Disclaimer: E L James own all things fifty
All mistakes are my own.
CPOV
Our usual plans have had to be changed for Teddy's birthday. With Ana so close to her due date she is unable to fly, so Meridian will have to wait until Phoebe's birthday. By then our baby will have had all their inoculations and we will not be in the middle of summer as it is too hot for the children then.
We are having a party for him at home and they will finally have access to the building that Elliot has been making for the children. For once my wife and I are spoiling our children and if any one has a problem with that, its tough.
We had sent out invitations to some of his preschool friends, with NDA's attached. One of the mothers had already put it online for everyone to see, complaining what her child has to do just so they can come to my sons birthday party. Does she not realise how protected my children are or how much they are worth. Thankfully Barney shut it down quickly and she will definitely not be having access to our home and grounds. Her little girl will be coming with her father who thankfully had the sense to divorce his gold digging wife.
All replies had come in with signed NDA's, this is our home and I will protect my children's privacy so all phones will be left with Taylor. It is like a military exercise just to be able to throw my son a birthday party at home.
"Your turning into a hermit again" Ana said from the door, rubbing her very pregnant stomach.
"Sorry baby, just checking and double checking everyone who will be coming tomorrow." I got up walking towards her where my hand rubbed her back.
"Our son is going to have an amazing day Christian, don't worry about that."
I nodded leaning down to kiss her lips as she groaned.
"Ana what is it."
"Nothing, he's having a stretch" I took her hand and led her into the den where the children were sat watching a movie.
She sat down, still rubbing her stomach as Teddy lay his head against his mothers arm.
"You ok son" he lifted his head up to answer his mother.
"Yes mommy, looking forward to my birthday but playing basketball with daddy, Ryan and Luke, I'm puffed out."
"How did you reach the hoop then" she asked him as I smiled.
"Daddy picked me up and I dropped it in" he smiled over to me as he lifted his thumb up making me laugh.
"We are a good team Teddy" he nodded, resting his head against Ana again.
Picking Phoebe up once she was asleep, I lowered her down so Ana could kiss her forehead before taking her up to her bedroom. They had been bathed earlier and were in their pyjamas so I could just lay her down.
"Good night baby girl" I said kissing her forehead receiving a mumbled "Night daddy" back.
Going back to Ana I repeated my movements with Teddy who was now asleep against Ana's arm. He used to like to lie with his head in her lap but kept getting kicked by his brother.
"Come on Ana, bed" I told her as I pulled her from the couch.
"Yes sir" she smiled as I held her hand and guided her up the stairs.
Ana brushed her teeth before coming back into the bedroom and started getting undressed. She put her pyjamas on before she lay down. Ana was just as tired as the children and was soon fast asleep.
…
Waking up in the morning, I opened my eyes to see my daughter there. I had been woken by her poking my cheek and nose.
I pulled her into bed and held her in my arms.
"Are you ok Phoebe" I asked her as she nodded.
"Wanted to say happy birthday to Teddy but he is snoring" she rolled her eyes that her brother was doing something as boring as sleeping.
"He will be awake in a little bit. Today there's going to be lots of Teddy's friend here and their parents. There will be some boys, if they come near you, tell daddy or granddad or any of your family and we will make them go away."
"Even Harrison, I like Harrison" I groaned, my baby girl wasn't allowed to like other boys.
"You can like Harrison as long as he doesn't try to hold your hand or kiss you" she was looking at me as if I was crazy.
"Only daddy and granddads allowed to give kisses, uncle Sean and maybe uncle Elliot when his is being good" thank god for that.
I could hear laughter behind me, knowing I had been caught swearing my two year old daughter away from boys.
"Why don't you lock her in a tower for many years" Ana said as we turned around to face her.
"Like punzle" Phoebe clapped nodding her head. I was nodding too, there's an idea.
Our daughter was giggling until a sleepy Teddy came into our room. Phoebe squealed so loud as she ran to him, She scared him and half the neighbourhood.
"Happy birthday Teddy" she wrapped her arms around him tight and by the look on his face he looked shocked. Poor boy wasn't even properly awake yet.
"Phoebe let Teddy come into the room" I told her as she let go of her brother. Teddy came and climbed in bed between Ana and myself.
"Happy birthday Teddy" Ana said kissing his forehead as I told him happy birthday too.
