“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Dimitri, happy birthday to you!”
Everyone cheered as Dimitri blew out the candles of his cake before dropping his face into the icing for a big mouthful. Piper and Erik laughed as they pulled him up, wiping and licking the icing off his cute little face before posing for a picture. Reese stood with her arms wrapped around Phillip’s waist, a satisfied grin on her face as she watched the festivities happen before her eyes. All the kids, Ally, Journey, Shelli, Posey, Owen, Even, Penny, Asher, Aiden, and Claire all sat at the table, waiting for their piece of cake. It was loud and rambunctious, but that was usually how a typical Assassins’ family party was.
When Claire turned and grinned back at them, completely beautiful and stunning in all her eighteen-year-old glory, Reese’s heart stopped. She knew that she should be happy that her nephew was turning three and she was, but at the same time, dread filled her from the inside out. When she glanced up at Phillip, a sad smile sat on his lips, and she knew he felt the same way.
They were sending Claire off to college in a matter of hours.
She knew she should be glad that Claire was staying close to home, going to Bellevue University, with only a thirty-minute commute, but she was moving into the dorms and out of the house they had made their home. She felt like a piece of her was leaving. She knew she was probably overreacting, but she was going to miss her, so much, and she knew that Phillip would, too.
“Reese, can you hold Quinn for me?” Elli asked, holding out the youngest of the Adler clan.
“Sure,” she said, letting go of Phillip to take the sweet, dark-haired, blue-eyed toddler that looked just like his daddy.
“Thanks, I need to clean cake off the rest of my kids,” she said in a hurry before rushing to the table where her babies sat, but Shea made it there before she could. He flashed a grin before giving her a quick kiss. They shared a loving look, and Reese decided that Shea really was the best husband in the world. As Reese held Quinn close to her, he laid his head on her chest and let out a sigh as she watched the moms work hard to pass out cake to their offspring. Audrey had Penny in her lap, feeding her the cake and playing with Posey at the same time. Despite trying and trying, she and Tate hadn’t been blessed with another baby, but Piper had said that they were fine with it. While Lucas fed Asher and Aiden, Fallon sat with her feet up, a piece of cake resting on her protruding belly as she downed a whole bottle of water. She was due in a week with a little girl, named Stella, and they were extremely excited. Reese had fully expected a new baby from Piper at any time, but Piper said she wasn’t doing it, that Dimitri had ruined any thought of ever having another child. Reese hoped she would change her mind because she was ready for another baby that she could spoil. She was going to be bored without Claire. Maybe Fallon would let her borrow Stella every once in and while?
Kissing the top of Quinn’s head, she looked over at Phillip since she felt his eyes on hers. With a wink, he said, “You look really good with that baby.”
She smiled. “Thanks, he is a doll, isn’t he?”
“He is, and I love watching you with him. He likes you.”
He reached out, slowly running the back of his fingers against Quinn’s cheek. “Yeah, I like him too.”
“We could have one, you know,” he suggested, and Reese shook her head.
“No way, I don’t want to mess up a kid.”
Phillip shrugged. “We’ve done good with her.”
Claire followed his gaze and nodded. “I know, but the real test is coming with her leaving.”
“She’ll do fine. We are right here, and she’s smart.”
He was right. “I’m gonna miss her.”