Spencer took a small bite of the pasta John had prepared for her and grimaced as she swallowed it down, trying to keep a smile. She felt awful, she really did. It was a beautiful meal adorned with pretty flowers and a candlelit table setting, but John had forgotten that even though Spencer was hardly considered a picky eater, the one thing she didn't eat was pork. And he'd made the pasta sauce with sausage in it. But it didn't matter, Spencer was happy this week. She was practically bouncing, begging to spill Toby's surprise to anyone who'd listen to her spew about her son — the secret surprise — but she knew it would be more fun to keep it a secret. It was only a few more days.
"Is something the matter?" John said with his mouth still full.
"This is great, really," she smiled. "I just don't eat sausage…or pork at all really… But I can eat around it," she quickly added as his face fell.
"So much for a perfect evening," John sighed., taking her plate from her and dumping it in the trash and aggressively dropping both plates in the sink.
"Oh come on, don't be like that," she gently rubbed his arm.
"What's funny? Why are you smirking like that?"
"Because I'm happy to be with you," she offered.
"No…it's something else." He pulled away from her touch to face her. "What are you planning? Do you need to borrow money again?" He raised a brow.
"No! No." She yelped. "Do you still want to celebrate Aaron's birthday with us this week? It's this Friday…but we're doing a little something on Saturday, too, if you're free that day maybe?" She flashed a grin. "I'd especially like it if you could be around during the day Saturday…specifically maybe from 4pm on…"
"Uh, maybe? I don't know. The kid doesn't even like me. And I might be busy."
"What do you mean might? And you can call him by his name. Aaron."
"Aaron bit me last time I was over!"
"He's got baby teeth…and he was playing." She defended, trying not to laugh. It'd been funny how John reacted as if he'd been bitten by a poisonous snake.
"Whatever," John rolled his eyes.
"Thank you for watching him tonight," Spencer smiled at the boy on the couch, crouching down next to him to rake her fingers through his hair. She still believed he could be like her baby when he was asleep and quiet like this, not her big growing boy.
"We had fun," Toby smiled. "If you don't want to move him, I could bring him down tomorrow…" he offered.
"Nice try," Spencer smirked, scooping her son up and feeling him slowly start to wake, wrapping his arms around her neck and nuzzling in hard, groaning as he fell back into a full slumber. "But I do have some good news. Saturday…you should come with us."
"Really?" He smiled big. "Wait, what happened to John?"
"You don't have to grin like an idiot about the fact he won't be there," she teased. "We didn't break up. He's uh, just busy. And if it weren't for you we wouldn't be going so you should come." She nodded. "I okay'd it with Ashley, too, so everything's good."
"Glad to hear it," he smiled. "I can't wait to see his face when you tell him…"
"We'll have to record it," she smiled and Aaron started to tangle his fingers in her hair and pull. "Alright, ouch…it's time I put this one to bed. I'll talk to you later this week," she smiled as she left.
Spencer excitedly sat on the floor next to her son's bed, goofily smiling with a bright yellow party hat on her head adorned with the number "4" in silver and black shiny print and a pink striped party horn loosely between her lips. She smiled as Aaron started to wake up and when his eyes were finally open, she blew the part horn so it blew out touching his nose before rolling back up and Spencer attacked him with kisses as he giggled. "Happy birthday baby!" She kissed him everywhere.
"Stop stop stop stop," he giggled, putting his hand up in a 'stop' signal. "You're gonna make me not breathe!" He laughed harder, barely able to catch his breathe. "Mommy you're silly willy," he said sitting up.
Spencer responded by blowing the horn again, and then offering one to him and he blew it in her face and laughed.
"How old are you today mister?" She sat on his bed and pulled him onto her lap.
He held up four fingers and smiled.
"And how many is that?" She smiled.
"FOUR!" He yelled.
"How did you get so big? And so smart?" She smiled.
"Idk, I eated all my vegetables 'cept for spinaches and broccolis" he stuck out his tongue. "And I drink my milk to make muscles,"he smiled, flexing his muscles for her.
She felt his little bicep and theatrically reacted as if she'd groped Gaston. "You're soooo strong!" She gasped. "What are we gonna do when you're big and strong and Mommy can't hold you anymore? Are you gonna hold me?"
