"This thing is fucking heavy!" I shout as we carry the dining table out to the garage.
"You're the one who chose it." Jaime says walking backwards.
"Watch out there's a step right there." I say being his eyes.
We finally walk it out of the house and into the garage, "Shit that was harder than I expected." He mumbles.
We both walk back into the house and grab the chairs that go along with the table and take them to the garage as well, "Mike should be here soon with the tables, so let's get that pool table over there."
We each grab an end of the table and begin our attempt to move it where the dining table was, a knock on the door interrupted us graciously, "Come in!" Jaime shouts, Mike walking in seconds later.
"Hey guys, I brought the tables."
"Thanks bro, we're gonna put them in here if we can just get this pool table over there." Jaime says pointing to the spot we've decided on.
"Well here, let me help you."
Mike gets on the largest side of the pool table while Jaime and I grab on the ends, each of us at the same time lift up the table and carry it to the dining spot, underneath the chandelier.
"Thank you!" I say giving Mike a hug.
"Okay now for the tables." Jaime says.
We set up two poker tables in the front room where the pool table was, one was for playing Black Jack and the other obviously for poker, we had a lot of people coming tonight especially since the invitations were plus one.
Once Mike had left I began work in Jaime's music room, putting a gold shimmery drape in front of his things to cover them but to act as a background for the photo booth that would be in here.
I had spent weeks putting together props for the photo booth, such as signs that read 'The Roaring Twenties' 'Happy New Year' along with a table full of pearl necklaces for the girls and empty champagne bottles.
Once I was done with that room Jaime and I rearranged the living room so Chris could set up his DJ table, and for the dinner table I dressed it up with a black table cloth and covered it with gold confetti, a candelabra in the center with two gold painted champagne bottles on either side of it draped with strings of pearls.
I was going all out.
In the kitchen I had martini glasses lined up for people to use, as well as boxes of empty liquor bottles in boxes to give the effect of having more than we actually did, the actual alcohol was being placed in a big ice tub in the nook of our kitchen where I usually keep mail and junk.
I hung streamers over the stair way with a sign that read 'Speakeasies', usually where people in the twenties would go to get away from the crowd and loud music to talk to people.
It would lead upstairs to our entertainment space where I placed a tall table decorated just like the one downstairs, and another bar area to grab drinks.
"Our house just took a time machine back to the twenties." Jaime says looking around.
"I love it."
"You did great with the decorating babe."
"And you did great with the moving things around without hurting yourself." I giggle.
"Almost dropped a table on my foot but I caught it." He laughs.
"I'm gonna go ahead and go the store and grab some alcohol before everyone buys the good stuff." He says grabbing his keys, placing a kiss on my temple then out the door.
I walk upstairs to Lilah's play room where she sat on the floor playing with her new toys she got for Christmas.
I laid on my back on her floor as she began to talk to me while drawing on her chalkboard that Vic and Danielle bought her, she loved that thing so much, she actually thinks she's a teacher.
Along with that, Mike and Alysha not only bought her a Barbie doll with all the accessories but also got her a play desk that she can sit at and color.
"Mama?" I hear her say, my eyes closed as my body tried to relax.
"Mama, sleep shhh." She says caressing my cheek with her hand.
I smile at her words then open my eyes, "Boo!"
She screams then giggles, "Mama play."
I get handed a coloring book and a yellow crayon while she goes back to her chalkboard and begins to talk while drawing on it.
"Tell me your ABC's princess." I say, Jaime had been teaching her to say them while I was working.
"A." she starts.
"What comes next?"
She looks around then down to her hands, "B." She says with a questioning look.
"Yes." I smile.
I finally get her to tell me all her letters then hear Jaime come in downstairs, "Daddy's home." I say with excitement getting her all riled up.
She leads the way down the stairs, slowly but surely, getting to where Jaime is in the kitchen placing all the bags of drinks on the counter.
"There were so many people!" He says letting out a huff of air.
"Well, everyone is getting ready to party tonight." I remind him.
"Can we take a nap before having to get ready?" He asks taking Lilah from my arms.
