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"Thanks." She hugged me back. "I really appreciate your doing this."
And then, all three of her bodyguard-come-protectors came out of the kitchen.
31
Asher
"Happy birthday, Leia!"
All four of us shouted. Juniper was the most excited, jumping up and down. She'd been the one with the idea, though, so all the props to her.
Leia took one look around the kitchen, the cake, and the smiles on our faces and went a shade of ripe red.
"You guys did this for me?" she asked as if she was shocked that anyone would have thought birthdays merited celebration.
It made my heart hurt for her.
There was no second-guessing that her mom would likely have left her to celebrate the last twelve birthdays with her friends or do kid stuff on her own, but those days belonged in the past.
She was in a better place now. Reed couldn't always show how hard he loved his girl, but we knew.
And we knew he'd do everything in his power to make sure none of her special days went without the happy chaos they deserved.
Juniper led her forward, and just as the clock struck twelve, she cut the cake. "Make a wish," Juniper said, stroking Leia's hair.
Leia closed her eyes and murmured something before slicing the cake.
She took a piece and looked at all of us. I kind of thought she'd go to Juniper first, but then, she did the sweetest thing.
She was standing between Juniper and Reed. She broke the piece into two, put a half in each hand, and raised them to her dad's and Junie's mouths at the same time.
Juniper was positively beaming, and Reed looked like he'd convulse.
I knew this had to be one of his happiest core moments, and that usually meant his expression was the exact and often horrific opposite of how he felt.
"Leia, I—" he stammered, trying to hold out the tiny box in his hands.
Leia turned her full attention to him, a faint smile on her lips. "Thank you," she whispered. "I've never had a proper birthday before. Not one that didn't involve cafeteria cake, anyway."
He acknowledged her words with a sharp incline of his head. "I–I got you something. It's not a lot, but ..."
Reed held out the box, and Leia opened it. She took one look at the locket inside, and her smile became a half-moon on a very radiant night. "It's beautiful. Thanks, Reed."
So, she wasn't calling him Dad yet. Reed had a tough audience here, but he'd won some major points tonight.
"Okay. Now how about we all get a slice of that there cake?" I asked pompously.
"I'm hungry," I continued, my tone becoming lower. "Like, I can seriously feel a mouse running around my tummy."
All of us dug into the cake, and it was Juniper's best creation, entirely decadent, rich, and light at the same time.
I didn't know how the girl did it—she never failed to keep surprising me.
Miguel had this thing we used to call a sugar high. It meant that he could get high on alcohol, but you give the man cake, and you'd have yourself a cake-a-holic.
By the time he was on his fourth slice, he was positively drunk on the icing.
"Welcome to the teenage years, Leia!" he exclaimed, giving Leia a playful nudge. "You're going to be a whole new person now!"