"No you can just get stronger, duh," he shrugged.
"But what if I get tired?" She furrowed her brow.
"Maybe Uncky Caleb or…or TOBY can hold you… Toby is big and strong and so is Caleb but Toby is the biggest."
Spencer's cheeks flushed slightly. "Well we won't have a problem because you're gonna stay four, right? No more getting bigger? Promise Momma?"
"I do NOT." He rose to his feet. "I'm gonna get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger bigger than the whole house!" He raised his arms.
"Wow, that's really big," Spencer acted impressed. "Well I guess I better hold you lots while I still can," she said scooping him up and holding him and brought him inside.
"Presents on my day?" Aaron smiled deviously.
"Later when we have cake…but you can open one now. And then we're going somewhere special." She smiled.
"YAY!" He smiled and waited patiently while Spencer brought out a big box.
"What is it Mommy?" His eyes lit up at the size of the box almost as big as him.
"You have to open it," she smiled, getting her phone ready to take a video. "What's in there bud?" She smiled as he struggled to remove the lid to the gift box and a puppy jumped up towards him, barking excitedly.
Aaron fell backwards as the dog licked his face and yelped; Aaron giggling all the while on the floor. "Is this MY DOG?!" Aaron yelled "FOREVER?!"
Spencer smiled at the little labradoodle jumping excitedly over her son and how he instinctively gave the dog hugs and let it give kisses. The puppy was rescued from the shelter, so even though it was young had been somewhat trained and was used to a lot of kids sticking their hands in his face.
"Yours forever!" She smiled. "You're a big boy now so you get to have your own dog." She crouched down and started to scratch the dogs head. "What do you want to name him?"
"AARON!" He yelled, smiling.
"I think that would be confusing with your name being Aaron, too. Don't you think."
"How about….Pickles?!" He jumped.
"Pickles?!" She laughed. "Are you sure?"
"POSITIVELY," he smiled.
"Pickles it is!" She laughed.
"Can Pickles come with us where we are going?"
"Yes he can!" She smiled and came back with a red leash for the golden pup and attached it. "You get to walk him," she kissed his head. "Do you like your puppy?"
"I love puppy thank you Mommy," he smiled.
"Kisses?" She pointed to her cheek and he gave her a wet mark on her face.
When they opened the door, a bright orange bike with training wheels and flames painted on it was in their way with a big, blue bow on the handlebars.
"THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!" He excitedly grabbed the bike, letting go of Pickles' leash and Spencer quickly picked it up.
"You better hold on to Pickles, babe." She grabbed the card attached and sucked in her lower lip. It was from Toby.
She pulled the bow off the bike and let him ride it to the elevator, snapping the black, flamed helmet on his head as she tried to keep up with him and the pup. "Where are we going Mommy?"
"We're going out, but we have a pit stop to make first." She said pushing the 5 on the elevator.
"Open your door," Spencer smiled into the phone, holding Aaron back on his bike at the end of the hallway.
"What?" Toby rubbed his eyes, sleepily heading towards the door. He hoped she wasn't mad at him for buying Aaron such a big gift. And a potentially dangerous one in the eyes of overprotective moms. He didn't know what to expect.
What he didn't expect, however, was what happened. "Just do it, loser," Spencer bellowed.
"That's a BAD WORD!" Aaron yelled.
When the door opened, Spencer laughed and pushed Aaron towards it. "Go, go, go," She laughed as Aaron went full-speed almost knocking Toby over, Spencer herself practically running to keep up with Pickles, who was chasing Aaron's bike.
"Woah, slow down buddy, you almost ran me over,"
"VRoooooom vrOOOOOMMMMM." He yelled and squeezed the little horn on the bike.
"Woah, whose this?" Toby bent down to pet the dog jumping up to lick his face.
"I GOT A PUPPY AND A BIKE IT'S THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVERRRRRRRR" Aaron yelled/practically sang.
"Wow you must have been really good," he smiled.
"Aaron why don't you tell Toby what your puppy's name is,"
"PICKLES," He laughed. "I named him," he said proudly.
