I Know It's Hurting You, But It's Killing Me

I looked across the yard and spotted Wesley hiding in one of the bushes. Our eyes connected and he motioned for me to run over there. I looked around seeing if the coast was clear and as I clutched the large water gun I was holding tighter, I took off running as fast as I could. Several quirts of water were shot at me in different directions but none of them got me, and before I knew it was running straight into the bush. I laughed as I knelt down on my knees and leaning against Wesley for a moment.

He chuckled while starring at me. “You okay?” He questioned.

I nodded with a small smirk. “Hell yeah.”

“Alright. Well if you start feeling funny say the word and we'll stop playing.” He told me.

I knew he was worried but I was really okay, and the doctor had assured me that I was aloud to run around a little bit.

“You just worry about kicking these boys butts.” I told him with large devious smile.

He rolled his eyes at me but nodded. Then he got his head back into the game and started peaking outside the bushes to see if he could spot anyone. Yeah, for some reason were having a water gun war. There were two teams all together. Jimmy, Wesley, and I on one. Then Tristan, Riley, and Blake on the other. Dad and Brian didn't want to play when we asked them. They claimed they had some things to do and take care of, so we left them alone.

“Where the fuck is Jimmy?” I questioned Wesley curiously, noticing he was nowhere to be found.

“Right here bitches!” He suddenly exclaimed rolling into the bush behind us.

I screamed by the sudden surprise and out of instinct slapped his arm for scaring me. “Jimmy! What the fuck man?” I laughed.

He turned to me and was grinning ear to ear. “Sorry,” He said before squirting me in the face with his own water gun.

I continued laughing at him as I ran my hand over my face.

“We're being surrounded.” He suddenly started speaking seriously. “They're watching us!” He whispered loudly.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What the fuck have you been smoking, Jim Jam?”

“That's beside the point, Sugar Plum.” He said, shaking his head with a smirk. “We need to just run out there and start squirting the fuck out of those mother fuckers!”

Wesley and I exchanged a very amusing look before shrugging. Jimmy counted to three, and then the three of us ran out of the bushes in different directions. Riley was the first one to notice to me and before I knew it he was running towards me, squirting water in my direction.

I screamed from how cold it was before laughing and squirted him back. While Jimmy, Wesley, Tristan, and Blake were chasing each other around the yard, I ran past them and through the gate to the pool area. I ducked down quickly behind the grill. I could hear Riley's footsteps pattering quickly on the concrete around the pool. I knew he would follow me. Suddenly his footsteps stopped completely. I swallowed hard as I peeked around the grill. Suddenly a splash of water hit me right in the shoulder. I yelped before standing up and taking off towards the side of the pool. I stopped where I was and starred at Riley, who was standing right across from me on the other side of the pool. Our eyes connected, and slowly a smirk danced across his lips. I narrowed my eyes not sure what he was smirking at before turning around and watching Blake run as fast as he could towards me. I screamed and within moments I was being pushed into the pool.

I came up from under water spitting the water out from my mouth. “That was not nice!” I shouted with a smile, not being able to help myself from laughing.

“I'll save you!” Jimmy shouted before diving into the pool dramatically, shoving Riley with him.

Before I knew it we were all in the pool splashing at one another, dunking each other, and laughing at one another. Of course it didn't last long though.

“Audrey,” Michelle called out as she walked over to the side of the pool.

“What?” I asked, turning around with a pout spreading over my lips.

She smiled softly. “It's time to start getting ready for your party.”
I sighed. “Do I have too?” I questioned.

I was having so much fun with the guys and leaving the house for basically the rest of the day to get ready for my party didn't seem as much fun.

“Oh come on, sweetie. The girls and I are going to take you to get your hair and your nails done. Won't it be fun to have a girls day?” She asked with a grin.

“Alright,” I nodded before swimming towards the steps.

“Boo!” Jimmy shouted. “We were having fun!”

The guys laughed at his silliness, while I rolled my eyes. “Ignore the big baby.” I told Michelle, causing her to stifle a laugh.

Jimmy gave me a stern look. One that said 'you'll pay for that later', but I wasn't worried. I waved it off before taking the towel from Michelle that she had been holding.

“See you tonight boys.” I said with a smile before following Michelle back into the house.

Dad and Brian were sitting at the kitchen table when Michelle and I walked through the sliding back doors. Dad looked over at me, laughed and shook his head, while I shivered from the cool air conditioning. “You have fun?” He chuckled.

I nodded with a smile as I stepped closer towards him. When I got close enough Brian threw his arm around me. “How does it feel to be sixteen today?” He questioned.

“No different.” I shrugged. “It's just kind of scary really.” I said honestly.

“Well,” Dad suppressed a sigh and stood up, walking over to me. He knelt down onto one knee in front of me and gave me a soft smile. “There's gong to be a lot changes this year, Audrey. You know that just as well as I do. Don't be afraid though. You've got me, and the rest of the family behind you, supporting you one hundred percent. We're gonna get through this together, right?” He said, taking a hold of my hand for comfort.

I grinned and wrapped my arms around his chest. It didn't matter if I was wet or not. I needed a hug from him. “I love you, dad.” I murmured.

“I love you too, Kiddo. Now go have fun with the girls today.” He said pulling away. “I'll see you tonight, alright?”

“Okay,” I nodded. “Bye dad. By Uncle Brian.”

Dad said bye first and gave me a small wave, and then Brian was next. I turned away and left the kitchen with Michelle.

Michelle handed me a small backpack with some extra clothes for me to change into real quick in the downstairs bathroom before leaving. She couldn't have me running around in wet clothes pregnant. She wasn't about to risk me catching a cold. I understood where she was coming from and listened to her. Before I knew it, we were both in her BMW on the way to meet the girls. We were getting our hair done first, and then we were going to get a manicure and pedicure. I knew it was going to be nice being able to spend time with. I always enjoyed that. And then of course, I had my party to look forward to hours later. I had no idea who was invited, where the party was going to be at, or anything. I just knew what I was going to look like. And that's how I wanted it all along. I didn't want the stress of planning a party on my shoulders, when I had enough to deal with. Thankfully everyone seemed to agree with me on that. Now all I needed to do was have a fun sixteenth birthday party, and forget about everything else for one night.