Birthday Parties and Six Pebbles

𓆙D R I Z E L L A    S T O N E𓆙

I had never felt so out of place in my life.

I felt like Wednesday Addams in a group of girls her own age, the walls of my comfort zone looking distasteful from an outside perspective.

You would have thought that after having six children that I'd have gotten ahold of this whole 'Mom' thing. But I hadn't.

And although I took pride in the upbringing of my boys, the one thing that I had not gotten used to was the chatter between the moms.

They spoke about how infuriating the soccer coach was or how the student council should be doing more for the health of the cafeteria.

I thought it was all a load of bullshit.

If that's what they'd rather spend their time worrying about then that's not my problem, but I still didn't understand why they had to bring it up at a child's fifth birthday party.

All six of my boys had been invited to their friends birthday party, which evidently meant that both me and Stone had to accompany them, because if we did not then the events that would occur would mean that we would be the topic of the Mom's tea-at-three club.

I felt a pair of eyes on me from across the yard. The pair of obsidian eyes bored into my entire being and ran a shiver across my skin.

Even after all these years of us being consumed with one another's existence, I still felt my heart leap and my skin burn up whenever he was around—which was always—.

He watched me with his usual scowl, not at all amused with the Dad chat occurring around his towering frame.

I smiled at the thought of him mixing in with the other Dads, a possibility that was nonexistent for my socially-awkward husband.

He sent a playful glare my way, knowing exactly what was on my mind. My eyes traveled to his slightly raised hand as he motioned for me to come to him.

I instantly felt relieved that I would have an excuse to leave the group of Mom's, I excused myself and let my feet guide me into the embrace of my husband.

"I missed you." He grumbles into my hair, his words muffled as he kisses the top of my head.

I giggle into his chest, his arms tightening around me so that I am fully pressed up against him, my face smushed into the clothed bulkiness of his pecks.

"I was right over there, Lurch." I smile, teasing my husband who I know will not find any valid reasoning behind my words.

He grows completely still, his hand that caressed the small of my back completely stopping as the gruffness of his breathing hitches.

His free hand lightly grabs the back of my head, tilting my face upwards so that I can peer up at my husbands beautifully grumpy face.

He carries an incredulous look on his face, silently searching my face for any hint that I am unwell and beginning to forget the extent of which his possessiveness reaches.

"Tell me that you are joking." He demands, scowling at the serious look on my face as I play along. 

"I was not very far away, Lurch." I deadpan, chewing the inside of my cheek to prevent my smile.

"Medusa." He grunts in warning, his free hand holding my waist in a vice grip.

I let my smile free, letting it coat my features as I raise up onto my tippy-toes to place an appropriate kiss onto his lips.

"I am kidding." I grin, lacing my arms around the tense muscles of his neck. "I missed you too."

He grunts and grumbles in response, his scowl not as harsh yet still evident on his face as his manic self recovers from my little teasing extravaganza.

"Damn right you did." He grumbles, his words directed more to himself than to me.

"You having fun?" I murmur, my voice taunting and hushed.

He leans his head down so that it is a little closer to mine, but given the dramatic space between my height and his meant that he didn't quite reach the proximity that he would have wished for.

"Yes." He grins, the sight of his perfectly aligned pearly whites coating my skin in a flush of heat.

I frown at his words, my lips absentmindedly pouting as I wonder how on earth my glowering husband is enjoying himself at a five-year-old's party.

"I am having a fantastic time." He states, his eyes grazing across the heated skin of my face with a knowing smirk on his lips. "I have been watching my little wife pretend to be interested in the parents councillors discussions for the entire afternoon."

"You have not!" I gasp, hitting his rock hard chest with my palm.

He smirks in reply, still holding my body firmly against his. I could feel the crevices of his hard abdomen brushing against my chest, the contact making my heart flutter at the unholy thoughts that settled themselves into my mind.

"Of course I have." He affirms. "You are the best entertainment."

A voice below us calls out, the sound not as deep as Stone's grumble but firm enough for me to recognise exactly who is demanding our attention.

"What about us!" Fitz and Edgar grumble, scowls painting their faces as they utter the words in sync.

I lean my head and side against my husband's chest, positioning myself so that I can lift Edgar onto my hip.

Stone scoops Fitz into his arm effortlessly, his other arm remaining locked around my side as he made sure that I did not go anywhere.

"You and your brothers are the bestest entertainment in the world." I beam, looking between my two sons whilst glaring at my husband who's features show that he disapproves very much.

The both of them look at their father expectantly, myself included as I eagerly wait to see how he is going to crawl his way out of the hole he has dug for himself.

"Well." Stone begins, his voice strained and his features intimidated by the glowering faces of his sons. "I...uh."

Fitz and Edgar instantly climb down from their raised level and grumble words of disapproval beneath their breaths as they stomp away from us.

"Boys." My husbands voice booms, his body hesitantly tearing itself from mine at the exact same time that my voice is called from behind me.

"Ella!" Susanna calls, as if she had been chasing me down for the entire afternoon.

