"MOM!" LIV calls from her bathroom. "Where’s my straightening iron?"
I’m elbow-deep in cake icing as I look around to find somewhere to wipe my hands, but I come up empty. Why I didn’t take Leo’s advice and order a freaking cake is beyond me. But it’s my baby girl’s high school graduation party today and I wanted to make her something by hand. Leo hired a company to cater the party, but I quickly staked my claim on dessert. I had these grand plans of making this gorgeous cake. After I burnt the bottom layer, it quickly switched to gorgeous cupcakes. However, the ones sitting on the tray in front of me are seriously lacking in the gorgeous department.
"Ty, can you go tell your sister to stop yelling and to look under the sink?"
"It’s under the sink!" he shouts from the couch.
"Well aren’t you helpful," I reply sarcastically.
"No prob, Mom. I’m here to serve." He flashes me a killer grin that might as well be a Xerox copy of his father’s.
"Right. Well, tell me what time it is at least."
"Four fifty."
"Shit!" I yell before turning to look at him. "You didn’t hear that."
"He may not have, but I did," Leo says as he walks in carrying a cake box. "Go clean up, ángel. Everyone will be here soon." He slides the cake onto the messy counter and pulls me in for an all-too-brief kiss.
"Oh God. Have I told you how much I love you?" I breathe a sigh of relief that I won’t have to serve the tragic cupcakes I made.
"No, but I’m fully expecting you to show me later." He winks and turns to Ty. "Aunt Erica and Uncle Slate should be here soon. They picked up some ice, so go outside and empty the big, white cooler and pull it around front for them."
"I’m on it." He jumps to his feet and heads out the door.
Two months after Leo and I were married, I got pregnant with Tyler. The panic attack that ensued after seeing those two pink lines was epic. I literally screamed when I read the test. Leo rushed in and then sat quietly on the corner of the tub while I spent the next hour pacing the room, rambling about how I couldn’t be a mom. I have to give him credit because he managed to only laugh once.
Leo was ecstatic and more than willing to roll with a surprise pregnancy. I, as usual, needed a little time to adjust. Finally, he stood up, carried me to bed, turned off the lights, and held me until my pulse began to slow. Then he asked me to legally adopt Liv. And in that moment, being a mom didn’t seem so scary. I loved that little girl, and he knew it. With one sentence, he put my nerves at ease and showed me that I already was a mom without even having to utter the words. By the next morning, I was completely on the baby train.
I was also on the nesting train even though I was only about ten minutes pregnant. I immediately started looking at houses online. Leo agreed, and four months later, we moved out of our downtown-Chicago apartment and into a four-thousand-square-foot house in the burbs.
"Dad, Johnson’s here!" Ty calls from the front door. "Oh, and Jesse just pulled up. She brought her kids and husband too!" he announces excitedly.
Jesse has been a fixture in our lives for the last twelve years. Liv really took to her, and judging by the tears she shed as Liv was handed her diploma earlier this morning, I think Jesse is pretty attached to her as well. I might even be willing to say that we have become friends. I’ve seen Brett a few times over the years. We don’t do barbeques together or anything, but it’s not earth-shattering if we end up in the same room. We’ve even been known to have a conversation or two. It is what it is, and given our history, it’s more than I ever expected us to have.
"What’s up, man?" Brett shakes Leo’s hand and tosses me a smile.
"Hey, Jess." Liv comes strolling into the room.
"How’s it going, Miss High School Graduate?" Jesse laughs, giving her a hug.
"Soon-to-be college freshman," Liv quickly corrects her.
"Oh, don’t remind me." I feign injury, grabbing my heart.
"Sorry we’re late!" Emma announces, walking in the front door looking slightly disheveled.
"You’re not late." Liv smiles, giving her a hug.
"I thought it started at four thirty? Sarah, you specifically told me four thirty." She gives me an appalled look.
"I may have lied." I shrug unapologetically.
"So I see it runs in the family." Caleb laughs, squeezing me on the arm as he walks over to the guys huddled around the cooler full of beer on the deck.
"You want me to get you something to drink?" Leo asks from behind me, brushing the hair off my neck.
"You know, sometimes, I think back to that time period right before we got together and I couldn’t in my wildest dreams have imagined experiencing something as perfect as today. Did you ever imagine we would be here?" I ask, glancing around the room.
"Absolutely." He kisses the top of my head. "Thankfully, ángel, nothing’s perfect, because oftentimes, the flaws are the most beautiful part."