I smirk at the way my club operates, loving every aspect of them and the old ladies who have stuck it out with us, before looking over at the guest of honor. Who’s frozen with a panic-stricken face, both he and Milly.
The hoots and hollers die off quickly as the club realizes at the same time I do that this is not a good surprise—not at all. Especially when Milly mutters, “Shit,” and her face drains of color.
She turns quickly and falls to her knees, grabbing her kid by the shoulders, trying to block out his vision as she gets close to his face.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”
“I… I forgot,” he says in disbelief as he looks at her with wide eyes.
“I know, baby. I forgot too.”
He shakes his head violently, and I’m half afraid that he’s going to disconnect his brain in his head from the rattle. He pushes out of her hold, and Milly falls a bit on her ass as tears gather in her eyes.
“I forgot her!” he screams, breaking the dam holding Milly’s tears back.
“No, you didn’t.” She shakes her own head. “You can never forget her. You just forgot the day. That’s it. It’s a day, nothing more. This means nothing.”
He looks around at everything, and when he speaks, his voice is so small. “I forgot my mom.”
I feel the club take an audible breath, as our theory becomes true. Milly isn’t Ollie’s biological mother.
“You can never forget her. She’s in here, with you always. She’s never forgotten, always here, right here.” Milly closes the distance between them, placing her hand on his heart. “This is just a day, nothing more.”
“It’s my birthday.”
“It’s not.” She coughs, pushing the emotion from her voice as she straightens her spine. “This is not your birthday. You know that.”
“But this….” He gestures to everything around him, using facts to prove her wrong.
“It’s mine.” I take a step forward, and they both look at me. “Club’s throwing me a birthday party since I missed the last one with them. They went big this year is all.”
Ollie looks at me skeptically. “You like Minecraft and Pokémon?”
“Fuck yeah. Who do you think introduced Teddy to it, or how I knew how to set up the system for you two to play? I’ve been gaming with Teddy for years before you came around. I’ll admit, he’s the one who got me into Pokémon, but what can I say? Rillaboom is the shit. He could totally take Charizard and Pichu in a fight without even trying.”
“Nuh-uh.” He takes his glasses off with one hand, then rubs his eyes dry with the other. “Pichu could totally take him. He even did in the TV show.”
“Pssh, that was a showaboutPichu. Of course they would have him win. In reality, it would never work. Come on, I’ll show you. Teddy, get those trading cards out.”
Ollie is already out of Milly’s arms and across the room, trauma forgotten. At least for the moment. Probably doing what most of us will do for the next few hours—ignoring it.
I watch Milly while everyone else goes about celebratingmybirthday. Love that my club is just rolling with it. Even had a few shout, “Happy birthday,” to me. I’d be flipping them off if I weren’t so focused on the woman who’s still on her knees. Probably not the only one if I know my club, but they ain’t going to vulture right in for the kill. No, they’ll wait like the hunters they are.
After a second of her pulling whatever it is she needed to pull together, she stands and turns. Her eyes are on Ollie, but no doubt she feels me staring. I’m laser focused and not going anywhere.
She fights it longer than most who’ve been under my stare, but like everyone before her, she caves, glancing at mewithout even an ounce of sass in her eyes. She knows what’s coming. She’s smart—she gets it.
“Time’s up.”
She nods before looking back at the kid who she takes care of. “Yeah, probably is.” She huffs a breath before looking over at me with folded arms. “You got a place in mind we can talk? Rather do it without him listening.”
“After.” Casper steps up between us and decides for the club. We both hold his stare, me, then her, before we nod in acquiescence. “No need to ruin a perfectly good cake. What are you now, Bass? Five?”
“Fuck you. Didn’t see you stepping in other than holding your dick and watching.” I nudge him with my shoulder, and he stumbles. I know he’s just trying to break the tension that’s still hanging over the club. It’s impossible not to feel it still lingering after what just went down a few moments ago.
“Thank you.” Her words have both me and Casper looking at her in shock. “I… I wasn’t prepared for this. I….” She huffs as she jams her hands into her pockets. “Just thanks.” She looks to me quickly, which I nod at, and then she’s off like the devil is on her heels.
“Did she just…?” Casper asks, flabbergasted.
