Notes: Readers and REAL McRollers - we are truly so touched that you love DJ as much as we do and that you welcomed him so completely into this world. Thank you for celebrating his first REAL World birthday with us!
Hope you enjoy!
All the Pieces Fit (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Mari, Sammy, and Ilna)
"What's the matter, honey?" Catherine asked, catching sight of DJ hovering in the space between the living room and dining room as she exited the kitchen with a tray of party mix.
He looked up at her, his bottom lip caught by his teeth. "Are you sure my class friends are all coming?" he asked quietly.
"Ohh, honey," she said, setting down the bowl on the dining room table and sitting down, pulling him close to her. She gave him a hug and then pulled back to look into his face. "Yes, I am absolutely sure. I talked to everyone's parents again this week and they're all really excited to celebrate your birthday with you."
He relaxed his shoulders, reassured by her words. She smiled and ran a hand over his hair. "And remember, it's okay if you need to take a little break inside for a few minutes, even though it's your birthday party. There are going to be a lot of people here, so if you get overwhelmed, you just let me or Daddy or Grandma or Grandpa or someone know, okay?"
He nodded. There was a knock on the door and they both looked that direction.
Catherine smiled at his hopeful expression and held out her hand for him. "Should we go see who that is, birthday boy?"
He took her hand without hesitation and nodded eagerly. They went to the door and opened it.
"DJ! Happy birthday!" Michael exclaimed.
"Michael!" DJ beamed. "You're here!"
"Sorry we're a little early," Michael's dad apologized to Catherine from behind him. "Someone couldn't wait another minute."
"Wait'll you see the backyard!" DJ said, motioning his best friend to follow him.
Catherine shook her head at Michael's dad and smiled. "Your timing is absolutely perfect."
As each new classmate arrived DJ proudly showed them the backyard and told them how his cousin Grace planned all the decorations and how she would be starting college in the fall which never failed to elicit an "Oooooh" from the impressed 7-year-olds.
The children couldn't get enough of the LEGO theme Grace and DJ had decided on. A colorful banner with LEGO men holding up letters to spell out 'Happy Birthday, DJ!' hung above the railing and was the first thing everyone noticed when they exited the house. A LEGO themed rug had been spread on the deck which led more than one parent to note how nice it was to step on a LEGO and not scream in pain for a change.
The food tables were adorned with brightly colored LEGO pillars topped with LEGO themed trays of goodies. There were small LEGO building sets on every table along with place cards made of LEGO. In the corner was a bulletin board, made completely of LEGO pieces. Grace's plan was to take pictures as the party progressed, print them out, then attach them to the board which DJ would be able to keep to remember his party.
"Looks like your design is a hit," Danny said as he approached his daughter who was standing on the edge of the deck watching with a smile. "And not only with the kids. I heard Madeline's mom asking Auntie Catherine if you were taking on new clients."
Grace blushed slightly. "I just wanted to make sure DJ has a great party. He deserves it." She beamed as the happy young boy showed several of the new arrivals his LEGO themed cake and they squealed with delight. "As long as he's happy, I'm happy."
Danny dropped his arm across his daughter's shoulders. "Well then you should be very happy because that little guy looks ecstatic."
"OK, now that everyone is here," Grace said loud enough to get the attention of the excited youngsters gathered on the deck, "We're going to take a few minutes and let everyone design their own name tag to wear."
She'd borrowed a button making machine from her cheerleading coach who often used the same method at large camps to help people get acquainted.
"We all know each other's names," Madeline said. "We're in the same class."
Grace smiled. "I know you guys all know each other, but do you know DJ's other friends and his family? "
"I know Lieutenant Catherine," Madeline said as she planted her hands on her hips. "And Commander Steve. And DJ's Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Ang.".
Grace chuckled. "You have me there. But do they all know you? If we make name tags then everyone will know everyone else's name."
Madeline seemed to be considering the idea. "Can I make mine purple? That's my favorite color."
"We have lots of different shades of purple," Grace assured her.
Madeline clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay! I love buttons."
The children all gathered around Grace as she explained the process to them. They chattered happily about their favorite colors and what design they liked best.
Kono leaned over and whispered to Gabby, "People think my job is tough but I'd take being a cop over facing down a room full of 7-year-olds any day of the week."
"OK, now we're gonna do girls versus boys," Carrie called out as the children prepared for the next round of the fill the bucket relay race. Each team member would dip a ladle made from LEGO into the ocean, run back across the sand to their team's waiting bucket, also made of LEGO, dump in the water, then pass the ladle to the next team member.
"I'm not sure who's having more fun," John said from his seat on the deck next to Grandma Ang. "The adults or the kids."
