Kiss Me Slowly

Chapter 36: The Birthday

Pic above is Jeremy

Chapter 36: The Birthday

Two weeks after I signed the unofficial adoption, I was planning Jeremy's birthday. He'd gone on a trip to see his parents and siblings, and was getting back the next day, the 30th. I had 20 hours. I also had to finish planning the end of the year party for the school.

"Jackie," I called. "Did you get the decora—"

"Yes!" She called back.

"Denny," I turned, "You have the food men—"

"Yes, Ethan." He answered.

"Kenny, the—"

"Ethan!" Kenny walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Chill out. Everything is going to go fine." I nodded and took a deep breath. He rubbed my arms. "Now, go get some rest. You've had a long day."

"What?" I freaked. "I don't have time! I still have to clean the house, and buy all the food, and set up—"

"Ethan." Kenny interrupted. "Calm down. There's still time. No need to stress about it. It's just Jeremy."

I stared. "Exactly why I'm stressing! He's turning 55! He said he wanted his 50's birthdays to be remembered, so that what I plan to do. I'm not—"

"Eth, you're stressed, you're tired, and you worry too much. Go get some rest and we'll start cleaning. You didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"And who's fault is that?" I asked sarcastically. He smiled sheepishly. "First, you say you're going to use up the rest of your minutes, then when I'm finally getting into it, you stop—two minutes in!!—and then you two couldn't keep quiet!" I pointed to between Kenny and Denny. Denny looked at me apologetically, but Kenny showed no sign of regret. "By the way, you have 5 minutes left." I added.

"I'll bet you wanted to use those five minutes to strip and get in the bed with us." Kenny said lowly, smirking. I glared at him. He held his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok. We'll be quieter next time."

"There's not going to be a next time if I'm home." I said.

"Why's that?" He asked.

"Because I said so."

Denny nodded like it was reasonable, but Kenny chuckled and shook his head. "Be ready for those last minutes at any time." He winked and walked over to Denny. I ignored him.

"Make sure the bathrooms get cleaned, and the entry, and the kitchen needs—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kenny interrupted. "We got it. Go." He pointed to the bedroom. I pursed my lips, but when Kenny gave me a look, I sighed and walked to the bedroom.

A nap was exactly what I needed.

Notice the sarcasm.

Because as soon as I woke up, I felt more stressed and panicked when I looked at the time. I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall. I grabbed my shoes and was putting them on when Kenny came from the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I have to get over there and set up and—"

"The party's tomorrow, chill." Kenny told me.

"I know. That's why I have to—"

"Ethan." He cut me off and walked towards me. "You don't need to worry about it."

"But I am. Something's going to go wrong, I know it. A banner will fall in the drinks, or the food will burn, or the kids won't behave. Or Jeremy won't make it." I rung my hands at that last one.