Happy Reading Everyone!
Finally we have reached the last A Rented Family one-shot! I hope you all enjoy it and don't forget to comment below. Let me know what you think and what you hope to find in the upcoming sequel, The Runaway Family.
One-Shot # 10/ Warm hugs are fun, when you're one.
Tobias' POV
"Come on man, we gotta get this thing up and going before all of the guests arrive or Tris will kill me," I say over my shoulder to Zeke. I bend over, grabbing the plastic tarp, making sure it's all laid out before pushing the on switch. Tris has been planning this birthday party for what feels like months now. I just know that all hell is gonna break loose if everything isn't perfect.
For Maddy's first birthday Tris decided to go with the theme Frozen, as it is Maddy's favorite movie in the whole wide world. I swear I think I have heard that "Let it go" song at least a million times. Every time I wish that damn ice princess would just let it finally go and move on already… I admit the movie was cute the first time we saw it as a family, it was even cute the second time. Now? I hide the damn thing from her every chance that I get. I love my daughter more than anything, but that damn song is annoying as hell. To make my day, Tris just had to get the digital copy of the damn movie so now it doesn't even matter whether or not we have the damn disc or not. Tris always laughs at my expense, as I am ready to rip my hair out of my scalp almost every damn night now.
Tris went all out for this party, as she invited all of our closest loved ones out to join us to celebrate our daughter's first year of life. She went with a two tier, ice blue Frozen-themed cake with Maddy's favorite character, Olaf, on top of it… She even has a "build a snowman" station in the yard for the kids. I admit I'm very impressed with her creative ideas for the party. She really did go all out, transforming our boring backyard into a giant winter wonderland. I'm very proud that she was able to pull it all off, including getting a real Olaf to come out here to surprise Maddy when she comes out into the yard for the first time. Honestly, I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees everything that Tris did for our little girl.
"Would you just relax, bro. Everything will be fine. Tris… Just needs to take a chill pill," he says, doing the same thing to the plastic tarp on the other side that I just did.
"Yeah, I bet you don't have the balls to say that to her face," I chuckle. Dumbass! I would love to see him say those words to Tris and Shauna who are inside finishing up the last minute details for the party. I'm sure his manhood would be paying the price for that one, it would be two against one after all. My money is on them.
"You know you need to find your balls back, bro. God, having a wife and kids sure has made you go soft," Zeke says. I swear if I didn't know better I would say he's been drinking.
"Zeke," I warn him. I wonder if I could somehow trap him in this Elsa bouncy castle house, but knowing Zeke that would just turn into total chaos.
As if I had just jinxed myself at the worst possible time… Zeke walks over the plastic tarp to come towards me, as I walk towards the center to zip up what would be the entrance of the bouncy castle… All while my son Ethan comes roaring around the corner like a Trex. All of this party planning excitement has made him extra hyper and totally out of control today. I swear I see everything in slow motion as it all unfolds before me. I watch as Ethan's foot hits the switch, turning the air to the Elsa castle on… Zeke trips, getting his shoe caught in the net material. I run to help him, as the castle begins to inflate all around us. Oh fuck, this can not be happening right now. Suddenly the walls are up, enclosing us within the large bouncy castle, Zeke's shoe is still caught in the net, as he hangs upside down before me screaming for help. I try, I really try to get his ass to shut up. The last thing either one of us needs right now is for our wives to come out and-
"Oh my god!" Shauna yells out, I can hear the amusement in her voice. FUCK! "Tris, you are going to wanna get out here and see this!" She yells out.
I can almost hear Tris' rushing footsteps coming from the kitchen as she calls back to Shauna, "What is it?" I hear her gasp, as I imagine she sees before her an inflated castle with a swinging Zeke who is hanging upside down. I swear you could easily mistake him for a monkey right about now. Then there is me, my hands are entwined in the netting and my foot is caught between two of the cushion things… Seriously? How can this be safe for any child to be in? "How in the world? How? Who?" Tris asks, not exactly knowing what to say to us. To be honest, neither do I.
