“Mommy, look! It’s another unicorn!” Autumn yells from her place on the floor in the middle of the living room.
She just opened the drawing I did for her, and it’s of a unicorn lying in bed, dreaming of candy and sunshine. It’s an ode to the other drawing and the magical dreams she asks it to give me.
Penny catches sight of it and takes it from her daughter, and Briana leans over her shoulder to look at it too.
Both women's gazes snap toward me, and I look away. It makes me slightly uncomfortable to have any type of attention directed at myself, but especially the Whitehall women’s attention.
When I look back at them, they’re in a heated conversation, and Briana shakes her head while Penny blows out a breath. I have no idea what that’s all about, but I put all my attention on Autumn as she opens the last of her gifts.
Jordan, Lucas, Penny, and I help clean up the remnants of Autumn’s birthday as the last of the guests leave.
“Declan, can you help me take this to the garage and dismantle it?” Alex asks, pointing to the balloon arch we so meticulously put together. Seems like a waste, but I nod anyway.
“Should we save any of these balloons?” I ask when we get into the garage.
“That’s a good idea, let me go get some garbage bags. Autumn can take them home then.”
He leaves the garage, and I start pulling balloons from the arch. All in all, it looked like Autumn had a hell of a birthday. The number of people who surround her with love is something I would have killed to have had as a kid. And even though I still have no idea about why her father isn’t in her life, she’s not missing out. It’s better to have one loving parent than two who don’t even realize you exist.
Once I’m done taking the arch apart, I realize Alex hasn’t returned. I head into the house to find him, but it’s deadly quiet. When I round the corner to the living room, my eyes go wide in shock. That’s when a collective chorus of voices yell out, “Happy Birthday!”
Becca and her girlfriend are here along with Preston, Jude, Penny, Autumn, Jordan, Lucas, Briana and Alex. Penny is holding up her phone, and I can see Kate on the screen too, smiling wide.
I clear my throat while stepping further into the room. “Wow, you guys. Thank you.” I didn’t even realize anyone knew it was my birthday. It’s not something I advertised. Katementioned it out loud before Christmas, but I didn’t think anyone remembered, not that I care all that much. I’m a thirty-three-year-old male. I don’t need a birthday party or for anyone to fuss over me.
To say this is a surprise is an understatement, though.
“I about had a coronary waiting to say something,” Briana says out loud. She looks relieved, and I give her one of my dimpled smiles.
“Are you surprised, big brother?” Kate’s voice asks from the other end of the phone.
I nod my head and rub the back of my neck. “I am,” I say, looking around the room. I’m surprised, shocked, and bewildered. No one has ever thrown me a surprise party before, and it’s… extremely thoughtful.
“I can’t believe you guys did this for me,” I say honestly. When I look around, Preston has a shit-eating grin on his face, and Becca looks like the cat got the cream.
“Oh, we didn’t do this,” Becca chimes in, “Penny did. She snuck into the shop on Thursday to tell us her plan and invited us all over.”
My eyes snap to Penny’s, and her cheeks turn pink while she gives me a small smile. I think my mouth flounders open but no words come out.
After our chat on the stairs, she didn’t give any indication that she had at least thought about forgiving me. The rest of the week, she was short with me, too. She answered mytexts, but it wasn't what I would call friendly. For her to do this… I have no words.
“We have a cake for you, Dec!” Autumn says excitedly and runs towards me.
I bend down and wrap my arms around her, and she does the same, giving me a tight squeeze. When she pulls away, she puts her little hands on my cheeks and says, “We can have our birthday parties together next time.”
Heart meet stomach.
This little girl’s soul is so pure, and I don’t deserve her blatant kindness.
“That sounds good to me,” I tell her.
When I go to stand, Penny is holding a two-tiered cake. It’s black with gold icing dripping down the sides from the top. It has a gold number thirty-three on it and a shit ton of candles.
“Make a wish,” she says softly to me. Her face is glowing on the other side of the candlelight, and she looks like an angel come to life.
I place my hands under hers to support the cake and blow out the candles. The entire time, I keep my eyes on her.
And the wish I make, I know will never come true.
