Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 33 - Luke's Birthday Party

CHAPTER 33

NICK

Luke was so excited about his birthday party that he had a really tough time getting to sleep last night. He kept getting out of bed, asking whether or not they could leave yet. At eleven, when he got up for the third time just as Nick and Cat were about to turn in, Cat told him they couldn't leave until the sky was light outside. She said morning would come faster if he stayed in bed, which worked – he went to sleep and didn't get up again.

Still, that meant Luke was up at literally the crack of dawn. He crawled out of his bed the moment he saw light through his window and bolted right into Cat's bedroom, inched onto Nick's side of the bed and startled him into consciousness by jumping on his back.

"It's morning! Can we go see Grandma Liv and Grandpa Wilson now?" the little boy chirped excitedly.

"How morning is it?" Nick grunted in a groggy, half-hearted voice as he carefully twisted around, one hand reaching for Luke to make sure he wouldn't go toppling off the bed. He fell instead cozily in the crevice between Nick's body and Cat's, nestling himself in the sheets and the extra pillow Cat couldn't sleep without.

He reached for his phone and slid his finger across the screen. He tapped the screen again and voice-over feature on his phone repeated the date and time back to him.

"Is it time?" Luke asked.

"Nah buddy, not for a little while still... I don't think anyone in the city is awake yet," Nick responded, collapsing back into bed. No wonder he was feeling like he'd only just gone to sleep – it was only a quarter after five in the morning. He doubted he'd be able to get Luke back into bed though. "How about your mom, is she awake yet?" he added, nudging Cat's leg with his own underneath the sheets.

Despite her lying surprisingly still next to him, he figured she must be awake with how much Luke was moving around. She wasn't a very heavy sleeper.

"Momma's asleep," Cat grumbled, her words muffled by her pillow.

"I think mom needs a tickle to wake up," Nick grinned deviously and the little boy responded promptly by tacking Cat.

"Tickle monster!" he squealed.

"Oh no, please, not the tickle monster!" Cat protested.

Nick grinned as he leaned back against the headboard, trying to decipher who between the two of them was laughing more.

They had breakfast and got ready very quickly that morning, encouraged by Luke's pestering. It took everything in Nick and Cat's power to try and take their time, that way they wouldn't be walking out the door at eight o'clock.

While Cat showered and got all made up, Nick, who was already dressed, was on child-watching duty. He helped Luke into some clothes and made sure he brushed his teeth, and then they hung out in the living room with some building blocks. Luke the carpenter wanted to build a house and an accompanying garage so that he could store his little cars in.

Entertaining a child when he had a one-track mind was hard work, but it was still a good distraction; for a whole twenty minutes, Luke didn't even mention his party at Grandma Liv and Grandpa Wilson's.

At almost eleven, they finally told Luke he could go put on his shoes and fetch his hat. He was so excitable and bouncy; it was kind of hilarious actually.

Nick understood the feeling though. This was Luke's first birthday party, at least one he could truly experience and possibly even remember in the future. Nick was excited for him, but he was also excited for himself – because he'd get to be a part of it too, and he hoped he'd be a part of many birthdays to come as well.