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We Can Try

05: Thought the Trick Was to Never Look Back


The weekend comes sooner than any other weekend has before. Tobias and I rented a building for Noah’s party for the weekend. Brooke and I spent a large chunk of Friday night drinking wine and decorating for my son. Brooke refrained from asking about Zack and I was grateful, but at the end of the night, I eventually told her he was coming to the party. I told her the others would be coming, too, so she wouldn’t be surprised by the sea of unfamiliar faces.

The next morning, Tobias takes Noah to the movies, so I can finish getting the building ready for his party. Between friends and Noah’s pre-K class, we’re expecting around fifteen kids and their parents at the party. I make sure the refrigerator is stocked with Kool-Aid, juice, and water for the kids and soda for the parents. The entire room is decorated in red, yellow, and black. Cookies in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s ears and number 5 lay flat on the table around an empty cake stand. Balloons and streamers are placed strategically around the room. Party favours are bagged up, including cute Mickey and Minnie Mouse ear headbands.

I glance at the bottom of my bag to make sure I didn’t forget anything. The only thing left in the bag are three shirts. I pick up the one on top and unfold it. It’s a white shirt with a black silhouette of Minnie Mouse’s head featuring a big, red, glittery bow with the words Momma of the Birthday Boy under it. The next shirt has Mickey’s silhouette with the words Daddy of the Birthday Boy and lastly, the smallest shirt has the same silhouette as the last with the words Birthday Boy above it. I ordered these weeks ago and couldn’t wait to wear them…but now I couldn’t – I wouldn’t rub it in Zack's face that Tobias is Noah’s father too. I drop the two adult shirts back into the bag and hide the bag under the gifts table with the rest of the empty bags just as Brooke walks into the building.

“Sorry,” she says, “I couldn’t find your dress and then there was a line at the bakery.”

I reach for my dress and she hands it to me. “It’s fine. We still have time. How does the cake look?”

“It’s so cute!” she says, sitting the box down on a table and opening it.

The cake is round, red with white polka dots on the side. On the top, there’s a black silhouette of Mickey’s head and in white frosting it says Happy 5th Birthday, Noah on it. “It’s so cute. He’s going to love it.”

“He’s going to love the entire room,” Brooke tells me, looking around. “We did a pretty kick-ass job!”

I laugh. “Yeah, just wait until the guy in the Mickey Mouse costume shows up,” I say, “he’ll forget all about the room and decorations by then.”

“True,” she grins. “You go get dressed, I’ll get the cake on the stand and get a picture of it in case we forget before we cut into it.”
“Okay,” I tell her before disappearing into the next room to change.

My dress is navy with white polka dots and a skinny yellow belt. Brooke was also nice enough to bring me a yellow cardigan and my yellow wedges as well. I’m checking myself out in the mirror, double checking my appearance when my phone dings. I look at it immediately and grin, walking out of the room.

“They’re here,” I tell Brooke excitedly as I walk towards the entrance. She follows, grinning as big as me.

Tobias is stepping out of the car when I step out into the sunshine. He winks at me before closing the driver’s side of his SUV and opening the door to the back seat. A moment later, Noah jumps out of the car with Tobias’s help.

“I just don’t understand, dad,” he’s complaining. “Why couldn’t we stop at the park for just five minutes?”

“Hey, little man,” I greet, smiling.

Noah glances up and smiles ear to ear. “Momma!” he says. “You look really pretty!”

“Thank you, baby,” I tell him, picking him up and giving him a big hug. Tobias meets us and kisses me on the lips before I put Noah down. “Did you have fun at the movies?”

“Yeah, but dad wouldn’t let us stop at the park,” he says.

Brooke steps out into the sunshine. “Well, maybe we can go tomorrow,” she says.

“Aunt B! What are you doing here?” he asks and then looks around. “Wait, where are we?”

“I told you we already had fun stuff planned for the day,” Tobias says.

I bend down to Noah’s level. “You know how your birthday is in a few days?” Noah nods. “Well, what if I told you that your dad and I decided we should celebrate a little early? We invited all of your classmates from school and all of your friends outside of school?”

“Whoa,” Noah says. “Really?”

I nod. “Yeah, and they will all start showing up in about ten minutes. And we invited someone else, too!”

“Oh my gosh! Who?” he asks. His green eyes are wide with anticipation. He turns to Tobias. “Who, dad?”

“I don’t know, bud,” Tobias smiles.

“You’ll just have to wait and see!” I tease, standing up, knowing how excited he’s going to be with Mickey walks into the room.

When we enter the building Noah spazzes on all of the Mickey Mouse stuff. He runs around the room checking every detail out before he stops in front of the large glass window that reveals an indoor playroom.

“Can I go play, mom?” Noah asks me.

I shake my head, grabbing his Birthday boy shirt. “No, hun. Wait for your guests to arrive. Come here so I can change your shirt.”

Noah does as he’s told and then Brooke takes him to the bathroom before people start to arrive. Tobias wraps his arms around my waist, pressing his lips against my cheek.

“The place looks great, babe,” he tells me.

I look around too. “Thanks,” I tell him, turning in his arms. “I, uh, I forgot our shirts though, so…we’ll just have to wear this.”

Tobias raises a brow and lets go of my waist. “You forgot them, huh?” I don’t answer him. “Because I remember watching you pack them.”

I sigh. “I’m sorry,” I reply. “I just…I don’t want him to feel left out.”

