One More Trope Read online

  We planned a surprise party for the two of them, and we’ve got the whole family waiting in the other room. They always do so much for all of us, so we thought it would be nice to do something for them.

  “Okay, I think we’re all set,” I say, carrying the cake out into the living room so we can all face the front door.

  “They’re here,” one of the kids says, but I don’t know if it’s one of mine or not. Oh well, not like it matters.

  We turn down the lights and get ready. Everyone is dead silent as we hear the car pull up, then the doors open and close. I can hear them talking as they come to the front door and I’m giddy with excitement.

  The jingle of the keys has us all ready with anticipation as the door swings open and Romeo and Jericho stand there.

  “SURPRISE!” we all yell at the same time, and in that moment I see where we went wrong.

  Romeo pulls out a ninja throwing star from his back pocket and slings it across the room. It comes within half an inch of one of the kids and they scream in terror.

  Jericho whips out a crossbow and manages to fire two arrows straight into the cake I’m holding before he has to reload.

  Arabella and I are screaming for them to stop, but the two of them are in attack mode.

  Romeo opens a nearby closet and grabs the nunchucks. I swear I thought I threw them out, but he must have gotten another pair. He twirls them around and makes his karate moves in the foyer while the kids scatter and shout. Jericho has thrown the crossbow to the ground and opted for the Spanish sword we had mounted above the fireplace to wield his power.

  I drop the cake and put my hands on my hips waiting for these two dramatic fools to realize this was all ruined by their overreacting.

  When silence fills the room, the two of them stop their grunting and stare at the chaos. I shake my head and throw my hands up in the air.

  “So this is why they’ve never had a surprise party before,” Arabella says and I nod.

  “I should have known,” I say, wiping cream and frosting from my cheek.

  The two men come over to us with smiles on their faces and excitement in their eyes. They must realize what we were doing at the same time, and now they look like how I had envisioned when we set out planning this.

  “Please tell me there’s karaoke,” Jericho says as he drops his sword to the ground and wraps me in a hug.

  “How else would we have a dance-off?” I say, right before he kisses me.

  THE END!

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