Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Welcoming the baby.

    -Edward POV-

    I placed Lily inside her crib in the nursery after she had been sleeping in my arms for a while. Alex and Haley joined me, and they were shocked when they saw the mural on Lily''s nursery wall. We went back outside to the living room and had dinner together.

    For the song, Cam wanted to wait until Lily had woken up before he wanted me to play the song so that she could join the fun.

    "I don''t think any of my songs were suitable for this occasion though." I muttered as I tried to complete Cam''s request.

    Mitchell saw me being troubled and thinking hard as I saw on the sofa, playing various tunes with my guitar to try and figure out a perfect song to play on this occasion.

    He peeked from the passageway, wondering if he should go and ask me not to stress myself and can reject if I wanted to.

    The other adults had moved the party to the dining table, leaving only the kids in the living room.

    "Why don''t you play a ready-made song?" Manny asked and then he tried to comfort me. "I think Cam was saying to do that, not to create a song of your own."

    I turned to Manny, and my fingers automatically started to play the song from Tarzan.

    "Like this?" I asked and started to sing Phil Collins -You''ll be in my heart.

    "? Come stop your crying. It will be alright.

    Just take my hand. Hold it tight.

    I will protect you. From all around you.

    I will be here. Don''t you cry.? "

    "That''s good." Manny exclaimed in agreement.

    I continued singing as I immersed myself in the music. Haley, who had been texting urgently, raised her head from the phone and turned to look at me. Alex and Luke were humming along to the song.

    ?For one so small.You seem so strong

    My arms will hold you. Keep you safe and warm

    This bond between us. Can''t be broken.

    I will be here don''t you cry?

    "Everyone together." I said to the crowd.

    Together: ''Cause you''ll be in my heart. Yes, you''ll be in my heart. From this day on...

    Now and forever more...?

    I strum the guitar string and end the song at the one minute mark of the song. Mitchell smiled softly as he watched the performance secretly.

    "It''s great, but I don''t want to give Jay the ammunition of saying Mitch and Cam were the gorilla in the movie." I said. Mitchell, who was sipping his wine, almost choked on his drink as he heard my remarks.

    "How about Baby Mine?" Alex asked. "That song always makes mom cry."

    "From Dumbo?" I said, trying to figure out the notes to the song. "Sing the first part." I asked Alex. Although stunned, Alex catched the timing of the notes, and started to sing too.

    -3rd Person Pov (before Phil Collins song)-

    "I''m going to go check on Lily. I''ll be right back." Cam said after he talked about his trip to Vietnam to the adults. "Ayy, I want to look too." Gloria said and followed Cam from behind giddily, leaving only Claire, Phil and Jay left on the table. Phil wiped down his mouth with a napkin and shot a look at Claire.

    "Just go." Claire said.

    "Thank you hun." Phil said and followed Cam and Gloria from behind.

    "So, dad. Something interesting happened today." Claire said.

    "What?" Jay turned his eyes at Claire while eating and asked.

    "I got a job offer." Claire said.

    "Really? Will you take it?" Jay asked with a tone in disbelief.

    "Why dad? Don''t you think I can''t do it? T-that I''m just a stay at home mom who doesn''t know how to do anything?" Claire got defensive at her dad''s tone of voice. However, her sentence showed more of her own insecurities rather than what her dad thought of her.

    "I''m just saying, it''s been a while since you started something... outside of your house. I thought you quit your job to take care of your family?"

    Claire nodded, a little agitated by her own words being thrown back at her, "Technically...I will be doing the job from home."

    "What? How can you even work like that?!" Jay asked in confusion.

    But before Jay could ask more, he heard the sound of music coming from the living room as all the kids were singing together at this moment.

    "What''s that? Is that from Tarzan?" Claire said and stood up from the table. Part of her wanted some advice from Jay about the matter, while another part of her didn''t want her father''s opinion to impact the things she wanted to do, so Claire was being a bit weird now.

    Jay sighed and walked behind Claire to see what was going on. They stood behind Mitchell, but Mitchell didn''t notice them yet. Luckily for Edward, Jay didn''t hear about the gorilla remark he had made before.

    -Edward POV-

    Alex started to sing as I played the melody of the song.

    [Baby Mine by Arcade Fire]

    Alex: "?Baby mine, don''t you cry... Baby mine, dry your eyes.Rest your head close to my heart. Never to part, baby of mine.?"

    "Nice job Alex." I said as I looked at her as I continued to play the melody. Alex blushed a little and said meekly, "Thanks."

    Claire who was watching from the dark corner muttered as she saw Alex''s reaction, "I don''t like that. Not one bit."

    "OH JESUS When did you guys come here?!" Mitchell was surprised by the duo, and his shout finally revealed the adults to the children.

