Picture Perfect?

DEVLIN'S POV :

"That is so cool , he's gonna love it !" , I tell Tony , as I look over the cake he's made for Liam's birthday .
"Yeah , but is he going to want to eat it , or play with it ?" , Ash chuckles .
Tony had told us that the cake itself is chocolate , and it's covered in several shades of blue icing , since it looks like Thomas the Tank Engine . Ash found the reruns on TV awhile back , and Liam loves it , he squeals and claps his hands every time he sees it .
"Trust me , hon , when he figures out that it's cake , he'll have no problem eating it ." , my mom says . "We had a huge cake made in the shape of a teddy bear made for their first , and it was days before I got the icing out of everything . What they didn't eat , they threw at each other ."
Tony snickers , and says , "Great , our first food fight , and we weren't big enough to remember it ."
"Yeah , the first one I remember was in second grade ." , Holli laughs . "I also remember having to go to the principals office for it , even though it was Jimmy Franklin that started it . If he hadn't decided to start lobbing mashed potatoes at Paul , none of it would have happened ."
Paul and Darcy are the only members of my family who couldn't make it today , because Darcy just had twin boys four days ago . We've seen them on Skype , and Tony and Ash were somewhat surprised when Paul told everyone that their names were Jared Anthony and Brendan Ashley .
Ashley's Aunt June and Uncle Stan , and his cousins Ben and Tommy are here , along with presents from other family members who couldn't make it , and Andy , Juliet , CC , Anna , Jake , Inna , and Jazy should be on their way from the airport any time now . Jinxx and Alice called to let us know that they couldn't come , because apparently she's having some pretty bad morning sickness , and her doctor didn't think she should travel too much right now . I guess I was pretty lucky , I didn't have much at all , but Darcy said that she was sick for up to six hours a day for the first couple of months .
"Do 'gain , Pop Pop !" , Liam shrieks from the living room , and we peek around the door to see Dad trying to balance some of Liam's little building blocks on his head , without much luck . Every time they fall , Liam laughs hysterically and wants to see it again .
"It must be nice to be so easily amused ." , Emma observes . "It's kind of a shame that so many kids don't want to do anything but watch TV and play video games . They don't think anything is fun unless it's electronic . When I was a kid , my cousins and I had to have some sort of activity to do , and during school breaks we spent at least three or four hours playing outside every day , unless the weather was bad ."
"Yeah , Dev and I have talked about that ." , Ash replies . "Obviously , he'll have to have some familiarity with computers , since the schools are starting with them so early now , but his electronics time is going to be limited . And we definitely plan to make sure that he has plenty of chances to find other ways to entertain himself ."
The doorbell rings , and Dad gets up to answer it . He opens the door to reveal our LA friends , as well as Elise , along with her husband , Rich , and their kids ; Steffie , who's six , and Trevor , who's not quite three .
Everyone comes inside , and Ash and I introduce everyone who isn't already acquainted . We all hang out and talk , while the kids decide to play with Liam's blocks . It's actually really cute , Steffie is acting like a little mother hen , reminding the boys to share , and scolding them if they try to hit or throw something .
A few minutes later , Mindy shows up , bringing her new boyfriend . His name is Evan , and he owns a car - customizing business . This is the first time we've met him , but it doesn't take long for everyone to warm up to him , he's very polite , but also incredibly funny , and he treats Mindy like a princess .
When everyone is here , we corral the kids and bring them into the dining room , so Liam can open his presents . Being only one , he obviously doesn't find the new clothes terribly interesting , except the Batman cape that Andy brought for him . He immediately wants it put on , which earns an eye - roll between Ash and Jake when Andy isn't looking .
He enjoys the new toys , and nearly bounces out of his high chair when he opens the gigantic stuffed panda from Tony and Emma . It's bigger than he is , and he keeps patting its head as it sits on the floor by his chair , saying , "Nice goggie"
"I guess he doesn't know 'bear' yet ." , Tony chuckles .
When he finishes opening gifts , Tony goes to the kitchen and brings out the cake . When he places it on the table , Liam's eyes get huge , and he yells , "Tom - tom !" , and bangs on the tray of his chair .
"That is hella cool , dude !" , CC tells Tony .
"Yeah , maybe you should go on one of those baking shows !" , Juliet says .
"I keep telling him to apply , but he doesn't listen ." , Emma says . "Maybe now he'll do it , since he can't say it's just me being biased ."
I light the candle , and everybody sings "Happy Birthday" . Then Ash tries to show Liam how to blow out the candle , but finally ends up having to do it himself . Tony slices the cake , and everyone takes a piece . Liam looks at it for a minute , like he doesn't know what to do with it , but when he sees the rest of us eating , he plunges his hand into the cake and stuffs a fistful into his mouth .
"Miss Dev , he's being messy !" , Steffie exclaims .
"Everybody's messy with their first birthday cake , baby ." , Rich tells her , "Your brother put his on top of his head , don't you remember ? And we have a picture of you with frosting in your eyebrows ."
"Looks like we may get one of those , too ." , Ash says . "I think he's actually hitting his mouth with about half of it ."
I snap several pictures of him feeding himself cake , and by the time he's done , it looks more like he's been shampooing with it , rather than eating it .
"Look , darlin' , our son has turned into a Smurf !" , Ash laughs .
Even though he doesn't really understand what we're talking about , when he hears Ash laughing , he claps his hands together and laughs , too , flinging icing and cake crumbs across the table .
My mom takes charge of him , carrying him off to have a bath , while everyone else moves into the living room to talk . As I get ready to join them , I feel Ashley's arms go around my waist , and he nuzzles my neck , saying , "Well , we made it through the first year without mucking up too badly ."
"Yes we did . And only seventeen more to go !" I reply .
"Or maybe not ." , he says . When I turn to look at him , to figure out what the hell he's talking about , he gives me sort of a sheepish look and says , "Would you kill me if I said I've kinda been thinking that I might like to have another one ? That would kind of make it longer than that , y'know ."
"No , I won't kill you ." , I inform him . "I've thought about it a couple of times myself . But what do you say we wait at least until we get him potty - trained , first ?"
He pauses for a second , then grins at me and says , "I think I can live with that . But we can still practice for it , right ?"
"As soon as everyone is either gone or asleep , babe ! " , I tell him . "We can 'practice' as much as you want ."

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