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And then chaos ensues.
This morning, there’s a particularly large amount of commotion. Our firstborn, Selena, is turning three today, and she’s having the biggest princess party the world has ever seen. And, of course, that means her waking up at six AM to begin the celebrations.
I hear her before I see her. She screeches happily downstairs, making Macy stir beside me with a chuckle to herself. She pops one eye open looking at me sleepily.
“So much for sleeping in,” she says with a sleepy grin.
“Well, we both knew that was never going to happen,” I say with a grin. “Happy Birthday, baby.”
She smiles as I kiss her lips. Selena was born on Macy’s birthday, so they share the day, though Macy has basically given up her claim on the day by now. Selena is the kind of kid who demands the attention of everyone in the room she walks into, and Macy is happy to step out of the spotlight to let her baby girl shine. Still, it is her birthday, she should get to sleep in for once.
“You go back to sleep, baby,” I tell her. “I’ll get Selena up and ready for the day. And when you’re ready, come downstairs. I’ll make some pancakes for breakfast.”
Macy’s eyes soften. “You don’t need to do that for me, honey.”
“I want to. Consider it an extra birthday present.”
“Extra birthday present? I thought we agreed on no gifts for me,” Macy says insistently.
I chuckle.
“As if I was going to let you have a birthday without presents. I want to spoil both my girls, not just Sel. Relax, baby. Go back to sleep. I’ll see you later.”
She finally relaxes a little as I kiss her forehead, sighing with a happy smile.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve all of this but it must have been something good,” she says sleepily.
“You deserve the world,” I tell her, but she’s already drifting back to sleep. She barely ever has a chance to sleep in, always up and looking after Selena. Well, for today, I’m going to be the best husband and dad in the world simultaneously and make sure everyone has a day to remember.
I head downstairs to find Selena. She’s already in the kitchen, jumping up and down to try and reach the cupboard where she knows we keep the cookies. I scoop her up and whirl her around.
“Oh no you don’t, missy,” I say, blowing a raspberry on the side of her neck. She giggles in delight. She loves it when we play like this.
“Daddy, please! I want birthday cookies.”
“Birthday cookies? Whose birthday is it?” I tease, feigning stupidity. She laughs so loudly that she’s probably waking the neighbors, but I don’t care. It’s her birthday, and hearing her giggle is the best sound in the world.
“It’s mine. My birthday,” she exclaims.
“Yours? Surely not…”
“Daddy, I know you didn’t forget!” she scolds, her face suddenly serious. There’s only so much teasing she can handle about a subject as serious as her birthday. “Please can I have some cookies! Please, please, please…”
“Hmm…you can have one cookie, for now, missy. Then we can have pancakes when your mom gets up. How does that sound?”
“Two cookies!”
“One, Selena.”
“Three!”
“One and a half.”
She pouts for a moment, but then she nods. “Okay.”
I laugh out loud. She’s already haggling with me and she’s only a tiny kid. I love her with all my heart. I have no idea where our precocious little princess appeared from because she’s nothing like her parents, but it doesn’t bother me. She’s perfect. Completely perfect.
I feed her cookies while I get her ready for the day. She insists on wearing her princess outfit for breakfast, and by the time Macy comes downstairs, she’s also covered in glitter and chocolate. Macy laughs out loud at the sight of our daughter.
“There’s the birthday girl,” she says, sweeping in to kiss the top of Selena’s head. Sel might not act like either one of us, but she looks like Macy through and through. She has the same cute head of curls and the round cheeks that I love so much on my wife. I kiss Macy affectionately, feeling like the luckiest man alive to have such a beautiful woman to make children with. It’s no wonder our kid is so adorable.
And I bet our next kid will be just as beautiful. Macy’s stomach is beginning to swell with her second pregnancy, a sight to behold. I kiss her bump, feeling full of love.
“You’re so beautiful,” I murmur. Macy smiles and turns her attention back to Selena, who has gotten out of her chair, tugging at the hem of Macy’s dress.
“Mommy, it’s your birthday too! I made you a painting of a butterfly,” Selena says, thrusting the picture she worked so hard on. Macy’s face lights up.
“Oh baby, this is so beautiful. Thank you. I can’t believe you made this.”
