‘How ’bout I organize food and drinks and you handle the music and the guest list?’ Vanessa suggested.

‘Deal.’

Wren’s birthday fell on a Saturday. She had made sure that Ty stayed the night with Maggie and her dad. Billy agreed to be a bouncer in case anyone got rowdy. Wren was oblivious to their plans, and it was all she could do to stop herself from blurting it out. She had also sworn Ty to secrecy, and he was over the moon at being included in the surprise.

Wren was with her when she dropped off Ty, giving everyone a chance to arrive and Billy to do any last-minute adjustments. Wren’s thirty friends were waiting. She checked her phone. ‘Wren, we gotta go.’

They said goodbye to her dad and Maggie, giving Ty a huge hug on the way out. ‘Have fun tonight,’ whispered Maggie in Vanessa’s ear.

They pulled into the driveway. Wren waited for her as always, but she said, ‘You go in ahead, honey. I’ll be there in a second.’ He headed towards the house and she followed him closely. He walked into the darkened room, and Vanessa reached around him and flipped the lights on.

‘Surprise!’ shouted everyone.

For a moment there was dead silence and she thought, Oh shit, I’ve made a huge mistake, but then Wren laughed, everyone clapped and the music started, and Justin came over to slap him on the back.

‘You did this?’ he asked his mom.

‘Actually, Justin and I did this. We wanted it to be special.’ He was grinning, and she knew she’d done good.

She went into the kitchen where Billy was munching on a mini hot dog. ‘You did good, baby.’ He kissed her. ‘And I’m super proud of our little man for keeping the secret – he was almost bursting.’ They both laughed. Ty usually blurted out surprises in excitement.

The doorbell rang, and Vanessa and Billy went to the front door, knowing it was the pizza guy with a stack of different-flavored pizzas. She began randomly handing them out to people followed by paper plates. Vanessa looked around the room at the teenagers. Some laughed, some danced, some ate, but they all looked like they were having a great time. She looked for Wren. He was sitting in a chair with Olivia on his lap. They were kissing and Vanessa looked away to give them relative privacy.

Later that night, Wren, Justin and Wade headed down to Wren’s room, Justin doing a terrible job of hiding the bottle of rum under his arm. Vanessa let them go – she trusted her son and besides, she remembered herself at that age. Surprisingly, neither she nor Billy had caught anyone else with booze. She pulled Billy into a sheltered corner of the kitchen and kissed him hard. ‘Thanks for helping,’ she whispered. ‘Why didn’t we get together at school?’