"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONAS!" The house erupted in cheers as Jonas grinned from ear to ear at his friends and family. His birthday was awesome. Mitch had set up everything on the ranch with help from the ranch hands, Rhea, Lynn and Ronald, once they were through, they had turned the dull ranch to a colourful garden, Mitch had even let some of the kids go on horse rides, but best of all, he woke up with both of his parents by his side.
The large cake Lynn and Rhea had baked was set on the table with five lit candles sticking out of it.
"Make a wish Jonas." Mitch urged.
Jonas stared at the cake, thinking of the many ways he could devour it, he looked up at Rhea and then Mitch then shook his head, "Nah, I already got my wish."
There was a chorus of "awww." That caused Jonas to blush and Rhea and Mitch to ☺ at each other.
"I'm sure you can think of something else you want." Cody, his closest friend at school pitched in.
Jonas thought long and hard, with a shrug he closed his eyes and blew out the candles, everyone cheered loudly.
"Can I open my presents now?" He asked once the cheering died down, there was laughter at that question
Rhea ruffled his curls, "Patience little one."
"I'm five mama, stop calling me little."
"Yes, he's a big boy now." Ronald said.
"You'll always be my little boy no matter how old you are." Rhea said, she leaned closer and kissed his cheek.
"Okay, okay, break it up fellas, the burgers ain't gonna eat themselves." Mitch said. There was a roar of agreement as the crowd dispersed to the next activity.
Rhea watched with a satisfied smile as everyone chatted and ran around the backyard, this was by far the best birthday party Jonas had ever had and she could see that by the laughter in his eyes and how happy he was, he loved this place, he loved the people and he loved his father. Starting a relationship with Mitch was by far the best decision she had made in years, thinking about it now, maybe she shouldn't have run away five years ago, maybe she should've stayed, she should've told Mitch about his son and they could've worked it out, who knows, they could've been married by now, and Jonas could've had a sibling, but there was no need to think about past mistakes, she had to focus on the present, the present she had actually made good decisions.
Mitch was absolutely wonderful, she didn't know what changed him and she didn't want to know, she just loved the new and improved Mitch, yes he was still his egotistic self, but he wasn't annoying, now he would just tease her about her pancakes, since Jonas had dubbed him the greatest pancake-maker in history, he had never let her forget about it. The teasing made her laugh, she supposed having Jonas around had made their relationship much easier, she tolerated him more, he returned the favor, and he didn't seem so annoying anymore. Sure, they had had a few disagreements in the past three weeks since they began dating, but it was nothing that hadn't been solved before the entire night and they didn't have the usual shouting matches either.
The last one had been two weeks ago when he had asked her to move in, she had vehemently refused, she had grown up in that house, it was a part of her, she couldn't just up and leave. They had traded words and called each other names, but after the heated argument, she agreed to think about it, three days later, she was moving in her properties in bits. Now, she had most of her things here, they hadn't spoken about it since then, but as far as everyone was concerned, she lived with Mitchell at his house.
"Нeу mama."
Rhea turned around to see Lynn, "Нeу mama." She returned, she shared a hug with her
"Enjoying the party?"
"I should be asking that, you are my guest."
"Well, I saw you standing here, ѕσ I thought you needed company."
Rhea smiled her appreciation at her best friend, she wrapped her arm around her neck and pulled her closer like she used to do when they were much younger, Lynn smiled up at her, "Thank you Lynn, thanks for everything."
Lynn shook her head, "Thank you, if not for you, I probably wouldn't have ended up with my Ronnie."
"And he's very good for you." Rhea replied as she watched Ron and Mitch having a laugh with one of the guys that worked at the timber factory, she could bet they were telling jokes about the kids, Mitch especially had a collection of Jonas jokes he loved to tell any and everyone, she was usually the listener so she was glad he had found someone else to tell for now.
"Mitch is good for you too. I've never seen him so happy. Congratulations, you've tamed the beast."
Rhea laughed, "We both tamed each other."
