“Hi, Nikki,” Mal replied. He closed his door and headed up the driveway, the box tucked against his side. “Happy birthday.”
“I’m six,” Nikki declared. She lifted her chin proudly. “That means I’m almost ten.”
“Sort of.”
“Yup!” Nikki didn’t seem discouraged by his lack of reaction. “I’mold.”
If six was old, Mal was an undead abomination.
“Not as old as your old man,” Vincent said from the doorway. He scooped Nikki up as she laughed, then swung her gently from side to side. “You’re not allowed to get old just yet. You need to stay young a little while longer, okay?”
“Daddy! I can’t!”
“Hmm. You’re right.” Vincent set her down, then kissed the top of her head. “Guess I’m going to need to invent a way to stop time so I can keep you little forever.”
“No!” Nikki beamed up at him, innocence and love in her eyes. These were the moments that Mal looked forward to the most—the reason he kept trying to conceive, even though he knew that he was likely to fail. “Don’t do that!”
“Let’s pause this conversation now and wait another twenty years or so, and you can tell me if you still feel the same way.” Vincent winked at her, then turned his attention to Mal. “Thanks for coming. As I’m sure you could tell, Nikki’s been excited all day long about seeing you.”
“Very excited!” Nikki confirmed.
Mal smiled. “I’ve been excited, too. It’s not every day you turn six.”
“Nope. Just today.” Nikki set her hands on her hips and rotated her core from side to side. “Do you want to come inside? We’re going to have lasagna for dinner because it’s my favorite, and then there’s going to becake.”
“How do you know there’s going to be cake?” Vincent asked, an eyebrow raised.
Nikki rolled her eyes. “Because there’salwayscake. It’s abirthday.”
“What if I got you a pie?”
Nikki’s eyes widened. She stopped twisting her body mid-rotation. First, she looked at Vincent, expression flat, then she looked at Mal, like he was in on the prank, too. “No.”
The delivery was so well-timed and deadpan that Mal had to choke back a laugh.
“Or a birthday vegetable tray,” Vincent continued. He winked at Mal. “We need to make choices about the foods we eat, don’t we? If we’re eating lasagna for dinner tonight, then we should try to follow it with something healthy, like vegetables.”
“You’re teasing me,” Nikki accused. The frustration in her voice shouldn’t have been precious, but it was.
Vincent shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Is there a cake?”
“Maybe.”
Nikki huffed in annoyance and turned back to look at Mal. Her small shoulders were pinched. “You’re his friend,” she said in an almost accusatory way. “You make him be nice.”
At that, Mal burst out laughing. When he recovered, he made his way up the steps to join them. “I’m not sure I can force your dad to do anything, but Icanmake your day a little brighter. This is for you.” He presented the box to Nikki. “Happy sixth birthday, Nikki.”
“Thank you!” Nikki grinned and accepted the box from him. She craned her head up to look at her father, her ire at least momentarily forgotten. “Do I have to wait to open it?”
“Yep.”
“Pleasecan I open it now?” Nikki begged, rushing through the words so quickly, Mal barely caught them. “Please please please?”
“Nope. Go put it on the gift table and we’ll open it after dinner with all your other gifts, okay?”
Nikki sighed. “Okay.”
