Oh, Ara

Chapter 19

Previously:  Ara's Dad came in and she learned that her parents are getting a divorce, her mother has been cheating on her father for 5 years, her mother is pregnant with someone else's kid, her father wants a chance at them all being a real family again and all the Jenson kids have agreed to give him a shot.

Ara's POV

Dad comes in a little later with the rest of the Jensons, absolutely elated, and we make plans to move back to the penthouse over the next two days. Dad has taken off work from December 23 - January 2nd, and this is the first time in my conscious memory that he has ever taken off work so I'm really hopeful that this going to work.

I'm sitting in my room with all of my brothers when suddenly it hits me.

"Carter!" I exclaim and he jumps.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" I ask.

"We're 17!" I exclaim, "We missed our birthday!"

Carter sighs," I know."

"And Thomas' Birthday, December 18th, that was a few days ago,"

"Yup, I'm now a sweet sixteener,"

"Sweet fifteener," Ryder corrects.

"Ryder, you couldn't have let me have this. I could have won serious poker chips if she believed me!" Thomas exclaims.

My brothers laugh and I shake my head, "Thomas, I may have been on an island for three months, but I know how old you are."

My brothers laugh as Thomas pouts.

"But seriously! How did you guys celebrate your birthday?" I ask. They all look at me like I've gone off the deep end.

"Ara, we didn't celebrate." Carter states and I open my mouth to yell but he cuts me off, "You were gone, nobody was in any sort of celebrating mood, and it felt dishonorable to celebrate anything without you."

"Nothing? You have celebrated anything! What about Halloween! Thanksgiving! Oh my god, Christmas is coming up, please tell me you have a Christmas Tree!" I exclaim. The boys sheepishly look away, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"What, Ara, nobody loves celebrating anything as much as you, if we tried to celebrate, or do anything-" Scott tries to explain but I plow through his words.

"You can't just skip birthdays and holidays!" I exclaim.

"When you're kidnapped and suffering, yes we can,"Jason states.

I sigh," I just can't believe you guys didn't get-"

"Ara, you were forced to miss them, and these are some of your favorite things in the world, we could not celebrate without you. Besides, nobody was ever in the mood to celebrate anything," Jason explains.

I sigh and nod my head," Okay, I guess I get it. But wait! Dad's gonna be off for 1,2,3," I start counting on my fingers and the boys start snickering so I give up, "several days! Let's celebrate everything. Let's doChristmas Eve, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Thomas' Birthday, then ours! It'll be a week of celebrations."

"Ara, that's a lot of celebrating-" Thomas starts but Jason cuts him off.

"Done. We'll do it," Jason says and smiles, "for you Ara, it' the least we can do."

I grin, "let's get planning!" 

The boys and I start figuring out the logistics and if we move everything back to the penthouse by tomorrow we can stay on schedule and celebrate everything. Dad, Grandpa and Grandma were all in and Grandpa ran off saying he wanted to take care of Carter and mine's birthday. After much protest,  by me and Carter, Grandpa announced that "he was the adult so he got to make the decision, so suck it!" and then he ran out of the room so we couldn't argue anymore.

Cole just sat by my side the entire time and my friends came in and became very enthusiastic and help with the planning. It was decided that there would be teams to help plan each event and that I was not allowed to do anything due to doctor's physical restrictions. 

When visiting hours were over, everyone was kicked out and they all promised to come first thing tomorrow. I am being held for overnight observation, but I should be able to check out around noon tomorrow. 

I am watching Netflix on my laptop, which Carter was so thoughtful to bring for me, when I remember that I am in the hospital where Jaime and David are. I carefully put my laptop to the side and try to get up. I'm a lot weaker than I thought I would be and the doctors said it was adrenaline that kept me going near the end of my stay on the island and that all the physical toll from the last few months was catching up now and I am going to feel very sore and tired for the next week or so, but I will eventually get back to normal. The most important thing for me, they said, is to rest, drink lots of water, and eat a bunch. I know the people in my life will make sure that happens no matter what I say.

I make it up and over to the bag of stuff Carter brought for me. I pull the sweatpants out and put them on. I'm wearing a bra and tank top under my hospital gown so I just take that off. I severely detest those things.

My IV bag is attached to a wheel-able pole thing so I take that with me and set off to find Jaime.

TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY BECAUSE YOU GUYS DESERVE IT!!!!!

Again, I'm so so sorry for being away so long, but I promise I'm back.

Thanks for reading, commenting and voting and being a part of this story. I know if I wasn't writing on wattpad, I would have just left this story here and not continued, but because I am writing for all of you, I will always come back to this story no matter how writer's blocked I am.

If you could please leave comments so I know what y'all are thinking that would be fantastic!!

Unedited as always and I love you all, as always!

M