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“Oh my goodness,” she gasps.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. Please don’t tell me this was ridiculously expensive.”

“Maybe don’t let Evangeline grab too hard at it tonight, or wear it to the supermarket,” I tease, thinking about the price tag. It’s worth it to see her expression. She is always worth it.

“I love it,” she whispers, and her eyes well with tears.

“No tears, Dee,” I chide.

I help her take the necklace from the box and put it on. The positioning lets the sapphire and pink tourmaline rest just above her heart on one of the loops of the chain, and the ruby and citrine just below.

“I love you,” she declares.

“Love you too. Now, come on. Party time.”

I’m sure some people arrived while we were in the shower and getting ready. It doesn’t matter, because guests were due to be here long before Delilah made an appearance.

I take her hand, and we walk down the stairs. She grabs a pair of shoes to put on from the cabinet, slipping into what she calls her default party shoes.

“Happy birthday, Dee. I see you foiled his plans,” Felix proclaims as he strides into the hallway.

“She always foils my plans,” I joke.

Felix gives me a quick grin. He took longer than Delilah to trust me, but once I proved myself to him, he relaxed. We have an even better friendship than we did the first time around, even if he is always quick to call me out on things. In return, I call him out on things when he’s not seeing something from Caleb’s point of view. I’m better friends with Caleb, but the four of us get on well, and we’ve taken multiple family holidays together, seeing ourselves as an extended family rather than two separate units.

“He did well with the present,” he comments.

Delilah idly touches her necklace. “Are you going to top this, Felix? Given you and I have been friends for so long, I expect something good,” she teases.

“Remind me what you did for my fortieth,” he quips.

“I think you’ll find we paid for you and Caleb to have a two-week holiday abroad, and we looked after Elliot,” she reminds him.

“Ah, yes. I haven’t matched the holiday, but Evangeline seems quite happy to come to mine for a two-week sleepover. Just say the date,” he offers. “My actual present is in there, along with the many others. I hope mine lives up.”

“Of course it will, Felix. Nothing can replace my bestie,” Delilah promises.

“Right, well, I’m going to go tell everybody the birthday girl is arriving. You just pretend to look surprised, okay?”

He walks away, and I smile at Delilah.

“You don’t have to say you’re surprised. You’re terrible at telling lies,” I remind her.

“At least you’ll always know I’m truthful when I tell you I love you. That I need you. That you make me so happy, in ways I didn’t know were possible. That you make me feel like I’m enough,” she declares.

“You are more than enough. You’re everything.”

“Take me to this party before I tell you to take me back upstairs,” she teases.

I walk her through the house, ready to greet the guests, a combination of our friends and family, all waiting to show Delilah just how much she is loved.

***

“Dad, you pulled off an amazing party,” Maddie declares. She has Evangeline on her knee, holding onto her little sister.

Evangeline spent most of the dinner switching where she sat. On Delilah’s knee for the starter. Mine for the main. Apparently only Maddie would do for the dessert. The adoration between them is unparalleled. There may be nineteen years between them, but I know they’ll always have a strong bond.