I can’t help but laugh out loud at him.
“Do you find me funny, baby?” Luke narrows his eyes at me but I see the humor in them.
“Yes, that was funny.”
“Okay, cake time!” Jules comes out of the house carrying a beautiful chocolate cake with twenty six candles lit on it.
“You’re going to burn the house down with that, Jules.”
She smirks and sets it in front of me.
“Make a wish,” Luke whispers in my ear.
I blow all the candles out in one breath.
Gail cuts the cake and passes it around. It smells heavenly. Gail makes the most delicious cakes.
“Thank you for making my favorite cake, Gail.” I lean over and kiss her cheek.
“You’re welcome, darling. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Okay, now presents!” Jules hops up and I frown.
“No presents. How many times do I have to tell you people, no presents!”
Everyone just laughs at me.
“We don’t listen to you, brat.” Isaac smirks at me and I glare at him.
“I don’t like you.”
“You love me.”
“You guys do too much for me already.” I glance at Luke nervously.
“It embarrasses me when you buy me stuff.”
“It’s not your birthday unless you have presents.” Jules sets a beautiful red gift bag in front of me. “Open mine first.”
She’s hopping in her seat in excitement and my mood lifts.
She’s bought me my favorite perfume and a beautiful silver bracelet. “Oh, thank you! I love it!”
“Can I borrow it?” We all laugh and I’m relaxed again, enjoying my family.
As usual, they’ve gone a bit overboard. The brothers all pitched in on a gift card.
“More shopping!” Jules and I exclaim in unison and we break out into giggles.
Luke laughs next to me and kisses my temple and I smile shyly at him.
Lucy and Neil give me a very generous gift card to use at the Microsoft store in Bellevue. Wow.
“Thank you so much.”
“Our pleasure, dear.” Lucy smiles and kisses Sophie’s sweet head.
“Ours next.” Gail hands me a purple gift bag with purple paper.
“This party is more than enough!”
“You will not sass us,” Steven shakes his finger at me and tries to look stern, but I’ve heard this before and I giggle.
“I will take you over my knee.”
“Yes, sir.” I open the bag to find a pair of earrings that I recognize and I gasp, searching their faces.
They are both smiling tenderly at me.
“These are yours.” I look back down at the beautiful diamond drop earrings and run my finger over them. They’ve been recently cleaned and sparkle in the soft evening light.
“We want you to have them,” Gail has tears in her eyes and I’m about to join her.
“They were your mother’s. They should go to Jules.” My voice is thick with tears.
“I have plenty of jewelry. They should be yours. Nana loved you.”
Jules is running her hand down my hair and I just know that if I move I will cry.
I’m so overwhelmed by the love this family has for me.
I shake my head, but scoot my chair back and round the table to hug Gail and Steven tightly. Gail dabs at her eyes and Steven cups my face in his hands and grins at me.
“We love you, baby girl.”
“I love you too. Thank you.”
I take my seat and look up into Luke’s beautiful face. He smiles and kisses my fingers.
“Last but not least.” Luke sets a manila envelope before me.
“No, honey, you’ve done way too much already.” I shake my head and scoot it back across the table toward him.
“Open it,” he says, exasperated and pushes it back toward me.
“Just open it already!” Will yells from across the table and I glare at him.
“I can’t take the damn suspense!”
We all laugh and I open the envelope.
I pull out two passports and an itinerary. I read the itinerary and feel the blood leave my face and my jaw drop.
“We’re going to Tahiti?!”
The table erupts with whoops and whistles and shouts of joy. The brothers applaud, giving Luke a standing ovation and he laughs.
“Yes, tomorrow, for a week.”
“But, we have work.”
“My current project just wrapped, and I’m hoping you’ll reschedule your appointments.” He’s gazing down at me with love shining from his blue eyes.
“Wow. Tahiti?”
He laughs and kisses me, square on the mouth, in front of my whole family.
“Get a room!” Matthew yells.
I clear my throat and look around the patio. “I just want to say,” I begin and blink the tears from my eyes. “All the people that I love the most in this world are here, and I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have you. Thank you for all you’ve done for me, and not just these gifts, though they are wonderful. I am blessed. Even the boys have their good moments.” I smile at them and they salute me with their drinks and throw winks at me.
I take a deep breath. “Thank you for making me a part of your family. I love you very much.”
I look up at Luke and around the patio into each face that is so dear to me.
“Now, give me that baby.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I enjoyed them.” Luke links his fingers with mine and kisses my knuckles as he drives us back toward Alki Beach.
“They enjoyed you too. Thank you for coming, and inviting your parents. I had a great time.” I can’t hide my delighted smile.
“I’m glad. Are you excited about our trip?” His grin is wide.
“I have a lot to do tonight to get ready. Maybe I should stay home tonight so I can pack and make calls and stuff.”
Luke frowns. “It won’t take me long to pack. I can drop you off at home, go pack, and come back to your place.” He swallows and glances at me.
“What’s wrong?” Why does he suddenly look nervous?
“I don’t want you to bail on me.”
“Bail on you?”
“Yeah, decide you don’t want to go.”
Where is this vulnerability coming from? “I do want to go.”