Her lip trembled. “But she’s not here,” she whispered. “And I don’t know if I’m even having a party this year.”
Oh.My heart absolutely shattered.
I reached across the table and grabbed hold of the hand that wasn’t covered in frosting. I squeezed.
“Well,” I leaned forward, “that sounds like a problem we can fix.”
She frowned up at me. “What do you mean?”
“What if I help plan your birthday party?”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.” I nodded. “We can make decorations, I can bake the cake, and invite your friends—everything.”
For a second, she stared at me. Then her whole face lit up. “Can we have unicorn balloons?”
I laughed. “I think that can definitely be arranged.”
“And sprinkles!” she added quickly. “Lots of sprinkles.”
“Obviously.”
Her shoulders relaxed. That inherent happiness slowly returned to her expression.
After a moment, she took another huge bite of her cookie, smearing frosting across her cheek.
“Do you have a grandma and grandpa?” she asked.
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “No. Not really.”
“What about uncles? Do you have those?”
My face warmed, but I kept my smile in place. “No. I never really knew my family.”
The memories stirred anyway—buried ones, from when I was about Hailey’s age. From before I’d been taken away from my father.
Hailey studied me, concern pinching her face. “What do you mean?”
I pulled on the perfected smile I’d accidentally let slip.
“My family wasn’t very nice to me,” I explained gently. “So I didn’t live with them for very long.”
She chewed thoughtfully on her cookie. “Does it make you sad?”
I shook my head. “No. It was better not to be around that.”
Her brows drew together, and I was suddenly so grateful she couldn’t understand what it was like to grow up without love.
“Who took care of you, then?”
The question cut straight to the bone. I brushed a curl back from her face.
“Different people. It was almost like one big slumber party. I got to stay at lots of different houses.”
It was the one way I’d found to describe growing up in foster care that didn’t make kids uncomfortable or confused.
Hailey considered that. “Was it fun?”