"You did?" Toby acted surprised. "That's awesome."
"And you better say thank you to Toby," Spencer smiled, giving him the credit he was tiptoeing around taking. "Toby got you that bike,"
"YOU'RE SO COOL," Aaron yelled and jumped up to cling to Toby's neck, his legs around his chest. He blew a raspberry on Toby's face and he laughed as he wiped the slobber, moving the helmeted boy up to his shoulders causing him to erupt in laughter and the puppy to jump even higher.
"Go put clothes on," she said of the pajama'd man. "You have 10 minutes if you want to come with us,"
"Where?"
"IT'S A SPECIAL SURPRISE," Aaron smiled. He only had one volume today, and it was ear-piercingly loud, but everyone was so happy and enthused with his excitement they didn't seem to care.
That morning, they had breakfast in the park with Caleb and Hanna, who had taken Aaron with them after departing the park to bring him to Toys R Us to pick out his own gift, which he was very excited about, but less excited about leaving Pickles and his new bike.
After having survived Caleb's endless death glares and Hanna's snarkiness, Toby carried the bike and Spencer unlocked the door and brought the dog in, pouring food into his bowl she'd set up by the sink and smiled.
"Sorry about them...they'll get used to you soon, I hope. They're just kind of like my watchdogs, Hanna and Caleb." Spencer laughed.
"I can't say I wasn't a little anxious," Toby laughed. "But I get it. It's nice you have friends like that," he smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets and caught his breath from carrying the bike up the stairs since the elevator was full and he didnt feel like waiting for the next one. "Thanks for bringing that up," she smiled, and went on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek, catching him off guard. "And thank you for thinking of him today and getting him such a nice gift."
"He's my…" he stopped. "It was my pleasure."
"I know he's your…" she teased at his fear of saying 'son' out loud. "I was there for the impregnation and the birth and everything, remember," she laughed, but then bit her lip, because he wasn't there for it and she hadn't meant to make him feel bad this time.
She shuffled and poured two cups of coffee, handing one over and sitting down.
"Can you believe that was…five years ago, almost, that we made that little guy, I can't believe how big he's getting." She changed gears. It really was an emotional day for her, but in an exciting kind of way.
"Does it feel like the four years went fast?" Toby said taking a sip, the blow still burning.
"Yes and no," she answered honestly. "I was so scared…that i remember. It feels silly now. I was scared to actually give birth to him…scared to hold him for the first time, afraid I might break him for the first month I think. But that was the easy part…now I'm afraid of leaving him at school, or if he'll run in the middle of the street…I have less control the older he gets. Baby stuff…it was a piece of cake."
"But he's a good boy and you're an amazing mom, so he'll be okay,"
She put her hand on top of his and smiled. "I know…he's a good boy. You'll be a good dad someday…even if it never really is to Aaron. You'll make some lady very lucky one day," she smirked.
"Nah…" he blushed a little. "I hope to be a good dad to Aaron one day…but that's probably all I'll ever be. No lucky ladies."
"Lucky dude? I don't judge…i'm sure at least one of the guys I saw in high school is gay now…statistically anyway," she smirked, teasing him.
He raised a brow and nudged her. "Shut up, that isn't what I meant. I don't know, I just…I'm not interested. I'm too selfish to try and share my life with anybody else."
"Well that's a shame I guess. I don't think you're selfish."
He laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, right."
"You're not…the guy you think you still are."
"I—" Toby stopped as Aaron barged in the door holding a big toy rocket ship making blast off noises as Caleb and Hanna stood in the doorway. "We'll see you tonight," Hanna smiled. "Be good, lovey," she blew a kiss at Aaron.
"FOR CAKE," Caleb's eyes lit up and Aaron started yelling excitedly and threw himself on the floor next to Pickles, talking to him about his rocket ship.
"Best friends already," she smiled, waving at Hanna and Caleb and locking the door behind them. "You should come later…we're having cake and I've got a few more presents for him, and Tabby and Ashley and Ted…Hanna's mom and step-dad are coming over. John, too. It'll be fun."
"I'm not sure…" He said hesitantly.