"I'm surprised you're not down there defending the male honor." Grandma Ang chuckled as they watched Steve, Danny and Cody rally the boys team.
"I'm not as competitive as those guys are," John scoffed.
Grandma Ang let out a bark laugh. "Since when?"
He grimaced. "Since I twisted my ankle doing some extra running the day before yesterday."
Grandma Ang's eyes sparkled. "I heard it happened while you were running the obstacle course. Which is it?"
John looked around furtively then lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Can you keep a secret?"
Grandma Ang tapped the side of her nose. "Always."
"I tried some of Carrie's foot lotion when I got out of the shower then slipped on the tile floor," John admitted.
"It'll be our secret," Ang assured him. "But next time try to remember your slippers."
Grace placed buckets of LEGO of all different colors in the center of each table on the deck. "All right, now I want you to use your imaginations. You're going to have twenty minutes to build whatever you want with the LEGO from the buckets. When you're done we'll take a picture of each one and then you'll be able to take your creation home with you."
"I wanna build a fire station," Neil said.
"I'm gonna do a soccer field," Justin added excitedly.
"I'm gonna make a butterfly." Ella beamed. "My big sister taught me how to make curved edges even though LEGO are all square."
"I wanna do that too," Raniya said. "Can you show me?"
"Sure," Ella said.
"Okay then." Grace looked at her watch. "Let's see what everyone comes up with."
"All right, does everyone have a seat?" Grace asked, looking around the deck. "Every kid, I mean?" She nodded, satisfied. "Good. We have a little craft for you to do. In honor of the birthday boy," she said, grinning at DJ, "we're going to make one of his favorite animals."
"Cammie?" Rikko asked, looking over at the dog who had planted herself next to DJ's seat.
"Not Cammie," DJ said. "My other favorite animal."
"Oh! I remember!" Madeline said. "Octopus!"
"Yes," Grace said with a big smile. "You're all going to make a super awesome octopus out of fleece." She held up her sample, an adorable teal octopus with googly eyes and a little smile.
"Ohh, it's so cute!" Makela said.
Grace nodded for Casey, Dylan, Kaitlyn, and Jacob to begin passing out supplies. "You can choose what color you want your octopus to be, and we'll help you put it together."
"I'm making a blue one," Michael said and looked at his best friend. "Are you gonna make blue, too, DJ?"
"Yeah! Hey," DJ said, laughing suddenly. "That rhymed! 'Blue, too,' " he said.
"It does!" Michael said, joining his laughter. " 'Blue, too.' "
"When you get your fleece, the first step is to wrap it around the styrofoam ball," Grace said, demonstrating. "Just grab one from the bowl in the middle of your table. We can help you tie string around it to keep it in place."
"What color do you want, Angie?" Kaitlyn asked the toddler who was standing on the bench in between Kono's legs.
"What color?" Kono prompted, pointing to the pile of fleece in Kaitlyn's hands.
"There's pink and red and blue and purple and yellow–" Kaitlyn listed.
"Lellow!" Angie announced, beaming when Kaitlyn handed her a piece of yellow fleece. "Oooh," she said as she felt the material.
"Soft, isn't it?" Kono said.
"Sof'," Angie agreed, snuggling it to her face.
Adam chuckled from behind Kono. "Might have to make that into a pillow for her instead."
"Octopus heads aren't really this hard," DJ said to the kids around him as he worked. The only hard part is their beak. That's why they can squeeze into tiny holes. Right, Grandpa?" He looked up to confirm with Joseph but didn't see him in the immediate vicinity. "Where's Grandpa?" he asked Elizabeth as she dropped off strings to secure their octopus heads.
"Oh, he had a quick errand to run, sweetheart," she told him. "But he'll be back very soon."
"But he's missing the octopuses …" DJ said, his face falling slightly.
She leaned over and kissed his head. "He'll be very excited to see them when he gets back," she promised. "There was just something he absolutely had to pick up."
"A surprise?" Michael asked.
Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, a surprise."
DJ's eyes widened. "What is it?"
"She can't tell you!" Michael said. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise!"
"Oh yeah," DJ said, smiling now. "Can you help me, Grandma? I want to make my octopus look really good to show Grandpa when he gets back."
"Absolutely, honey."
Once everyone had their octopus head in place, Grace said, "Now comes the fun part. We're going to turn all these strips into legs by braiding them!" She brushed her fingers over the inch wide strips cut along the edges of the fleece squares. "Who already knows how to braid?"
A few of the kids raised their hands, including Angie, who hadn't understood the question but wanted to copy what she saw other children doing.