"Thank you, I'm not awake yet properly" he said as he cuddled into his mothers side as best he could with her bump.
"Don't go back to sleep" Phoebe bounced on the bed, before I pulled her onto my lap.
"You are going to make Momma sick."
"Sorry, just cited."
"I think the whole of Seattle is aware you are excited. Do you want breakfast" she nodded her head so I put her down, getting out of bed.
"Rest, I will bring you a cup of tea up" I said to Ana quietly, looking at our son who has his eyes closed.
He is so like his mother, laid back. This little ball of energy in my arms is like me. I wonder who our baby boy will be like.
We walked into the kitchen as I put Phoebe down. She ran straight to Gail and hugged her legs.
"Good morning miss Phoebe" Gail laughed picking her up.
"Teddy Birthday."
"I know, his cake should be here this morning" Phoebe clapped as she was put down in her chair.
The kettle was already brewing so I made Ana's tea and went back upstairs as Gail had her ear chatted off Phoebe.
"Here you go baby" I said quietly as Ana stroked Teddy's head, he was snoring quietly in the middle of the bed.
"Thank you Christian, five years have gone so fast" she said smiling to me.
"I know, I'm glad that I don't do as many hours at work as I did before so I haven't missed many moments with him."
"Christian you haven't missed any, if I don't tell you what he has done, he will tell you himself."
I had a shower and got dressed while Ana enjoyed her tea, kissing her I left to go back downstairs to see Phoebe with a strange look on her face.
"What is it Phoebe" I asked her.
"You said I am not allowed near boys, but Taylor and others are boys and I love them" she was starting to get upset and I knew our conversation would backfire at some point.
"Phoebe you are always allowed near them, I was talking about little boys and strangers" she nodded her head looking over to Taylor who I hadn't realised was stood with Gail.
"Me hug Taylor" she held her hands up to him as he came over and gave her a hug. Crisis averted.
She went into the living room to play with her basket of toys. Pulling dolls out and looking towards the presents that were there waiting for Teddy.
Teddy came down about thirty minutes later as I walked towards the stairs to make sure Ana got down ok. She knows I'm overprotective and with her bump being larger this time she has been known to sit down halfway when climbing the stairs. Ana was worried we were having a larger baby this time but Dr Green said she is carrying a lot of water.
"You ok baby" I said guiding her in to the living room where she sat on the couch.
"I'm worn out already and I have only walked down the stairs."
"Well you are taking it easy today, I will carry you everywhere if you are too tired and don't get started on how you weigh too much."
She laughed before handing Teddy the present off the top of the small pile.
He ripped the paper off to see what he had gotten. His spiderman figure followed by the ninja turtles he had wanted. God their faces have gotten creepier since the ones I had played with as a child but Teddy was happy with them. They were followed by his helicopter that he loved. Like the one Ana had bought me many years ago that was solar powered, this was a children's version. He held it in his hand and as the sunlight hit it, it rose up a few centimetres and hovered. His laughter filled the room as he played with his helicopter.
"I have my own now daddy" Teddy said happily as he loves to watch my own helicopter rise when he visits my office where it still resides.
"Phoebe" I called to her holding out a present just for her. We do this on both of their birthday so they don't feel left out.
She hugged me before pulling the wrapping off to reveal the doll underneath. It was a rag doll that was dressed but it had buttons and zips on its clothes to help little hands get used to opening and closing them. My daughter already liked to pick her clothes out herself but gets frustrated if they have buttons on them as she is unable to do them.
"Thank you daddy, Momma look" she ran to her mother who was putting the paper from Teddy's presents into a bag.
"Wow, I like that Phoebe. You can learn how to do poppers too and when your baby brother comes you can help me dress him" she clapped before running over to her bear and introduced the doll. All new toys have to be introduced to her pink bear. Who knows what would happen if the bear didn't like any of them.
Ana and I spent a quiet morning inside with the children, Taylor was making sure everything was ready in the new ball house as I called it before anyone arrived for the party at two. Just after lunch with the children ready we slowly walked to the new building at the side of the gym.
"Now this is for both of you and your little brother ok" they nodded before I opened the door and then the happy bouncing and squeals began.
We now had a giant ball pit in our garden. Elliot had been building it for the past month and when the children asked what it was we just told them that Taylor needed a bigger office for all the security we had now.
