"Did you really think we would let you have something this major in your life without us being here?" My dad asked, smiling.
"And you know we won’t miss a party!" Michelle said.
"Especially one with this view," Alicia added.
I laughed and hugged them all again.
"How did you pull this off? How did you plan all this?" I said.
My mom smiled and motioned towards Josh.
I looked over and saw him and Rylan unloading the luggage, both of them smiling broadly.
"You did this?" I asked.
Josh shrugged. "I facilitated it," he said.
"And I helped," Rylan said.
"When did this happen? When did you plan all this? How did I not know about any of it?"
"Wow, girl. You ask a lot of questions," Michelle said.
"I just want to know how this all happened," I said, laughing.
"Once you set the date for the party, we all started talking with each other about wanting to come out here and be here withyou," my mom said. "We decided it would be fun to surprise you, and we talked to Josh to see if he would be willing to pick us all up."
I looked at Josh. "Where did you get a minivan?"
"I rented it," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh my goodness," I said. "Well, thank you all so much for being out here, it means the world to me. And thank you, Josh, for getting them here, and thank you Rylan for helping!"
"You don’t have to thank us," my mom said. "We had to be here!"
"Well, then what are we waiting for? Come on in. I have plenty of room for you!"
Rylan and Josh helped everyone get their luggage to their rooms, and while they got settled Josh and I went and sat on the deck while Rylan shot baskets.
"Thank you for making this happen," I said. "I can’t believe you all were able to keep it a secret."
"I am so glad it worked out," Josh said. "When your mom first mentioned it to me I thought it was a wonderful idea, and I knew that we had to find a way to make it work."
"It means so much to me," I said. "I don’t even have the words to express it."
"I’m glad," Josh answered. "And your friends are hilarious! Their flight actually landed about an hour before your parents came in, so Rylan and I got to spend some time just chatting with them."
"Oh my goodness!" I said. "That’s right - you hadn’t met them. Rylan knew them from when they were here, but you were out of town."
Josh nodded. "Yep. It was actually pretty amusing. Rylan was so excited to be able to make the introduction."
I shook my head and chuckled as I pictured the scene.
Josh looked at his watch. "Alright, Ry and I are going to pick up dinner. We will be back."
"You’re getting dinner?" I asked.
Josh nodded. "Yes. Your mom and I figured that you would have no other plans tonight other than obsessing over everything that is already set for the party."