"It will take me too long to explain this to her. We need some help here, Love," I say. I really just want to be freed from this contraption once and for all.
"Should I..." Tris begins to ask, as I feel a dip in the castle floor. I try to look in the direction of the movements, sure enough making out some movement that is probably from her.
"No! Tris, you really shouldn't come in here. This thing is like a death trap," I say. That's all we need is all four of us adults being caught up by the evil bouncy house, castle when all of the guests finally arrive. Yup, that would be an awesome "America's Funniest Videos," moment for sure.
So what should I do then?" She asks, I can feel the dip in the floor disappear as she steps back off of it.
"Just push the reverse switch, baby, it will deflate this damn thing and hopefully we can get free before the guests arrive," I answer, praying that this will work.
"I gotta get this on camera," Shauna squeals. Fuck me now!
"Shauna, I swear I will-" Zeke begins to warn her.
"You'll what? Bounce me to death?" She says, as she smirks with amusement in the tone of her voice. Shit, this better not go on fucking youtube. Ugh!
Suddenly I hear the machine beginning to switch from blowing air into the castle, to sucking the air back out. The whole castle begins to deflate instantly, although in my opinion it doesn't feel like it deflates fast enough. I can finally feel my feet approaching the ground quickly, as I am able to stand once again on solid ground. But just when my feet hit the ground, so does the rest of the stupid castle as we are now swimming in a sea of the plastic bouncy house. Fucking great! I can suddenly hear Tris and Shauna laughing hard, as I struggle to free myself. I am grateful that it doesn't take me long. I rush back over to Zeke, demanding that he bravely take his shoe off. He finally agrees, untying his shoe and wiggling his foot free. I take a large cleansing breath, before getting too close to his shoe and foot. The last time I was this close to his shoe while being unprepared, I nearly passed out from the disgusting odor. I honestly don't know how Shauna lives with him. We both rush out of the tarp, in fear that it will swallow us whole. The girls finally catch their breath while holding their stomachs, as their laughter soon dies down.
"So are either one of you going to tell us how you guys got caught up in this thing?" Tris asks, sending Shauna into another fit of laughter. Jesus, will this ever end? I try to explain that it was all an accident and bad timing. As I went to go help Zeke, who got his shoe caught, Ethan came out running and bumping into the air machine. Tris and Shauna both share a look at first and then once again burst into a fit of laughter as they both picture us caught up in this madness. Yup, thanks for laughing at our expense. Great, just shoot me now.
"Come on "Uncle Zeke," it can't be that bad!" I say, pounding on my bedroom door. Tris and Shauna both shoved him in there close to thirty minutes ago. I can hear his protesting on the other side of the door, refusing to come out.
"Zeke, now a bet is a bet… You know you have to go through with it," I yell through the wooden door. He should have known better than to go against me, especially when it comes to throwing knives. I mean, how bad could it really be wearing a full size Olaf costume?
Last week Zeke, Uriah and I went out on a guys night. It ended up with Zeke and Uriah betting on who could hit the muffin off of Uriah's head. Zeke tried three times before giving in... Or at least it was the third time that Uriah nearly peed in his pants, that Zeke finally gave him mercy. It could have been the drinks that we were inhaling that night, or perhaps it was just simply Zeke's bad aim, that he lost the bet. On the third try, his knife went from being aimed at the muffin on Uriah's head, to somehow landing between his legs. The knife was just inches away from Uriah losing his manhood. Zeke stubbornly and frustratingly handed me the knives, as he stepped aside. Uriah's sudden relief became tense once again, as I took my stance. I breathed in and out, relaxing all of my muscles before finally flinging the metal, sharp object in my hand back and releasing it in the air and hitting my target and cutting the muffin in half. Uriah of course whined about all of the crumbs spilling and wasting the food, as he tried to eat every piece that landed on him. He even tried that whole "five second rule," when we complained about him eating the freaking muffin crumbs that fell on the floor. Of course the bet would mean the loser would face complete humiliation at their expense. Tris and Shauna were more than happy to give me the perfect setting for his mortification, which happens to be him wearing the Olaf costume for Maddy's Birthday party.