"Okay, if you need help, there's lots of big kids and adults here to show you how," Grace said. "Just raise your hand and we'll come over."
"I know how to braid," Madeline told Makela beside her. "My aunt showed me and I practice on my dolls all the time. Do you want me to do yours?"
"I can do it," Makela told her, twisting two strips of fleece together. "See?"
"That's not braiding," Madeline said. "You gotta use three. Like this." She concentrated hard, carefully putting one strip over the other to create a braid.
"Ohhh," Makela said. "Like this?"
"Yeah!"
"I can't do this!" Jamal groaned from the other side of the deck. He threw his fleece down the table.
Jacob went over to him. "I didn't know how to braid either," he told the first-grader. "But my sister Kaitlyn taught me. It's not too hard. Watch. You've got three legs …"
"But an octopus has eight legs," Jamal said. "Like a spider."
"I know, I mean you've got three strips to make into a leg–"
"Then why'd you say it's got three legs?"
"I said you've got three legs, and you didn't let me finish …"
Across the table, Cody chuckled at the interaction as he helped Alani tie one of her braided legs with a small length of string.
"What?" Jess asked from beside him as she did the same for Ella.
"Just funny watching Jacob get a taste of his own medicine."
She grinned. "Admit it, you miss helping him with stuff like this."
Cody looked over at his youngest brother and his face softened. "Yeah, I kinda do."
"There you go, Ella," Jess said, smiling at the girl. "Two legs down, six to go." She looked over at Cody, touching his arm. "You still help him a lot. Just with different stuff now."
Cody smiled at her. "Yeah." As he looked back at Jacob showing Jamal how to braid, his smile grew proud. "And it's cool to see him helping younger kids now. He's good at it."
"Of course he is," Jess said, squeezing his arm. "He learned from the best."
After all the octopus legs had been successfully braided and googly eyes were added along with a Sharpie smile, the kids started naming their creations.
"I'm gonna call mine Rufus," Justin said decisively.
"That is quite the name for an octopus," Danny observed.
"Mine is Ella," Alani said. "After my best friend." She smiled over at her octopus' namesake.
Ella beamed. "Then I'm calling mine Alani!"
"What do you think, Angie?" Kono asked, hoisting the toddler a little higher on her hip. "What should our octopus' name be?"
"Oca-puss," Angie said, holding it up proudly.
Kono grinned. "I like it."
"What about you, DJ?" Catherine asked, running a hand over his hair. "What's your octopus' name?"
"I think I'm gonna call him Little Blue," DJ replied seriously. "Because he's blue and he's smaller than most octopuses."
"That's right," Joseph said, stepping out onto the deck.
"Grandpa! You're back!" DJ said excitedly. "Look! We made octopuses!"
"I'm sorry I had to miss that, but I think you'll forgive me when you see who I brought …" Joseph stepped aside and Joan, Mary, Aaron, and Aunt Deb came into view.
"Happy birthday, DJ!" they cried in unison.
DJ gasped, dropping Little Blue in his surprise. "You're here? For my birthday?"
"We're here!" Joan said, throwing her arms open excitedly.
DJ ran over to them. Unsure who to hug first, he tried to hug them all at once.
"You're here," he whispered in amazement.
"We weren't gonna miss your birthday, kiddo," Deb said.
"Absolutely not," Aaron added, ruffling his hair.
"Joanie he'ew!" Angie squealed, squirming to get down. "I see Joanie!" As soon as Kono set her onto the deck, she ran over to the new arrivals to join the group hug.
Steve wrapped an arm around Catherine as they watched the joyful scene. DJ turned to them. "Mommy! Daddy! Did you know they were coming?"
"We did," Catherine said. "But they really wanted it to be a surprise for you so we had to keep it a secret."
"It was a tough secret to keep," Steve said. "Believe me."
"And your dad's not known for keeping happy secrets," Danny quipped.
DJ looked curious at that and Mary chuckled. "We'll tell you that story later. First, do you want to introduce us to all your friends?"
"Would you like something a little less children's party food like?" Catherine asked Deb as she got settled under an umbrella on the deck. "I can make you a sandwich or something."
"Don't be silly." Aunt Deb waved her off. "Mary is fixing me a plate. Whatever you have made is fine."
"DJ was so excited when he saw you all." Catherine beamed. "It was hard not telling him but seeing that look on his face...we definitely made the right choice."
"He looks like he's having the time of his life," Deb observed.
"He had a few pre-party jitters earlier," Catherine admitted. "But as soon as everyone got here they all disappeared."
Deb chuckled. "Looks like Angie is having fun as well."