"Yes, I need one."
We go upstairs and to our bedroom placing Lilah in between the both of us, we never actually got much of a nap though, seeing as Lilah was full awake and full of energy.
She kept a lovely conversation going with Jaime who was humming his responses to her, "Do I talk this much." He mumbles to me.
"Yes." I reply with eyes closed.
"Daddy." She says getting me to open my eyes quickly.
She had never actually said the word daddy, just dada or da, but hearing daddy for the first time melted my heart.
"She just said daddy." I coo.
"That was cute, my heart skipped a beat." Jaime smiles placing his hand over his heart.
"Dada," Lilah says tapping his arm.
"Lilah."
Then she begins talking again, still mumbles of Barbie and something she saw on TV, I am for sure going to have talks with teachers when she starts school, hearing them tell me that she talks too much.
A few hours later Jaime's phone alarm goes off signaling that it's time to start getting ready, it was currently six and our friends would be arriving at eight, and we still had a few things to do before they got here.
I quickly jumped in the shower, rinsing over my body and scrubbing my hair, I got out and put on some black pantyhose along with a baggy shirt so I can fix my hair and makeup.
Just as I sat down at my vanity Jaime emerges with a towel in hand, "Lilah fell asleep on the bed, gonna take a quick shower." I nod my head in agreement and turn back to the mirror.
I turned on my curling wand and began brushing my hair while it got hot, I curled loose pieces of hair but pinned it up exactly the way I did for Christian's black tie affair months ago.
Once I was done with my hair I started on my makeup, keeping my eyes settle with a soft pinkish gold color, not smoking it but putting a small amount of black on the outer corners. I traced a very thin line of eyeliner on the top of my lids and kept the wing very small.
I placed two coats of mascara on my lashes then covered my cheeks with a soft pink blush, for my lips I went bold with a red lipstick.
I walked to the bed where my dress was set out, Jaime buttoning up his suit coat, his outfit consisted of a full black tuxedo, a champagne colored waistcoat over the black button up. He had a champagne pocket square and a black and gold cane, his whole appearance made him look exceptionally hot.
"Gatsby's got nothing on you." I smirk.
Jaime chuckles then leans over to kiss my cheek, "I'm gonna go dress Lilah while you change."
I quickly discard of my shirt, careful not to mess up my hair and makeup then situate myself into the flapper dress I bought a few weeks ago, it was a champagne color dress with all the fringe that was popular in the twenties, it had black fringe on it as well towards the bottom and the neckline had gold studs on it.
I paired the outfit with some champagne colored heels that weren't tall at all, which was different seeing as I'm used to wearing tall heels.
I grabbed my head piece that had leaf designs on it made of rhinestones, on the right of the piece were three feather looking stems that had rhinestone leaves on them, underneath the stems was a dangle charm that landed just above my temple.
I put on a pair of dangle earrings and a large five layered champagne colored pearl necklace, last were my black silk gloves that went up to my elbow, I finished off the look with a black feather boa and a cigarette holder, like the one Audrey Hepburn had in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
I sprayed on some perfume then went to Lilah's room where Jaime was finishing up her outfit, which I thought was the cutest thing ever.
She wore a black fringe dress and some black flats, a double layered pearl necklace and a headband that had a huge flower on the right corner.
"My baby is so cute, I love it."
We went downstairs and saw Chris who came early to set up his DJ table, while I put on a silent black and white movie on the TV to play in the background.
Before everyone showed up we quickly went to the photo booth room and turned set up the Polaroid camera on its tripod, we stood in front of the gold background and smiled while the time counted down to one.
We hear the shutter sound and then a photo dispense out of the camera, I took my phone out and took a picture of it to send to Instagram.
Jaime stood to the right leaning on his cane whit his head titled up to the ceiling giving off the serious look, I did the same facing him with Lilah on my left hip in the middle of us both, a smile on her face.
Arianna.rae: Let's ring in this new year bitches! (champagne bottle emoji)
In a matter of minutes all of our friends began to show up, each of them dressed up in twenties styled outfits, it was like we transported back in time.
