The Bad Boy's Nanny

Ch. 20 - A Coconut Bra

The twins turn eight (and a half) today. Since their birthday is in January, they wanted to have a half-birthday celebration so it can be summer themed. I agreed to it mainly because I still felt guilty for Rose's near-death experience.

I started planning just two days ago, only because that's when they told me about this half-birthday party. It hasn't been very easy. Their guest list originally consisted of 83 people, which, yes, is their entire class. Together, they narrowed it down to just 24 of their closest and most-loved friends.

Next, they had to decide on the theme. Crystal wanted Hawaiian, but Rose wanted tropical. Did I actually see any serious difference? No. But of course they did. It spent four hours being locked in their room for them to come to the decision of Hawaiian-Tropical-Ultimate-Pool Party.

To help make things easier on me, I assigned everyone a role for the party. Addison would order and design the cake, Jonas would be in charge of the games, Ethan would be my personal assistant, Elliott would get the decorations, and Bethany had to be quiet and not poop in her pants. So far, Bethany is horrible at her job.

The party starts at three and goes until eight-thirty. That's five and a half hours that I have to keep twenty-four eight-year-olds occupied and under control.

Luckily, I love birthday parties. I worked at nearly all of Mikey's parties, until he got too cool for the actually fun parties with games and piñatas and presents. The kids love them just as much, which makes it pretty easy on myself.

"Hey, Liott, have you gotten the decorations yet?" I ask, knocking on his open bedroom door.

He looks up from his phone, his lips puckered as he shakes his head. "About that...I kind of forgot."

"Elliott," I exclaim, "the party is in less than three hours!"

"Calm down," he says and gets out of his bed in just a t-shirt and boxers. "I'll go now."

"Okay. I have to go the store to get prizes for the games. I can drive," I say as he throws on a pair of basketball shorts.

He nods and follows me downstairs where the rest of the family is working diligently on their tasks. The twins are filling up the inflatable pool in the backyard, Addison is on the phone with the cake lady, Jonas is setting up a bucket game outside, and Ethan is cleaning up his toys that are all around the house.

"Hey, we're going to stop at the store to pick up some things," I say to the kids outside. "Don't leave the hose on."

"Got it!" The twins lift their thumbs in the air. "Oh! Make sure you get the little umbrellas for drinks. Those are a must have."

"I couldn't imagine having this party without the drink umbrellas," I say and go back inside to grab the keys off the ledge and head into the garage.

Elliott climbs in the passenger's seat when I unlock the car. I start the engine and back out of the driveway. The grocery store is only a few minutes away from the house, so it won't take too much time out of our hectic day.

"Is your mom back?" Elliott asks a bit randomly.

I shake my head and stop at the red light. "I don't think so. She hasn't called or texted."

He nods and lifts one foot up on the dashboard. "Sounds like my dad."

"Yeah? What's the story with him anyway?" I ask. "I don't mean to pry, but I'm just curious because the Kennedy's just seem to be so family oriented."