My irritation wanted to flare, but curiosity won.
I followed the sound to the fourth bedroom at the end of the corridor. A spare space we used for storage. The door was ajar. The room appeared empty at first glance, but whispers feathered from the closet.
I grinned and let my footsteps drum a little heavier, striding forward.
“Hmm. I wonder where you two could be.”
I yanked the door open.
“Found you?—”
Balloons. A cascade of them burst forward, bouncing off my chest and floating to the ceiling. Pop! Confetti fell like glittering rain on my head.
I scowled. “What the?—”
The bathroom door behind me flew open.
“Surprise!” they shouted together. I whirled around.
Theo held his phone with both hands in the air. Jessa stood behind him with a cake balanced in her palms. One candle burning.
Phone flashes fired like paparazzi. Theo danced from foot to foot. Jessa’s smile hit me like warm light.
I felt my scowl slip. “What is this?”
“It’s your birthday, Dad. Did you forget?”
No, I’d simply chosen to ignore it all day.
They launched into “Happy Birthday.” Theo added a loud “cha-cha-cha” after each line. By the last note, my bad mood had been swayed. I couldn’t help the grin.
Theo jumped up and down. “Blow out the candle!”
I glanced between them. “Thanks. I needed this.”
Her eyes laughed over the cake. “Hope you don’t mind only one candle instead of—how old are you now?”
“I bought the rights to be thirty-five forever,” I teased.
I made a wish before blowing it out.
“Yay! Cake and ice cream time!” Theo cried.
“Do we have any ice cream?”
“We put a gallon on the shopping list. And by ‘list’ I mean your black card.” Jessa winked.
I rolled my eyes and kissed the top of Theo’s head. “It really means a lot that you did this. I actually forgot it was my birthday.”
“We figured you might have,” Jessa purred. “But everybody deserves a special day. Even grumpy CEOs.”
“Especially grumpy dads,” Theo added.
We did cake. We did ice cream. We got frosting on the marble counters and cleaned it like responsible citizens.
Then Jessa announced, “Game night.”
Theo groaned. “Aw, no. Dad makes it miserable. He has to win everything.”