Two hours into the party and our house was filled with people, including Sarah and her new boyfriend Josh, which I was thankful for because I didn't like her ex at all.
"This is super fucking cool Rae." Sarah says over the music.
"Thank you, it took forever to decorate this place."
"I bet, but it looks amazing."
I smile at her then am pulled to the game room where the guys were either at the pool table or playing cards, I took my chances and sat down at the poker table next to Jaime, "Glad you joined."
"I haven't played in forever so I'm probably a bit rusty."
I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see Alysha with a smile as she hands me a martini glass filled with alcohol, I get handed a set of cards and put my playing skills to use trying to rack my brain on how I used to win at this game every time.
Two won games later and I had everyone watching, and when I won the third round the girls cheered, I had finally beat Mike who is supposedly the best at this game.
I got up from the table and walked to the living room to find my brother who I had last seen Lilah with, when I found him I saw Lilah with a smile across her face watching him talk to Alex.
"Hey guys." I say with a smile as they return one my way.
"Can I have my child back?" I ask.
"No, I missed her so I'm spending my time with her." Leo says wrapping his arms around her.
I roll my eyes and oblige, going to find Spencer, "Great there you are!" She shouts once she sees me.
She quickly pulls me into the photo booth room where the other girls waited along with Kara, Casey's girlfriend, we all gathered in front of the camera and posed at least five different times so that way each of us got a picture.
"This look really suits me." Spencer says looking down at her outfit.
A black and gold fringe dress with big gold pearls hung around her neck, "I think I'll build a time machine."
We laugh at her statement then walk out of the room it was currently eleven and someone finally changed the TV channel to show the countdown.
I, on the other hand, grabbed a plate of food and went to find Jaime who was playing pool with Casey.
"Hey babe, whatcha up to." He says as it was Casey's turn to go.
"Just eating like always." I say with a shrug while placing a cracker in my mouth.
I stay and watch for a little while longer then go outside to see who was out there, I see Mike standing near the fire pit with a cigarette in hand.
"Hey you." I say with a smile as I get closer.
"Hey Rae, what's up?"
"It got hot inside so I decided to come get air."
"Same here, and I needed a break. This is actually a lot of fun; you guys did a good job."
"Thank you sir." I smile.
"I don't think I ever told you this but I'm gonna say it now." He says blowing out a puff of smoke.
"When Hime first told us that he was seeing you, I thought it was a bad idea, I mean I didn't like Jessica but the thought of some new girl coming in just like that didn't rub me the right way."
His statement caught me off guard at first but I understood where he was coming from in a way, "And now?"
He throws me a smile and puts out his cigarette, "Well now, I understand why life works the way it does, because I've never seen Jaime so much happier than the way he is when he's with you."
"I love him Mike, he's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"You two are something else, and I'm glad he brought you around all those years ago, I'm glad I met you because I might not have a sister but you're the closest thing."
I smile at this then lean over and pull him into a tight hug, "Thank you."
I hear Mike's phone go off, he pulls it out of his pocket and looks at what was on the screen, "It's almost twelve we better get in there."
I follow him inside to where everyone was in the living room, "Arianna?" I hear come from the kitchen.
I turn to see Jaime with Lilah in his arms, "Come on." He says grabbing my hand to pull me up the stairs.
He takes me into our room where a very lazy Max was sleeping on his bed, Jaime lets go of my hand to open the balcony door, then turns to motion me over.
I call Max to come with me then go outside to our balcony, all four of us watching the night sky.
"I wanna bring in this new year alone with my family." He says just above a whisper.
I smile and lean into his chest, the sound of everyone downstairs counting down from ten,
"THREE, TWO, ONE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
I turn to look up at Jaime but am immediately taken back by his lips crashing down on mine, after a moment we both pull away, smiles on both of our faces.
"Happy new year baby." He says.
"Happy new year."
I grab Lilah's face and give her a kiss on both her cheeks, Jaime doing the same right after me, "This will be our year." Jaime mutters.
I smile at him with the lingering thought, our year.
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