"Make sure she shows you her obstacle course run later on." Catherine looked across the deck as Angie helped Steve fill up water balloons for the impending battle. "Or 'pickle purse' as she calls it."
Deb adjusted her sunglasses. "I can't wait to see it."
After an afternoon full of fun and games, and enough sugary food to fuel them for several days, parents began to arrive to pick up their children. Each one thanked Steve, Catherine, and Grace, and told DJ enthusiastically how much fun they'd had.
When Jamal's father arrived to get him he proudly showed off his octopus and announced that Jacob had helped him learn to braid and now he could help with his little sister's hair.
"Your mother will be thrilled," his father chuckled.
Once everyone had been picked up but Michael, who was staying for sleepover, the group gathered for a surprise.
"OK, close your eyes, DJ," Catherine instructed.
DJ did as he was asked and waited breathlessly.
"Cover your eyes, Cousin Angie!" Joan said, demonstrating.
Angie immediately followed suit. "Co'er yo' eyes!"
Once everything was in place Catherine placed her hand on DJ's back. "Now open them."
"Wow." DJ's eyes lit as Steve carried a blue bicycle affixed with a huge red ribbon onto the deck.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart."
"Happy birthday, buddy,"
she and Steve said together.
"That's a good-looking vehicle," Kamekona commented.
"Definitely," Chin agreed.
Michael grabbed his best friend's arm excitedly.
"You got a bike like mine!" He turned to Jacob who was grinning ear to ear at his cousin's reaction. "I just got the same one for my birthday."
"Ohh, that's so cool!" Joan said, clasping her hands together.
"Wow," DJ repeated, running a finger over the handlebars reverently. "I never had a bike before …" he said quietly. He turned and flung himself at his parents for a hug. "Thank you, Mommy and Daddy!"
"DJ bike! Wide!" Angie clapped, running forward to beep the horn.
"Try it out," Catherine said with a kiss to his cheek.
Climbing onto the seat and grabbing the handlebars, the bike stable because of the training wheels firmly in place, the seven year old's smile outshone the sun.
"Daddy can adjust the height if it's not right, let's see." She made sure he could put his feet flat on the ground. "Looks perfect."
"DJ bike!" Angie clapped, as Danny, knowing she'd be running for her tricycle to join her brother, lifted her and said, "DJ has a cool horn like you, let's go beep it again."
"Beep! Beep!" Angie squealed in delight as DJ showed her his bike.
"We can ride together!" Michael said excitedly. "We'll be bike twins."
DJ bit his lip. "I don't know how to ride," he said quietly.
"That's okay!" his best friend said, undaunted. "You can learn!"
DJ looked over at his parents. "Can you teach me?" he asked hopefully.
Steve put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Absolutely," he said.
"We'd love to," Catherine agreed.
Steve smiled confidently. "You'll have it down in no time, buddy."
As the best friends planned a biking adventure, Catherine laced her arm through Steve's and squeezed his bicep. "Home run, Commander."
Exchanging a smile at the happiness radiating off their son, Steve nodded and pecked her lips. "Outta the park."
As they were cleaning up, DJ went over to Grace who was adding a couple pictures of various LEGO creations made by the kids to the board.
"Grace …?"
She turned immediately at the sound of his voice. "DJ, hey, do you need something?"
Instead of answering, he wrapped his arms around her middle in a tight hug.
"Thank you for my birthday party," he said fervently.
She smiled, hugging him back. "I'm so glad you like it."
"I think it's the best birthday party anybody ever had."
"Oh, I don't know about that," she said, and smiled thinking about what she'd said to her father earlier. "But as long as you're happy, I'm happy."
He looked up at her with complete sincerity in his expression. "Then we must be the happiest people on the whole planet."
She blinked at the sudden tears filling her eyes at that. "Hey, do you know why I suggested we do a LEGO theme for your birthday?"
"Because I like to build with LEGOs?" he said.
She grinned. "Well, yes, but also … because the really cool thing about LEGOs is that the pieces are all made to fit together, even when they are different shapes, different colors, and come from different sets. And I thought, that's like our family," she said, motioning to all the people still on the deck and in the backyard. " We might come from different sets, but we all fit."
"All the pieces fit …" DJ said slowly. His smile grew as he looked out at his huge family who had made his birthday such a special day. He turned back to Grace and hugged her again. "I think we should do a LEGO party every year."
She smiled, hugging him back. "Deal."
THE END
Note: Thanks to From an Idea to LEGO, by Lowey Bundy Sichol (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019), and Hilo: All the Pieces Fit (6), by Judd Winick (Random House, 2020) for that last scene inspiration.
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