I’m confused. Even if he’s accepting of Autumn, he didn’t need to go buy a car seat.
“I’m fully aware that if you guys are going to be in my life, and I’m going to take you anywhere, it would be easier if we didn’t have to switch the car seat over all the time.” Heshrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal. “I told you I wasn’t going to give up on our friendship, Pen.”
Right. Because friends buy car seats to haul a kid around that’s not theirs.
“You’ve really thought this through, huh?”
“I have. But we should get going. We need to set up at your parents and I told your dad I would bring coffee.”
He talked to my dad?
“I’m not sure what to say right now, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut. But just to let you know, you look desperate.”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” he says matter of factly, and I roll my eyes at him.
After I get everything I need from the apartment, and we grab coffee, we head to the parking lot to get in his truck.
“If I remember correctly, you told me we would have to switch Autumn’s car seat over, and that’s why you didn’t want to ride with me. It’s not even in your car,” he accuses me as he loads the bags from my trunk to his truck.
I shrug my shoulders. “You didn’t think Jordan and Lucas had one of their own, did you? Most friends don’t buy car seats for their friend's kids.”
He smirks at me and shakes his head. He opens the passenger side door of his Ford F-150 and takes the drink tray from my hand. “Get in,” he demands, and I narrow my eyes at him while I obey. I climb into the passenger seat and when I turn around, I swear his eyes were on my ass.
“Not a good way to restart a friendship, Dec,” I tell him and smirk.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, brat.” He hands me the drinks and then rounds the truck.
I can see his cheeks are tinged with pink, and I can’t tell if it’s from the cold or embarrassment.
Men.
Before he gets in the truck, I look in the backseat. Sure enough, there’s a brand-new car seat in the back. Not just any car seat, but a top-of-the-line car seat that’s hardly affordable. I swallow through the lump in my throat and turn forward before he can see the look on my face.
Oh, Declan.
~ ~ ~
My parents’ house is filled with rose-gold, light pink, and dark purple balloons. It looks like a unicorn vomited everywhere, and I absolutely love it.
While I was pregnant with Autumn, I swore up and down that I wouldn’t let her be obsessed with unicorns. But the majestic animal slowly grew on me, and I decided, what’s not to love about a horse with a colorful mane who poops rainbows and has a shiny gold horn on its head? They’re totally awesome. And that’s why everything from the plates to her cake has a unicorn on it today.
“There you two are!” my mom exclaims as we toe our shoes off at the door. “Declan, can you go help Alex in the living room? He’s trying to fill more balloons, not that we don’t have enough already, but I have to man the oven, and he needs an extra set of hands.”
She comes right up to him and plants a kiss on his cheek before trying to take the bag he’s holding. It’s not one of mine, and I’m curious what’s in it.
He pulls the bag back from her. “I’ll take this with me. I have stuff to set up, too.”
My mom holds her hands up in surrender. “You got it.” She gives him a big smile.
When he leaves the entryway, she whispers to me, “Are we still planning on pretending like we forgot it’s Declan’s birthday today? I think it mightactuallykill me to wait until Autumn’s friends are gone to say something.”
My mom is the most caring person I know, and I can tell it pains her to no end to keep up the ruse I set in place. It pains me too. When Declan said Autumn invited him to her party, and I had forgiven him in my mind moments before, I knew I needed to make sure he was celebrated today, too. I made sure to order a separate cake for him from Coastal Cravings with exactly thirty-three candles.
Because who’s counting?
Me apparently.
My mom and I work in the kitchen while the guys work in the living room, and we have a full view of them blowing upan unreasonable number of balloons while simultaneously making a balloon arch. We have just enough time to get the food out and set everything up before a few of Autumn’s friends show. There’s enough food here to feed an army, and while kids' birthday parties only last a few hours, we needed more for what I have planned for after the party.
