Chapter 3: A Birthday Party For Amy

Mom changed the subject to our schoolwork again, having the need to reassure her parents that we, their grandkids, were doing something with our lives.

We all chatted about our studies until just past noon, when Aunt Beth arrived with her family. As Mom opened the door, our twenty-year-old twin cousins, Gabby and Leslie, nearly came flying through the door with barely a, "Hi Aunt Helen!" before they rushed over to where Jenny, Amy, and I had just stood up to greet them.

"It's great to see you again, Gabe," Leslie said with a smile as she hugged me.

"We should get together more often," Gabby suggested, nuzzling my cheek slightly as we hugged.

Leslie and Gabby were fraternal twins, not identical, but they still looked very similar. They both were taller than Jenny, (almost as tall as me), and had light brown hair, which they always kept in the same style as each other. Today, they had their hair pulled back into pony tails. They each had green eyes (which they obviously got from their father), and roundish faces; not as round as Amy's, but less triangular than Jenny's. However, the distinctions got more prominent in their bodies. While Leslie was thin, with small, perky oranges and a cute, tight rear, Gabby was curvy, with truly wondrous melons (larger even than Jenny's), and a rear bumper that could probably be used as a bouncy castle.

Personality wise, the twins were also similar, with a few differences. They were both full of energy and almost always happy, however where Leslie was forward and outgoing, likely to start conversations with strangers if she found them interesting, Gabby was more reserved. She wasn't shy, so much as observational. She preferred to study a situation so she could plan the best course of action before doing anything.

Since they were always together, this often led to Leslie steering their conversations and interactions with Gabby only taking part after she was more comfortable with the situation.

Amy leered at our cousins as they hugged me, obviously noticing the mild flirtatious motions they both had always given me. Because Gabby and Leslie are only related to me and Jenny through our moms' marriage, and not blood related at all, they had often flirted with me in front of the family. Amy never seemed to notice, or care, until now.

However, her distain faded quickly when they greeted her

"Amy! Happy Birthday!" the twins chorused as they hugged her, both at the same time.

"Jenny! We weren't sure you'd be here," Leslie beamed as she hugged our older sister.

"But we're glad you're here," Gabby added, also hugging Jenny.

"Sorry, about them," Aunt Beth apologized to Mom as she and Uncle Owen came in behind their daughters, "they've both been so excited about seeing their cousins again, they've been talking about it all month."

"Let's put these presents in the dining room with the others," Mom took the presents that Uncle Owen carried into the house and went into the dining room while the rest of us returned to our seats. Aunt Beth sat next to Granma on the couch while Uncle Owen sat in Mama Janie's unused seat. Gabby and Leslie sat in the two remaining folding chairs.

Of the five chairs, which were in a row, I was sitting in the middle with Amy and Jenny to my right, with Amy next to me, and Gabby and Leslie to my left, with Gabby next to me.

"So, Girls," Mom addressed our cousins as she came back and sat in her own recliner, "Your mom tells me you're both planning to go into the medical field?"

They both nodded, but Leslie answered first, "That's right. Gabby's studying to be a Nurse Practitioner, and I want to become a Surgeon."

"Of course, we both want to get our doctorate," Gabby added, "So I'll end up as a Doctor of Nursing Practice."

"That's a high goal," Jenny praised, "I'm content with getting my MAT. Once I do, I plan on getting a teaching job at an elementary or middle school somewhere."

"Oh, that's right!" Leslie exclaimed, "You're going to NRU now, too, aren't you?"

"Yeah, for my masters," Jenny nodded, "I forgot you two were going there, too."

"We should get together and hang out sometime," Leslie suggested.

"If we had time to hang out," Gabby replied, "Our course loads are pretty high."

"You're still going to South Grove, aren't you Gabe?" Leslie asked.

"Yeah, Amy and I both are at USG now," I replied, smiling.

"Too bad," Gabby grinned, "We could have some fun if you were going to North Ridge with us."

"Gabrielle!" Aunt Beth scolded half-heartedly, even though the other adults seemed not to understand Gabby's obvious insinuations.

"I thought you said your course loads were high," Amy sneered.

The twins laughed.

"It was just a joke," Leslie assured her.

"Half a joke," Gabby admitted, to which Amy responded with a slight glare, but she quickly replaced it with a smile and a laugh that, despite being fake, was quite convincing.

"I can't blame you, though," Amy grinned, "My brother would be a catch. Any woman would be lucky to end up with someone like him."

