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“What is going on here?” I asked, still unable to fully comprehend what was happening.
Tori rolled her eyes as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world. “It’s a party for you, obviously.”
“For me?” I pointed to myself like an idiot. “What? How? Why?”
“It is your birthday, right? I didn’t get the wrong day, did I?” Tori asked sarcastically. “Because if I did, someone really should have corrected me.”
“It is my birthday. Don’t worry.” I pointed around the room but kept my eyes on Tori. “Did you do all of this?”
“We all did. Everyone chipped in, because you deserve it.”
Lisa walked up beside Tori and put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t listen to her. As much as I’d love to take the credit for that smile on your face, it was all this girl. She put in all the work. We just got ourselves here.”
“Well, thank you for all coming.” I looked around at everyone, then back at Tori, and when I did, my stomach did that weird flipping thing again. I swore I hadn’t felt something like that since… Well, no. I shook those thoughts right out of my head. This was completely different than anything I ever felt with Willow. Obviously. Willow was my soulmate. Tori was just my friend. An incredibly sweet friend who knows how to make me smile, which was probably why my body was acting strange. “And you.” I reached out and squeezed Tori’s hand, quickly dropping it when I felt like I had been burnt by her touch. “Thank you for doing all of this. I truly can’t believe it. I can honestly say I’m shocked.”
Tori waved her hand as if it was no big deal. “You do so much for all of us, I just thought it was only right that we spoiled you for once.”
I didn’t have time to harp on her words because Emery jumped into my arms at that very moment. “Happy birthday, Mama,” she said as I lifted her up. She wrapped her arms around my neck and placed a kiss on my cheek.
Soon, everyone else was greeting me with warm hugs as well. There were so many people to talk to that the day went by in a flash. I couldn’t believe it when my parents told me they had to head out so they didn’t get home too late, and I looked at the clock to find it was already past 7 o’clock.
“Wow, we’re going to have to head out soon too if we want to give these two a bath before it’s time to get in bed.”
“Why don’t you let them stay here tonight?” Mrs. Stone asked. “That way you two can relax, and these two can stay up late and eat ice cream.” She put her hand over her mouth as if she didn’t actually mean to say that. “Oops. Did I say that out loud?”
“Can we, Mama?” Emery asked as she bounced up and down.
“Yeah, Mommy, please,” Bella said as she pulled at the bottom of Tori’s shirt.
Tori looked at me and scrunched up her face as if she actually had to think about it. “I don’t know. Do you think we should let them?”
I tapped my chin as if I was considering it as well. “Hm. Great question.” I looked down at Emery and Bella who were wiggling around, eyes wide with anticipation. “If we say yes, do you promise to be good for Grandma and Grandpa?”
“Yes! So good!” Emery shouted.
Bella’s head bobbed up and down as if she was a bobblehead doll. “We’ll be the best ever!”
I looked at Tori and we both nodded at each other. “Then I guess it’s a yes.”
As the girls ran upstairs giggling and talking about everything they were going to do, Tori raised her hand. “Grown-up party at our place if anyone wants to come.”
Phil shook his head. “I wish I could, but since my mom didn’t offer to watch my kids, we need to get them home and into bed.” He walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “Happy birthday though, Mary. I hope you had a great day.”
“Thanks, Phil. I really did. Today was amazing.”
“We’re so glad to hear that,” Phil’s wife, Stevie, said as she leaned in to give me a hug. “I hope the rest of your kid-free night is fun.”
“I’m sure it will be,” I said with a laugh.
Silas held his arms out toward me as he walked over to me as well. “I wish we could come to the grown-up party, but we’ve kind of passed the grown-up phase and gone right to the grandpa phase. We’re too zonked to do anything else tonight.”
I pulled Silas into a tight embrace. “All right, grandpa, get home safe.”
After Silas, Aaron and Marcus both gave me hugs as well.
After they all walked away, Lisa stood from the couch and sighed, then grabbed Abigail’s hand to pull her up beside her. “We actually have an early morning tomorrow, so unfortunately, we won’t be able to come over either.” Lisa pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m really sorry. I hope you can find a way to have fun without us. I know it will be hard.”
Tori scoffed. “Definitely not. I am the fun one in our group.”
