6. The Birthday Party

~Josh

The doorbell rang just as I was walking past the front door. Pulling it open, I was greeted by Alyssa, who immediately hugged me like she hadn't seen me in months. She was over here two weeks ago, which wasn't that long ago.

"There is like no more parking on your street. How many people are here?"

I laughed. "A lot. Um, did Mama talk to you recently?"

Alyssa smiled. "About your birth parents? Yeah. Congrats, I guess. Is that even the right response? Wait. Are they here?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, they're out back, with everyone else. I actually think you might be the last one here."

She shrugged as she started to move further into the house. "At least I'm here. I tried getting out of work earlier. By the way, who's everyone? Do you mean like, everyone everyone?"

I laughed. "My bio family, obviously, including my brother and his wife, which is weird; Moms, plus the rest of my in-laws; Elliot and Colton; Kris, Justin and the kids; Reed and Quincy; a couple neighbors; and then about twenty kindergartens and some of their parents."

Alyssa visibly shuddered, stopping mid-reach towards the door that led to the backyard. Even from here we could hear the screams and laughter of the children. She wasn't a fan of any children that weren't Ashley or Logan.

"It'll be fine," I assured my sister, stepping around her to pull open the door. "Come on."

Immediately as we stepped outside, we were thrown right into the middle of the party. Kids were running around the backyard, most throwing water balloons at each other, while the adults stuck to the edges of the yard, talking in groups to each other. Music was playing and the smell of food cooking on the grill filled the air. It was the perfect day for a birthday party.

"Auntie Lyssa!"

We both turned to see Ashley running over to us. She went right for her aunt, who picked up the birthday girl in a big hug.

"Oh wow. Ash, you're getting so big!" Alyssa kissed Ashley's cheek before setting her back on the ground. "Happy birthday, big girl! Where's your brother?" Ash pointed behind her, where a group of boys were playing tag. "Why don't you go get him for me? I have something for you both."

I smiled at my sister as my daughter ran towards her brother. "You would have made a really great mom, you know."

She shook her head. "Nah. You guys do a much better job at the whole parenting thing. I like being able to give them back to you when I'm done."

I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything because Ashley and Logan had come running up. They didn't know yet that Alyssa is their mother. We'll tell them when they're older, when they start asking. So far that hasn't happened yet.

She knelt down in front of the kids and I left them alone. I needed to get these hot dogs to Leo, which he asked for before I ever went into the house.

~ Jackson

There were so many people here. Why did we invite so many people to a party the kids probably wouldn't remember by the time they're adults? Because we care about making them happy every day of their lives, that's why. And if that meant a large party, then we were having a large party.

"Jay!" I spun around at the sound of Leo's voice. He was standing next to the grill, looking over at me. I moved closer so that he wasn't shouting over everybody. "Have you seen Josh? I sent him for more hot dogs ten minutes ago. I have a bunch of hungry kids waiting on them. He either forgot or got lost."

I chuckled and couldn't resist giving him a quick kiss. "I'll go find him."

Just as I started heading back towards the house, Leo slapped my ass, making me smirk. I saw Leo's mom watching us, shaking her head, but smiling. I walked over.

"You boys are something else," she said when I got closer. "Don't you know you boys are in public?"

"It's our backyard, Lynnette. And I'm too in love to care, even if we weren't here."

She just shook her head again as I continued walking. I had spotted Josh not too far from where I was, with his back to me.

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. "Hey babe, did you get- Holy shit, you're not my husband." I quickly removed my arm from him and took a step back. "I am so sorry."

He just laughed. "I most certainly am not your husband. But it's fine. I don't think we've officially met yet. I'm Paul."

He stuck out his hand and I shook it. "Jackson. The resemblance between you two is uncanny. It's going to take a while to get used to."

"Believe me, I understand."

Before I could respond, a soccer ball flew by our heads. Thankfully it didn't actually hit anyone, but it came close, rolling to a stop underneath a table. I looked to where it had come from to see Colton and Elliot standing there looking guilty.

"Colton, really?" I called. "You play professionally!"

"It's totally his fault!" he yelled, pointing at his husband before hiding behind him.

Elliot said something to Colton that I could hear before shouting an apology to me, probably on his behalf. Colton was probably just trying to show off, like usual, and messed up. He was a fully grown adult, and yet he still acted like a kid sometimes. I just waved them off. No one was hurt, so it didn't matter too much.

Moving away from my idiotic brother-in-laws and I guess my newest brother-in-law, who could be my husband's doppelganger, I walked over towards Josh, who I actually saw now. He seemed to have just come outside the house with Alyssa. At least he was actually holding the package of hot dogs, though.

