Chapters: Stories on Sean & Kaycee

Birthdays Part 1

Sixteen
Happy birthday, dear Kayceeeeee! Happy birthday to you!

Her Sweet Sixteen Part 1 was a week before her actual birthday. It was at the lake house, with the family and her closest friends. And Sean. There was always Sean.

The kids spent the afternoon under the sun, trying their hand at wakeboarding, and competing in backflip contests. And when they finally came in, their skin glowed with fresh tans and sweat.

And that night, we surprised her with red velvet cupcakes spelling out “Happy Birthday Kaycee!” and singing her a happy birthday song in all sorts of off-key notes. Sean, of course, sang the worst (which was on purpose, because he has a lovely singing voice) and the loudest.

I think he did it to make her giggle more. The way her smile lit up as everyone sang - there was no missing the look on Sean's face. I'm sure he thought no one could see him, he’s normally much better at reigning in his feelings, but I caught him. Too bad he didn't see the warm glance Kaycee threw his way when she found out he baked the cupcakes.

I was up at around 3am, tiptoeing to the kitchen to get a glass of water, when I saw them. The two of them had snuck away. There they stood, right on the edge of the dock, silhouettes traced by the moonlight. Kaycee was jumping up and down at something, tugging on Sean's arm. Then he picked her up and twirled her around, their laughter just barely audible from where I stood.

Pretending I hadn't seen a thing, I went back to the room. They’re so good for most of the year. It couldn't have been easy, but they behaved themselves and followed the rules. At the very least, they deserved one night.

One night to be what they wanted to be, what they were meant to be, before the morning brought back reality.

Before
We were always driven and ambitious. It was a rough road to success, but with faith in delayed gratification, we are now reaping the joys of all our hard work. Patience, determination, perseverance, work ethic. These were values we ingrained in the 3 siblings, each one in pursuit of their own passions.

Eyes on the prize. Go for gold. Be unstoppable.

And to do that, one requires razor sharp focus.

So we made a rule, THE RULE. The one rule that all our children grew to hate: No relationships until the age of 18.

We thought that Devon would be the troublemaker, with his charm and his good looks. But he was always so serious. From a young age, he inherited his father’s entrepreneurial mindset, and he was hungry for bigger, better things. As the eldest, he had a strong sense of family, and was deadset on setting a good example for his younger sisters. So despite being such a heartthrob, THE RULE was not a problem.

Kylie was a bit more of a challenge. She was outgoing, outspoken, and adventurous. She got along well with the kids in the dance classes she grew up with. And even after she put dance to the side, her sparkling personality still shined. She was beautiful, that was always evident. And once she started growing into her features - legs growing longer, body getting slimmer - it was tough to keep romantic interests at bay. She broke THE RULE a few times, but things were never serious enough to truly cause heartbreak and impede her road to her dreams.

With only Kaycee left, we thought we could breathe easy. Since she first entered a studio at the age of 4, she could not think of anything else. She was single minded in her journey to be better, always experimenting with different styles and training with different choreographers. Kaycee was so focused, that we eventually shifted her to homeschooling, to give her more time for dance. She went to workshops almost everyday. She travelled to assist with classes. She worked on music videos and live shows. We thought THE RULE wouldn’t need to apply to her.