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Diamond
“Is the blindfold really necessary?” Finn bounces his leg in the driver’s seat, and I bite back a grin at my husband’s impatience. The guy is worse than a toddler. We’ve been driving for less than thirty minutes, and he’s been bugging me for information for twenty-five.
“Yes, it is. We wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, would we?” I check my phone’s GPS to make sure I don’t miss our exit.
“Hate to break it to you, babe, but it’s technically already ruined,” Finn teases.
“Why’s that?” A million scenarios flash through my mind. I swear if Xavier spilled the beans, I’m going to make him swallow his signed basketball collection.
“It stopped being a surprise the second you told me there was a surprise,” Finn says to push my buttons. He’s always grumpy on his birthday.
“Be more of a killjoy, will you?” I laugh, nudging him with my elbow.
I’m definitely more excited about his birthday than he is. Not that it’s anything new. If it weren’t for me, Finn wouldn’t acknowledge it at all. In his defense, his mom passed on his eighth birthday, and I think he’s come to dread the reminder with each passing year.
No one should have to celebrate their birth on the day of their mother’s death, and I’ve been doing everything in my power to help him honor her life rather than dwell on the way it ended. I’d like to think it’s working, but I also know better than to assume Finn is ever going to stop missing her. His mom is always going to be the first woman he’s ever loved…
But I intend to be the last.
Take the next exit,my GPS commands, and I oblige, changing lanes. I rented out this gorgeous house in the woods for Finn’s birthday almost a year ago. The waiting list was a nightmare, but I fell in love with the place when my dads got back together and hosted their second wedding reception there.
The place wasn’t cheap, but it has everything we need to make Finn’s birthday weekend perfect—a pool, a hot tub, a direct view of the lake, and enough rooms for my entire family and Finn’s combined.
I texted Aveena just before we left the house to make sure she’d picked up Finn’s gift like we’d talked about. She answered that her son was driving her crazy and that she’d sent Xavier instead.
It surprised me, to say the least. Xavier’s barely had time to breathe since he got drafted into the NBA two years ago, let alone run errands. He’s been playing for the Charlotte Hornets and traveling the world for every game. Aveena and their son, Tyler, accompany him most of the time, but with his hectic schedule comes a lack of stability Aveena couldn’t get behind.
She made it clear when she found out she was pregnant with their second little boy eight months ago that she wasn’t doing this alone. She decided to hold off on finding work as a psychiatrist after graduation in order to follow her husband and be a mother, but she refused to lose herself into motherhood by being the equivalent of a single parent.
Xavier heard her loud and clear. He’s been juggling his responsibilities as a father and a husband on top of his career and doing a damn good job of keeping his hormonal wife happy. He’s been treating her like a queen every chance he gets, remaining a good-hearted man in spite of his ridiculously high salary.
“How much longer?” Finn asks just as I’m hopping onto the back road leading to the gated community the house is located in.
“Almost there,” I tell him.
We’re at the gate a minute later, and I enter the code the owners gave me on the phone earlier. Butterflies explode in my stomach when I speed up the driveway to the luxurious rental.
If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be able to afford to rent a three-story house on my own for an entire weekend, I would’ve laughed in your face. The dog sitting slash walking app I launched after I dropped out of college has done extremely well. This little project that started as an idea in my head while I was in physical therapy, relearning to walk after the fire, came to life faster than I could’ve imagined.
I remember the first time I talked to Finn about it like it was yesterday. He believed in my vision as soon as I shared it with him. He called his dad, and in less than a week, we’d landed investors to fund the process. A year later, the app was released into the world, and well, the rest is history.
I can feel my heart leaping against my ribs as I park my car into the house’s circular driveway. A handful of cars are already in the lot, a sign that everyone showed up in time.
“Are we here?” Finn questions, unable to conceal his smile. He’ll die before admitting it, but he likes surprises as much as I do.
“We’re here.” I drag myself out of the car with difficulty.
It’s a wonder I even fit into the car considering the size of my belly. I couldn’t tell you how many times I accidentally honked on the way over here. Oh, and don’t even get me started on how many times I had to stop and use the bathroom—cough, twice, cough. It would seem our little Nora thought it would be fun to kick the shit out of my bladder to pass the time.
I’m five days overdue, but it feels like five weeks. Our baby girl should be here any moment now, which is why I rented a house close to home, just in case.
I shoot Aveena a text, giving her the green light on our plan, before opening the passenger-side door. I usher Finn to the entrance, telling myself that I’ll come back for our bags later, and unlock the door with another pin code.
The house is dead quiet when we amble inside.
I make quick work of removing the blindfold from my husband’s eyes. Finn blinks a few times, his sight gradually coming back to him.
“Surprise!” The room erupts in cheers and applause.