"Here comes the Birthday girl!" Tris says loudly for all of our guests to hear. I watch from the crowd holding my son's hand as we watch my wife, the love of my life, walk out of the backdoor with our baby girl. Maddy has on a long, crystal, ice blue gown that Elsa wears in the movie Frozen. I have seen it so many damn times, I'm sure I could sew the dress myself. She even has her hair done in a braid just like Elsa does, she looks so cute. I can't help but think how blessed I am to have found Tris and Ethan. I know I am the luckiest son of a bitch in this world. My precious daughter is bubbling over with excitement, as she is just soaking up all of the attention from the crowd. I don't know where she gets it from, both Tris and I hate being the center of attention, but for some reason Maddy just loves it. She is bouncing up and down and clapping her hands in her mother's arms, as she giggles with glee. Tris and I both glance at each other with matching loving smiles on our faces. Ethan is next to me "ROARING" with excitement for his little sister. I look around at all of our guests, at all the people that we have grown to love. I don't remember a time in my life that I was so loved like I am right now. Even Hana, Zeke and Uriah's mother made it out here for Maddy's big day. She loves Ethan and Maddy like they are her own biological grandkids. She even fell in love with Kelly, Lauren's daughter. I admit though, I have grown to love Kelly too.
Since Lauren moved to town, Kelly can now be close to her half brother, Ethan. Lauren has really come into her own since she has been here. Although I was really surprised the day that she and Lynn, Shauna's sister, started dating. But Tris and I couldn't be happier for the both of them. They are both wonderful ladies. Lynn really loves Kelly and is great with her too. They couldn't be a better match together.
I finally snap out of my love fog that I am in to see Olaf waddling up to both Tris and Maddy. Maddy almost jumps out of her mother's arms when she sees her favorite character in the world. She hasn't quite got the whole walking thing down just yet, but Tris places Maddy on her feet. She doesn't let go of our girl, until she is safely on the ground and sitting on her bottom. Maddy giggles as she pushes herself forward and baby crawls right up to Olaf. She giggles even louder as she watches Olaf move from a standing position, to kneeling down before her...Well sort of. I can see where Zeke is having trouble maneuvering the way he wants to. But Maddy doesn't scare off, as she reaches for the best thing in the world to her, as she grabs a hold of any part of him that she can get and pulls herself back up onto her feet.
"I like warm hugs," Zeke says, as he slowly and carefully opens his arms wide for Maddy to walk into. Maddy happily does. The crowd claps and is in awe as they watch the two of them interact with each other. I wonder if right this very second if Zeke regrets ever fighting us about having to dress up as Olaf. I know I do. Maybe it's the father in me, or the love that I have for this little girl… But I would do anything to make her smile, to be the center of her happiness.
"Look at her… How did this happen so fast," Tris says, stepping by my side. I wipe the single tear that has escaped her eye. "Our baby girl!"
"I know, it's like the past three years have passed by so fast," I say, it's the truth.
We spend the next few hours watching our two happy children play with their friends in our backyard, as we mingled with our closest friends that we consider family. Neither one of us could have asked for a better day for our little girl. Even Uriah, didn't manage to eat all of the cheeseburgers as they came off the grill. That's progress on his part. Although keeping him away from the Frozen-themed Dauntless cake was another task in itself. Ethan continued to run around like a T-rex, although he is quite careful with the younger children. Sometimes I am amazed at how careful and gentle he tends to be. Although we can't seem to get Maddy out of that damn Elsa bouncy castle, even for two damn minutes to cut her Birthday cake, as she just wants to jump up and down in the castle and be the princess that she is.
