Something Else Entirely

38 - I swear, I didn't know it was him.

Logan fits in so well with my family that it's easy to forget she hasn't been a part of us forever.

Logan fits in so well with my friends that they're now our friends, and they get more disappointed when she isn't around to hang out than they do with me.

Logan fits so well into my heart that it is as if it were designed and created uniquely just for her.

Logan fits so well into my life that it terrifies me to imagine what it would ever be like without her.

Even though we both work all the time, and I want to cry and tear my hair out when she has weddings to shoot on the weekends and I don't get to see her, every second spent with Logan is one of the better decisions I've made in life.

She comes over for Sunday dinners when she isn't working, always bringing with her something made of chocolate, just to appease Sadie and my unborn siblings who are about to tear her stomach open if she doesn't deliver them soon, I'm sure of it, even though I know it's still too early.

She keeps Sadie company on the back decking while Dad and I work on the extension, which is all but finished now, only needing one last coat of paint, light fixtures and the shift of everything downstairs.

She shares a vegan pizza with me when we go hang out with our friends down at the pizza shop, and I give her all my extra olives because she loves them, even though they're my favourite part of pizza, too.

She sits on the beach and takes photos of me surfing, because she still refuses to try it despite me begging her every time to come with me—either she has a shark phobia or just wants half naked shots of me flexing.

We hang out at Byron's house with his parents and Darcie, and I watch her work with Kendall on the proofs of their most recent shoots, loving the opportunity to see her so animated and passionate while she works.

I've met her dad, who is awesome, and her mum, who is terrifying—the cop thing is still a barrier I'm yet to get past; or maybe it's just her vocal disapproval of Logan's hopes and desires regarding her future career that I dislike. I don't quite know yet.

Logan stays at my house sometimes during the week when she doesn't have work, and I leave home for work with Dad in the morning happier than ever because I got to wake up next to the woman I love, who groans every time my alarm goes off, rolls on top of me to try to keep me from leaving, and pouts when I kiss the tip of her nose goodbye when I finally manage to pry myself away from her.

I bought a car—an older model Toyota Hilux to the one Dad has, but it runs perfectly and I paid for it all on my own, which is something a younger me would never have imagined doing. I can't wait to finally get my license when I'm eighteen so I can take my girl out instead of having to rely on her to drive us everywhere.

What I'm not looking forward to, however, is my actual birthday, or more so the party Dad and Sadie have planned for me the weekend following. If it were just a party, that'd be fine. But I don't think I can call it that considering they extended an invite to my parents after grappling back and forth about whether or not it was the right thing to do.

'It's his eighteenth, shouldn't they be there?' 'They don't deserve the chance to celebrate with him.'

'What if Jaeden and Jared come?' 'They're his brothers, we can't really stop them.'

'What if they're off their heads and cause a scene?' 'When are they ever not off their heads?'

'They're his parents.' 'They're were always lousy fucking parents.'

'He's their son.' 'He's our son.'

They naturally asked my opinion on the matter countless times, and each time I said they should do whatever they wanted and thought was right—I didn't care if they were there or not so long as all my other family and friends were. Also, I didn't even want a party in the first place. It's just another day, after all. The only good thing about this birthday was that I have my driving test booked in first thing in the morning, and a formal date lined up with my woman before dinner with the family in the evening.