    I didn''t mind them and continued singing.

    Ed: ? Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul. And it''s the only thing that I know, know. I swear it will get easier. Remember that with every piece of ya..?

    ? Hmm, and it''s the only thing we take with us when we die. Hmm, we keep this love in a photograph. We made these memories for ourselves...Where our eyes are never closing. Hearts were never broken, And time''s forever frozen, still... ?

    Luke whispered to Manny, "What is this song about?"

    Manny replied back with a whisper, " It''s a metaphor about how fast time will pass by for a parent and their love."

    Luke was confused, "What? I thought it''s about taking pictures."

    Gloria was swaying her entire body to the rhythm, not realising the exchange of words between the two 10 years olds.

    Ed: ? So you can keep me

    Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans

    Holding me closer ''til our eyes meet

    You won''t ever be alone?

    ? And if you hurt me

    That''s okay, baby, only words bleed

    Inside these pages, you just hold me

    And I won''t ever let you go?

    ? Wait for me to come home

    Wait for me to come home

    Wait for me to come home

    Wait for me to come home...?

    I stopped the music early and stopped before the final part of the song as the song was quite long.

    Before I could open my mouth, Cam yelled, "What in the name of Amodeus Mozart that just happened?!"

    "Ed?! Did you really make this song on the spot!" Claire asked hurriedly like Dumbledore asking Harry calmly if he put his name in the goblet of fire.

    "A CAMERA! No. A RECORDER! SOMEONE! TELL ME SOMEONE RECORDED IT!" Cam screamed hysterically and tried to prove that the song he just heard wasn''t a figment of his own imagination.

    ...

    After the whole song situation calmed down, the conversation continued, and it''s now almost 9 pm. Cam and Mitchell had thanked me about the songs, and everything else. Lily continued reaching out to me, making Cam and Mitch a bit jealous.

    Before the night ended, I had a useful discussion with the rest of the adults about my current project.

    "Hey. Claire tells me you made a website?" Jay asked after he had a conversation with Claire about her new job offer. He was sceptical at first, but after Claire explained the work in detail, he was...still sceptical, but he was sure Claire could handle the job now.

    "Yeah. It''s not launched yet as I still need to make a few tweaks." I replied.

    "Can I see it?" Jay asked. "Sure. My laptop bag is in the car. I will go take it." I said and walked outside to Dunphy''s minivan. Jay, Gloria, Mitchell and Cameron took a look at the website together and gave me their opinions on the matter.

    [Jay''s commentary]

    "The website is even better than the one my company used. (sigh) Now...I need to make a hard decision about firing my tech guy.."

    [Commentary ends]

    "If I don''t use the website, can I call someone and talk to them to book the ship? Will the call then be linked to the booking system on the website?" Jay asked a critical question.

    "Yes. Any call booking will automatically be set in the website after about an hour of confirmation. The system in the pier and the website will be linked together after I finish my program." I explained.

    Jay nodded, and he advised me about a few things on the business before it was Mitch and Cam''s turn.

    "You know, if there''s pictures of celebrities using the ships, or a party on the ship, I know I will be more inclined to book it." Cam said.

    "That''s true...For me, I need to know about the route the ship will take in the seas. It says here about dancing in the moonlight...so can you guarantee that? You may need a disclaimer in that, so people cannot sue you." Mitchell said as a lawyer.

    "How many people can ride the boat?" Gloria asked. "I don''t want to bring many people there...and then at the last minute I''m being told to drop a few because of the extra weight."

    I noted all of the feedback and I would discuss with my dad on how to solve the issues.

    "Here. Take it." Gloria said as she gave me the hat Jay had worn before. "He won''t ever wear it again. He wouldn''t even know that it''s gone."

    I hitched a ride home with the Dunphy''s after the dinner party was over. It''s almost 10.30 pm now.

    "Hey. Ed. I need to talk to you about something." Haley said. She pulled away from the rest of her family, and told me about the picture she had posted.

    "Ahh. That''s why you''re being so weird." I said.

    "You''re not mad?" Haley asked meekly.

    "Nah. I''m alright. I''m not on Facebook, so I kinda don''t care about what happens. You already explained to them about my visit, right? That''s enough. "

    Haley breathed in relief and said, "Okay. But I''m going to warn you, if anything happens, call me quickly. Okay?!" She snatched my phone and called her phone – so that she would know my number. Now, she had become the 6th person I had saved in my phone book.

    Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Abby, Alex, Potato Bitch, and Haley.

    "What would happen?" I asked.

    "You know, if some people are being idiotic." Haley said in concern. "Make sure to call me."

    After waving goodbye to the family, I walked home alone, only to find Brian and Dylan waiting for me to return to the route near my house.

    "Oh. The idiots huh." I muttered as I stood face to face with them.