Playing It Safe(21)

“Yes, really.”

She throws her arms around his neck and gives him a big hug while she squeals with delight. I’m not a “squee-er,” but even I can’t help but feel all giddy inside seeing this reaction. You’d have to be dead inside not to.

“It’s going to be Josie’s tenth birthday next month, and I’d like to throw a big party for her and her friends,” he says. “Obviously, some family members will be invited as well.”

I start to rattle off a few questions. “Any ideas of what you had in mind, theme-wise? Or are we just talking a straight-up party? Oh, and any thoughts on the venue?”

“Venue will be here,” he says. “Everything else I’ll let the birthday girl here go over with you personally.”

Alex stands up and pulls the chair out farther for Josie to sit down and take his place. She’s a ball of energy, ready to burst with excitement at the proverbial keys to the kingdom she’s been given. Her happiness is infectious because I’m all excited now too.


“So, let’s start with something simple: theme or no theme?”

“Theme, for sure.”

“Okay, did you have something already in mind?”

I don’t get the sentence out completely before she blurts out, “Harry Potter.”

“As in ‘Undesirable Number One, Harry Potter’?” I ask teasingly.

She giggles and nods yes. “Can you do that?”

“Pffft, I can have this whole house looking like Hogwarts in a few hours, no problem.”

“Are you a Harry Potter fan?” she asks.

“Girlie, I’m totally Team Slytherin.”

“Slytherin? Oh my gosh, are you serious?” she asks.

“Totally,” I say with a smile. “I do love me some Professor Snape. How about you? And don’t you dare say Hufflepuff. I can deal with Ravenclaw, but I draw the line at Hufflepuff.”

“Gryffindor, of course,” she says while laughing.

A quick glance over her shoulder and I find Alex shaking his head with a grin. “If you need me, I’ll be in my office,” he says.

He disappears down the hallway into one of the rooms I was curious about earlier, leaving me and Josie on our own to go over the details with a fine-toothed comb.

“Okay, so theme, check. Venue, check. Date?”

“Um, I don’t know. Should I ask Uncle Alex?” she asks.

“Well before we do that, how about you tell me when your actual birthday is. That way, I’ll look at my planner and see if there is a weekend it’s close to that we can use.”

“Oh, I already know my birthday actually falls on a weekend this year,” she says. “November ninth.”

My finger scrolls the calendar on my iPad forward to November. “It’s a Friday, so how about the next day, Saturday the tenth?”

“Uncle Alex! Is Saturday the tenth okay with you to have my party here?” she yells out to him.

“Yes,” he yells back.

We look at each other and smile. Mine probably looks more devious than hers as the wheels in my head are spinning with all sorts of ideas for this party. Josie starts rattling off a guest list while I furiously take notes, trying to keep up with her. On top of that, I’m mentally chastising myself for worrying about coming over here today when this is what Alex had in mind all along.

How clueless can I be?

And to think I wore the granny panties, which, by the way, are chafing my undercarriage like nobody’s business.





CHAPTER EIGHT


A couple of hours and many discussions later about whether or not Harry should have ended up with Ginny or Hermione, Josie and I have pretty much ironed out most of the details of what she wants for her birthday party. I’ve also been able to obtain valuable intel on Alex, specifically his relationship with Marisa.

Turns out she’s not his girlfriend, though she wishes she was—Josie’s words, not mine—and it took all of me not to laugh at the dramatic eye roll she threw in for effect as she said it. Marisa’s all of twenty-four years old and has a degree in being an idiot—again Josie’s words. Her parents and Alex’s parents have known each other for many years, which would explain the whole “old friend of the family” bit he gave me the other day. The one piece of information Josie revealed that I found to be really intriguing is that if her mom, Alex’s sister, doesn’t like one of his girlfriends, the chick is usually doomed. She wouldn’t elaborate much more on that other than to say how Alex and her mom are super close.

Now I know what you’re thinking, and I hear you loud and clear: Julia, why do you care so much about Alex’s love life when you’re still grossed out about his thing with Sabrina?

I wouldn’t say I care so much as wanting to be fully informed, because you never know when having the right intel could come in handy in the future.

All in all, I’d say my little powwow with Josie was all kinds of fun. I would have never guessed spending my afternoon with an almost-ten-year-old would be so enlightening. Her honesty and innocence is like a breath of fresh air from my daily dose of sarcasm. I almost wish that I could hang out with her more often, which is funny given my penchant for not being too kid-friendly. But this kid is pretty effing cool.

See, I’m already censoring my foul language!