Gifted Connections 4

Chapter 24

“How about this place?” Jaxson enthused as he turned the laptop around. “It has party rooms, an indoor arcade, rock climbing wall, laser tag, zip lining, go-carts, and so much more!”

Today we woke up determined that we were going to finally plan Alex’s birthday. With less than six days left, we knew we needed to stop procrastinating. We wanted to get it out of the way so we could focus on our trip to California next.

Right after waking, we had fed the girls and asked them if they wanted to go shopping for Alex’s present—even he said he didn’t want birthday presents. Will was taking Kade, Micah, Patrick, and Alex to town to go grocery shopping.

“You do realize we have to chaperone?” Jace laughed.

“We can totally take shifts watching the kids or joining in the fun,” Troy insisted.

“Should I book it?” Jaxson asked enthusiastically.

“Yeah, book it,” Remy insisted. “But are we going to ask Alex first?”

“He’ll be happy with it,” Jaxson waved him off as he left the room on his cell phone.

“What’s the name of the place?” I asked pulling out my own laptop. “I told Alex we’d make the invitations.”

Drake leaned over in his seat and looked at the screen. “Amusapalooza,” he said. “Should we invite all the kids in his class? I know he said he just wanted a few of his friends, but maybe we should welcome the whole class.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” I immediately agreed. I remembered how it felt not getting invited to stuff growing up. Granted, when I was older, my offputting personality was intentional, but when I first lost my dad, it hadn’t been.

“How many children in total are in his…center?” Lincoln asked as he pulled out his own laptop. “Girls, Boys?”

The learning centers were divided into three sections. One for the elementary, one for middle school, and one for high school. Each education unit wasn’t large, by any means. In fact, it was almost laughable, but the kids definitely got a specialized education. They all tested above the national average because of the student-teacher ratio.

“Fourteen,” Drake answered. “Including Alex, Ella, and Nadia. If we add Patrick, Victoria, Micah, and Kade, that’s eighteen.”

“What are you doing?” Noah asked as he leaned over.

“Goody bags,” Lincoln said with a broad smile.

“Umm… I know we are somewhat privileged, but don’t you think putting GoPros in each bag is a bit excessive?” Noah started to laugh. “And those bags are insane! Little paper bags full of candy and little trinkets would probably be sufficient.”

“They’re on sale,” Lincoln said with a smirk. “Besides, this is my friend's company, and I invested in him when no one else believed in him. I’m getting them for next to nothing. We can hand them out before the party and download the footage, do a little compilation of it all after the party is over. Once I get it edited, it will be a fantastic memory for Alex.”

“These kids will never learn the value of working for something,” I said in exasperation, even though I thought it was a wonderful idea. “Christmas was a few weeks ago, and they still have stuff they haven’t opened.”

“What about the kids that Horatio had in his army?” Remy asked gruffly. “I know some families gave them some stuff, but it couldn’t have been easy for them. If the man is getting a deal, then let him get it for them.”

“Are we doing a superhero theme?” Jace asked. “I can order the cake right now. Oh, and don’t forget about Harry, Lincoln. I’m not sure a GoPro for a three-year-old is the greatest idea,” he joked.

“I don’t know about that,” Lincoln smirked. “Imagine if I get this one GoPro that can attach to this helmet. Shots from that low should be fun to mix in with the final edit.”

“Yes, let’s do supeheros,” I agreed as I found templates for invitiations. “Do we have cardstock?” I asked Drake.

“Yes, in the closet.” He nodded, pointing to the living room closet.

“Great!” I enthused as I went over to the closet to get our printer and the cardstock. I grabbed our arts and crafts kit while I was at it.

“How many people?” Jaxson asked coming back into the room.

“Let’s say fifty for right now.” Drake looked up from the notebook he was writing in. When we all looked at him, he grinned and shrugged. “What? All his classmates and then all our family. Then Greg, Miranda, Hazel, Harry, Jemmy, Gavin, Sierra, Rachel and her family, Terrance and the team, Ben and the boys, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few people.”

“Fifty it is,” Jaxson grinned. The way he was acting, you’d think the party was for him. “Fifty,” he said into the phone. “Yes, I said fifty. What food do we want?” Jaxson looked back over to us.

“Ask them to give us the group number, and we will place the order online,” Drake replied.