January 2033 - Pine Hollow, North Carolina
Aaron has never been the sweetest little brother. Vanessa finds him quite a bit annoying most times.
He always thinks he can help her with her homework. As if he knows much about high school science classes.
She puts up with him as much as she can, though it doesn't always last more than a few minutes.
She had hoped that things would change after he turned twelve, like he might finally hit that stage where maturity hits him. But no, he's just as much an annoying insect in her face as he's always been. Their parents tend to take his side over most things, telling her he's still growing up while Aaron stands nearby with a big grin on his face.
Vanessa doesn't mind bees buzzing around her outside. But her little brother is just as more annoying at twelve than the bees ever could be.
***
"Did you invite any cute boys to your party?" Sunny asks her granddaughter, giving a sly grin.
Zack and Zoey Lloyd are turning eighteen. They have a party with some friends, but also with some family. So as much as he'd like to have an actual party Zack knows this is really just a way for his mom to show off her babies becoming adults. Or that's what she keeps walking around the house crying about anyway.
Zoey did invite a couple of guys from school. They knew each other in classes and had talked, but nothing had gone any further than that. Not yet. Zoey dresses up and tries to do big smiles and funny jokes to really get attention from those guys.
Except that it doesn't entirely work. Oh, they talk to her, but it doesn't take long before they both suspect that she's moving back and forth between flirting with both of them. It's realized when one sits down in the living room where Zoey is already smiling wide and almost cuddling with the other one.
Which then changes everything into a situation she'd never wish for her birthday.
The guys leave the party early and Zoey goes upstairs, changing back into the clothes she's always worn and more comfortable in. She'll be graduating high school in the spring and leaving for college in the fall and she's not always entirely sure she's ready. She makes a wish as she blows out the candles that she can make through the rest of this school year even after this embarrassment.
Zack doesn't seem so worried as he blows out his candles. He's not going to college, he still hasn't even decided what he might do after high school. Zoey wishes she could be just as confident in her future as her brother is.
Birthdays:
January 15 - Beatrice Sutton - 11
January 15 - James Gates-Watson - 19
January 19 - Xander Gates - 44
January 21 - Aaron Gates - 12
January 24 - Zack Lloyd - 18
January 24 - Zoey Lloyd - 18
January 27 - Caleb Gates - 21
January 31 - Waylon Menon - 53
Anniversaries:
January 4 - Bryant & Madison Craig - 12 years
***
February 2033 - Del Sol Valley, California
"My own bar?" Ethan smiles wide as he looks at the addition to their townhouse. "You didn't have to spend this much money on me. It's not a big birthday, just turning thirty-six."
"Ugh," Mona says. "Don't remind me how much younger you are than me." It's only a two year difference between them, but sometimes Mona is sure it's two decades. "Get busy making me a drink."
The in-house bar is a present Ethan is in love with right away. He makes Mona a drink and then practices making other drinks too. He's always wanted to be a master at making the perfect drinks and this bar will certainly give him the skills he needs to find that dream.
Birthdays:
February 3 - Ethan Carter - 36
February 13 - Isabella Smith - 20
February 14 - Shelley Gates-Watson - 44
February 20 - Lucas Craig - 26
Anniversaries:
February 5 - Nathan & Terri Gates - 22 years
Aw, poor Zoey! Maybe she'll come out of her shell at uni.
ReplyDeleteHa, love Ethan getting right to work with his birthday present!