27. Stella
TWENTY-SEVEN
stella
As we made our way back to the ranch, I couldn’t stop touching the pendant that now hung around my neck. Max had been so thoughtful to get me a gift for Charlie’s first birthday.
I had never thought much about celebrating moms on their child’s first birthday. Max’s heartfelt words, detailing all my accomplishments, filled me with a quiet pride, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Charlie and I had truly accomplished a lot over the last year. Though I might have been the one to bring her into this world, her daily presence mended the cracks in my weary soul.
We hadn’t been gone more than thirty minutes, but it seemed as if in that short time, Ray had enlisted the help of every town’s person of Firefly Cove; twinkling lights, whimsical decorations, and the joyful chatter of people had transformed the ranch into a fairy wonderland.
My heart swelled with gratitude, a profound sense of appreciation for the family we had found here .
On the porch, Ray, with Charlie in her arms, was bossing people around to finish decorating.
She was clearly in her element as she pointed Wade towards a tree from which she wanted the unicorn pinata hung.
I’m not sure a one-year-old was going to be whacking and cracking a pinata, but I wasn’t about to burst her bubble.
Max parked the truck off on the grassy side of the barn, amongst everyone else’s vehicles. We made our way to the porch hand in hand to relieve Ray of at least one of her duties.
“Welcome back. Did you like your surprise?” she asked with a knowing smirk.
That little traitor.
I once again ran my fingertips over the dainty pendant resting against my skin. I couldn’t help the smile that crested my face as I nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Max did well,” I murmured, my hand falling on the warm, corded muscle of his arm that was a comforting weight banded around my chest from where he stood behind me. We couldn’t go more than a couple of minutes without touching each other, it seemed.
Charlie made grabby hands and attempted to wrestle out of Ray’s grasp to head in my direction.
Ray settled her on the ground and she padded her way to the edge of the stairs.
Waiting on bated breath, I watched as she easily scaled the four wooden platforms and released a sigh of relief when both of her tiny feet were back on the ground.
She toddled over to me and wrapped her arms around my leg, nuzzling her cheek into my thigh.
“Are you sleepy, little one?” Max cooed as he ran his fingers through Charlie’s curls. She nearly purred at his touch as her eyes drifted closed and I internally chuckled.
Me too, girl. Me too .
“Let’s get you down for a quick nap before all the festivities start around here,” I said, scooping her up into my arms and nuzzling my face in the crook of her neck. She let out a sleepy giggle and cuddled into my chest with a wide yawn.
“I’ll be right back,” I promised Max, as he leaned down and placed a tender kiss on Charlie’s forehead.
“Sleep tight, birthday girl,” he whispered.
The quietness in the house was a stark contrast to the chaos that was erupting outside. We padded our way down the hallway and into Charlie’s nursery. I sat down in the rocking chair to get a few minutes of snuggles in.
Charlie curled into me as I gently rocked her back and forth. I hummed a lullaby softly as I watched her eyelids become heavy with sleep.
A few minutes later, her tiny chest rose and fell rhythmically, the gentle snores a sweet melody to my ears, a peaceful sigh of relief washing over me.
I stood and tiptoed over to the edge of her crib, lowering her down onto the mattress, attempting to not wake her.
She rolled over, clutching the horse stuffy Max had given her as an early birthday gift in her chubby grasp.
A warmth spread through me, a silent contentment washing over my body as I watched her serene slumber.
“Sleep tight, birthday girl.” I whispered, mimicking Max’s earlier nickname.
Easing my way out of the nursery, I closed the door with a soft snick. Before I even turned around, a mass of solid muscle pressed me against the wall. Max gripped my hips and pressed a passionate kiss to my mouth.
A soft moan escaped my lips, and he took that as an invitation to tangle his tongue with mine. One of his hands coasted the planes of my stomach, up between my breasts, and rested on my neck. He didn’t apply pressure, but the simple fact that he could filled me with an eager thrill.
He pulled back to gaze at me from beneath hooded lids.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he growled as he dove back in for another searing kiss.
A throat clearing down the hallway broke our passionate embrace.
Max lowered his forehead to mine before cocking his head to the side to see who had the balls to interrupt the tiny snippet of time we had to be together.
His dad stood at the end of the hallway with a shit-eating grin, his arms crossed across his chest.
“When you’re finished mauling each other, Ray sent me here to gather her worker bees.”
I could hear his attempt at holding back laughter as Max attempted to conceal his rapidly growing hard on.
“We will be out in a second,” I retorted, giving us a few minutes to gather our wits before being fed to the wolves of party decorating.
“I love you,” he declared in a whisper, his eyes sparkling with affection. I could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
“I love you too, Cowboy. Now let’s get this over with so we can go back to where we left off after this party.”
After another hour of food prep, last-minute touches, one emotional melt down from Wade, and dozens of popped balloons, the party was about to start. I looked around at how Ray had transformed the simple ranch into such a whimsical fairytale.
She had draped fairy lights along each of the trees lining the backyard, giving a subtle ethereal glow to the space. The interspersed paper mache mushrooms and flowers along the tree line enhanced the illusion of a forest.
Someone had outfitted two long tables with white tablecloths, draping them in layers of chiffon fabric in varying muted neutral colors and adorning them with garlands of ivy.
Charlie’s highchair sat at the head of one table, a banner with the word ‘one’ dangling from the front and balloons floating on the back. Fairy lights wrapped around her chair legs would illuminate her in the afternoon glow.
Ray stepped up beside me, and I reached out a hand to take hers. She reciprocated the gesture and leaned her head on my shoulder in an affectionate touch.
“Ray… How can I ever thank you?” I asked in a whisper, still in awe of all the work she had put in to making the party so beautiful.
“Stay. That’s how you can thank me,” she responded softly, tightening her grip on mine three times in quick succession.
It was such an affectionate moment that it threw me off kilter. I was thankful to have her in my life, and even after fulfilling her wishes to stay, I’d still forever be indebted to her.
I nodded, unsure if she was even watching to see my affirmation, but the appearance of two burly men in matching fluffy tutus and fairy wings, stepping from the house, diverted my gaze.
“ Oh.. My.. God .” I chuckled, unable to restrain my laughter.
Max and Wade stood on the back porch steps, clad in matching fairy princess attire, holding a tiny version of their outfit between them. Pink tutus encircled their waists, and each man wore a jeweled crown and glittery fairy wings.
“We need our third amigo to finish the vision!” Wade remarked, twirling like a ballerina, causing glitter to sparkle everywhere around him. I put a hand over my mouth and laughed hard enough that I felt tears prick my eyes. These men stopped at nothing for their girl.
I checked my phone clock and noticed how long Charlie had been sleeping.
I had forgotten to grab the baby monitor off the nightstand in our bedroom.
Assuming she was awake, I walked up the back porch stairs, stopping to give Max a quick kiss and pat on his tutu clad ass as I made my way into the house.
Making way down the hallway, I cracked open Charlie’s door. Surprisingly, all was quiet. I had half expected Charlie to be banging on the rungs of her crib, wanting to get out and join in on the fun.
Approaching the crib, the horrifying emptiness of it, the absence of my child’s sleeping form, sent shards of ice through my heart. A soul shattering scream escaped from my throat as I fell to my knees and wailed.
Instead of my beautiful baby, there lie a note in a scrawled handwriting that read,
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”