Completely.
The entire room looks like it exploded in blue and silver.
Balloons are taped to the cabinets.
There’s a banner across the doorway that reads HAPPY BIRTHDAY in slightly crooked letters.
The table is fully set.
Not just set.
Decorated.
Pancakes stacked high in the center, strawberries arranged around them like something out of a magazine. Whipped cream. Syrup. Fresh coffee steaming.
And in the middle of all of it—
Talia.
Her face lights up the second she sees me.
“Surprise,” she says, a little breathless.
I blink.
Once.
Twice.
“What is this?” I ask, because my brain genuinely can’t process what I’m looking at.
She laughs and rushes toward me before I can react.
Her arms wrap around my waist and she presses a quick, slightly shy kiss to my cheek.
“My husband deserves only the best,” she says, like it’s obvious.
Husband.
She pulls back just enough to look at me, eyes bright.
“Happy birthday,” she says softly.
Something in my chest shifts.
The tightness I woke up with cracks open just a little.
“You knew?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes gently. “Of course I knew.”
“How?”
“The wedding certificate,” she says, proud of herself.
I huff out a breath that might be a laugh.
“You did all this?” I ask quietly.
