We weren't. The party we were throwing was a conglomeration of congratulations. A banner taped above the sliding door leading to the wraparound porch out back announced all the festivities: Happy one year anniversary, Denny & Abby! Congratulations on publishing your second book, Kiera! Congratulations on your second album reaching #1, D-Bags! Happy Valentine's Day!
Abby had arranged the party. Not only was she a huge holiday nut, but she was also an impossibly organized multi-tasker. When she saw on opportunity to combine events, she jumped on it! The only thing that was missing from the banner was the fact that my little man was five months old today. But that fact was really only significant to Kellan and me. Most people didn't throw a birthday party every month of someone's life. But we celebrated the smallest milestones with our son.
It was lightly snowing outside, but that wasn't stopping our group from having a barbeque. Evan was in front of our stainless steel grill in a fluffy jacket and a stocking cap, flipping burgers and rotating the hotdogs. Matt was with him, his arms securely around Rachel, who looked like she was slowly freezing to death. As I watched other people come into the house to take a break from the chill, ducking under the massive banner as they did, I felt someone standing beside me.
Turning my head, I smiled over at Denny. He was completely clean-shaven; it was the first time I'd seen him that way since college. Back then, he'd seemed so young with his baby face and youthful smile. But he'd grown over the years, and now he looked like someone who knew exactly who he was and where he was going. The peaceful smile on his face told the world My life is good, and I'm content. Seeing him look that way lifted my heart.
Pointing over to the table of holiday-inspired confections, I told him, "You really weren't kidding about the holiday fetish, were you?"
Denny laughed as he looked my way. "No, I wasn't. You and Kellan will have to come over for St. Patrick's Day next month. You will not believe the dinner Abby serves." He twisted his lip. "Ever had green potatoes?"
I laughed at that remark and instantly pictured my pink table transformed into a green wonderland, full of foods that shouldn't ever be green. Glancing at the ring on his finger as he sipped his fruity pink punch, I told him, "Congratulations on your one year anniversary."
He paused with the cup to his mouth. "Thank you." After taking another drink, he told me, "I have some good news for you too. Like we talked about, I gave Irresistible to every publishing house I could. One of them called me yesterday. They're impressed with how well the book has been doing, and they absolutely loved the story. They want to talk to you about publishing it professionally."
My eyes widened. A traditional book deal? Right now, my book was only available on the Internet. Having my title on bookshelves everywhere would be the culmination of all of my dreams. Amazed, I told him, "Thank you for doing that. I'd love to talk to them."
I was still reeling over the news when Abby came up to Denny. Seeing the look on my face, she asked him, "Did you tell her?" When he nodded, she turned to me. "Congratulations, Kiera, we're very excited for you. I wanted to change the banner but Denny told me it was too soon to announce anything."
I smiled at her adorable accent. That was one of the perks for me when I hung out with Denny and his wife-two accents for the price of one. "Thank you. I'm still . . . taking it all in."
Abby nodded as she looped her arms through Denny's. "Well, you deserve your success, you and Kellan both." An impish smile crossed her lips and she added, "And isn't your congratulations cake gorgeous?"
"Definitely. It's almost nicer than your wedding cake." Abby lifted an eyebrow at me, and I had to laugh. Her wedding cake had been something straight out of a Martha Stewart catalog. There had been seven layers to it. And a fountain. I'm not joking.
Denny laughed with me, but stopped when Abby pouted at him. Giving her an adoring smile, he murmured, "Happy anniversary, sweetheart."
She immediately perked back up and leaned forward to kiss him. Shaking my head at the lovebirds, I turned away to give them some privacy. From the room behind me, I heard a person speaking through a microphone and cringed. Damn, someone had just turned on the karaoke machine. I'm not sure why I ever let Kellan convince me that we should get one. I'd only used it once, when just the two of us had been home, and that had been mortifying. But it was pretty amazing when Kellan took over, so I wasn't entirely disappointed with the purchase.
Excusing myself from Denny and Abby, I twisted around to head into the living room. Lightly kicking balloons out of my way, I came upon a sight that both made me laugh and warmed my heart. Griffin, in all his attention-seeking glory, was standing in front of the fireplace with Kellan; Kellan was holding our little boy in a front-facing infant carrier. Adorable wasn't a strong enough word to describe him. There was just something about an attractive man holding a baby . . .
Our living room had a capacious, open layout with clumps of furniture spaced here and there to break the space up. I could easily see every person who was curiously watching the two D-Bags about to perform. Anna, Gibson, and Kellan's sister, Hailey, were among them. Much to the chagrin of Gavin, Hailey had decided to move out here after she'd finished college. Well, I suppose Gavin wasn't too upset about it; it just gave him yet another reason to come visit. In fact, last I saw, Gavin and Riley were in the band's "practice room," a soundproof building that the boys used to work on new material. Riley was quickly becoming just as adept with the guitar as his older brother. He was also becoming just as impossibly attractive, a heartbreaker in the making.
Clearing his throat, Griffin brought the microphone to his lips. "Ladies and gentleman, I want to thank you all for coming tonight to The G and K Show." He licked his lips, then air-kissed the crowd. "It's our pleasure to entertain you." He started suggestively thrusting his hips, and I slapped my hand over my eyes.
Anna, sitting on an ottoman in front of them, busted out laughing. Gibson was sitting on her lap, giggling. Wearing a frilly red dress, white tights, and the cutest pair of Mary Janes, the adorable girl had her blond hair neatly pulled into symmetrical pigtails. Anna told me that Griffin had spent thirty minutes getting the pigtails to perfectly line up. When Gibson started clapping at her daddy's antics, everyone around started laughing.
