The 4th of July BBQ was always my favorite event of the year because I could light off fire works and not get in trouble for it. This year was particularly fun because Adrian and Maddie were over so it almost felt like we were young again. The operative word being almost. It was late in the evening and Boston, Delilah and Jake were all in bed. We were sitting around telling stories.
"Maddie you have to remember this one" Adrian said "it was right after Boston was born and you and I were sitting in the kitchen of the old house and Ashley walks in and she sits down and out of nowhere she goes 'Git R Done'"
"I do remember that" Maddie wiped the tears from her eyes. She was crying from laughing so hard "we looked at her like she was an idiot for about 20 minutes. I have to admit she did sound like Larry the Cable Guy though"
"Or what about the time Ashley poured Listerine down Randy's pants?" Adrian said.
Randy cringed that obviously wasn't his favorite memory.
"Why did she do that?" I asked.
"She got pissed at him for something and all of a sudden all you heard was Randy screaming, we thought she had stabbed him" Maddie replied.
"It stung" was all Randy would say.
Maddie, Adrian and I had a laugh at his expense. Randy wouldn't talk to us for the rest of the night.
"Wow that felt weird" Adrian said, a hint of pain crossed her face.
"You ok?" I asked.
"Yeah the baby just kicked" she said.
What worried me was she was 6 months along and should be used to having the baby kick so that wasn't an issue.
"So it ain't like it was the first time" Maddie pointed out.
"No shit Sherlock" Adrian remarked.
"Up your Watson" was Maddie's reply.
"Now like I was trying to say it felt strange because it felt like the baby was kicking me in two different spots".
"Maybe he or she just used both legs" Maddie suggested.
"Or the baby could be babies" I said remembering my dream from about a week before. "Sophia and Logan"
"What do you mean John?" Adrian asked.
"I had this dream the other night" I said as I began to tell them about my dream.
"The dream must have meant something because it felt entirely too real" I said.
"Be damned if I know" Maddie said.
"Be damned if you know anything" I said.
"Shut up Jackass" she said.
"How about no whore"
"Dumbass"
"Bitch"
"Damn straight… I'm not a bitch I'm THE bitch"
"Cocky much?" I asked
"You have no idea" she replied.
I laughed I have to say things seemed to be a lot better than I thought it could be.
"I wonder what Ashley would say if she were here right now" Adrian said.
"She'd tell us to shut the hell up and pass her another Triple Black" Maddie said.
"Well" I said reaching into the cooler grabbing a new beer for both me and Randy "here's to Ashley"
The girls held up their non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiris and we all toasted Ashley.
"We miss you little sister" Adrian said.
I woke up the next morning on my couch. I must have passed out there last night.
"Ugh" I sat up slowly.
Randy and Maddie were passed out on the other couch. I could hear stuff going on in the kitchen so I got up and went to investigate. Adrian was making breakfast in the kitchen. She and Boston were discussing something. I remained in my spot and listened to what they were talking about.
"Mommy visited me last night Auntie" Boston said.
"Really it must have been a really good dream" Adrian smiled at him.
"It wasn't a dream Auntie I was awake. I was thinking about mommy and then there was these blue bubbles and mommy was there"
"Very imaginative Boston" Adrian said putting some scrambled eggs on his plate.
Boston pouted for a minute "I'm not lying and I wasn't asleep" he insisted.
I made my presence known at this time by walking into the kitchen. I ruffled Boston's hair as I walked over to the fridge and grabbed some orange juice, bringing the carton to my lips. Adrian punched me in the arm.
"Don't drink out of the carton you animal" she scolded me.
"This is my house" I retorted.
"I don't care I won't have my nephew learning vial habits' she replied.
I rolled my eyes which earned another sock in the arm.
"Yo now I'm going to have a bruise" I complained.
"Suck it up"
"How did you sleep last night Boo?" I asked Boston.
"I've been meaning to ask you why do you call him Boo?" Adrian asked.
"It's a nickname Ashley gave me and I passed it on to him" I answered.
"Mommy called daddy Boo Berry like the cereal Auntie" Boston chimed in.
"Aww how cute" Adrian mocked me.
"I slept good last night daddy but Jake was being loud" Boston said "he was making sounds like Uncle Boog's car"
Adrian and I both laughed.
"What's so funny Uncle John?" Delilah asked walking into the kitchen.
"Boston was just being cute" I replied.
Lila as we called her was about a year and a half younger than Boston. Her caramel colored skin contrasted her startling blue eyes to give her an almost exotic look. She was all Randy's daughter in the looks department which Maddie was thankful for. She had long dark hair, but unfortunately for her she had inherited her mother's height. She was a peanut standing next to Boston.
Jake took more after Maddie, his skin tone was darker than his sister, his eyes like Maddie's were a chocolate brown. The boy was going to be tall like Randy you could already tell it.
"Lila are your parents up yet?" Adrian asked.
"Not yet" she replied.
"Can you go get them up?" Adrian asked.
"Yep" she was grinning mischievously.
"Can I help Lila?" Boston asked.
"Yeah but come on" she pulled him out of his chair and into the living room.
"Delilah Yasmine Orton what the hell is the matter with you" Maddie yelled.
Boston and Lila walked back into the room giggling.
"We dumped water on them daddy" Boston informed me still giggling.
Sure enough Maddie walked into the room dripping wet.
"The new look works for you Maddie" I joked.
"You know what John kiss my natural black ass" Maddie glared at me.
"OoOoO Auntie said a bad word" Boston said.
"Yes you did mommy" Lila yelled.
Randy entered carrying Jake. He was rubbing his eyes. His hair fell in a wave of nappy curls which were all over the place from sleep.
"Can you take him and I'll make a bottle?" Randy asked.
Maddie took the toddler from him. Jake was still half asleep so he rested his head against his mother's shoulder.
Later that afternoon
"John can I talk to you?" Adrian asked.
"Yeah sure" I said putting down my PS2 controller.
We walked into the kitchen so Boston couldn't over hear us.
"Boston and I were talking this morning" she started.
"Yeah I heard, he thinks Ashley came to visit him last night" I said.
"You aren't worried by this?" she asked.
"I'm sure he was just dreaming" I said.
"You don't think … no it's impossible… you don't believe that maybe she did visit him do you?"
"I believe that he believes that she did but no I don't think that it was anything more than a dream"