Tris finally conned our one year old by holding out a large stuffed animal that we had gifted her with. It seems to be her new favorite stuffed animal for the time being. The large Olaf stuffed animal comes apart in places and says all of the phases from the movie. Tris carries Maddy to the overly decorated table with the 2 tier frozen cake that holds a large number one candle in the center of it, that is already lit for the birthday girl. We all joined in singing to my sweet little girl. Even Ethan joins us by singing in roars to his baby sister instead.
Tris sits Maddy in her highchair that is decorated in the frozen theme to match the rest of the party. Tris places a small round, white smash cake in front of Maddy. The crowd grows silent as we all stand around Maddy to watch what she does with her own cake. At first she looks around, not sure of what to do, but not long after that she begins to grow curious about the white round object that is in front of her. Her little hand reaches out, tapping the white frosting first, before she giggles and dives into the softness of the cake. She grabs a handful and shoves some of the snowball-like cake towards the crowd. I duck at the last minute, as some of it is aimed my way. Although Uriah isn't so lucky, because when I duck my head it lands right smack in the center of his face. The crowd is shocked, with most of our mouths hanging wide open watching for his reaction. Although Uriah, wouldn't be Uriah, if he didn't try to lick his own face, not wanting an ounce of the delicious cake to go to waste.
"Mmmm. Anyone got some milk?" He asks, in all seriousness. The crowd breaks out in a full fit of laughter.
"Excuse me, we are looking for Tobias and Beatrice Eaton," A deep voice says, breaking through the loud crowd. I turn to see a tall, slim man dressed in a suit. I scramble my brain recognizing him from somewhere, but I can't quite place him.
"Can I help you?" I ask, closing the gap between me and the man that dares to interrupt my daughter's birthday party.
"I'm Detective Max Caldwell," he introduces himself. Max Caldwell? Max Caldwell? Where have I heard that name before? But the sight of Tris going pale next to me, tells me that she knows exactly who this Detective Max Caldwell is.
"Right, you were the one that helped us when Eric kidnaped Ethan," Tris says, connecting the dots for me. I narrow my eyes, remembering that day so clearly like it was yesterday. Tris and I were working in a meeting when she got the call. Eric had set the school Ethan goes to on fire, and took Ethan when everyone's attention was on getting everyone out. For hours we didn't know where he was, or if he was okay. Eric was on the verge of losing all of his self control, demanding that I hand over Tris to him, because in his mind I was taking "his family," away. When we finally agreed to meeting him, we fought. I refused to give in, to just hand over Tris to his control. Not to mention, allow my son to be raised by a man like that. I don't care if Ethan isn't my blood, that doesn't mean shit to me. He is and will always be my son. My blood runs cold at the thought of why Detective Caldwell would be here and standing before us right now.
"That's right, this is my partner Detective Rivers," he says, gesturing to the man beside him. Caldwell looks around the busy yard, smiling at the little boy that he helped save three years ago. "Ethan sure has gotten taller, I see," he says, commenting at Ethan's growth spurt. Then he turns back to my wife and I, I can see it in his face that something is obviously very wrong. I wrap my left arm around Tris' waist. I don't know if she needs my strength more than I need hers at this very moment, but I hold on tight. "I'm afraid we have a problem," he says. With those words, I automatically hold in my breath waiting for the words that will disrupt our world as we now know it.
A/N
FINALLY! It has been a long time coming… All ten one-shots are done.
As a special treat to all of you… I have been working closely with FDFobsessed and we have been revising and correcting all of the mistakes from the original A Rented Family. All 26 chapters will be swapped out with the corrected versions on February 14th. So I advise all of you to check back on Valentine's Day for that special treat. So feel free to comment and let us know what you think of the new and improved version of A Rented Family.
The improved chapters will be released just in time for the release of A Rented Family part two, "A Runaway Family."
We will read all about our happy couple, along with their children who will become "A Runaway Family." It is scheduled to be released on February 23rd.
Brainstormed with: FDFobsessed
Until next time
Like always happy reading and stay safe everyone!
Trini