clapped with great exaggeration like she was a little kid as she pulled out the candle and set it on the plate.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," I told her as she picked up the knife to get some butter.

"Thanks, Daddy," she told me, smiling up at me.  Most teenagers hated their parents showering attention on them, I thought, but my Joey still didn't seem to mind.  I hoped this would continue through her teenage years.

"Of course," I told her, running my hand over my messy mop.  I had decided to start growing it out again.  Pippa had confessed she found me really sexy with a man bun and I wanted to please her.  It was just starting to become long enough to pull back with an elastic. 

Joey's birthday had fallen on a Friday and the party would be that night.  She'd go to school like usual and then Pippa was going to take her to get her hair done.  Her mom was flying in that afternoon.  I had a short chat with my daughter, who was still waking up, and then went next door to check on Jack.  He was sitting up, hands gripping the side of his crib.

"What's up, little guy?" I asked him, and he let out a little happy grunt.  I exaggerated a smile and scooped him up, pressing kisses all over his chubby face.  He looked so much like his father.  I took him to the changing table to get a fresh diaper, then we were off to the kitchen to get some breakfast started.

Soon, the whole house was up and active.  Pippa and I were busy getting the little kids fed and stopping them from doing dangerous and messy things like pouring milk (which Alex attempted) and standing on the chair to look at a pigeon at our window (twice).

I gave Joey a kiss on the cheek and wished her a happy birthday again.  Then, it was just Pippa and me and the kids.  Pippa was rushing around because she had a meeting a 9 and needed to take Alex to preschool.  I squeezed her hip and offered to help, telling her not to worry.  In all her rushing, she managed to drop a heavy lunch ice pack on her bare too.

"Shit!" she cursed, and I could tell she was super stressed.  I leaned down and grabbed it off the floor as she winced in pain and curled her toes.

"Ouch," I commented, setting the pack in Alex's Dora lunchbox.  "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she kind of huffed, opening the fridge to find a Go-Gurt for Alex.  She picked out one and was about to toss it in when Alex protested.