Marry Me

Part 14

"Did you get the party plates?" Ricky asks nervously, holding the birthday cake carefully in his arms as he waits for you to lock the office. You nod your head as you twist your key, a few bags of party supplies slung over your arm.

"Yes, I have them."

"And the cups? Claire said she didn't have any."

"I bought some last night, remember?"

"Right." Ricky follows you through the garage, careful not to trip over anything and ruin his daughters birthday cake --- which means not tripping over the jack you always leave in the middle of the floor. He scowls at it as he passes, remembering the many stubbed toes.

"I don't know why you're so worried, she's had plenty of birthdays at this point." You send an amused look at him over your shoulder as you unlock your car, tossing the supplies into the backseat. "And it's at Happy Palace, they have stuff there."

"Yeah, but they charge you for it," your husband grumbles as he gets in the passenger side, keeping the cake in his lap protectively; he's not going to sit it down where something can happen to it. Chloe doesn't mind smooshed icing but Claire sure as hell does when it comes to taking photos. She likes to post a lot, and he knows this party is going to be online somewhere... Twitter, probably, since that's her favorite social media.

She gained so many followers when they got together, and he doubt that's changed.

"I bought spare candles, plates, cups, napkins --- the works. They're all in the trunk if we really need them. But really, there's nothing to worry about. The kids are going to enjoy the bouncy castles and all the games more than anything else, they don't care about what the plates look like."

"I know, it's just a thing. Claire likes everything to be perfect for Chloe's birthdays."

Ahuh.

You let it drop, knowing it's none of your business, you're just the stepmother. Chloe is Claire and Ricky's daughter, and they can do their thing however they want. You just think it's silly to stress over such minute details; you would get it if Chloe thought it was important, but she doesn't --- she was trying to convince you to make spaghetti for the party the other night, after all.

Ricky worries all the way to Happy Palace, basically a rip off of Chuck. E. Cheese with the games and the fake princess costume with some poor fool sweltering in it. It does have bouncy castles, which the kids all love, but you've never actually stepped foot in the place.

Your dad wouldn't have known how to plan a birthday party to save his life.

"Please stop panicking," you sigh as you pull into the already packed parking lot of Happy Palace, a big yellow and blue painted building with a faded sign. It's a big place, and its like already you can hear the chaos of children's voices. "We're here and everything is going to be fine. Chloe has a birthday party every year, this isn't something new."

Ricky sends you a disgruntled look, still carefully holding the birthday cake that looks like a Barbie doll exploded on it. "I know, but it stresses me out. I'm always waiting for Claire or one of her boyfriends to confront me or something and it ruin Chloe's party."

"Have they?"

"Well, no ---."

"This is for Chloe, and claire isn't a bad mom," you say after a moment, because its true. The little girl is happy, she loves both of her parents and Claire obviously does her best but it's hard being a single parent. You don't always agree with her decisions, especially concerning where Ricky is involved, but its none of your business. They usually seem to work it out anyway.