Lynn couldn't agree more, yes, they had both tamed each other. It was almost unbelievable that these two hotheads could live under the same roof. When Rhea had told her she was moving in with Mitch, she had asked if there would be paramedics close by, it was good to know they hadn't killed each other the past two weeks. Maybe Jonas had something to do with that
Rhea's eyes searched the backyard and fell on Jonas and Amy, he was cleaning some icing off her cheek and saying something to her, he was probably scolding her, "Look at them, Jonas always trying to be the adult." She laughed at the doe-eyed look Amy was giving Jonas as he continued speaking ą₪∂ inspecting her chin for any trace of icing.
Lynn laughed, "I know, right? He'll soon get another baby."
Rhea gave her an odd look, but Lynn's gaze remained on the kids, there had to be a hidden message there somewhere, she knew she definitely wasn't pregnant, so that only left...she narrowed her eyes at Lynn, "Lynnette, are you pregnant?"
Lynn smiled, "Maybe" she replied in a sing-song voice.
Rhea shrieked, "Oh my goodness, that's wonderful, I'm ѕo happy for you, congratulations." She said as she hugged Lynn closer.
"Thank you, I only found out yesterday."
"How far along are you?"
"About 15 weeks, the doctor says I can come for the scan in 3 weeks time. I can't wait." She said gleefully.
"Does Ron know?"
She shook her head, "No, I want it to be a Christmas surprise, you're the first to know."
Rhea raised a mischievous brow, "Ooh, that's nice. Just make sure he's not eating when you break the news to him."
Both friends laughed heartily at that, drawing the questioning eyes of Ron and Mitch, they stared at both women who stifled their laughter before they returned to the barbecue with Mitch shaking his head like an exasperated parent.
"So, how's Jared doing?" Lynn asked once the laughter had died down, it was a question she had been meaning to ask since Rhea broke the news of her dating Mitchell, but hadn't quite come around to doing that.
Rhea shrugged, "He's doing well, he's at Boston."
Lynn's brows scrunched up, "Boston? What's he doing there? I thought his company was at Kansas."
"He handed over the one in Kansas to the Vice President, he's opening up a branch in Boston, that's where Becca is."
"Becca? Who's that?"
Rhea smiled, "His girlfriend, they were highschool sweethearts so they just picked up from where they left off."
Lynn grinned, genuinely happy for Jared, she liked him a lot and had been understandably sad when she had heard he wouldn't be dating her best friend, it was a good development if he had found someone else, he deserved it, "That's great, what does she look like?"
Rhea retrieved her phone and searched through it for a picture of Becca which Jared had e-mailed to her two weeks ago, once she found it, she handed the phone over to Lynn, "That's her."
Lynn took the phone and gave the picture an odd look, she swore the girl looked just like...., "Oh my God Rhea, she looks like you."
"I know, right? I thought the same thing when he sent the picture."
"That's great. I'm so happy for him." She said gleefully.
"He sounds very happy when he talks about her, I think he wants to marry her."
Lynn's eyes widened in disbelief, "He told you that?"
"No, not directly, just hints."
Lynn smiled, "Well, I hope we'll get wedding invites."
Rhea laughed at that, "Like Ron would let you go all the way to Boston when you're pregnant."
Lynn shrugged, "We'll work something out."
Rhea smiled, her eyes once again surveying the backyard and finding that Mitch was nowhere around, she briefly wondered where he had gone, and then saw him emerging from the house, laptop in hand, what was that for? She didn't have to wait too long to know."
"Hey, Jonas, someone wants to talk to you." Mitch announced as he set the laptop on one of the party tables, he opened it up and booted it as Jonas took Amy's hand and led her to the table in excitement.
"Who?" Jonas asked.
"Yes, who?" Rhea, who was now standing by Mitch's side, asked.
"This guy." Mitch replied, as he opened up a video link.
Jared's face popped up and there was a roar of approval from those who had gathered to see what was going on, "Hey soldier." He began, "Sorry I couldn't make it to your party, I really wanted to be there, but I've got adult stuff to do that can't be postponed. I know your mama must have made a huge cake for you, don't forget to send me some." He laughed, making Jonas smile, "Someone wants to say hi." He continued, he made a gesture to whoever was in the room with him to come closer.
