Eighteen Years Later

Chapter 27 - The Sleepover Part 1

This chapter was recommended by the lovely @arielise7285 ❤️

Charlie POV

Today is a very exciting day. I feel like a little kid on Christmas. Recently, my long-time good friends of Nick and I have been staying in Kingston. Tara and Darcy and their twin boys Mason and Hugo. They are here on a holiday but have plans to visit us as well.

Tara and I have planned for her to drop her boys at our place and have Declan and Lucia babysit all the kids while the adults go out for dinner and drinks at the local pub. I don't know how well the Teenagers will handle looking after 4 kids but when we told them friends of ours were in town they volunteered to babysit.

Declan and Lucia are due here at 4pm. Tara and Darcy at 4:30 so we can leave at 5pm. We are giving ourselves plenty of time to prepare the Teenagers for the night.

Tara and Darcy were very hesitant to have their children looked after by some random teenagers, rightfully so but when we told them how lovely, trustworthy they are, they came around to the idea. I think they need a bit of a kid free night as well.

I'm making sure everything is perfect for their arrival. The house is somewhat tidy (as tidy as it can be with young kids), everyone is ready and prepared. The twin boys Mason and Hugo are very sweet kids but polar opposites. Mason is loud, outgoing and a lot like his Mama Darcy. Hugo is quiet, shy and won't open up. They oddly work well together as brothers though.

I am wiping down the kitchen island when the doorbell rings, probably Declan and Lucia.

"I'll get it!" Alec yells from the living room and runs to the front door. Usually Nick and I don't like the kids answering the door by themselves for obvious safety reasons but it's the exact time that Declan and Lucia are supposed to arrive so I'm positive it's them.

My suspicions are confirmed as Declan and Lucia soon head into the kitchen and make themselves known.

Nick comes downstairs with Millie. They finally got ready. My daughter has an Elsa t-shirt on and yellow shorts. My husband is wearing black dress pants and a white button down shirt with the top buttons undone and his sleeves slightly rolled. I can't stop staring.

I force myself to get it together and snap out of my thoughts when Lucia speaks up.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Lucia asks

"The plan is that we will head off at about quarter to 5 as soon as Tara and Darcy, the boys' mums arrive. When they do we will go over the kids' night routines, bedtimes, dinner etc with you. And then you are on your own from there." Nick says and they both nod.

The doorbell rings again.

"I'll get it!" Alec says again, reaching for his crutches.

"Not on your own Alec." I tell him, he rolls his eyes and I choose to ignore it because he grabs Nick's hand and drags him to the door.

I follow and watch as they open the door for Tara, Darcy, Mason and Hugo. Mason stands confidently at the front, bouncing in excitement, while his brother Hugo looks nervous and is holding Tara's hand.

"Hi!! Come one in!" Nick welcomes them and gives hugs, I do the same.

"It's so lovely to have you! I feel like we never see you anymore!" I tell them as I'm hugging Tara

"We have been very busy with the boys' activities and work lately. Truth be told, I'm so excited to not have the boys for a night." Tara chuckles and strokes Hugo's head.

"Oh I can imagine. What kind of activities do they do?" I ask

"Mason does lots of sport, rugby, football, hockey you name it. Hugo has art classes, music lessons and plays piano and guitar. " She tells me.