“Zack?” Tobias asks with a scoff. “Jesus, Sheridan. You’ve got to stop putting his feelings before everyone else.”

I shake my head. “I’m not. I mean, I’m not meaning to. It’s just…come on, you know I fucked up and did this the wrong way. I should have never kept Noah away from him and I’m just trying to make this easier for everyone.”

Tobias stares at me for a moment. He opens his mouth to rebut but then closes it. “Fine,” he says.

Before I get the chance to say anything to him, the door opens. Angelina, Tobias’s sister, walks in with her husband and their two kids Macy and Jasper. Jasper is around Noah’s age while Macy is only a few months old.

“Toby!” Angelina grins, handing Angelina to her husband and running over to us. Tobias’s frown disappears, and he hugs his sister.

“You know I hate it when you call me that,” he tells her. “How was your trip?”

“It was fine,” she answers. Tobias’s family lives Oregon and he did, too, up until about six months before we met. “The place looks great, Sheridan.”

“Thank you,” I answer politely. Tobias’s family doesn’t know that Noah isn’t biologically Tobias’s son, but his sister has always had her suspicions for some reason. I think the suspicion sprouted from the fact that Angelina was never my biggest fan due to the fact she almost had Tobias talked into going back home to Oregon until I came into the picture.

“Where is the birthday boy?” Brent, Angelina’s husband, asks.

“Uncle Brent!” Noah exclaims suddenly, running into the room. Brent bends down to his level with Macy in his hands. “Hi, Macy!” he smiles, gently petting the baby’s head. Noah turns to me, “Mom, when are you and dad going to have another baby?”

“Man, you just won’t give up will you?” I ask.

Jasper turns to Noah. “Trust me, Noah, you don’t want a little sister. All she does is poop and cry and sleep!”

Noah scrunches his nose and opens his mouth to respond, but before he can the door opens, and a few groups of people begin to spill in. Instead of replying to his cousin, Noah runs off to greet his classmates and I catch myself scanning the crowd for Zack but he’s not there.

Time passes, and all of the party guests arrive beside Zack and his entourage. Noah is running around with a smile on his face as his guests get face paintings and temporary tattoos, or dance and take photos with Mickey. I watch him from a distance and I’m so caught up in witnessing him enjoy his life that I don’t notice Tobias approach me.

He doesn’t say anything at first, he just embraces me and presses his lips against my temple. “Looks like the party is a success,” he tells me.

“Yeah,” I reply. “He’s having a blast. I think he took about a hundred photos with Mickey Mouse.”

“Yeah, with my phone, too,” Tobias tells me. “I’m pretty sure I’m out of space on my phone.”

I laugh. “That’s alright. I’m sure your mom will love seeing the photos.”

“Yeah, I already sent her some,” Tobias tells me. “She told me to tell you that she loves you and Noah and she’s sorry they couldn’t make it.”

“That’s alright,” I smile. “There will be plenty more birthdays. We’ll do something with them when they come back from their cruise.”

“Hey, dad! Come here!” Noah calls from across the room.

Tobias winks at me before making his way over to our son. I turn around and pick up a few pieces of trash, tossing it in the dumpster. I’m silently wondering if we should start cutting the cake when I see the door open. Zack slides in looking nervous and shy, a look I’ve never seen on him before. My heart thumps against my chest as I make my way over towards him. He catches my eye and smiles softly.

“Hey,” he says, looking around the room. “Um, the party looks great.”

“Thank you,” I tell him. “Where are the others?”

Zack wets his lips. “Um, I kind of…didn’t invite them. I hope that’s okay. I just, uh, I just wanted to do this by myself.”

“Completely understandable,” I tell him, noticing a gift in his hands. “You got him a gift. Zack, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course, I did,” he tells me, handing it to me as I reach for it.

I smile at him. “Well, thank you. Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.”

Zack nods. “Yeah,” he says nervously. “Yeah, okay.”

We walk deeper into the room until I reach Noah sandwiched between two girls colouring. I think I hear Zack chuckle behind me but I don’t pay much attention to it. “Hey birthday boy,” I greet. “Are you having fun?”

“Yeah, momma! This is the best birthday ever. Can we eat cake soon?” He asks me excitedly.

I nod. “Yeah, baby, but come here for a minute. I want to introduce you to someone.”

“Okay, momma.” Noah does as he’s told and gets up from the table. Every time Noah’s foot hits the ground, my heart thumps against my chest.

“Noah,” I say slowly, still unsure of the exact words I want to use. I bend down to his level, grabbing his hand and then look up towards Zack. “This is my good friend Zack,” I tell him. It feels odd calling him that.

Noah looks up at Zack, innocently. “Hi, Zack,” he grins. “Thank you for coming to my birthday party.”

Zack kneels next to me, his eyes are as wide as Noah’s was when he saw Mickey Mouse. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, buddy,” he says. Zack returns Noah’s smile and I swear, it is like Zack is looking at his younger self.

Notes

I was going to keep going but i thought the rest should be in Zack's point of view...so until next time! Don't forget to comment!

Title credit: Avenged Sevenfold "Angels"

Comments

I've been waiting so long for an update. I really hope everything is well. Update soon!!

I really miss this story!

Kimmie Kimmie
5/3/19

FINALLY! *giant hearty eyes* I’m going to need so much more of this happily ever after... Its delicious!

This is so good. I can't want to see what happens. I've waited forever for this chapter, but it was totally worth it.

YAY, now they can be a happy cute little family.

BeccaBearSc BeccaBearSc
1/6/19