Copyright Ⓒ 2019 by B. R. BaileyAll Rights Reserved
"I think that's everyone," Jack said, closing the door after a whole ten minutes passed with no cars parking. Not that there was any room left on the street or in the long driveway.
Screams and little bodies crashed against him as kids ran around, playing with stuffed animals. In the corner of the back yard, Judy and Apple were doing face paint while another couple was teaching the kids how to make their very own leather bracelets.
Edmond was at that station and was thrilled.
Ashley had him making stuff every day. They loved arts and crafts. Today, with so many other kids involved, he was finally taking an interest again.
In a playpen lined with quilts sat the babies, all of them playing with new binkies. Alicia and Amelia had on little crowns and adorable matching pink dresses. Alicia's crown was sideways.
Karen was snapping pictures away like there was no tomorrow.
Click, click, click!
He knew the ream would be long and smiled in spite of his sadness. Pictures were good. They helped everyone remember the good times. His parents hadn't been big on photos. He hadn't thought much of it because he remembered everything, just like his dad.
But, after they died in the car crash, he had wished they had more photos. He wanted to show them to Ashley, and then to his children, so they could know their family.
As everyone lined up around the tables, he and Greg carried out the sheet cake, decorated in pink rosettes. Careful to not disturb the flame of the candle, they set it on the table, wiping sweat from their brows to wild applause.
"You really outside yourself Karen," Jack admitted with pride. "This is the second biggest cake I've ever seen. Only our wedding cake tops it."
Cutting off the thought, he looked to Alicia and Amelia, whose wide eyes were ogling the cake as if it were the most incredible thing they had ever seen.
"Sorry, sorry I'm late!" someone called out from inside the house a moment before the front door slammed. "Traffic was a mess after summer school."
Summer school? Everyone here has infants or adult children.
"Ginny! I'm so glad you could make it!" Karen said, not moving from her position in front of the cake. "Hurry back here. Alicia and Amelia are about to blow out the candle."
Unfortunately, she took Grandma Karen for her word and ran, hitting the sliding glass door with an audible thud that made everyone at the party wince.
The good news was that Karen got great pictures of Alicia and Amelia blowing out the candle, which took them a while to figure out.
The other good news was that the glass slider was Plexiglas, so no broken shards to deal with. The screen was pulled back before the door now, so everyone knew the slider was closed.
Int he meantime Ginny was holding up a bloody towel to her face, assuring Karen and Jack that no, her nose was not broken.
"Jack it's been so long. How are you? How are the kids?" Her questions were smothered by the material and nasally.
"The kids are fine Ginny. Are you sure it's not broken? That's an awful lot of blood."
"I just bleed a lot. Always have. Drink whole milk every day. Good strong bones -OW!"
"If an ice pack hurts that much I'd say it's broken," Karen commented, lifting the ice pack back off of Ginny's face.
You could have warned her, Jack thought but knew better than to vocalize his thoughts on the ice pack.
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The Science of Theft
Misteri / ThrillerJack O'Connell had everything. A great wife; a great family; a great career that took him all over the world catching art thieves. The world was his until a hit and run shattered it. After losing his wife Ashley, Jack re-evaluates his life and set...
