Familyness

May The Best Player Win

"Come on, mom!" Luke drags me out to the car "We can't be late!" I sit in the front next to Brad, who is laughing at Luke's excitement for his party today.

We pull into the parking lot of the laser tag place and Luke and Ari run out of the car. I go to get Bri out of her seat, but Brad stops me.

"You aren't supposed to be carrying her," He picks up a very excited Bri "You should get the cake."

I get the cake from the trunk and carry it in to the front desk where we let them know that we're there for the party. They show us where we can get set up, and shortly after Luke's friends start to show up.

"Can we play yet?" Luke and his friends ask Brad and I "We really want to!"

"Here," Brad hands Luke some money "They aren't ready yet so split this and go play games."

I get Bri and give her to Luke "Take her with so she doesn't get the cake again."

A few minutes later, all the kids get here and there are 15 teenage boys running back into the room from the arcade.

"I'm going to separate you guys by numbers so that you know which equipment to get," a worker stands in front of the room giving some instructions "Are the parents playing?"

I look to Brad and he nods his head "Yeah, we'll play."

We get given numbers and then are directed towards rooms to get all of our equipment. I decide to play with Bri so I won't need to run around much, and Brad plays against us with everyone else.

"Baby play too!" Bri yells as we walk out onto the playing floor "with me."

"Yes honey, the baby is playing, but you don't need to tell everyone that." I laugh as I help her "hold" our Lazer gun.

The game starts and Luke and his friends run around like crazy. They shoot at everyone including us a few times. I help Bri pull the lever to shoot at Luke the next time he is near us, and he falls to the ground dramatically waiting to play again.

"I've died!" He yells as he falls making us laugh.

One of his friends runs right across in front of us "You'll never get me!"

Another one runs out from hiding and shoots him right in the back "Batman always wins!"

Luke gets back up and runs after them shooting around like a lunatic trying to win.

"Let's get daddy," I whisper to Bri as Brad runs closer to us. He goes behind us trying to hide from one of Luke's friends not expecting us to shoot him.

Bri swings the gun around and I help her line up the Lazer then she shoots at Brad right in the middle of his vest. All of this lights go out and he looks at us in shock.

"Damn. You guys are good." He walks up to us and takes our gun so he can play. Bri points out the people to him and he shoots at them all and soon enough Ari is the only other one left.

"Mom, let me help!" Luke walks up behind us. He takes Bri to one side and some of his friends go on the other side so they can warn Brad and I if she gets close.

"Behind you!" One of Luke's friends yells warning us. Ari shows up from around the corner ready to shoot. Brad grabs our gun and runs up to her.

They stand 5 feet apart walking around in circles trying to find the best time to shoot at the other.

"We both know I'm going to win," Brad brags "You should just give up now."

Out of nowhere, someone else jumps off of a block coming to Ari's aid. I look at them and right away know that it's Coco and the little bitch has been hiding the whole time.

Coco takes one shot at Brad and brings him down right away before running to Ari. They stand next to each other with their arms up in victory.

"Whose the winner now?" They yell in unison making fun of Brad's remarks.

"Just remember who's paying for your pizza." He shoots back laughing at them. We all walk back into the party room where the pizza we ordered is waiting for us.

"Mom, look here!" Luke yells seconds before him and his friend jump off of a table with fake black capes and masks on them.

"You guys do know Batman doesn't fly, right?" I ask to their disappointment "He just glides."

"Well technically they didn't fly either," Brad adds "They just fell on their asses."

"Kill joys!" Luke's friend yells jokingly to us. Everyone laughs as Bri takes her turn of jumping and lands right into Brad's open arms after kicking him. He winces in pain a little and turns toward me. All the kids think it's hysterical.

"You okay, babe?" I try to hide my laughter as I walk him over to the side of the room "Just be happy that you're already pregnant." He laughs and winces in pain as he stands up straight again "Our children are terrible."

"I know they are," I take a bite of my pizza and watch as Bri and Ari start a mini food fight "But that's because they're your kids."

"Cake time!" Luke yells the second he finishes his pizza. Brad opens the box and lights the candles so that we can start singing.

"Happy birthday to you..." We sing as a group. Luke blows out the candles after making his wish and everyone gets a piece of cake.

"Daddy!" Bri yells as she sticks her face in the cake "No fork!" It's only after we see what she's done that we realize we forgot to give her a fork.

"Hey Bri," Luke yells "How is it?"

"Good!" She yells back smiling. We let her stay messy as she shoves the rest of the cake in her mouth.

"Can we play one more game?" Luke begs as we start to clean up.

"One more." I give in. The kids find the worker in charge and a few minutes later we're all ready to start playing again.

Coco helps Bri shoot one of Luke's friends in the first few seconds, and right away Bri thinks she won.

"I win!" She yells loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Shut up, Bri!" Luke yells ruining his cover. I get up and run to behind him.

"Got you!" I yell as I shoot him.

"Noooooooo!" He sighs mimicking Rachel and falls to the ground in defeat.

Soon after, batkid runs right up in front of me and shoots me before I get a chance to hide "Batman strikes again!"

Some other kid shoots batkid calling him a "batdick" and we all try to hide our laughter.

Brad ends up winning, and as we're waiting for the parents to pick up their kids I learn that he paid the two best kids $20 each to let him win.

"You're such a cheater, dad!" Ari complains.

"You don't get to complain, I let you win the first game." He fights back as we get in the car "Did you have fun, Luke?"

"Yeah! I can't wait to eat the rest of my cake."

We all laugh at him as we drive home.