“It’s good to meet you, too,” Brian said, shaking her hand. “Oliver talks about Auntie Robin a lot, so it’s great to have a face to go with the name.”
“Nora!” Oliver shouted his friend’s name and took off running toward her.
Cousin, Siobhan thought. Nora was his cousin. Regardless, the little girl met him like a long-lost friend, hugging him before leading him away to look at his birthday stuff.
It took almost half an hour to introduce Robin to everybody, and Siobhan wasn’t surprised that her friend felt instantly at home. Robin was a social person and the Kowalski family was warm and welcoming by nature.
Siobhan hadn’t been sure how much, if anything, Brian had told his family about the recent twists and turns in their relationship, but nobody was standoffish or reserved toward her.
Because Oliver was only two, the actual party segment of the day was kept short, leaving plenty of relaxed time for playing and visiting after. Knowing he wouldn’t want to be pulled away from his new toys, she and Lisa had decided to do the cake first.
It was nice not to have to worry about taking pictures or missing anything, either. Rob was always circling, snapping shots she knew would be better than any her outdated phone would capture.
Ellie and Nora had decorated a child-sized folding camping chair—his gift from them—with ribbons and balloons and Oliver sat in it, clapping the entire time they sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
Mary had baked his birthday cake after confirming it wasn’t something Siobhan wanted to do herself. It was a large sheet cake made to look like an open book, and on one page it saidHappy birthday, Oliver!On the other page was a real blue pickup truck toy and two blue candles. It was so beautiful and so perfect for her son that Siobhan actually had to wipe a tear from her cheek. Brian caught her eye and gave her a wink, and she gave him a genuine smile, sliding back into the chemistry they shared.
“Beep beep!” Oliver yelled when he saw the cake, and when it was time to blow out the candles, Siobhan waved Brian in to help him.
“Let’s each do one,” he said, gesturing for her to join him.
They stood on either side of Oliver and after counting him down from three, they blew out the candles.
“Bobby, did you get that?” Lisa asked.
“Yes, Mom, I did,” he said, and Siobhan heard the low-key annoyance at the childhood nickname that still slipped in at family gatherings. Or maybe it was due to the implication the photographer at the party would have missed the birthday boy blowing out the candles.
Beth and Keri had volunteered to slice the cake and add ice cream, with Johnny and Gage passing the plates out, leaving Siobhan free to eat with Oliver and Brian. Her son was thrilled to be the center of everybody’s attention, and he kept grinning with a mouth covered in blue frosting that really brought out his eyes.
The gift-opening portion of the party was chaos and required a lot of chasing down bits of wrapping paper that got picked up by the wind. Siobhan was pleased to see that Brian had been right—therewerea lot of gifts because it was a big family, but nothing extravagant. There were trucks and books and puzzles. She thought her favorite gift was from his uncles—a small blue sweatshirt that had the Birch Brook Campground logo on it, like the ones they wore.
But then Oliver opened his gift from his great-grandparents. It was a soft blue baby blanket, obviously knit by hand.
“I know he’s a little old for a baby blanket,” Mary said softly. “But all the kids have one.”
When Oliver would have dropped it, because trucks were more exciting than blankets for a two-year-old, Siobhan took it and folded it carefully. “It’s beautiful. And it’s a perfect size for him to use when he curls up with his books. It will be very well loved.”
Brian leaned in to see it, and Siobhan handed it to him. He ran his hand over the folded blanket and his eyes were soft and maybe even a little misty. While they didn’t haveanything like that in her family, she could see that these blankets from Mary were special, and his son getting one affected him deeply.
He had to clear his throat twice before he could speak. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Gram.”
Once Oliver had opened his gifts, Robin got him to blow kisses to everybody and say thank you before helping liberate a few of his toys from the packaging. Siobhan was gathering the books and most of the other toys together, and Brian grabbed the empty boxes he’d saved from a delivery and stashed under a picnic table.
They ended up together, somehow, while everybody else was wandering around or talking or watching Oliver. The silence stretched between them as they figured out how to load the gifts into the boxes, until Siobhan couldn’t take it anymore.
“Thank you for this party,” she said quietly. “Robin and I threw a little party for his first, but there were really only the two of us.”
He smiled at her and her heart flip-flopped in her chest. “But he was with you and I bet he loved it.”
“He did. There was a lot of singing and clapping.” She found the box Gram’s blanket had come in and carefully repackaged it in the tissue paper. “Do you want to take this to your house?”
He stared at the box for a few seconds before shrugging one shoulder. “It should stay with him, probably. Maybe it can travel with him. Gram makes them from washable yarn because she likes them being used and loved rather than tucked away in cedar hope chests.”
“Mommy, look at my truck,” she heard Oliver call, and she turned to see him holding up a firetruck.
“Go ahead,” Brian said. “I’ve got this.”
Siobhan started to walk away, her hand going to her back pocket for her phone so she could take a picture of Oliver and his firetruck. It wasn’t there and she realized she’d set it down next to one of the boxes.
