My parents love making Autumn’s birthday a huge affair. I think because I’m their only child, and at this rate, won’t have any more kids, they like to make Autumn feel extra special on her day. I also know that they try to fill the fatherly void with grandparent love, so she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out.
“I hate this,” my mom tells me as we finish setting up. “No matter what he said, that man is clearly apologetic. We shouldn’t be doing this,” she tries to convince me again.
I might have told her everything that transpired on Christmas and afterward. I don’t keep too many secrets from her, and she needed to know why I wanted today to play out like it is. Do you want to know what my mom’s response was? “Sometimes men are stupid, and they say things they don’t really mean. Maybe he said he doesn’t want or like kids, but he drew Autumn a unicorn. A man who doesn’t like kids would never do that.”
I am starting to feel kind of bad that no one in my family has told him happy birthday now. We all heard Kate say it. And I’m starting to wonder if I didn’t make a mistake. ButI’m going to see this through because it’s already in motion. Even Jordan and Lucas are in on it.
I text Jordan to let her know they can bring Autumn over, and that’s when I see Declan start to pull stuff out of his bag. He’s pulling out what looks to be sheets of paper plus drawing supplies.
He and my dad set up a station for the stuff, and I decide I’m too curious to wait and see what he’s up to.
“What is this?” I ask, grabbing the stack of papers sitting next to him. I notice every sheet has a clear plastic film over it, and what looks to be custom drawings by Declan. There are unicorns, princesses, cats, dogs, flowers, superheroes, firefighter animals, and more. Some of them are in black and white and some are in detailed color.
“They’re temporary tattoos.”
I thumb through each one slowly. There have to be at least twenty sheets of tattoos here that he drew himself. He’s even prepared with safety scissors, a sponge, a bowl, and water.
“You drew all these?” I ask, even though I already know he did.
“Yeah. And I brought skin-safe markers just in case someone didn’t like any of the temporary tattoos.”
I nod my head and place the stack back down gently, like they’re a highly valuable piece of art.
“How long did it take you to draw all of them?” I ask with genuine curiosity.
“Just a few days,” he says nonchalantly.
A few days? Wow.
“Well, Autumn and her friends are going to love them,” I tell him honestly.
“That was my plan. The kids liked the temporaries Preston gave them at the opening of the shop, so I figured I would do something with variety.”
I give him a tight-lipped smile and turn to head down the hallway to the bathroom. After I lock the door behind me, I lean against it and lightly bang my head against the wood. I’m having major déjà vu right now. How does he make me get emotional like this over something so simple?
I need to keep myself in check. Just because Declan is thoughtful doesn’t mean anything more. I can forgive him for his shortcomings of course, but he’s nothing more than a friend.
It’s going to take us some time to get back to where we were, especially now that I know why he’s been so weird around me and Autumn, but I’m not going to lie, it’s just hard to be around him, period.
Because something happens to me each time I see his face, and I can’t for the life of me shake it.
I should probably see a doctor because it’s starting to make me a little bit crazy.
Chapter 14
Declan
The kids went absolutely feral over the temporary tattoos. I thought they would be a hit, but I didn’t think they would bethatbig of a hit. And Autumn wouldn’t stop telling me thank you or that she loved them, so I call it a win.
“You would make an absolute killing doing kids' parties with this stuff,” Lucas says as I finish putting away the supplies. There were enough tattoos left over to give each kid a sheet to take home, plus afew more for Autumn.
“Yeah, maybe. But I’m wiped, and it’s only been a few hours. I’m not sure it’s worth it.”
He chuckles. “True that. So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day after Autumn finishes opening her presents? It’s still early.”
I look at my phone and it reads one in the afternoon. Plenty of time left to go get a birthday beer and some dinner later.
“Just head home and chill.”