"Not for Taylor" Teddy laughed as he lay in the middle of all the balls.
"No, if we had told you what this building was really for, you would have been in here everyday and it wouldn't have been ready for your birthday. The bears, granddad Ray made."
Ray had carved out of wood three bears, one which had just been varnished which was an off white colour, one little brown bear for our baby boy and the other had been painted pink. The larger ones were four foot tall and the little brown one about two foot and by Phoebe hugging the pink one I think they are a hit.
We spent the next hour going up the ladders and down the slides, swimming in the balls. I helped Phoebe climb the ladder the first time and then she told me she could do it herself. If she fell she would land in the balls anyway and all the sides and walls were padded. I had to take my overprotective parent hat off for a second and let them play. Ana, I know would have loved to jump in with us but was laughing at the children as she sat having her tea.
"You should hire this out" Ray said coming in through the door.
"Granddad, me loves my bear" Phoebe shouted trying to get to him, as usual her little legs were going backwards in the balls.
He gave Ana a hug and a pat on the stomach before his shoes were off and he was wading through the balls to pick Phoebe up. I was covered in balls by Teddy at this point with only my head sticking out.
"Hows my birthday boy doing" Ray asked Teddy who received a big smile.
"Brilliant granddad, I love the bears too."
Kate Elliot and Ava were the next to arrive, and Ava was straight in the balls followed by Elliot.
"Who are the children here" my mother laughed when she came in. I pointed to Elliot as he pointed to me.
"Happy birthday Teddy" my mother gave him a hug when he waded to the side.
"Thank you Grandma, where is granddad."
"He will be here in a minute, he was just putting your present in the house" he nodded before falling backwards into the balls.
The ball pit was soon filled. Apart from Phoebe and Ava the rest were boys or should I say men apart from my son. They didn't have these when we were kids so we were making the most of it before it was full of children.
"Teddy, Harrison is on his way up the drive" Taylor told him as he quickly got out and found his shoes before going hand in hand with Taylor into the house.
"That's our cue to relinquish the balls to the minors" my dad said from the back of the pool where Ava was pouring them over his head.
We all made our way to the house as I left Elliot and Kate to Ava who was having a tantrum because she didn't want to get out. I told them she could stay there but they wanted to be in the house to watch Teddy open his presents.
Walking into the kitchen there was a large box on the counter.
"It arrived while you were outside" Gail said as I lifted the lid from the box to see the helicopter within, it had the emblems of Charlie tango and even had the design that Ana had drawn when she was pregnant with Teddy on its side.
"He's going to love it" Ana said walking over to my side as I nodded.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I kissed her forehead.
The children and their parents seemed to arrive all in succession. As soon as the door shut another arrived and I told Ana to stay where she was while I went to greet them. We were having the party food in the sun room at the back and they could play on the lawn. We wanted to make sure everyone was here before we went to the ball pit.
"This is chaos" Elliot said as the children ran around excited.
"This is normal in this house with hurricane Phoebe" I laughed.
I felt a tug on my leg as I picked my daughter up.
"Daddy, need bathroom" I kissed her forehead before making our exit. She had pull ups on but has been a big girl these past few weeks and wants to use the toilet.
I passed some of the mums who were looking at the photos on the hallway wall. We had security at the stairs and blocking rooms off that we didn't want anyone in so these women didn't have many places to snoop. The security were all dressed in casual wear so they blended in and looked just like any other guests.
"You did it" I said excitedly as I cleaned my big girl up, she had finally done a poo on the toilet and from the look on her face she was very proud of herself.
Picking her up, I smothered her face in kisses as she laughed.
"Lets go an tell momma ok" I said as she nodded excitedly.
We could hear the women talking as we came back, about how expensive this was or that. She's right a lot of the things in this house were priceless and it has nothing to do with money. Everything in this house was picked out by my wife or myself. There was nothing here that didn't belong.
"I need a sugar daddy" one sighed looking at me as I walked by.
"You wont find any sugar daddy's here" Ana told her coming from the living room.
She walked into my arms where I kissed her lips while Phoebe gave a sloppy kiss to Ana's cheeks.
"Ladies I believe your children are outside" Ana said reminding them of why they were here in the first place.
"That is why I don't have any interaction with the parents in school apart from Julia" Ana told me as the women walked away.
"Momma guess what" Phoebe said excitedly.
