AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Peyton
“You guys,”I said as I finally entered the kitchen. I’d avoided coming downstairs for as long as possible. Especially after my surprise morning wakeup call from Xander.
I was still blushing, and it wasn’t from the birthday banners and balloons decorating the kitchen.
“Happy birthday, bestie,” Lily sang as she came around the island and hugged me. “I thought I was going to have to come up there and drag you out of bed,” she whispered.
“I just needed some time.” The lie was ash on my tongue.
“Happy birthday, Peyton,” Felicity gave me a warm smile.
“Gifts, let’s do gifts.” Poppy clapped her hands.
“First let’s wait for—”
“I’m here,” Jason’s voice rang out and seconds later he appeared holding a cake box. “Happy birthday,” he said. “I hope you’re hungry because this thing could feed five thousand.”
“Dad!” Lily scolded, flipping the lid on the box. “Gaaah, it’s so good.”
“What is—oh my God,” I breathed. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, I did. I so did.” Her lip quirked.
“My wallet says otherwise,” Lily’s dad grumbled as he made a beeline for the coffee maker.
“This is amazing, thank you so much.” I stared at the giant personalized funfetti cake, completely overwhelmed. I’d never had a birthday cake before, not of my own anyway. And now I had one big enough to feed every single person I knew.
“I was going to make pancakes for breakfast,” Felicity said, peering over Poppy’s shoulder. “But Jase is right, we might need to start now if we want to make a dent in it.”
“Cake for breakfast?” Lily beamed, and I nodded.
“Cake for breakfast.”
We gorged ourselves on cake while I opened my small pile of presents. They were mostly gifts I could make use of—and didn’t have a lot of spare cash to buy for myself—makeup, some new boots that were warm and sturdy enough for the winter, a hat and scarf. Lily had bought me a gorgeous sweater that was silky soft and a shade darker than my eyes. It would look perfect.
“Thank you so much. I didn’t expect all this.”
“Nonsense,” Felicity said. “Everyone deserves to be spoiled on their birthday.” She glanced at her husband, and he sat a little straighter.
“Actually,” he cleared his throat, “there’s one more thing.” He produced a small envelope from behind his back and handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“Open it and see.”
They had already given me too much, but the expectancy on their faces had me tearing into the envelope. I pulled out the note. Not a note, a check.
“No,” I blurted, unfolding it and scanning the amount. “This is too much,” I said, my eyes burning with tears. “This is way too much.”
Felicity wrapped her arm around her husband and smiled at me. “We thought you could put it toward a car or a college fund. We know it isn’t much—”
“Not much? Mrs. Ford, this is more than I can accept.” Twenty-five hundred dollars was more than I could ever dream of. Sure, to them, it was a mere drop in the ocean, but to me, it was everything.
And it was too much.
“I can’t accept this.” I swallowed down the tears threatening to fall.
“It’s yours, Peyton. We want you to have it. And please for the love of God, stop calling us Mr. and Mrs. Ford. You’re family now.”
