After a few seconds, he let go of the gun and reached for the barbecue sauce. “Thank you, Simi.”
Her wings shot back up as a smile curved her lips and happiness filled her. “It the Simi’s favorite that she only give to special quality people. See …” She pointed to the label. “Hot, hot … though it hot here in the desert, you might not need it. But it’s good on everything.” She beamed a giant smile at him.
He inclined his head to her. “I appreciate it. Thank you very much.”
Simi scowled. He didn’t mean those words. Not really. And here all she wanted to do was apologize. “Why you so sad, akri-copy? You got aches in your heart?”
“I’m fine, Simi.”
No, he wasn’t. He was far from fine, and she knew it. Her frown deepening, she glanced around the tent. “Who you gots coming to celebrates with you?”
Styxx sighed. “I don’t celebrate birthdays.”
Eyes wide, she gaped. “No! Birthdays are always special cause they’s the days when you were welcomed to the world and people be all happy when babies are born.”
Akri-copy set the barbecue sauce down next to his pack. “You should probably go back to Acheron before he misses you.”
Instead, she sat down on his bedroll.
“What are you doing?”
Determined to make him feel better before she left, she opened her backpack. “Akri got lots of people who celebrate with him on his birthday, and akri-copy got nobody. That makes Simi sad for akri-copy. Nobody should be alone on their birthday so …” She pulled out a package of Ding Dongs and held them toward him. “We have birthday cake!”
He smiled sheepishly. “I’ve never had birthday cake before.”
“Never?” She couldn’t believe it. How could anyone go without birthday cakes? They was some of the bestest.
He shook his head.
Simi pressed her index finger to her lips as she thought about what to do to make his birthday extra special. “We need candles, but you so old that we’d have to have cakes the size of a … battleship … Hmmm … that’s okay.” She reached into her pack and pulled out a glowstick. “Less pretend this is one. But you can’t blow it out, but we pretend you do. How’s that?”
“Sure.”
“Okays. Now akri-copy sit.”
A bit reluctantly, he sat down across from her while she carefully opened the package and left the cakes on the wrapper.
Then she snapped the glowstick and shook it.
“Now you make your wish and blow out the candle.” She held the glowstick up in front of his face.
With a smile, akri-copy blew on it.
Suspicious, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t make a wish, did you?”
“I don’t have anything to wish for.”
Simi knew that wasn’t true. “Everybody has wishes, akri-copy.”
“I’m not everybody.”
He thought he was nobody, but she knew better. He was akri’s brother, and he’d done his best to help akri even though they hadn’t gotten along in a very long time.
That made him extra special. He’d admitted he was wrong and had tried to make amends.
So, she wanted to make amends, too.
Simi took his hand into hers and placed a cake in it. “Then the Simi will make your wish for you. The Simi wishes you will be happy like the Simi and her akri.”
