I knew the matching emerald gingham would be a hit with her.
“Hi Abs,” Griffin greets me. “You both look beautiful. And happy birthday toyou,” he says, voice pitching up an octave as he tickles Erin on her side. One of the most wonderful parts of the last year has been watching the way Erin’s bonus uncles and aunties dote on her.
She’s going to be spoiled rotten.
Behind Griffin, David comes into view and–
“What in the hell are you wearing?” Jack says, appearing by my side.
“I wanted to look nice,” David says incredulously. “My best friend is turning one, if I can’t dress up for this whatcanI dress up for?”
“I mean, I think a tux is a little excessive for a one-year-old’s birthday party.”
“Don’t listen to him David,” I say, waving Jack off. “You look very dashing. Wait a second…does your tie match her dress?”
“I did my research,” he says with a sly grin.
“I don’t even want to know,” Jack mutters as I laugh, pulling David in for a hug.
“Never change, Funcle David.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” he says. “Where is she anyway?”
“Somewhere that way with Ellie and Griff,” I say, gesturing toward the kitchen, which leads to the backyard. “Everyone should be outside.”
The urge to shout “no running through the house!” to a thirty year old man is baffling, but warranted. Jack heaves a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“C’mon Jacky boy,” I say, patting his arm consolingly. “Let’s go celebrate our girl.”
“What do you think the odds are of Erin growing up before David does?”
“Astronomical.”
I thread my arm through his as we walk through the sliding glass door and into the garden wonderland we’ve spent many painstaking hours creating.
Above all things, Erin seems to love flowers and butterflies, so flowers and butterflies she has. Enormous paper butterflies hang from the blooming magnolia tree, and a balloon arch laden with greenery and baby’s breath is fastened to the latticestructure where the morning glories have been climbing higher and higher every day.
The girls from the bakery made the most perfect white chocolate and raspberry cupcakes, each topped with a singular candied sugar monarch. They also surprised me with a smash cake for Erin, covered in sage green icing with dark green detailing and the words “Grow, baby, grow” written in cursive white frosting across the top, with a gold number 1 candle placed next to the phrase.
My gaze sweeps across the yard, and my heart is full to bursting. Mine and Aaron’s dads (that’s Pop-pop and Granddad, to you)are manning the grill, arguing the merits of charcoal with or without hickory chips. Andrea and Granny are perched in matching adirondack chairs, lemonades in hand, laughing as they watch Erin bounce on Nate’s shoulders, desperately trying to grab hold of the butterflies as he zigzags under the tree.
It’s incredible to see what can happen in a year. This time last year, I was laboring in a hospital bed, entirely convinced that I’d be a failure as a mother, and that I’d be alone forever. Looking around at the friends and family gathered to celebrate our beautiful baby girl’s birthday, I can’t fathom how I ever believed that.
“You okay?” Jack murmurs against my ear, coming up close behind me and wrapping his arms across my chest. I grab onto his forearm, twisting my neck to look up at him.
At this wonderful, beautiful man who has never once treated me or Erin like anything less than the loves of his life. My best friend, my partner–who caught me by complete surprise, rooting himself in the deepest parts of me, in places I thought I was too rocky and barren for anything to ever bloom again.
“I’m perfect,” I say, rising to my toes to plant a soft kiss on his jawline. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asks, a bemused smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You, Granny, and Andrea did all of this, not me. I’m just here.”
“Exactly,” I say, not elaborating any further. Apparently that’s good enough for him, because he shrugs and rests his chin on the top of my head while we watch Ellie coaxing Erin into taking tiny barefooted steps across the grass.
“Abby, dear, do you want to do cake before or after food?” Andrea calls to me from the folding table housing both snacks and presents.
Squeezing Jack’s arm once before stepping out of his grip, I make my way over to her, and begin weighing the pros and cons of each. We decide after would be best, and once we’re all stuffed to the brim with hotdogs and corn on the cob, Ellie emerges from the kitchen with the small cake, the sparkling candle casting a golden glow on Erin’s face once it’s set in front of her.
I crouch beside her high chair, with Jack mirroring me on the other side, helping her blow the candle out as theHappy Birthdaychorus finishes. I snatch the candle from the cake quickly before Erin can grab at it, and step back as she absolutely annihilates the cake in front of her to a point beyond recognition. She’s a sticky mess, covered head to toe in icing, belly-laughing while David lets her smear cake across his face.
