𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐁𝐎𝐑

38

nessa smooths out her black dinner dress before putting in her new diamond earrings that were a gift from her parents. music plays from the guest room opposite her own. she smiles to herself, feeling relieved that josh's siblings are settling in well. she was so worried and for no reason at all.

william ate his body weight in chocolate ice cream which resulted in him having a sugar rush and eventually he tired himself out on the couch watching nick toons. he's easier to handle when he's napping but nessa doesn't mind, he's a rather funny character.

the kids are currently getting themselves dressed for the dinner party. they don't have to look as fancy as nessa does because they're not staying for long but olivia insisted she wears a nice skater dress and william just likes any excuse to wear his favourite superhero socks.

  "you guys ready? we have to leave soon" nessa calls as she leaves her room, her black stilettos being the only sound in her hallway.

   it only takes seconds later before the guest bedroom door opens and william comes running out, looking very smart for a five year old. his little dress shirt is tucked messily into his trouser pants but he's done a decent job of tying his own salmon colored tie.

   nessa chuckles lightly at the eager boy, putting her phone and purse down onto the kitchen island before making her way over to him.

    "c'mere you" she smiles, taking his hand and leading him over to the couch.

   william stands nice and still while nessa fixes him up. she tucks in his shirt neatly and pops up his shirt collar so she can redo the tie. it takes only a few seconds before the small boy looks as handsome as ever. 

     "you ready to go?" she asks him, taking his hand once again. he nods enthusiastically. all day william has been talking about seeing his big brother again. he misses josh terribly when he's not home.

     "liv! we're gonna be late. you coming or what?" nessa asks, putting on williams blazer. he looks very smart.

   olivia steps out of the room and into the hallway, giving her little brother and nessa a full showing of her outfit. william opens his mouth and nessa smiles widely.

    "you look like a girl" william deadpans, earning himself a glare from his pretty big sister.

     "thanks dork, i'll take that as a compliment" she smiles, ruffling his hair. william swats her hand away.

 
     "i just gelled this mop" he whines.

    nessa hands olivia her coat before picking up her phone, purse and keys.

     "you look very beautiful liv" she complements.

   "thank you, now who's ready to make an entrance!".

__________

before going inside the restaurant, nessa met up with mr & mrs richards outside of the venue. they took the kids and are in place, all they have to do now is wait for jaden to call them and then bingo, we have a surprise.

nessa makes her way inside, she gets shown to the table by a waitress and when she arrives- all eyes are on her.

   "there she is!" mads beams, standing up from her chair. she takes her best friend and hugs her tight.

     "nice to see you too" nessa greets, suffocating a little.

  from the top of the table, josh watches the interaction take place. he isn't sure whether he too should get up and greet nessa or if he'd be better just staying seated, giving sarah his full attention.

   after the two best friends are reunited, they take their seats next to each other with nessa saying hello to all her other friends. she looks over at josh who's already staring at her with a half smile. he mouths "thank you for coming" and she responds with a small nod.

   it's weird not sitting beside josh, talking to him, making jokes, or simply just being close. ever since thanksgiving, the relationship the two have has been on strain and maybe it's because of what happened but maybe it's because josh has been getting serious with sarah and he hasn't exactly been eager to fix his friendship with nessa but she hasn't either. not because she didn't want to but because she wanted to let him have a chance of happiness and if sarah was that chance, who was she to stop them.

   the dinner started lightly with the appetizers, everyone ravishing over how good theirs was. mads, nessa, and anthony were having a debate about a reality tv show that they're all watching on netflix right now. currently, mads has a different opinion about who a certain girl should end up with. nessa and anthony agree on the same guy. it's good that they're having a very professional sophisticated conversation.

  "so ness, how's the love life" bryce asks, making the poor girl choke on her ice water. all eyes are now focused on nessa. every single one of them.

   she glances over at josh but only for less than a second. her heart feels icky, her palms sweaty.

   "non existent" she says with a joking tone. everyone laughs, josh looks away.

    diving back into separate conversations, the group of friends finish their meal, giving all sorts of complements to the waiting staff and chef of course. nessa sees jaden get out of his seat and she knows what happens next.

  the lights go dim after jaden returns and everyone except josh and sarah- who don't know what's happening- look behind josh as his parent are walking towards him with the birthday cake in their hands. olivia and william walk beside them, william spotting nessa and waving.

     as they get closer, music starts to play from the overhead speakers. "happy birthday to you".

  you can see the blood physically drain from josh's face when he realizes what's happening. having people sing happy birthday to him has been his worst experience every single year. he turns around in his seat- expecting to see the waiters holding some ridiculous birthday cake but he's frozen to the spot when he makes eye contact with his dad, then his mom, and then his two siblings.

   josh stands up, his mom placing the cake on the table. everyone watches the sweet moment unfold, very emotional. josh hugs his parents, his head resting on his dads shoulder. he can't describe what he's feeling right now but he knows he's only ever felt it once in his whole life.

  
      "what are you guys doing here?" he asks breathlessly, his arms around william and olivia.

    "it was nessa who contacted us and flew us out here. she didn't want us to miss your big day" his dad smiles proudly.

    josh looks over his shoulder at nessa who's watching the scene play out, tears in her eyes. she's an emotional wreck and a sucker for family reunions. he looks at her in a way he's never looked at anyone before. nessa doesn't know it but she's just made his birthday the best one he's ever had and it hasn't even properly started yet.

_____________

we coming close to the end of this book
🥺😔🤚🏻💅🏼

when this one ends, i'll be posting my new one!

i love william!!
(also i'm aware he's not 5 irl but i wanted him to be a small child so i made him a small child. deal wit it)

i love u guys. thank you sm for the support and putting up with my inactive ass. i pinky promise the updates will be more regularly.

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