Gabby smiled, laughing, while Leslie eyed Amy curiously. All the adults seemed to think it was cute that Amy was complimenting me, as laughter and, "awww"s filled the room. Only Leslie seemed to suspect what she was really saying.

"She's right," Jenny agreed, surprisingly, "If any of my exes had been half as decent a person as Gabe, I wouldn't still be single."

"He takes after his father," Mom stated, "It takes a good man to raise a good man."

"Thanks love," Dad smiled, "But I can't take all the credit. All three of our children are wonderful, and that's because of all of our hard work."

"It's too bad Janie had to work today," Grandma commented.

"She'll be here around four," Mom reported, "Just in time to open presents."

"Great!" Grandma smiled, "I was hoping she'd be able to make it. It's so nice to see you all."

We continued chatting about random mundane stuff for the next half hour or so, when the rest of our guests finally arrived.

"I'll get it!" Amy jumped up and ran to the door when the doorbell rang, "Ash, Guys, you're finally here!"

"Hey, Amy," Ashley greeted as she hugged Amy.

"Sorry we're late," Jaden apologized as our three friends entered, "Tommy's car wouldn't start so we ended up bringing mine."

"That's okay," Amy hugged Jaden and Tommy, "I'm just glad you're all here."

"Ashley, Tommy, Jaden," Mom greeted them, standing up, "It's good to see you all again."

"Mr. Thompson, Miss Helen, Thank you for inviting us into your home," Ashley politely greeted Mom and Dad.

"Ash, guys," Amy started introducing everyone, "This is Gabby and Leslie, our cousins, and that's their mom, Mama Helen's sister, Aunt Beth, and Uncle Owen, and our grandparents. Everyone, this is Ashley, Tommy, and Jaden."

"It's nice to meet you all," Ashley smiled.

"Well, hey there," Tommy grinned at Gabby and Leslie, who were each at least four inches taller than him, "I'm Tommy. And you lovely ladies must be criminals, because you've stolen my OW OW OW!!"

Tommy howled as Ashley grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away from our cousins, "Come on, lover boy, enough of that."

Gabby and Leslie both laughed.

"Sorry about him," Ashley apologized, "my brother can be a bit of a dweeb sometimes."

"That's okay," Leslie replied, "That wasn't the worst pick-up line we've heard."

"Now that everyone's here," Mom announced, "Welcome to our home, we're glad you all could make it. There are snacks on the kitchen counter. Feel free to take some outside, we've got the back deck all set up. We'll cut the cake at around three and open presents at four, once Mama Janie gets here. If you need it, there's a bathroom upstairs, first door on the right, and another one through the master bedroom through the door in the hallway by the kitchen. We have several board games and card games in the dining room if anyone's interested in playing a game, but for the most part, please enjoy the good food, drink, and company."

"Thank you Miss Helen," Ashley cheered, "And Happy Birthday, Amy!"

Everyone agreed, "Happy Birthday, Amy!"

Amy blushed, "Thanks, everyone."

As Mom turned on some background party music, the guests began to mingle together, discussing things of irrelevance to me. Grandma and Grandpa chatted with Dad, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beth while Mom, Gabby, Leslie, and Jenny all caught up on their lives, particularly about what was going on at the girls' school. The rest of us, being our usual group of friends, decided to play a board game.

Around two o'clock we'd finished our game, so Amy wanted to talk with our grandparents. Tommy, Ashley, and Jaden joined them. I got some snacks and went out to the deck, just wandering, basically. Mom, Dad, Aunt Beth and Uncle Owen were sitting around the picnic table talking about Uncle Owen's landscaping business. Gabby and Leslie were at one of the umbrella tables, talking amongst themselves. When they saw me, they waved me over.

"Hey, Gabe," Leslie smiled as I sat down at the table, "How've you been?"

"Pretty good," I smiled back, "School's been taking up a lot of my time. Well, that and D&D."

"You're still into that stuff?" Gabby teased, "I'd have thought you would be more in to... other things... like girls," she grinned, "are you seeing anyone?"

I laughed slightly, "Not really, like I said, I don't have a lot of time for dating."

"Really?" Leslie teased, "A hansom guy like you, I'd have thought you'd have girls fawning over you all the time."

I grinned, "Only at family events, it seems."

Gabby blushed, while Leslie laughed hard, "Oh, okay. I see how it's going to be. But seriously, you don't have anyone?"