Ashley and Logan darted past me, straight for Alyssa. They've always seemed to love her more than any other member of our extended family. Maybe they knew, on some level, what she was to them more so than an aunt.

"Hey babe," I said, stopping Josh in his tracks.

He looked up, surprised. "Did Leo send you for these? I was coming back with them."

I shook my head, wrapping my arm around his shoulders as we started walking towards Leo. "Nope. He sent me for you. He was worried you got lost."

Josh pouted, so I kissed his temple. "I did not get lost in my own house."

~Leo

"Yeah, no. They're gone."

Quincy smiled at me. "That's great. Did you ever figure out what caused them?"

I shook my head. We were sitting outside at one of the tables, just the two of us. Most people had already gone home a while ago, everyone else had moved inside. "Honestly, I don't care anymore about why. I've gotten two full nights of sleep. I'll take it."

"Well, the good thing is that they're gone." He thought for a moment. "Let me know if they ever come back again, immediately. We'll get to the bottom of them. Promise."

I nodded, not doubting his enthusiasm. "Thanks."

Silence fell around us then. There was just the murmur of voices from inside the house and the sound of crickets from the backyard. It was a really nice night out; a bit chilly, but warm for a spring night.

Some time later, Kyle walked over to us. He stood next to me, leaning his hip against my body. I wrapped my arm around him as he spoke to Quincy.

"I think your husband might be drunk."

Quincy sighed. "Good," he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "Guess that's my cue to get him home." He looked back at Kyle as he stood up. "Did he switch to Spanish?"

I got to my feet too as Kyle nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's too bad yet, but I figured I'd let you know."

"Thanks. It was a really nice party tonight. I'm glad we could make it, although I apologize for Reed getting drunk."

"Don't worry about it," I said as we moved inside. "Wouldn't be a party if someone didn't end up drunk. Even a birthday party for two six year olds."

When we walked into the kitchen, I saw Reed sitting at the table, his head in his hands. I watched the interaction between the couple starting when Quincy went over to Reed and placed a hand on his back. "Hey, baby. It's time to go."

Reed lifted up his head. "Esta mi bello esposo."

"Yup. That would be me. Come on."

Reed clung to Quincy as he stood up. "Te amo, mi amor."

"I know. I love you too. You can switch back to English, Reed. That would be easier for me."

He nodded. "Can we fuck when we get home?"

Quincy turned bright red. I held back a laugh. "Maybe you should stick to Spanish, baby. It's fine."

We said our goodbyes at the front door. And of course, I couldn't help but make sure to tell Quincy to have fun tonight, which I think he rolled his eyes at, although it was almost too dark to tell.

When we all made our way back inside, we found Colton sitting on Elliot's lap as they made out. They were the last people yet to leave. Jackson walked behind them and kicked the chair, snapping them out of their little world. "Quit making out in my house."

Colton scoffed. "Not like you guys don't. Besides, I don't see any kids around."

That was actually a good point. "Where are they anyway?" I asked.

"They were dead on their feet a little while ago," Josh answered. "Ash crashed on the couch. Logan probably made it to his bed, but I haven't checked on him yet."

"I'll check on him," Kyle said before leaving the room. "And I'll put Ashley in hers."

As soon as he was gone, I looked around the kitchen. It was a mess. "I am not looking forward to cleaning all these dishes."

"I say Colton does them," Jay said.

Colton's mouth dropped open. "What?"

Jay shrugged. "Only fair for you almost taking my head off with a soccer ball earlier."

"That was totally not my fault."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Will you just accept responsibility for it? We all know it was you." Colton made a face at his husband. "I still love you, though."

Colton smiled and leaned over to kiss Elliot again, but never got the chance. Jackson kicked the chair again. "Reason two. Stop that."

"Come up, get up," Elliot said. "We're going to help."

"Guys, Logan's not upstairs," Kyle said from the doorway, worry written all over his face.

"What do you mean he's not upstairs?" I asked, somehow not understanding.

"I tucked Ashley in to her bed. Logan wasn't in his. I looked everywhere upstairs, and he's not there. He wasn't in the living room either."

That got us all moving. We all searched the house and the backyard, but we still couldn't find Logan. Even after calling some of our family to ask if he might have tagged along with them, even though that's much more an Ashley thing to do, we were still coming up with nothing.

Logan was gone.

A/N: For the translation of Reed's Spanish - "Esta mi bello esposo" = 'there's my beautiful husband' and "te amo, mi amor" = 'I love you, my love'.

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