Before

Birthday Girl.

HARDIN.

"She's going to be at the house at four," I say for the tenth time in the last hour. Landon looks over at me, raises an eyebrow and says something under his breath.

"Less whining, more wrapping." I tell him. He's supposed to be helping me wrap the gifts I got for Tessa's birthday, but so far, he's just been eating his way through the perfectly decorated table of food I had arranged for her, and adding in his unwanted commentary about my supposed stress level today.

I'm not stressed.

Really, I'm not.

I'm perfectly fucking calm.

I just want this day to go okay, and for Tessa to have a good birthday. I'm using her birthday to show her how life will be with me, for the rest of her birthday's, for the rest of her life. I've missed the last two birthdays and this one can't go wrong. It simply can't.

"It's only one now. She won't be here for a few hours. We have plenty of time. What did you get her?" Landon asks me from across the kitchen. Of course, he has a damn cupcake in his hand.

"The trip to Vegas, I told you this already."

Landon nods and I take a breath, going over the list of shit I have to do today before Tessa will be back from her class. She's the only person I know who graduated from college and immediately signed up for more schooling. This time her class is at a community college, less expensive and straight to the point, but still. I wanted her to take time off from school and spend more time with me. We have a lot of time to make up for.

"What's left to be done?" Landon asks.

"Carol and David land at two, I'm picking them up from the airport, then have to drive back here and make sure Tess-"

"I can pick them up and drive them back here," Landon's wife offers. She's been pretty helpful lately, despite how insane she drives me. I like her. Sort of. Mostly because of how happy she makes Landon, but her attitude can be really, really, annoying and since I'm the resident expert on attitudes, my opinion matters.

Not to Landon, clearly, but to someone. Somewhere.

I thank her and check my phone. Two missed calls from my publicist. Great.

Instead of calling her back, I turn my phone off and shove it into the front pocket of my jeans. Whatever she wants from me can wait, I'm sure of it. The last time Patri blew up my phone, she only wanted a quote from me for some magazine. It's Tessa's birthday, I don't give a shit about media today. Well, I don't give a shit about media any day, but definitely not today.

"What else needs to be done?" Landon asks, being his usual helpful self.

I stare around the apartment, at the Happy Birthday banner hanging above the fireplace and the counter covered with food. Cupcakes, cookies, some kind of orange dip that Landon's wife made. I look at the chairs, with the cloths covering them. I even had the Gibson's put bows on all the chairs. The house looks like it's decorated for a wedding. There are flowers everywhere.

Fuck, this looks ridiculous. It's way too much.

"Take the shit off the chairs," I run my fingers through my hair. I should wash my hair.

"What?" Gibson #2 asks, scooping her hair into a ponytail. "Why?"

"Because it's too much. Look at this," I pull at one of the bows on the chair and pull it off.

"You said you wanted it to be extravagant." Gibson #1 says.

These two are even more annoying when they are together than one on one.