It was the early afternoon of Justin’s birthday party, the air outside was warm and the sun felt good to the skin. Lynn was helping her mother, Sadie, cook some southern homemade fried chicken and pot pie. Justin was sitting in his high chair eating his baby food at the kitchen counter.
Lynn turned away from the stove for a second to attend to her son. “Aww, look at my little birthday boy eating all on his own,” Lynn cooed at him, then laughed, “But look at how much he eats like his daddy.” She took a napkin and wiped away the mess on his chubby round cheeks.
Lynn felt two strong arms wrap around her waist, “Hey! At least I clean myself up afterwards. It smells great in here.” Randy said laughing, kissing her forehead. “Honey where’d you want me set up all the balloons, banners, and streamers?”
Lynn turned around and laughed at the sight before her. Randy was covered with dark blue and baby blue streamers, holding at least twenty five white balloons.
“Arrange the chairs outside, but not too close to the grill. Tie the balloons everywhere around the house, and the streamers can hang from the ceiling here in the kitchen and the living room. Make sure everything is perfect.” Lynn instructed.
“Yes ma’am,” said Randy, playfully saluting her.
“Alright, let me go give Justin a bath. Lynn, sweetheart can you please chop up all the vegetables on the counter? I’m going to make some salad and make sure the cornbread, gumbo, and salmon turn out perfectly.” Her mother said, picking up a messy baby Justin and walked up the stairs.
“This is going to be a long day,” Lynn sighed, walking back to the stove.
And hour later most of the food was already prepared, the house was completely decorated, and the birthday boy was clean and nicely dressed in a white collared shirt and dark blue jeans. Randy and Lynne were taking a break from the kitchen and were trying to teach Justin how to walk.
“C’mon Justin, that’s it, walk to daddy. C’mon,” Randy said holding his arms out for Justin. However, Justin just walked about two steps before landing back on his bottom. Lynn picked him back up and used her arms to steady him.
“Justin, walk to daddy now. C’mon sweetie,” Lynn said directing her son into Randy’s arms. This time, Justin walk four steps and then tumbled to his side.
After about six more tries, the sound of the doorbell filled the house, and Randy went to go answer the door. It was Jim, Joyce, Darrin, and Cassidy. Jim and Joyce volunteered to help with the party and were arriving earlier than all the other guests.
“Hey ya’ll! Come on in. Thanks for coming to help, we all appreciate it,” Randy said.
“No problem! We wouldn’t miss hanging out with ya’ll for the world,” Joyce said, hugging him tightly. “Wow, it smells wonderful in here. I sure hope Sadie and Lynn are cooking up a storm in there!”
“Hey Randy, you ready to go use that new grill of yours?” Jim asked.
“Yeah, man. I have everything set up out back. I can’t wait to show you everything this baby can do!” Randy said, as the two men headed for the backyard.
Walking into the fairly sized home, the Sullivan’s greeted Sadie and Lynn, who was holding Justin in her arms now.
“Here Auntie Lynn, this is Justin’s pwesent.” Darrin said, handing a large blue bag and a card to her.
“Thank you sweetheart, would you mind setting that down near the chimney for me?” she asked. “You can go watch television in the living room if you’d like.”
“Okay, Auntie Lynn,” he said, placing the presents in front of the brick covered chimney and running to the living room.
“Oh my goodness! This must be little Cassidy I’ve been hearing so much about! Ain’t she the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen!” Sadie said, gently touching Cassidy’s soft tiny hand.
“Aw, thanks Sadie. Well, look at Justin! Look at those gorgeous blue eyes and curly blond hair, how adorable!” Joyce said, playing with Justin’s foot. “Alright ladies, how about we start working?”
Sadie headed towards the kitchen as Lynn placed Justin in his crib, and Joyce set Cassidy nearby in her carrier, and followed Lynn.
Many people showed up to the party, mainly neighbors and close friends Randy and Lynn made over the years. It was obvious from the look on their faces they were all enjoying themselves. The food was great, the music playing set the mood just right, the sun was shining down, and the house was packed with friends and family. The scent of southern home-cooked meals traveled throughout the house, and as the guests arrived, the pile of gifts increased in size. Everyone commented on how cute and grown up Justin was and when they saw either Jim or Joyce, they congratulated them on the birth of Cassidy.
As the hours went on, Lynn tried to keep everyone entertained anyway she could: pin the tail on the donkey, a magic show performed by a hired magician, a water balloon fight, karaoke, the piñata. And now, everyone gathered around the dining room table, as Lynn and Sadie lit the candle on Justin’s birthday cake.
“Justin look here, look at the camera son.” Randy said holding the camcorder, trying to get Justin’s attention.
Justin had a shiny silver birthday hat on that read ‘Birthday Boy’ and was drooling all over his shirt.
“Hi Daddy.” Lynn said for Justin, taking his hand and pretended to wave at the camera. “Alright sweetheart, are you ready to blow out your candles?” She asked as she balanced him on her hip, than kissed his cheek.
“Hey, Joyce, why don’t you get Cassidy in there with Lynn and Justin?” Sadie said, pulling Joyce to stand next to Lynne. “Okay everyone, sing ‘Happy Birthday’ on three. One, two, three.”
After the guests sang and clapped, it was time for Justin to blow out his candle.
“I wonder what to wish for for him.” Lynn said looking at Joyce.
“How about happiness, love, and success?” Joyce suggested.
“…and money.” Lynn added with a wink. The two women laughed and Lynn blew out the candle than gave Justin to Sadie. Joyce handed Cassidy over to Jim as she helped Lynne cut the cake and pass the plates around.
