Hollywood Journey

Shower

"Guys you really didn't have to do all this, I would have been happy to just have a day with everyone."

I walk through our house, which my friends, Willow, Sherry and Jane have turned into the cutest pink themed party.

"You're about to have two girls, you deserve a day to yourself." Jane walks aside of me as they lead me through every precisely decorated room "Trust me, you need it. And you're going to have fun with your friends here."

"We would have made it even bigger but we didn't think you'd be happy with that."

"I just can't believe you guys actually went through all this trouble for me..." I walk into the kitchen to see that for once it's spotless, and there's trays of cupcakes on the counters "Oh my God those look amazing!"

"The boys made them." Willow hands me a perfectly wrapped pink cupcake "With Brad's help."

"Wait, you guys left my husband and children in charge of the cooking? They're terrible, you can't do that."

"I have backups. Willow warned me their cooking isn't always the best."

Jane pulls some bags out that are filled with different pink and purple cupcakes, probably saving the day.

"So, go out and enjoy everything. They're all waiting for you."

As soon as I reach the deck, everyone greets me with hugs and gifts, showering me with all the love I could possibly need right now. They push me towards a special chair set up in the corner, conveniently close to both the food and the bathroom since I constantly have to pee.

"So we thought we could all play some games for some entertainment, we want to keep it fun and relaxed."

"And games was the solution? Do you have any idea how competitive these people are? Courteney punched me once over a board game."

"Well we're all adults so we're going to keep it civil."

They all line up to play some scavenger hunt that's been set up around the yard while I prop my legs up with a full plate of delicious party food to keep myself occupied while they run around looking for bows and crowns.

"You having fun?" Sherry pulls a chair up next to me, handing me an extra cupcake "You look beautiful. I don't know how you have any energy to do your hair and makeup."

"Today was special, otherwise I look terrible. Yesterday I didn't even brush my hair at all. I'm having fun watching all of them run around though. I'm just glad I'm not the one doing the running so I can watch all of the excitement."

"Just can't believe you're going to have two more to care for soon. You're going to be having so much fun. The boys are going to love it."

"Nols keeps asking me if he can help play with his sisters when they get here. He wants to put all their new outfits on them the second they're home. I can't wait to see his reaction."

"What about Zane?"

"He likes using my belly as a pillow, especially at night when he can't sleep. Otherwise he doesn't show much interest."

"He'll be better once they're here taking you away from him."

"It's going to be fun."

I sigh, thinking about everything that is about to happen. I have to push two people out of me, and then somehow throw them into our already crazy mix at home without disrupting Nolan and Zane too much. I have no idea how we're going to do it successfully, but I do know it'll be worth all the hard times once all the kids are getting along good.

"Times up!" Jane gets everyone back to the deck, having Sherry collect their bags with everything they've found so far. Nobody seems to have won, since they all have only a few items in their bags, and there were about 50 things hidden.

"So I guess it's time to just drink... and eat the amazing cupcakes my grandchildren made for all of you." Sherry hands everyone a cupcake while Jane goes around filling everyone's glass with pink champagne but mine "They're very excited for you to eat them."

"Did Brad help?" His sister holds up hers, examining it "If he did I think I'll pass."

"Yeah... that's probably not a bad idea. Willow has some she made with the boys that Brad didn't help with."

A few people grab those while I stick to the store bought ones hoping they're safe since my children are horrible cooks.

"How'd your moms appointments go?" Jane eventually makes her way over to me, handing me some juice "I know she felt terrible for missing this, I was going to try to change the date but with twins I didn't want to cut it too close since you can go early."

"She said everything is good, she has another tomorrow so she's staying overnight. I'm just glad she'll at least be there for the birth. That's more important to me."

"We all got you some presents, things we thought you could use the first few weeks."

I can tell by the tone of Sherry's voice that these are definitely joke gifts.

"Oh God," I watch in horror as they load up the gifts in front of me. Willow pulls them closer so I don't have to reach over my impossible belly.

I open the first bag to see a bunch of different nursing bras, all with funny designs and phrases on them, even though they're way too small.

"These wouldn't even fit me at 12, much less after 4 kids."

I hold them up, laughing at the bottle nipples they've glued onto them. They even have spilled milk pictures on some of them, reminding me of horror stories from breastfeeding the boys.

"We tried taking some of the stories you've told us from before and making them into gag gifts," Willow hands me a box "This one is my favorite."

There's a folded tshirt in the bottom, that has one of my worst memories on it.

There's a picture of bright green vomit all over it, with a picture of the scene from the story right inside the vomit. I'm drawn on it, holding Nolan over a bucket, but they have arrows showing how his head is turning towards me right as his stomach explodes.

"Noooo."

"We couldn't leave that story out." Willow hands me something else from the box wrapped in tissue paper. I undo it to find a headband with bright green paper hanging off it, obviously representing the vomit that inevitably ended up in my hair.

"I hate you guys."

"We wanted to make sure you had a fun day."

"Well, you did a good job."