"My Father, Taylor Hanson": Book 4
Chapter 12


        "The shoppers are home!" My brother announced pulling the curtain back from the window.
        "Mommy's back!" I told the sleeping baby on my lap. Anya's head was on my stomach and her legs were sprawled out in my lap, she had been sleeping there for almost an hour while her father and Uncle Isaac watched the football game on TV. Her Uncle Zac had been with us not less than 10 minutes ago but he had left to go get us all a beer and apparently got sidetracked downstairs. I could hear him yelling at the video game on the television in the play room. Every once in awhile you'd hear Jason or Jordan yelling too, Zac obviously had picked up a controller and decided to show his nephews how a "real Hanson plays video games," something we heard him say all the way up in the living room.
        "How was your day, ladies?" Isaac asked as the four women entered into the living room. "Max out my credit card?" He asked his wife.
        "You have to see these cute outfits Uncle Isaac bought for the twins!" Andy gushed to me taking off her coat and laying it down on a chair.
        Isaac looked at me and joked monotonously, "That Uncle Isaac bought... why'd I'd even bother to ask in the first place."
        I laughed. "Hey honey," I greeted my wife kissing her lips softly as she sat down next to me.
        "I'm so tired," she said with a yawn. She leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.
        "Where's my fiancé?" Nicole asked with a puzzled look on her face. She picked Andy's jacket up off the chair and laid it over her arm to take it upstairs.
        "He's downstairs with Isaac's kids," I told her.
        Nicole smiled, "playing video games, huh?"
        "You betcha," I chuckled.
        "I bought my dress for the wedding," Clare informed me, her eyes still closed. "It's lavender."
        "I bet it's beautiful," I told her.
        "Oh it is!" Andy gushed. She was sitting on Isaac's lap. "It brings out her eyes and will go perfect with the new make-up we bought. And the matching shoes! Taylor, you have to see it! It brings out all her already gorgeous features. You'd never guess where we found it either-"
        "I married Mrs. Mall," Isaac joked interrupting his wife. Andy hit him playfully. He caught her hand and gently twisted it behind her. She caught his lips with her own and he dropped her arm. "And what did YOU buy, Mrs. Hanson?" My brother asked Andy.
        I couldn't see the look on her face because now she was facing him. "You'll see tomorrow, Mr. Hanson." I could tell by her voice that she was being mischievous.
        Isaac smiled. "I can't wait."
        I paled... tomorrow? What was tomorrow? I did the math quickly: I looked at my watch, November 16th was the date... there was no party tomorrow for Zac, the wedding rehearsal dinner was in six days, the wedding itself was in a week, the girls were planning a bridal shower the day before the rehearsal dinner... so what was tomorrow? Then it hit me.
        "No," I muttered aloud, my eyes growing wider as I realized what it was.
        "What's wrong, Taylor?" My mother asked taking a seat on the loveseat next to the television. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."
        I shook my head quickly. "Nah Ma, I'm all right." My voice was low but I tried to pick it up quickly. "I was just thinking about... tomorrow." I hoped that I sounded as though I knew all along what was actually going on the next day.
        "Don't worry, Taylor," My wife whispered from my shoulder. "I took care of it, don't worry." She shook the shopping bags at her feet and opened her eyes. "I bought the thing we talked about buying for a certain someone on a certain date." She was stressing some of her words to pretend as though I hadn't forgotten it was my brother's birthday and I knew all along what tomorrow was. She was also trying to convey to me that I knew what she was talking about although in reality we hadn't discussed what to buy him for his thirtieth birthday, at least not to my knowledge.
        "Ohhh-k," I told her, going along with it. "Good. I'm glad you bought the thing we talked about buying for a certain someone on a certain date."
        She smiled and settled back on my shoulder, closing her eyes once again.
        "Boys, where's your father?" Mom asked.
        "I think he took Mackenzie out somewhere," Isaac told our mother.
        "Mack's home?" She questioned.
        "Yeah," I told her. "He got back from his friend's house while you four were at the mall."
        "That's someone I haven't seen in awhile," my mother muttered.
        "What?" Isaac and I questioned at the same time.
        "It's nothing," Mom said quickly trying to cover up her comment. "Taylor, why do you have the baby down here?" She nodded to the baby in my lap.
        I looked down at the sleeping girl. "She was lonely," I argued, hugging her little body closer to my own.
        "Does she still have a fever?" Mom was concerned.
        I nodded. "It went down a few points, now it's 99.9."
        "Good. How about Zoë?"
        "She's still fine," I told her. "Her and Amanda are downstairs playing dolls as usual. We're trying to keep Anya away from all the kids. We don't want them to catch her germs."
        "Think she'll be better by tomorrow?" Andy asked me.
        I put my hand on the back of my daughter's small head, it was warm but not hot. I nodded. "She'll be fine by tomorrow." Just in time for the party I had forgotten ALL about.


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