Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 113741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“What are you doing here?” he asked, turning quickly, slinging water everywhere.
“I just couldn’t miss today. I was afraid I was getting here too early, but my driver insisted Em would be up. His children all get up at the crack of dawn on their birthdays,” Gage said, Em bouncing in his arms.
“Daddy, come on! Let’s open presents,” Em begged. Gage put her down and she took off again to the living room. Hunter followed, but at a much slower pace.
“I’m going to start the coffee,” Rhonny said, and she turned following Hunter out.
“What’re you doing here?” Trent asked again, running the towel over his hair, patting it down into some semblance of order while coming to stand in front of Gage.
“How can I convince you I want to stand by your side if I miss the first big thing in our lives?” Gage asked. Trent stayed quiet, staring with an occasional blink, speechless. He’d never expected any of this, but most certainly not those words. That one sentence revealed so much more than the desire to show up for his daughter’s birthday. Before he could formulate a response, Gage continued, “Exactly, you have no answer, because there is no answer. Now, how about a kiss, handsome? I flew all night.” Trent leaned in, but Em tore her way between them before their lips could make contact.
“Daaaadddddyyyy, he came to spend the day with me and you. Come on!” Em pleaded. They both laughed as she grabbed his hand, pulling him along with her to the living room with Gage following closely behind.
In a place of honor sat a huge stack of wrapped gifts thanks to Gage’s generosity. Em went nuts the day before when the delivery driver had dropped them off. Six packages, of all different sizes, wrapped in bright pink gift wrap and giant pink bows. It drove her crazy having to look at them all day without being able to open them. And if she couldn’t open them, the next best thing was to speculate as to the contents. She must have guessed a million different things they could be, and last night, when they were decorating the house in streamers, balloons, and Barbie party decorations, she moved them all by herself from place to place trying to find the best spot for them to be opened this morning.
“Let me get a trash bag and the camera, sweet girl,” Trent said, and retrieved both, before pouring coffee. Em had Gage sit in the spot of honor next to her on the couch as she opened her gifts. Hunter sat on the floor close to Em, his two gifts nearby, waiting to be opened. Gage had thought of giving Hunter a present as well, adding to Trent’s family tradition.
“Did you know he was coming?” Rhonny asked while she grabbed the cream, then Gage’s cup of coffee.
“No, it’s a surprise. He said he might, but I didn’t think he would with everything going on,” Trent whispered back as they slowly made their way from the kitchen.
“I like him, Trent,” Rhonny said, quietly walking back to the living room.
“Me too,” Trent said, following behind her.
“Good,” Rhonny teased back, giving him a grin.
Em waited impatiently for their return. Her hands were ready to pull the paper away from the first gift, and she started with the biggest gift from Gage. Once the paper was torn, the present revealed, it took all of five seconds for her to scream, jumping up and down.
“It’s the Barbie Dream House! I wanted this so bad! Daddy, I wanted this!” Em cheered.
“Say thank you to Gage, baby,” Trent said, smiling at her enthusiasm.
“Thank you! Thank you, Gage!” Hugs were given to everyone in the room and so started the experience for every gift she opened. Hunter gave about the same response, perhaps a little more sedate, but he was equally thrilled with his monster Lego set and duel pack action figure set. When Em got to Rhonny’s gift, she opened it and everything stopped until the tiara was placed properly upon her head.
The rest of the morning passed with Trent building the Barbie Dream House, Rhonny cooking Em’s especially requested breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and ice cream, and Gage who sat with Hunter, building the Lego set. Em stayed close to Trent while he worked, giving him advice on what she thought about the progress he made and playing with her new Barbies, changing clothes from outfit to outfit. The time flew by. After breakfast, they all dressed to begin the official celebrations of the day. Auntie Crazy came over and a whole new round of squealing started when she brought them presents. Auntie Crazy bought a life size Barbie, which came with a matching dress for Em. Without hesitation, Em made an abrupt wardrobe change, exchanging the dress from the grand opening for the Barbie dress. With the addition of her tiara, they were ready for Chuck E. Cheese and the movies.
It was a perfect day and each minute solidified Gage deeper inside Trent’s heart. Though thoughts of Lynn never strayed too far, Gage made everything bearable, easier, and Trent fell more deeply in love with him. With his easy going and fun attitude, Gage fit his family perfectly. He played with the kids the entire time they were at Chuck E. Cheese. By the end of the day, Trent could see that both Rhonny and Sophia fell to his charms as well.
Trent didn’t know how, but every time his thoughts drifted toward Lynn and his feelings of loss resurfaced, Gage would pick that exact moment to engage him, draw him out of the melancholy, and bring him back into the celebration of Em. They played together for hours, the adults right alongside Em and Hunter, and it became a competition over the tickets they accumulated from each game. When it looked like Gage might lose the battle of who won the most tickets, he broke the rules and purchased whatever the kids wanted from the prize wall. Later, as they sat in the theater watching the latest Disney film come to life, Gage held Trent’s hand and leaned in a couple of times, placing simple sweet kisses on his lips. Gage seemed genuinely happy to be with them.