Okay, okay. Last one for today.
JULY 4
I couldn't believe the twins were being so ornery! And while my girlfriend was over! Seriously! "Jaxson! Cayson!" I hollered, chasing my brothers around the backyard. This was just ridiculous. It really was. I felt like such an idiot, chasing them around while my girlfriend was watching and fireworks were exploding overhead.
Our neighborhood put on a huge firework show every year, and we always camped out in our backyard to watch it. Some years, we did our own small fireworks before the big show. We hadn't done that this year, mostly because it was Mom's due date and we didn't want to deal with fireworks on top of everything else. She hadn't gone into labor yet, but she'd been having small contractions off and on all day.
And I'd invited Mallory over. It wasn't the first time she'd been to my house. She'd actually been over several times. Fortunately, Mom had had a nice long chat with the twins about not using their magic when we had guests in the house, so I wasn't really worried about that. But the boys were finding other ways to be extremely obnoxious.
Like stealing my cell phone.
"Give me my phone back and go watch the fireworks."
They just laughed and threw the phone back and forth. What was their deal? It was almost eleven-thirty at night, and they were five years old! They should have been exhausted! But no, they had this crazy burst of energy.
"Jaxson Harlow Amala! Cayson Hendrix Amala!" Dad called sternly. "Freeze right this instant!"
The twins froze, looking back at Dad. Dad didn't really get stern with any of us very often, so we all knew he meant business when he did. I plucked my phone out of Cay's hand. Then I went back to sit by my girlfriend, carefully stepping over my sister, while Dad reprimanded the twins.
Bex had brought out a blanket to lay on and a flashlight to read by, but she'd fallen asleep about twenty minutes earlier. Mom was sitting nearby, scowling at the fireworks exploding in the sky. She had one hand under her large belly. She still hadn't gone into labor, and it was making her even more cranky than usual.
"Sorry about that," I told Mallory. "My brothers can be annoying sometimes." At least they had listened to Mom and hadn't tried anything with their magic. That was something to be grateful for, I guess.
Mal shrugged. "It's all right," she said.
I looked at her, a frown pulling at my lips. She'd been incredibly quiet since she'd gotten to my house. She usually thought it was kind of cute to watch my brothers torment me. She enjoyed laughing at me, and encouraging my brothers. But she hadn't done that this time.
"Mallory, is something wrong?"
She shook her head, plastering on a smile. But I could tell it was forced. "No. I'm fine. I'm glad you invited me tonight. I love spending time with your family."
"Mal." I reached out and took her hand. "Seriously. I can tell that something's wrong. You've hardly said a word since you got here. And you usually play with the twins a little, but you didn't this time. What is it? What's wrong?"
"Stryker, please. It's fine. Let's just enjoy the fireworks."
So I let it drop, at least for now. I could try to find out later, I supposed. Maybe when we weren't in my backyard, surrounded by my family. I pulled Mal close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. I was pretty sure that I was starting to fall in love with this girl. I wasn't anywhere close to ready to tell her yet, but I was definitely falling in love.
"Oh!" I heard Mom suddenly exclaim. "Alex!"
We all looked at Mom. Her eyes were wide and she had both hands under her stomach, but she was smiling widely. "Mac? What's wrong?"
She rolled her eyes. "Nothing's wrong. Sheesh. For a Super Geek, you can be pretty dumb sometimes. Alex, she's coming. The baby's coming! My water just broke."
Dad jumped to his feet. "Stryker –"
"Yeah," I said, before he could even finish his thought. "I'll watch Bex and the twins. No big deal. Go. Text me with any updates."
Dad nodded, and rushed to get Mom into the car.
"Stryker," Jax said, watching our parents leave. His pronunciation for his age was pretty amazing. So was Cayson's. Neither one of them really struggled with any of their letter sounds, which was unusual for five-year-olds. "Where are Mom and Dad going?"
"They're going to the hospital so Mom can have the baby. When they come home, they'll have Kensley with them."
"Oh." And then the twins turned their attention back to the fireworks.
Mallory stood up. "I should probably go, since your parents are gone." My parents hadn't said that she couldn't stay, but Mal and I knew that they wouldn't really like it if my girlfriend stayed over while they were gone. If they hadn't been so distracted by the baby, they probably would have said something.
And I know, a lot of teenagers would have taken advantage of the situation. But I wasn't most teenagers. I actually respected my parents. They didn't ask a lot of me, so I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't do what they did ask.
"Let me know when the baby's born?" she asked, her voice subdued.
I nodded. "Sure. Mal, you know that you can talk to me, right? Whatever's going on, you can talk to me."
She nodded and leaned down - since I was still sitting - to press a kiss to my lips. "Goodnight, Stryker." She started to leave.
"Goodnight," I called, but she was already gone.
I sighed, sinking back into my seat.
The twins and I watched the fireworks for about another twenty minutes, and then I got them inside and ready for bed. I carried Bexley into her soccer-themed bedroom and tucked her into bed, barely managing not to wake her.
I dozed, but I didn't really sleep. I was waiting to hear from Dad. He texted a few times, letting me know how it was progressing. It wasn't going quite as quickly as they had thought it would, but they hadn't run into any kinds of problems, which was good.
Finally, at about five-ten in the morning, I got the text.
KENSLEY RAINE AMALA. 6 LBS. 4 OZ. 19 ½ INCHES LONG. JULY 5TH 5:09 AM.
I sent him a smiley face in response and went to sleep.
I seriously would love to have a son like Stryker, when I have teenage kids. He's pretty amazing.