"Is this because John's coming because if it is…"
"I just have to work tonight," he said honestly. He was less irked by John and more worried about the fact that Ashley and Ted housed Spencer while she was pregnant and became more of a family to her than her own parents…and therefore probably were as protective as you'd expect a girls' parents to be when you knocked her up at 18. He'd managed to never get the brunt of that and he'd like to keep it that way. But regardless of his worries, he really did have to work.
"Aaron's going to be bummed," she scrunched her nose.
"Yeah, but there's tomorrow." He smiled, reminding her of the surprise.
She grinned uncontrollably. "Like i could forget," she smiled.
"Haaaaaappy birthdaaaaay to youuuuuu," they finished singing and Aaron smiled excitedly and blew out his candles.
"Now presents?" He smiled.
"Now presents," Spencer allowed and he opened a few books and workbooks, a big barrel of plastic dinosaurs, a set of toy cars and trucks, a viewfinder with all outer space discs, legos, play-doh, a toy tool set and John even brought a toy train (which was near identical to one he owned by Spencer kept her mouth shut because he was trying and that was all that mattered).
"What do you say to everybody?"
"THANK YOU," Aaron yelled.
"Give hugs," Spencer instructed as she started to cut the cake. Aaron was, for once,playing nice with John and giving hugs when Spencer went to answer the door and Toby stood there, a package of cupcakes in hand. "Am I too late for the party?" He smiled.
"TOBYYYYY," He jumped down from John's arms and ran over, pulling Toby's hand. "Look I got tools now I can help you fix Momma's stuffs," he said giddily showing him the toys.
John pulled Spencer aside. "I thought you said HE wasn't coming," he gritted through his teeth.
"He's his father," she defended. "Whether you like it or not…Hell, whether I like it or not. He's trying and that's all that counts right now. So yes, HE's here. And I expect you to be a perfect gentleman about it." She kissed his cheek before returning to the table, handing out cake to the kids first and then to the rest, instructing the kids every few minutes not to feed Pickles any cake.
After only a little while, Toby got up to excuse himself, helping to clean up the best he could.
"You don't have to go yet,"
"I have to head back to work. I just had a break and wanted to say hi, and bring the cupcakes over." He shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow," his eyes lit up and he kissed her cheek before leaving.
After the kids had tired themselves out, Ted carried out a half-asleep, mumbling Tabitha. "We'll be in the car," he said to Ashley, who was cleaning up everything for Spencer, following Hanna and Caleb out.
"I've got it, please don't clean up. You're a guest here," Spencer smiled.
"Oh hush, you should enjoy your son's day," she looked over at the boy half asleep with blocks in his fists, leaning up against his new best friend Pickles, blocks lined up on the dog's back.
"I think he had a good birthday,"
"I know so," Ashley smiled. "Honey…" she stiffened. "I just, I think it's great that that boy…Toby…that he came. But I know it isn't easy to have a man you can't trust father your child. Just…be careful. It's a slippery slope and it's very easy to fall down and break something."
"I'm fine…he's actually, not so bad."
"Whatever you do, just be careful," she warned again before kissing her and Aaron goodbye and leaving to rejoin her family downstairs.
"That was funny," John said, plopping down on the couch.
"What was funny?" Spencer furrowed her brow, picking up the last of the coffee cups to put in the sink.
"Toby, when he left, he said he'd see you tomorrow?"
"Well he will," she said, putting her hands in her back pockets. "Him and I are taking Aaron and Tabby out. Kind of like a birthday part two kind of deal," She said licking a bit of blue frosting from the side of her hand.
"I don't like this…the way he looks at you…you've got a sexual history with the guy he probably thinks about jumping your bones every time he sees you."
"It's not like that…that was a whole lifetime ago. And even if it was his intention, don't you trust me?"
"I do, but I don't—"
"Don't you trust me?" She repeated, stepping closer and grabbing him by the collar.
"Mostly, but with your—"
She exhaled loudly and opened the front door. "Goodnight, John."
"But I thought I could—"
"I believe you told me you had work tomorrow…It could have been you tomorrow," she shrugged. "I think you should go." She said in a rushed, annoyed, firm tone.
