When we pulled into my driveway, I was surprised to see Court and Seth sitting on the front porch, as if they were waiting for us. It made me wonder even more what the three of them had been up to.

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“Welcome home!” Court yelled as we walked up the sidewalk.

When I got close enough to get a good look at her, I gasped. “What the heck happened to you?” She looked like she had been to a paintball field with no protective gear. She and her clothes were splattered from head to toe with peach and creamy beige paint smears, dribbles, and drops.

“This one is not to be trusted around paint.” Seth ruffled Court’s hair playfully, and she stuck her tongue out at him in return. Seth was perfectly clean, except for a large smear on his shirt that had obviously been done on purpose. My guess was that he had teased Court about being a mess one too many times, and she had exacted her revenge on his shirt.

“I can’t wait for you to see what we did.” Court was bouncing with excitement as she led the way inside our house and up the stairs. She took us to the nursery door, which was closed. “Okay, close your eyes,” she told me, her voice practically bursting with contagious excitement.

I complied with her request, until I heard Sam say in a gravelly voice, “I know where there’s a silk scarf that works as a terrific blindfold, if we need one.” I turned to him with my eyes nearly popping out of my head. He just chuckled at my silent reprimand.

Courtney and Seth were either too polite or too distracted to acknowledge the kinky tidbit that Sam had just shared with them. Court held her hands over my eyes, making the need for the blindfold unnecessary. They led me to the middle of the room before Court removed her hands in a flourish after a countdown and a loud, “Ta-Da!”

I twirled around in a circle, unable to believe my eyes. They had completely transformed the nursery, and it was beyond anything I could have imagined. I was left utterly speechless.

I was completely amazed by the changes in the room. The walls had been painted with wide peach and cream vertical stripes. The lines were perfectly straight, which was a miracle, considering how much paint Court was wearing. There was a huge, soft rag rug that pulled the peach and cream shades from the walls and added turquoise and purple. The teddy bear painting that I loved was hanging as the centerpiece of the room, directly over a massive oak crib. A fully stocked changing table with wood that matched the crib sat along the far wall.