“Can my dog come in?” she asked, standing outside the door she’d opened with just her head stuck into the place. “She’s really hot.”
There was a murmur of a male voice, and then Abbi shooed Lorde into the building.
“Looks like we’re having dinner,” I said.
“Looks like.”
I gestured her to go first and followed her to the café.
She opened the door and stopped on the threshold. “Oh.”
It was more than I had expected. More than I could have hoped to do on my own. Better, too.
The café was original to when it was built, which meant it had the markings of a place that had seen a lot of years. But the checkered floor shone, and the tabletops were clean.
Yellow and pink and green balloons, all tied together with shiny ribbons, floated above three tables that had been pushed together in the center of the room.
Hung across the wall was a huge banner that looked like it was made of silk with hand-stitched embroidery that readhappy birthday, lula. Twirly bits of crepe paper and other glittery gewgaws finished off the party decor.
A beautiful bouquet of flowers centered the table, and next to that was a pink frosted, strawberry angel food cake.
There were exactly four people in the room, and not one of them were people: a Moon Rabbit named Abbi, a trickster god named Raven, a demon named Bathin, and a Crossroads named Ricky.
They all wore shiny, pointed party hats. Abbi blew a noise maker, making the paper tube snap out and roll back.
“Happy birthday, love,” I said.
Lu turned and pulled off her sunglasses. I was surprised to see tears in her eyes.
“Hey, now, are you…” I started to ask.
She reached up and kissed me. “Thank you,” she whispered against my lips.
“Can we have cake yet?” Abbi asked. “Oh, no, we have to do candles first, right, Ricky?”
“That’s the tradition,” Ricky said.
“Lula, Brogan,” Raven said, “come on over and have a seat. The birthday girl gets the tiara.”
Yes, it was strange to have a god at a birthday party.
Yes, I had asked the demon for a favor. This favor.
Yes, I knew I would pay some sort of price for it. Demons never did anything for free.
But the joy on Lula’s face, her laughter when I put on the extra pointy hat, and she put on the tiara, was worth it.
So was her delight at the gift from Crow—a crocheted bracelet with bits of glass, agates, and seashells dangling from it, and the gift from Bathin:All Systems Red,a book he insisted was worth reading because the robot was the best character.
Ricky gave her a quilt, made of floral fabrics, that she had hand stitched with green embroidery thread. Lula hugged her long enough, they both got a little teary-eyed.
Whatever price the demon would set for me to pay, it would be worth it.
“Open mine next,” Abbi produced a box wrapped in paper she must have gotten from the witches.
Lula looked absolutely glorious in her tiara and tank top. She took the present and opened it carefully, savoring the moment. She lifted the box lid.
“It’s a rock,” she said.
