Life Without Them (On Hold)

Chapter 22: To Wake a Birthday Boy...umm, Man

~Luke~

I had to admit, Sang's idea for North's party was genius. I don't know why Gabe and I didn't think of it ourselves. A bounce house nerf war! Sang ordered enough nerf guns and ammo for all of us, plus inflatable pads that we could put anywhere.

When Gabe and I got back from the hospital yesterday, I immediately started to make North's cake while Gabe not so silently freaked about not knowing what was going to happen. But that all changed when we got a look at what was in the giant boxes shipped to us from Amazon. Victor only lifted his head from his computer and raised his eyebrow in question before going back to looking for Volto on his computer.

It was decided that we'd keep the nerf war to the top floor so that we could keep a better eye on the children. After they went to bed, we locked the staircase door, and restricted the access to the top two floors. There was no way Volto or anyone else was going to get in here and ruin this. Gabe and I enlisted Marc, Brandon, and Nathan to help us cover the hallway and main floor, along with every wall and floor in the apartment opposite Sang with the inflatable mats. That way, the kids could bounce around to each apartment when looking for targets. There'd be extra ammo hidden away in each apartment, so hopefully they never ran out.

It took us hours to set everything up, and now everything is perfect. There's only one thing left to do. Wake up the kids!

Gabe and I grin at each other before bounding out the of the bed in Marc's guest room. We race out of the apartment and bounce along down the hallway to Sang's, muffling our laughter behind our hands. When we get to her apartment door, we bounce in place as Gabe pulls out his phone to call her, putting it on speaker. It rings a few times before she picks up, her voice husky with sleep.

"Hello?"

"We're outside your door," I whisper into the phone.

"Luke? Why are you whispering?" she asks.

"We don't want the kids to hear us," Gabe tells her.

"Guys, it's five in the morning. They're still sleeping. And you should be too."

"But if we're gonna surprise North with breakfast, we need to start now," I plead.

"You know you two are more excited than the twins are about this?"

She doesn't give us a chance to answer as the sounds of her getting out of bed fill the phone. She hangs up, and a few moments later, she's opening the door in a light pink lace robe, her hair piled up in a messy bun, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Listen very carefully, because I'm only going to say this once," she starts. "You will wake them up, you will get them dressed, you will leave me to shower and get my life together in peace. If I have to do anything besides supervise breakfast, you two will be very, very sorry. Got it?"

Man, Cupcake sure doesn't like it when we wake her up early.

"Yes ma'am," we squeak.

"Good," she steps back to allow us inside. "They're still in bed. Good luck."

With that, she turns the corner and walks back to her room.

"Man, Trouble sure is mean in the morning," Gabriel grumps.

"Well she does have the twins most of the time. You think she'll finally let them stay over with us?" I ask him.

"I think we've proven ourselves," he nods. "But getting the kids ready without her help would really prove it to her."

"Let's do it," I grin.

With a nod from Gabriel, we lock the door and round the corner. Running water can be heard from Sang's room as we pass, the door is opened a crack. We pass by hers and go straight to the twins room, walking in through the already open door. Like little angels, the two are snug in their beds, turned so that they're facing each other. Gabriel goes over to Morgan, and I walk over to Cole.