I took a breath. I had to get them off my back somehow, but I didn't want to reveal too much, "Well, there is one girl, but it's a new development, so I don't want to make a big deal about it yet. You understand."

"Ooh, what's her name?" Gabby beamed

"I bet it's that Ashley girl, she's pretty hot," Leslie speculated.

"Ashley is with Jaden," I informed them, "So, no, it's not her."

"Well, what's her name?" Leslie pressed.

"Sorry," I laughed, "I'm not ready to say yet "

"Okay, fine," Gabby conceded, "Well, what about your friend Tommy?"

"What about him?" I asked.

"He's single, right?" she asked

I laughed, "Terminally single, it seems."

"Why's that?" Leslie asked, "He seems sweet, if a little odd."

"And he's kind of cute," Gabby added.

I laughed, "You're welcome to him, if you can get past Ashley "

Gabby blushed, "I never said I wanted to date him."

"Yeah, Gabby likes taller men, with hazel eyes, and light brown hair," Leslie teased, obviously describing me.

Gabby blushed harder, then pushed her sister, "Shuddup."

Leslie and I laughed, then Gabby joined in, smiling as she laughed.

"Anyway," Gabby smiled, "Amy was right. Whoever your girl is, she's lucky to have such a wonderful guy."

"Yeah," Leslie agreed, "we wish you the best luck with her."

Gabby looked away for a second, then looked back, blushing, "But if things don't work out..."

"...there's always us." Leslie finished her sentence.

We all laughed once more.

"Well," I announced, "I'm going to see what Amy's up to."

"Okay, see you later," they chorused.

I went back into the house, looking for Amy, but I didn't see her anywhere.

I found Jenny, Tommy, and Jaden in the living room.

"Hey," I asked, "Have you guys seen Amy?"

"Yeah, she and Ash went upstairs a few minutes ago," Jaden answered.

"Is something up?" Jenny asked.

"No, I was just curious," I lied. As much as I enjoyed talking with family, I didn't want Amy to feel neglected.

Just then, Ashley came down from upstairs, "Oh, Gabe, there you are. Amy was looking for you earlier. She's up in her room if you want to go see what she wanted."

I had a feeling I'd better go talk to Amy, "Okay, thanks. I'll do that."

I went upstairs to Amy's room. Her door was already open, and I could see she was lying on her bed, listening to music. Obviously she needed some time away from the crowd. I started to walk away, to let her chill on her own for a bit, but...

"Gabe," she called to me, beckoning me over to her, "Close the door "

I closed the door behind me and sat on her bed next to her. She didn't sit up, just stayed lying down, but she took her headphones off and sat her phone aside.

"What's up, babe?" I asked, placing a hand on her thigh.

She placed her hand on mine, entwining our fingers, "Gabe, are you happy with me. With us, together?"

I squeezed her hand gently, "Absolutely. I've never been happier in my life."

She smiled softly, "Me, too," she lay there silent for a moment then her smile faded a bit, "I saw you talking-to Gabby and Leslie on the deck."

"Is there something wrong with that?" I asked, "We were just catching up."

She took a deep breath, "No, there's nothing wrong with it. I just... didn't like how it made me feel, seeing you smiling and laughing with them. I mean, they've always had a thing for you, and seeing that... it made me jealous. I know it shouldn't, especially after what we said last night... about us and Ashley, and being able to show our love for more than just each other, but..."

"Amy," I cut her off before she got too far down the rabbit hole, "I was smiling because we were talking about you."

Her eyes went wide as she sat up, "You were?"

I laughed, "Yeah, although they didn't know it."

Her face twisted, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I told them that I had recently started seeing someone, but that because it was a recent development, I wasn't ready to say anything else about it."

Amy gave me a huge hug, "I really have the best boyfriend."

Since we'd started our romantic relationship, that was the first time she'd called me her boyfriend. And it made me smile.

I hugged her back, tightly, "I love you, Amy, with all my heart. Nothing will ever change that, no matter what other relationships we may or may not form."

She kissed my cheek gently, then my lips. She pulled back, wiping a tear from her eye, "We should get back to the party."

I kissed her cheek softly, "Okay, let's go."

We returned to the party downstairs together. As we did, I suddenly wondered what Amy and Ashley were talking about before Ash came down and got me. But my curiosity faded as Mom announced that it was time to cut the cake.

We all gathered in the dining room, where Amy sat at the far end of the rectangle table (which had one chair on each short end and four chairs on each longer side), with the kitchen to her right. We all stood around the table as Mom lit the nineteen candles. Dad turned the lights out and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Amy, then she made a silent wish and blew her candles out. I know this may all seem childish, but it was tradition, and so it was.

