Ellie's Point of View

The best way to bring the family together is to throw a family event where they're forced to be in close proximity, on their best behaviour, and reminded about the beautiful thing that family is. Thank goodness for Noah's birthday party today; what a great way to bring everyone together.

Before we can make great memories, I have an entire house to decorate and food to prepare for the army of people I've invited to the party. Luckily, I have a list and helpers to bring this entire event to life.

"Where's all this stuff going?" Mum holds up a giant bag of decorations.

"Don't worry about that, Clara will be over soon to decorate the house. Our focus is putting all the food together. I have the usual snacks, dips, cheeses, fruit, and veggies. I also have cupcakes that need to be iced."

"Would you like me to cut the fruit and veggies up?"

"Sure, use whatever you need in the fridge."

"Do you have platters for it?"

"They're all in the end cupboard, and feel free to do whatever you want."

"I thought there would be a mood board of aesthetics," Mum laughs.

"I only did that for the baby shower and his first birthday because I wanted everything to be perfect for those special moments. Noah doesn't care about how perfectly things are cut or if the cupcakes are iced perfectly. He just cares about the bouncy house going up outside and the presents he'll be getting." I sigh. "So I've chilled out for this party."

"As long as Noah's happy, everything will be fine."

"How about some party music to put us in the mood?"

"Yes, great idea." Mum nods.

I tackle the cupcakes while Mum pulls the fruit and veggies from the fridge. We've invited a lot of people and I don't know how much people will eat, so I always think it's best to have too much than not enough. It also didn't help I was hungry when we went shopping.

"Can you check on Daniel and Noah?"

She comes back with a smile on her face.

"Noah's placing his dinosaur collection throughout the lounge room, but Daniel isn't allowed to help. He has to follow strict instructions from Noah."

"You can tell he's my child." I laugh.

Once the cupcakes are iced and topped with dinosaurs, I move on to help with the platters.

"So how's everything going? You forgot to update me about the dinner with Daniel's parents."

"It went amazing. We dropped Noah at Clara's house so it would be the four of us. We were able to talk and Emma apologised for her behaviour."

"I'm glad to hear that." She smiles.

"Their chat on the picnic day was much needed and very helpful. Emma is starting to realise that maybe we're good for each other, now she fully understands the situation."

"Your kids will always be your kids and it's hard to see them upset and you'll never stop protecting them from getting hurt."

"It's hard to navigate parenting when your kids are no longer kids, but will always be your kids."

"So hard, but you'll understand one day." She laughs.

"Thanks for your support through everything. It's funny how all that hurt led me to this." I look around the room before stopping to look at Noah and Daniel playing with the toys. "My heart is so full."

Mum smiles.

"You deserve nothing but happiness, Ellie. Always remember this."

"Thanks."

"I hope you can give Stevie another chance."

"For your happiness, I will. Sounds like you three smoothed things over and what happened at the housewarming was a case of miscommunication and two parents who just really care about their children."

"That's something you can both relate to."

The doorbell rings and I smile.

"That should be Clara." I grin. "I'm enjoying all the new family I've gained from this relationship. Clara's support has been incredible and she loves decorating."

I open the front door and let Clara, Henry, and the girls inside. Faith and Eloise go straight to the living room and Noah is quickly upset when they start touching all of his things.

I wrangle Clara and Henry into hugs.

"Thanks for coming, I appreciate the help."

"You're family now, so of course," Henry says.

"There's a bag of decorations, do as you will."

"I'm in heaven!" Clara sighs.

* * * * *

Daniel's Point of View

Some things are better discussed over a cold beer, especially if they're with your girlfriend's ex-boyfriend who also happens to be the father of her child. Perhaps I should have opted for something stronger than this beer.

"How about this party? Looks like a good turnout," Craig comments.

He finishes his drink and I'm quick to ply him with another one; I'm sure he'll want another one to get him through this conversation.

"Yeah, everyone's done an amazing job setting up."

"Even Ellie looks happy." Craig nods to the group of children and Ellie playing on the grass. Eloise crawls between Ellie's legs while she throws Noah over her shoulder. They both explode with laughter as they race around.

I take another sip from my beer and cross my arms.

"Hey, um, I wanted to talk to you about something." We both make eye contact and take another sip of our drinks. "I want your permission just as much as I want Stevie's permission to propose to Ellie. I acknowledge that Ellie comes as a package and we'll be family forever, and I know you had feelings for Ellie."

"You're a better man than me for asking," Craig chuckles. "I'll always care for Ellie, we've been through so much. If that's what you two want to do, that's great. Noah seems to like you and you seem like a genuine bloke. Ellie and Noah deserve that."

I pat Craig on the back and smile.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I would like to sit down and discuss parenting, boundaries, and my role in Noah's life. I don't want to overstep, but I'm in Noah's life for good now."

"Sounds good." He nods.

Ellie wanders over and we just awkwardly smile.

"Secret chats already? Should I be worried?" She gasps.

"It's all good," Craig comments.

"You have nothing to be worried about. We're just talking about how great this party is."

"Thanks." She smiles. "I was thinking about bringing the cake out."

"Mm, the cake would be good now." I nod.

"Let me help with the cake," Craig comments.

While they grab the cake, I wander over to my brother's. Harvey nods to the deck where we'd been talking.

"You okay? That conversation with Craig looked intense."

"I asked for his permission to propose to Ellie. Before you two laugh, I want things to work out between all of us because Craig isn't going anywhere and I want to marry Ellie."

"It was a good idea." Henry nods, patting my back.

"Now I need to ask Stevie for permission, maybe Noah." I laugh.

"Looks like everything has worked out," Harvey comments.

"I think so." I smile.

Somebody turns the music off and Craig and Ellie appear with the cake. Everyone sings happy birthday and Noah jumps with excitement. They place it on the table and Ellie hoists Noah up so he can blow out the candles.

My heart feels full looking at these two.

I can't wait for more memories like this.

* * * * *

So the next chapter is the last chapter which will be posted on Friday, 12th of Jan, which is a full circle moment as on that day, it was one year since I began this story on Wattpad.