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“Mommy! Look what we did for you, we gave you a glitter party.” Mila yelled, tossing a handful of glitter in the air.
This was never going to come up. Did Liam realize this? Where was my husband?
I hoisted Mila into my arms as I scanned the faces around the room.
Rae and Davis were there, she was pregnant just like Nora.
All of my brothers were present, but Colson was the one who pulled me in and hugged me close. Millie and Tammy were there…Jeffery and his new girlfriend, Stacey. Rex from the gym and a few others were hovering near the back patio, which led out to the yard. Everywhere I looked there were people who smiled and waved at me. Gunther stood stoic and tall by the barbeque being manned by Millie’s husband, Roger.
He pulled me into a tight side hug as my eyes watered, registering that all the people in my life were here, celebrating me.
I still couldn’t seem to find Liam or my other two girls.
Finally, I made my way upstairs, away from the party, still holding Mila in my arms as I went. There in the master bedroom, all three of my missing family members were hovering over a gift, murmuring as they tried various ways to wrap it.
“What are you doing?” I asked, slowly making my way up behind them.
Liam quickly turned, pushing the gift behind him.
Seraph and Maddy had cute little smirks on their faces as Mila slid her tiny hands over my eyes.
“You can’t see yet, Mommy!”
I laughed, tugging on them when finally, I felt Liam take Mila.
It was quiet in the room, save for the rustling sound on the bed as Seraph moved to stand, her long hair flowing down. She was in a phase now where she was letting it grow. She was also getting taller now, making her look so much older. Maddy was in middle school now, completely stealing my heart every single day as she started puberty and developed crushes.
Liam held my hips as he came up behind me and laid his chin on my shoulder.
“We were trying to wrap it for you—”
“But it’s too big!” Seraph interjected, lifting a piece of wrapping paper.
Finally, they all parted, allowing me to see my gift. I walked until my thighs hit the mattress and stared with my mouth parted and a few tears lining my lashes.
“Are these?” I couldn’t finish as my eyes scoured the massive photo, that took up a huge portion of the bed, the barnwood edges, the glass…and underneath.
I breathed with a shuddery gasp, “Our lists…”
“All of ours, from the past year—all the happy in our lives that led up to this moment,” Liam whispered, solemnly. I traced my finger over the glass, seeing the notes I had written when I had started dating him, and all the ones after. The ones I had created while he was away those nine weeks, the ones the girls started…the ones he created.
Liam’s lips pressed into the side of my forehead as he whispered, “I love you.”
I still couldn’t believe he’d done this.
“We’re going to hang it on the big wall, so we will always be able to see it,” Mila yelled excitedly while the other two laughed.
“I can’t believe you did this.” I turned into Liam’s chest, letting happy tears fall free. The realization of what my life had become, of who I had become…it was so massive, so perfect.
Liam’s lips pressed against my head then his mouth was at my ear.
“I had a lot to make up for, but I hope this proves that every birthday from here on out will be celebrated properly.”
The girls’ arms came around me then, as they all said.
“Happy Birthday, Mommy.”
Mentally I went back to being thirteen, to the rejection I had felt, the utter sadness that had overwhelmed me and stayed with me for so many years. I took that memory and held it next to this one––and I smiled because I know this happiness was what my future was made of. Somehow in saving this single dad, he rescued me from all the loneliness that took up residence in my heart. He filled me with more happiness and love than I ever imagined possible, and now I’d always have this.
Forever.
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