"What" she laughed at our daughters enthuasim even though she didnt know what it was for.
"I pooped on the toilet" she clapped her hands.
"Thats amazing Phoebe, im so proud of you."
We made our way outside and down to the ball pit where the children were now playing. There was no room in the pit for adults apart from my brother who said he was supervising who went down the slide. The fact he had to go down it twice himself just to make sure it was working just shows what a big kid he is.
We were talking to Sam and Ryan when Ros, Gwen and Abigail arrived.
"I want to get in there" Ros laughed.
"We have all been in there today" I told her as I took Abigail from Gwen.
"Not me" Ana said as she held Abigail's hand.
"Wait until he is born and you will be diving in there" Ros laughed as Ana nodded.
"Not long now as my energy is disappearing quickly. How is it being back at work Ros."
"Its fine, I'm glad to be back and I can understand now why Christian clock watches in the afternoon so he can run out at home time to get back to you. Having Marco there as well and the guys he brought in has helped so the work is split evenly."
We had managed to get all the children back into the sun-room so they could all eat. We had been lucky with it being march that the weather was fine. I didn't want the ball pool full of sandwiches and cakes so we will stay here until everyone is finished. With this many people in here thought, it was warm. So we left the doors open and also even opened some of the windows.
My children are having a good time, Teddy sat and opened his presents from his friends. From planes to cars and the sit on train that my parents had gotten. He had a smile on his face.
Bringing his lit cake into the room I placed it on the table in front of Teddy as we sang happy birthday, my dad was taking photos as he blew his candles out. Phoebe wanted cake as soon as the candles were removed so before we all went back into the ball pit most of the cake disappeared.
"Did you get some cake Ana" I asked her as she lifted her plate up.
"Teddy gave me some."
By the time all the children had gone home, we all collapsed on the couch. Ana was shattered and would be in bed not long after the children as she had wanted to enjoy every minute with Teddy.
"Play balls again" Ava said trying to pull Elliot of the couch.
"No Ava, its time for bed soon" I could see a tantrum coming so Elliot got up and picked her up.
You could see Ava was tired and she was fighting it.
"Ava you can come back and play again, but the bears are tired now and they need their sleep. They get grumpy if they are tired" Ana told her as she nodded her little head.
"Like when daddy gets grumpy when I wake him up to play."
"Hey little miss I never get grumpy" I laughed when Ava raised her eyebrow at her dad to ask is he kidding.
We walked my family out, waving goodbye. Ray had left earlier as he had a longer drive than the rest. Teddy had hugged all his family to thank them for his presents. I had hold of Phoebe but hearing the little snores in my ears she has finally given up and let sleep take her.
"Are we bathing them tonight" I asked Ana
"No Phoebe has had her hands and face washed so many times today, she will be fine. we can let Teddy play while we put her to bed."
"Ana please rest otherwise I will be carrying you to bed next."
"If I had the energy I would jump at the chance of you carrying me to bed but I'm too tired" I kissed her lips before taking my daughter to bed. She didn't even wake up when when I got her changed into her pyjamas.
Walking back down stairs Teddy was reading though a comic book Elliot had gotten him but as I looked to my wife, her eyes were closed and was fast asleep.
"I covered Mommy with the blanket" Teddy whispered as I sat next to him and pulled him into my side.
I froze for a second when my son said that, it brought back a memory I hadn't had in a very long time. I remember covering my own birth mother with a blanket, not knowing she wasn't there any more.
The difference is that his mother is with us, she is the heart of this home and shows us how much she loves us everyday. Pushing the unwanted memory away I focused on the people I love more than anything.
My wife who has given me everything I could have ever wanted or needed. I focused on my children who have everything I didn't have then. They have parents who love them. Who would do anything for them and give everything to protect them. Even if it is just time to read a funny comic book.
I sat reading along with my son as he giggled at the pictures, i helped him with some of the longer words which he repeated after me but we paid more attention to the pictures.
Carrying Ana upstairs still covered in the blanket our son had laid over her I placed her on the bed. Quickly getting her changed into one of my t shirts, like our daughter she never woke. I placed the blanket back over her again, not wanting to remove what my son had done.
Going back downstairs, I joined Teddy back in the living room. I wanted to spend some time with my birthday boy before it was time for me to put him to bed too.
Thank you for reading
Until next time
Caroline