The olive bounced off my forehead andnded in my ss of water. I blinked. "I''m under attack," I announced dramatically, rubbing the spot.

    Pepper didn''t even look up from her te.

    n chuckled while Paige, seated beside me,ughed openly.

    Gramma looked at Paige and repeated the same thing, "We could do the same to you, dear."

    "Now she''s not even letting the small one''s slide," Charlie muttered.

    Paige''s eyes went wide, and she whispered a soft, "Thanks."

    "Or we can adopt her as a pet," I joked, earning a stomp on my foot.

    "Jake," Mom said, a little reproachful.

    "What? Look, she''s even trying to bite me," I said, pulling my head back as Paige yfully tried to chomp at me. Then I hugged her.

    Judith cleared her throat and raised her ss. "Alright, before there''s any more bickering, let''s raise a toast."

    Everyone lifted their sses.

    "To the new year," Paige said, smiling. "To unexpected family. And to yacht bigger than Jake''s ego."

    "It is not bigger than your head…" I countered

    A round ofughter erupted.

    ---

    After midnight, the whole family stepped outside to the deck of the yacht to admire the New Year''s fireworks show. The night sky lit up in brilliant colors, reflecting off the ocean around us.

    After a while, the yacht returned tond. Mom, Paige, and I headed home, while Uncle Charlie was far from calling it a night. He dragged n along to some event—one where, ording to him, they could either meet someone special... or at the very least, he could get a date.

    ---

    On January 3rd, I was watching the news with Paige.

    On the TV, a street reporter was speaking with a bright smile, "Less than six months in, Marshmello''s second album, Joytime II, has been released. And the reaction seems even more explosive this time around!"

    Cut back to the main presenter in the studio, Chales, who continued with aposed tone, "This time, the album has only one feature—Sia, on the track Cheap Thrills. The rest of the songs including:

    Something Just Like This, Don''t Let Me Down, A Sky Full of Stars, I''m Good, Time of Our Lives, Timber, No Money, Hey Brother, Feel So Close, I''m an Albatraoz, Waves, Love Me Again, Hey Mama, Closer, Perfect Strangers, Levels, and Mama."

    The threest songs were used to promote the album,Levels (Avincii),Mama (Jonas Blue) andPerfect Strangers (Jonas Blue). Not that really needed...

    "Hey Mama... and Mama, you''re toozy even to name your songs," Paige said.

    I kicked her off the couch.

    Then the other presenter jumped in, adding, "In the first album, the standard version had a feature from J.Lo. This time, we really only have Sia here, who became more famous precisely because of her coborations on Marshmello''s songs.

    In the previous album, you could argue that J.Lo helped with sales. But this time, even if she had participated in a song, very few people would say she made much difference."

    Charles spoke again, "And we''re talking about one of the most popr people in Hollywood—J.Lo. This just shows how incredibly popr Marshmello has be."

    "We used to say he might be the next Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Elvis Presley because of the fame," he added. "What do you think, Mike?"

    Mike, the co-anchor, responded, "If we look at his entire career, it''s still too early to ce him on the same level as those icons. But even those legends didn''t have a year as explosive as his. He is bulldozing worldwide—top #1 in Europe and in many other countries across other continents." As he spoke, he held up the cover of Time magazine showing Marshmello as Time''s Person of the Year 2001.

    The other presenter then revealed another cover—this one from Rolling Stone (an older cover). "Personally, I love this one from Rolling Stone: Tsunami Marshmello – The singer that is revolutionizing Electronic Music."

    He held up the same magazine cover again (December edition), but this time, the word Electronic had been crossed out with a bold red X—suggesting that the revolution was even broader than just the genre.

    Charles chimed in again, "The Grammy nominations areing out next week, and the ceremony is set for February. Unless there''s some outrageous snub," he paused as the studio chuckled, "Album of the Year and Best New Artist are basically guaranteed wins for Marshmello. Anything other than that would be an embarrassment for the Grammys—and even more so for the industry itself.

    He''s also expected to sweep Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Dance Recording."

    Next up, amercial break. The first round of America''s Got Talent, first episode, airs this week!

    I turned off the TV.

    I murmured, "Oh man, Pepper will probably nag me to go to the Grammys. Britney definitely will..."

    "You are a couch potato," Paige said, staring at me deadpan.

    I, sprawled out on the couch, gasped in offense. "Go, bite her, Loki," Imanded my Siberian Husky. He gave a weak bark, then went back to sleep on myp.

    "He is just like you..." Paige muttered, stepping closer and patting Loki''s head.

    After that joke about Paige being our pet, I realized we didn''t actually have any real pets at home. I brought it up to Mom and Paige, and they were thrilled. We decided to visit a pet shop.

    We ended up with a Siberian Husky puppy, an older,rger Samoyed, a British Shorthair cat, and—fulfilling a long-forgotten dream of mine—I bought a massive aquarium to be installed at home. Big enough to swim in, it will house exotic fish and several vibrant coral colonies.

    But that will take months to build. So, I settled for a 1,000-gallon tank (roughly 3,785 liters) for now, and had it installed right in my bedroom—after a few structural reinforcements.

    I also hired two new staff members—one to take care of the aquarium, and another to care for the pets. Thetter is trained in security and carries a firearm. She''s an extrayer of protection for us as well.

    "The world better be prepared for when I''m a billionaire," Paige recited a line from the song I had sung at the party. "That was a statement, wasn''t it?" she said, watching how I was spending here and there.

    ------

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