Randy stepped closer to the table, camcorder in one hand and with the other took a piece of cake, smothering it all over Lynn’s face. It looked like Lynn was bobbing for something in a tub of frosting.
“Randy!” she shrieked.
The guests gasped and laughed, curious as to what was going to happen next.
“Say hi to the camera honey.” Randy snickered, getting a close-up of his wife with cake all over his face. “I remember the last time I did that was at our wedding.”
“Lord! I can’t believe you did that!” Lynn said, slightly embarrassed. “Can you believe he did this?” She asked, turning to Joyce, but was surprised that even her best friend was laughing.
“I, uh, well Lynn you don’t look that bad with blue frosting all over your face. It brings out the color of your eyes.” Joyce said failing miserably to stifle a giggle.
“Oh you think this is funny?” Lynn asked, but before Joyce could respond she found herself with a whole plate of cake on her face.
And in the blink of an eye, little Darrin yelled “Cake fight!” and dug his hands into the cake, followed by everyone else. Even Sadie and Jim placed the babies down and joined in on the fun.
The cake fight turned into a war. There were globs of cake flying in every direction, making an absolute mess. Some people would hide under the table or behind the couches, but no matter what no one walked away cake-less. There were clumps and spots of it all over the place- in hair, on clothes, underneath shoes, stains on the carpet, and splatters of icing on the wall, everywhere. At the time, nobody- not even the adults- was concerned about the condition of anything, just having plain fun throwing cake at one another.
After the excitement subsided and everyone settled down, Randy sat down on the couch next to his wife and laughed.
“Look at this place,” he said catching his breath, “It looks like our efforts of trying to keep this place clean don’t really matter anymore.”
“But this was fun, you have to admit,” Lynn responded sighing, “God, that was so much fun.” She stood up and told the guests that they were all welcome to use the bathroom to clean up and to not worry about messing the house up.
Later on that night, as Randy and Lynn were saying goodbye to Sadie, Jim and Joyce crashed down on the couch.
“Tonight was wild, huh?” Jim asked looking over at Joyce who was yawning.
“Definitely. But it felt good to finally spend time with everyone without having to worry about all the things pregnant women worry about.” She said, reaching for his hand. “I must say, I do miss you doing everything for me these days.”
“Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep up with your needs everyday? It felt like you had a new order for me every minute. But, I had no problem tending to your needs because you paid me back by giving me my angel.” He said kissing her hand, and glancing at Cassidy, who was sleeping in her rocker next to Justin who was in his, sleeping as well. Darrin was asleep on the couch across from them.
“Alright ya’ll ready to clean up?” Lynn said walking in. “I appreciate that you guys stayed to help clean.”
“Ahh, it’s no problem. Let’s get this over with.” Jim said, getting up from the couch.
And hour later, the trash was taken out, the leftovers were put away, the stains on the carpet were cleaned, the floor was swept, the dishes were washed, and the countertop was wiped.
The four adults were sitting in the family room, each drinking a little bit of wine, discussing all sorts of topics with each other. The men cracked a few jokes here and there, the ladies got caught up in a discussion of their own, when suddenly they heard baby Justin start to cry.
Lynn rushed over to him and picked him up into her arms, “Shh…it’s okay baby, mama is here.” She tried calming him down for a little bit and sat down on the couch next to Randy. Then, Cassidy began to cry as well.
“Aww, honey, what’s the matter? Mommy is here. Shh,” Joyce said, rocking Cassidy in her arms and began humming a little, taking a seat on the couch across from Lynn and Randy, next to Jim.
When the babies settled down, Randy sat Justin up on his lap and said, “Look Justin, look at the baby. That’s Cassidy, you’re new friend.” Justin just started chewing on his fist and wiggled in his dad’s arms.
“Do you want to crawl, buddy?” Randy asked Justin, than set him down on the floor.
“Does he know how to walk yet?” Jim asked.
“Well, we’ve been trying to teach him for two weeks now. At first, we actually thought he would never be able to walk!” Lynn said, “But lately he’s been making some progress. I guess he needs some inspiration.”
“Yeah, that usually helps,” Joyce said, cradling Cassidy in her arms, who was playing with the bottom of Joyce’s chin, “I remember when Jim and I were trying to teach Darrin how to walk. We tried for a month, and finally, Jim got a mirror and little Darrin was so fascinated of his reflection, he walked over to the mirror.”
“Let’s see if I’m enough inspiration for him,” Lynn said laughing, and sitting herself down in front of the couch Jim and Joyce were sitting on, facing Justin, “C’mere son, walk to Mommy.”
Justin stood up wobbling, and started to giggle. He took about two steps and fell down. Randy picked him up and set him upright on his feet again.
“Alright son, walk to your mom. I know you can do it, buddy. Walk for daddy,” Randy said guiding Justin for the first couple of steps.
Even Joyce and Jim joined in encouraging Justin to walk.
“Sweetheart, c’mon,” Lynn said, spreading her arms open, “walk to mommy, baby.”
Justin took four steps that looked more like stomps and fell back on his bottom. This time, however, he got up on his own. He began to giggle again and make gurgling noises. After steadying himself, he took six more steps, only another six steps away from Lynn.
“Oh my God, Randy! He’s doing it! He’s walking!” Lynn said, smiling brightly.
“That’s it son, go, go, go!” Randy said clapping.
Just as Justin was about to walk right into Lynn’s arms, he surprised everyone by walking right past her, stopping right in front of Joyce.
“Why did he walk to me?” Joyce asked, confused.
Jim said, “Honey, I don’t think he was walking to you. I think he was walking to Cassidy.”
All four adults looked at Justin, and sure enough, he was giggling, patting his small tiny hand on the blanket wrapped around Cassidy.
Number of reviews: 41
Print:
Chapter or Story