Kellan, also laughing at Gibson, brought his microphone to his lips. "Can you just start the music so we can get this over with?"
Griffin frowned at Kellan, but pressed Play on the machine. When Debbie Gibson's "Lost In Your Eyes" started playing, Kellan lowered the mike and stared at Griffin in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? This is the song you wanted to sing?"
As my sister fell over backward she was laughing so hard, Griffin pointed at his daughter. "It's Debbie Gibson, dude. Gibson. It's for my daughter."
Kellan sighed as he closed his eyes. "If we're gonna do a duet, can we at least sing 'Electric Youth'?"
Griffin made an obscene gesture then headed back to the machine to change the song selection. Behind his back, Kellan started cracking up. When Kellan held the microphone back up, a tiny hand reached out to grab the cord. I smiled at our son, Ryder. Kellan had named him. He loved that the name was similar to his half brother's. I loved that it sounded a bit rock 'n' roll. The son of the lead singer of one of the hottest bands on earth should have an interesting name.
Ryder's face was just at the edge of the carrier; he was chewing on the end of it like a dog gnawing on his toy. His little fist curled around the microphone cord in triumph and he gave it a tug or two. Kellan smiled down at him and bounced a little on his feet. Those two were peas in a pod already. Ryder loved me without a doubt, but he was daddy's boy through and through. And he looked just like Kellan-thick light brown hair that stuck up no matter how hard I tried to keep it down, and deep, dark blue eyes that looked like the evening sky. Maybe I was a bit biased, but everything about him was perfect-his cheeks, his nose, his toothless smile, the cute little freckle on the back of his neck. Everything.
The boys had a tour starting for their successful sophomore album this summer. Ryder and I were going to go with the boys, just to see how it went. If it was too hard touring with him, then we would go home and work out something else out for future tours. Short visits, maybe. But Kellan and I were pretty easygoing, and Ryder was a dream baby, so I was expecting this tour to be just fine. Keeping Ryder away from the public was my biggest concern. Kellan's too. That's why we had a team joining us-we'd bumped our bodyguards up to two, and we'd hired a nanny. I didn't really think we'd need the nanny, I was pretty on top of things, but Kellan thought the extra help would be worth it. "And besides," he'd told me, "with a nanny, we could have a night or two alone for . . . dates." I was sold after that.
As "Electric Youth" started playing through the speakers, Jenny wrapped her arms around me. She had an engagement ring on her finger that twinkled in the living room lights. She and Evan hadn't been in any great hurry to move their relationship along, but he'd finally proposed to her last week. That left Matt and Rachel. Rumor was, Matt was going to propose to her on the day the boys left for their next tour. Rumor also had it that Matt was sweating bullets about it. I was positive he had nothing to worry about; Rachel was going to say yes.
"Hey, Kiera. Great party."
Leaning in to her, I laughed. "Thanks. Abby did most of it, though." Sighing, I looked back at Kellan. He'd started singing along with Griffin, but he was laughing so hard he didn't sound very good. He looked good, though.
Jenny snorted. "Is this because Kellan lost that bet?"
Looking over at her, I frowned. "What bet?"
She grinned and pulled her long locks away from her shoulder. "You know, Griffin bet him that he could knock Anna up again before Kellan knocked you up again." Jenny rolled her eyes. "I don't think Kellan actually accepted the bet, but still, you know how Griffin loves to win . . . anything."
My eyes widened as far as they could go. Anna was pregnant again? Sitting herself up, Anna happened to glance my way. When she saw my face, then saw Jenny beside me, she instantly knew that I knew. Her lips curled into a smirk, and she merely shrugged at me. I was so floored, I could barely come up with words. When I did, they were laced with disbelief. "Those two are going to overpopulate the earth, aren't they?"
Jenny pursed her lips. "Yep. Probably."
Kellan had control over his chuckles by the second verse. Then he started getting into it. Always the performer, he gave the cheesy eighties teeny-bopper anthem his best. No one in the room had dry eyes. Not Cheyenne, Meadow, or the rest of Poetic Bliss. Not Justin or Kate, cuddling on the love seat. Not Troy, Rita, or Sam.
When Kellan and Griffin's song was over, Kellan and Ryder took a small bow. Then Kellan handed the microphone out to Rain. Just as eager to perform as Griffin, Rain jumped off the couch and ran up to the "stage." They had to pry the microphone cord away from Ryder, which made him start to cry. Bouncing him as he walked, Kellan reached into his back pocket and handed him a rattle in the shape of a guitar. He instantly started shaking it, a smile on his tiny lips.
Kellan walked over to me, pulling Ryder out of his carrier as he did. My face scrunched up into a "gimme" expression as I held my hands out for my baby. Kellan instantly handed him over, kissing his head before he did. Warmth and softness overwhelmed me as I held Ryder close. I inhaled a deep breath as he grabbed a fistful of my hair. He smelled like Kellan. Somehow, whether it was hereditary or just a by-product of being so close to Kellan all the time, Ryder always seemed to smell like his daddy. It was incredible.
Hours later, when the party was over, I wandered through my home littered with red Solo cups and half-eaten pieces of cake. I felt totally at peace. Even messy from a party, this place was my sanctuary. My journey here had been tumultuous at best, but it was worth every scrape, heartache, and tear. Kellan and I were who we are now because of it. We'd learned to open up to each other, to trust each other, to face the world together. I firmly believed now that there was nothing we couldn't tackle together. No hurdle, no obstacle, no setback was so large that it would break us apart, and there was comfort and confidence in that knowledge.