Once Amy blew the candles out, Mom removed the candles and cut the cake.

"Alright, everyone take a seat and I'll divvy out the cake," Mom announced.

I sat at the dining room table, but unfortunately I couldn't sit next to Amy, as Jenny and Ashley got there first, Ashley on her left and Jenny on her right. Gabby sat next to Jenny, and Leslie next to her, while Jaden sat next to ASHLEY, and Tommy next to him. I briefly considered sitting next to Leslie, but decided against it, in order to make Amy feel better, so I sat next to Tommy. All the "Adults" being our parents and grandparents, sat in the kitchen, letting us "kids" have the dining room to ourselves.

After Mom had served the cake, starting with Amy, the "Birthday Girl", as is tradition, we all began to talk about mundane things like what we were doing at school, while we ate. Surprisingly, Gabby and Leslie actually seemed to be interested in not only what I was doing at school, but what Tommy, Jaden, and Ashley were, too. Amy seemed to be a little bummed that she was the only one who didn't have a selected field that she wanted to go into, but Leslie reassured her that she'd eventually figure out what she wanted to do.

Just as we'd all eaten our fill, I heard the garage door open, and soon after, Mama Janie came into the house. Our grandparents were the first to greet her, giving her a hug. Everyone else followed suit. Mama Janie took a moment in our parents' room to change out of her work clothes into something more appropriate for the party. When she returned, and had eaten a slice of cake, we all gathered around the dining room table once more, this time to watch Amy open her presents.

"Alright, everyone," Mama Helen announced, "Time to open presents."

As the younger generation of us were already sitting at the dining room table, the rest of the family crowded into the room as the presents were placed onto the table, after the cake had been moved to the kitchen. There were five presents in total: one from our grandparents, one from our parents, one from Aunt Beth and Uncle Owen, one from the twins, and one from Jenny.

"Which one should I open first?" Amy asked nobody in particular.

"Why not open the smallest one first," Dad suggested, sliding the small box, about the size of a smart phone, over to her.

"You would suggest she open our present first," Mama Janie laughed.

"That's fine," Amy agreed, taking the present and reading the small piece of paper that was attached, "To Amelia, from Mama Helen, Mama Janie, and Dad. May this token of our love for you, our precious daughter, help guide you when times are tough."

She unwrapped the box slowly, never one to rip open a present. The box was a small jewelry box, inside of which was a silver bracelet engraved with the phrase, "Follow Your Heart".

Amy's face lit up when she saw it, "Oh, WOW! I Love It!"

She took the bracelet out of the box and immediately put it on, then hopped out of her seat and gave our parents each a big hug.

"I'm glad you like it," Mama Helen smiled as she hugged her daughter.

"It's perfect!" Amy beamed as she sat back down.

"Here," Leslie grinned as she slid one of the presents that her dad had brought in, "This is from Gabby and me. Open it next."

Amy smiled, "sure."

The box was about the size of a board game, so we were unsurprised when that was exactly what it was, however, Amy got really excited when she saw what game it was.

"FORBIDDEN ISLAND!" She, again, hopped up, embracing her cousins, "You remembered that I wanted it?"

"Of course!" Gabby smiled, "You had so much fun playing it at our birthday party a few years ago, I knew you'd want it."

"I've been looking for a new copy of it ever since!" Amy nearly danced excitedly, "I got Forbidden Desert and Jungle, but I've never been able to find the first game in the series. Where did you get it?"

The twins looked at each other, then simultaneously said, "It's a secret."

The whole room laughed as Amy sat back down, also laughing.

"Okay, which one next?" she pondered, then grabbed the biggest-looking present, "This one!"

It was the gift from our grandparents. As Amy slowly opened the package, she was confused slightly when it was just a nondescript cardboard box. Opening the box, she smiled, pulling out a small basket, from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, filled with lavender scented soaps, shampoos, and perfumes.

"Thanks, Grandma," She stood up and walked over to hug our grandparents.

"How do you know I didn't pick it out?" Grandpa asked as Amy hugged him.

"Because you'd have picked out the cinnamon scented ones," Grandma replied, laughing.

"Thanks, Grandpa," Amy laughed, sitting back down.

"Okay, two left," Amy announced, as if we all couldn't see.

"I think I'll open Jenny's next," She grabbed a rather large bag that Jenny had brought.