Her tiny arms wrap around his neck.
“I’ll see you later. Tell your mom I say hi.” He sets her down, and she walks over to me.
I give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
I shut the door and slump back down on the couch with a sigh. Another day that Blakely’s avoided me. There has to be some truth to what she told me the other night, especially if she’s avoiding me this much. I can’t shake the feeling that she’s afraid of confronting her feelings. The memory of us was on her mind that night. Did the memories bring more up that she’s too afraid to admit? Or too afraid to feel? I lean my head back on the cushion, staring at the ceiling, trying to wrap my head around this. If it were nothing, she wouldn't be acting this way.
Blakely
June 30th, 2019
It feels weird not walking into work on my birthday. When I was a teen and started working, I always wanted to call off on my birthday—that way I had the entire day to myself. But I never could, since I couldn’t afford to miss a day. That’s what raising a kid will do for you. You put your responsibilities first. This is the first year I’m able to take it off, plus it’s Saturday, and the office isn’t open anyway.
Paige and I still have a tradition of celebrating our birthdays together. Now there are three of us celebrating together. Me, Paige, and my sweet Amari. Our birthdays are back-to-back, so I figured it would be easier to celebrate all three together. It’s all Amari knows, because we’ve been doing this since her first birthday. Although, now that Paige and I are adults, we don’t care about having our own parties. It usually turns into onebig birthday party for Amari. Amari loves that all three of us celebrate together, so we've continued celebrating together each year.
When July fifteenth comes around, Amari's actual birthday, I let her choose what she wants to do for the day. I always try to do something special on her actual birthday since it’s celebrated earlier.
I slip on a yellow sundress and tie the halter top around my neck. A little boutique I discovered sells matching outfits for moms and daughters. I found a yellow sundress with an orange and white flower print for Amari and me. When I found the dresses, I sent Paige a picture of them, showing how cute they were. I told her I was planning on wearing it for our birthdays. She loved it so much, she asked if I could get her one so all three of us could match. So, I did. It brought me back to our teenage years, when we would buy the same clothes and dress alike on the same day. I'm a little too old for that now, but I couldn’t say no.
“Amari?” I call as I head for her room to see if she is dressed.
“What?” She turns around and looks at me with softness in her eyes as she stares back at our matching dresses.
“You look so beautiful.” I say.
“So do you.”
“The dress looks better on you.”
Her grin rises, and she turns around and looks at herself in her full-length mirror. She’s growing up to be a miniature version of me. I used to die without a full-length mirror when I was younger. Now the bathroom mirrors do just fine for me. Occasionally, I’ll come in here and use her mirror just to make sure my outfit looks good.
"Wow, you girls look pretty,” Liam says as he stands with his arms crossed, leaning against the door frame.
“Thank you,” we both say.
Liam wanted to have the party here. He said his backyard and patio furniture were going to waste. He bought all his outside furniture when he was still living alone, thinking he would use it more. But with his work schedule, he hasn’t. This is our first summer together in this house. We haven’t used it much, except for the occasional barbeques we’ve had so far.
The sudden chime of the doorbell sounds. All three of us walk over to the front door.
I swing the door open, and the minute Paige sees us, her eyes light up. “Happy Birthday, bestie.” She gives me a quick hug and then releases me and says, “And happy early birthday to you, my sweet girl.” She pulls Amari into a hug. “We all look so good.”
"Yeah, we do,” Amari glances between us.
“Hey, Liam.” She leans in for a hug.
“Happy birthday, Paige,” he says.
“Thank you. You have a lot to worry about with these two beautiful ladies.”
Both Liam and I giggle. “I sure do,” Liam says, pulling me to his side and kissing my lips.
“That’s for after the party,” Paige says, narrowing her eyes at us.
“What’s for after the party?” Amari asks.
My eyes go wide. "Oh, nothing, honey.”
