She shrugged. “We’re here together now, you’ve more than made up for it, and we’re happy. That’s all that matters.”
I was happy now. I still felt myself being pulled under by guilt occasionally but I didn’t let it consume me.
“Yeah. So, what’s next?” I asked, sipping my champagne and willing them to spill all about my surprise party. They weren’t good at secrets, I found out about two weeks ago.
Ava smirked. “Don’t you want to spend the day with Mr Perfect?”
Perfect he was not, no one was, but there wasn’t another person in the world that I wanted to drive me insane more than him.
“He’s picking me up at six. We have loads of time until then.”
“Why don’t we go home, watch some movies and have a pampering birthday until six?” Ava said.
That was all great if she hadn’t already ‘pampered’ me last night. I’d had a face pack, hair treatment, and my finger and toenails painted. They were clearly running out of distract-Tegan ideas.
“Sounds good,” I replied, trying to refrain from jumping up and down and telling them I knew what they were up to.
“Okay, cake time. You know your dad hated waiting for cake,” Mum said, smiling as she unwrapped the cake from the foil and handed a slice to me and one to Ava. She placed a slice on the ground for dad and started eating hers. When it was Dad’s birthday we’d have to do the cake first because he couldn’t wait. He was such a big kid and it was those little things that I missed the most.
“Oh!” Ava said. “Do you remember when you wanted the biggest birthday cake in the world and Dad spent two days making cakes and stacking them on top of each other. It was so high and almost reached the ceiling.”
I laughed as I pictured the huge, wonky, bright pink cake. He had to put kebab sticks through the middle to stop it from all falling over. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for the people he loved.
“Thanks, Dad,” I whispered.
“So, we talked about what to get you for your eighteenth,” Mum said, putting her drink on the floor and turning her body to face me. “Dad wanted to get you a car, actually, he wanted to get you a Ferrari, but I put my foot down there. Tomorrow I’m taking you car shopping!”
My mouth hung open. “You’re buying me a car?”
“One rule though, you’re not getting anything too fast,” she said. I nodded, practically squealing with excitement and gave her a hug. I was getting a car. I hadn’t been in the right place to worry about learning to drive so I was behind and only had a handful of lessons so far.
“I promise. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome. Let’s head home, girls.”
I got a text message on our way back to the car with three words that made my heart rocket. I love you. He could say it a thousand times a day and I still wouldn’t get bored of hearing it.
Love you too, I tapped back and got in Mum’s car. Love didn’t seem a strong enough word to cover what I actually felt for him.
The whole way home I strained to keep a straight face. With every not-so-secret look they shared I felt laughter bubble that little bit higher. But I didn’t want to ruin it for them; this was obviously something they had put a lot of effort into. I’d just gasp and hug them when I walked inside and people yelled ‘surprise’.
Mum pulled into the drive and there wasn’t a single car in sight. I tried to peek through the window but it was light out so I couldn’t see. Either the guests had done a good job of parking out of the way or they were pulling a double bluff and there was no party.
They let me go ahead to the front door and I wasn’t sure if that was part of the plan. But it was so good to be back in the warm. In less than ten seconds I was doubting myself and dissecting everything they were doing.
I opened the door, making a little more noise than usual and a chorus of ‘surprise’ made me jump even though I bloody knew it was coming.
I fake gasped and turned around just in time to catch Mum and Ava as they tackled me into a hug. “Happy birthday,” they said, kissing my cheek.
“Thank you.” I turned around and hugged my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as a conveyer belt of guests wished me happy birthday. Holly and James stayed back a bit, both cooing over baby Jax. He was born just three weeks ago and Holly had barely put him down since. I’d held him once and completely freaked out at how fragile he was. I could wait until he was a little older.
Turning around my heart stopped as he stood in front of me. He looked so gorgeous in ripped jeans and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up revealing his forearms. I very quickly closed the distance and wrapped my arms around his neck. He had me melded to his body in an instant, not happy to have even a centimetre of distance – fine by me. The next thing to hit me was his scent. First thing in the morning before the rest of my senses caught up to the fact that I was awake, I smelt him. It was so comforting it made my heart ache.