"Hi Suzy." I smile, trying not to let it appear that I am more focused on the babbling baby on her hip than I am on her.

"Do you mind holding him for a short while? Apparently the clown has caused some chaos near the bouncy-house." She voices breathlessly.

"Of course!" I beam, thrilled that I'm able to be the one to enjoy the snuggles of the little baby.

She thanks me and hands him over to me, rushing over to the chaotic scene that is loud enough to stretch across the garden. 

I take a seat at an empty table, chatting away with a babbling baby Sam who bounces up and down on my knee.

"My god, you're one brave woman." A sudden voice scoffs, the girlfriend of Chase Andrews sipping away on her martini without a care in the world.

"I'm sorry?" I say, genuinely confused as to why she felt the need to come over when she hardly even knows me.

"Speaking to another boy that is not Stone, very brave indeed." She tuts, her tone almost mocking the possessiveness of my husband.

"You know you can tell me if he's violent with you, hun? I won't tell a soul."

What?

Oh she's dead.

"Excuse me?" I grit each syllable, my words so harsh that they almost surpass the harshness of my husbands.

"You know," she begins, her cranky little voice making me want to tear out her voice box and bring in a herd of elephants to stampede on it. "I've seen the way he fights, I wouldn't be surprised if he brings that home with him. Clearly something is making him angry and I wouldn't be shocked if that didn't stop at the ring."

Where the fuck are those elephants at?

I feel so enraged, so physically and mentally enraged that the only thing keeping me from tearing her hair out of her scalp is the baby that coos away on my lap, the little life entirely unaware of my heated rage.

"Yeah? Well I guess your little pea-sized brain can't seem to grasp the idea of what real love looks like." I affirm, my face so clearly laced with anger that I'm surprised Sam hasn't began to cry at the sight. "You know, since you're in a relationship with someone who clearly isn't making you happy."

"What the fuck did you just say?" She scoffs, my hands instantly covering the little baby's ears to prevent the vulgar language from being expelled into his line of hearing.

"Oh, and just to make it astronomically clear. My husband is the greatest soul to ever live." I grit, keeping my voice low enough not to make a scene but loud enough for her to take in my words. "I am so lucky to call him my husband and the thought of him ever laying a hand on me is simply inexistent. So I'm sorry that you feel so insecure in your own little relationship that you feel the need to piss on others, but I assure you my marriage is perfectly perfect."

She stands up with a huff and clutches her purse to her side as she walks away in embarrassment, the redness of her face bringing a wonderful grin upon my face.

"Goddamn, that was insane." Lana laughs, slumping into the chair next to me as she too glares at the retreating figure of the girl who's name I've yet to learn. "Stone would be floating on a cloud if he heard what you just said about him."

"Oh hey you." I grin, the babbling of the baby on my lap brightening up both of our moods.

"Hey you." She smiles, nudging my side.

"Where's your husband?" I question, looking for the frantic stance of her fighter husband whom I find many similarities with my Stone.

"He got stuck with the Dads of the soccer team, I have escaped whilst I still can." She laughs, the possession of my husband being something she once mocked but now relates to with her own grumbling giant.

All of a sudden, six pairs of dark obsidian eyes set on me and six frowns were being set in my direction.

Both me and Lana turn to the direction of the sound, the sound of six individual grumbles echoing through the air like a chorus.

Out of all six of my protective and possessive boys, it was my youngest, Rock, who got pushed to come first. "Mommy, can you hold me please?"

"I will carry you later." I promised as I cuddled the baby in my arms closer to my chest "I'm justhaving a little hold of the baby."

Rock glowered in disapproval, his face contorting as his little brain tried to think of more bribes to guilt-trip me.

Gatsby was next to join his brother as he glowered at the baby and grumbled "That baby can have its own mommy to hold him. Not you. You are ours."

I sighed because all six of my pebbles were now standing in front of me. All of six of them had their arms crossed, their mouths in scowls and their eyes narrowed in on me and the baby who babbled and cooed at them without a care in the world.

"I will hold you all in a minute." I tried to calm them down before they started growling at the baby. "I just need to look after this little one before their mommy comes back."

"Momma?" Baby Rock whined "You still love us more, don't you? Percy, Edgar, Gatsby, Fitz, Heath and me are all still your favourite boys?"

A small insecure heartbroken sound left all six of them as they stared up at me.

"I love you all so much!" I exclaimed before I scolded "Never doubt my love for you. I love you all more than my own life. I'm just having a small cuddle with the baby."

Perseus growled "We are your boys. You are only meant to cuddle with us!"

Fitzwilliam added while deepening his voice "You can never leave us, mommy. You can never stopgiving us cuddles."

I closed my eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh before I looked across the room and locked eyeswith my husband.

Stone was leaning against a wall and watching the scene unfold with an amused smirk on his face.

———

a/n - okay so I'm not exactly all that happy with her little argument, I feel like Kayla could have written it so much better with her use of comebacks! I suck at comebacks, so I apologise for the lack thereof <333

Also, thank you to Kayla for giving me a this short extract to edit and add too! I hope you all enjoyed <3