Chapter 10 #2
After the children had taken their baths, Ahri had settled down on the couch to read them a bedtime story. Even though it was a Friday night, Francie had them trained to go to bed early. Car engines and the sound of tires crunching on the gravel driveway made them all perk up.
“It’s Rafe’s car,” Lessa cried as she jumped off the couch.
Nik ran after her, so Ahri followed. What would bring Rafe here tonight? He hadn’t mentioned coming over at the office.
Surprisingly, it was Darius who stepped onto the porch first, carrying a box in one hand and a laptop case in the other. Behind him came all four guys, equally laden.
“Hey, Ahri.” She opened the door for Darius, and he stepped inside.
“Happy Birthday, sis.” Kayn jogged up the steps and kissed her on the cheek. “Since you’re babysitting, we decided to bring the party to you.”
“Thank you.” Still holding the door, she blinked at the burning in her eyes. Of course her brother wouldn’t let her ignore her birthday.
As Ezreal brushed past her, he shot her a shy glance and mumbled something that could have been a birthday greeting. Rafe was the last one to the door, Lessa and Nik struggling under the weight of a shopping bag they carried between them.
“I didn’t know it’s your birthday!” Nik cried, his eyes bright. His birthday had been a few days before she arrived in Boone, so the memory was fresh on his mind. “Rafe brought a cake.”
“And Ezreal got the ice cream. See.” Lessa tried to lift the bag.
“Show it to her in the kitchen.” Rafe grinned at Ahri. “Happy Birthday a little early.”
“You all didn’t have to do this.”
“He fired up his kitchen for the first time and baked you a cake,” Kayn said, coming out of the kitchen. “Something called a Hummingbird Cake.”
Flushing, Rafe scowled at her brother and made a dismissal sound.
“Kayn said you like bananas.” Rafe headed for the kitchen, carrying a square pastry box. “It’s got pineapple and pecans too. I hope that’s all right.”
“It sounds delicious.”
Ahri hurried into the kitchen to get down the plates. While Rafe removed the cake from the box, the others made short work of setting up for the party. He used one of his mother’s spatulas to straighten the frosting and then sprinkled chopped pecans on top.
“What did you call it again?” she asked.
“Here in the South we call it a Hummingbird Cake,” Rafe said. “Rumor has it that it came from Jamaica where it’s called a Doctor Bird Cake.”
“What kind of frosting?” Ahri asked.
“Cream cheese, of course.”
“Can we eat it yet?” Nik whined.
“We have to sing first,” Ez whispered. “Remember?”
“What about the candles?” Lessa asked.
“Grownups don’t need candles,” Ahri said. “Don’t remind me of my age.”
“Yeah, you’re ancient.” Kayn pulled out two birthday candles, one in the shape of a two and the other a six, and centered them on the cake. Darius pulled out a lighter and lit them.
Lessa started singing happy birthday, so the others joined in.
They ended with Ezreal doing a beautiful harmony.
The four guys actually sounded really good together.
As Ahri blew out the candles, an idea tickled the back of her mind about having the guys make a quartet for the fall employee party. Would she even still be here?
“Cut the cake,” Nik cried. “Cut the cake.”
Laughing, she did and then sliced two small pieces for the children.
“It looks like it’s mostly fruit,” Ahri said, examining her piece.
“Pretty much.” Rafe watched her expectantly.
Ahri took a bite and held it in her mouth to let the flavors linger. She hummed softly and smiled.
“I think it’s a hit.” Darius helped himself to a second piece. “You can make this for my birthday too.”
“What’s with everyone’s laptops?” she asked.
“We’re going to have a gaming party,” Kayn said, rinsing off his plate.
“Can I play?” Lessa asked.
“Not this time, Lessy-wessy,” Rafe said putting the cake, now in its box again, in the refrigerator. “You have time for your bedtime story before getting tucked in.”
“But what about presents?” Lessa asked and yawned.
“The four of us are giving her a laptop,” Kayn said.
“Really?” Ahri grinned, a little thrill running through her. She’d really missed hers which had been destroyed in the truck fire.
“That’s boring,” Nik said, his eyelids heavy.
“For you maybe. Let’s finish your story and tuck you two into bed.” Ahri took their hands, and they climbed the stairs together.
By the time she came downstairs, the guys had the five laptops set up on the kitchen table.
“It’s all loaded for you.” Kayn tapped on the chair to his left that placed her between him and Rafe.
“Thank you so much, you guys.” Ahri ran her hand over the large, sophisticated machine. It was one of the top gaming laptops available, and she knew it must have cost a lot. “There’s a community ed class on graphic design that I’ve wanted to take, and this will be perfect.”
“Some would argue that a Mac would be better for graphics,” Darius said with a sly grin.
“Yeah. Yeah.” Kayn tapped away on his keyboard. “You know it’s all in the power of the computer when you’re designing. It’s not the comp’s operating system.”
“They’ll never let that go,” Rafe mumbled on her other side, but the corners of his mouth were turned up.
“Will Alex’s internet handle all of us playing at the same time?” Ahri asked.
“That’s one thing I insisted they let me upgrade for them since I sometimes babysit Lessa and Nik,” Rafe said. “I need a fast, robust connection.”
“I call mid lane,” Kayn said.
“Jungle, of course,” Darius added.
“Bottom lane support,” Ahri said, even though she knew none of the others played that role, so there’d be no competition for it.
“Bottom lane carry.” Rafe lowered his voice. “Ez is a mean top laner. One of the pro teams offered him a position.”
“You’re kidding,” she whispered, glancing at the quiet musician as he typed away at his keyboard on the opposite end of the table. She’d seen his gameplay a few times but hadn’t realized just how good he was.
“Nope. They didn’t realize he was an employee and not eligible. That’s when we changed all employee’s user names to have REKD in front of them to signal to everyone that the user is an employee.”
“And I programmed it so if anyone tries to choose a user name with it, the system won’t accept it,” Kayn said. He’d created a new account for her but must have done some internal tinkering to give her the same level and ranking as her previous one, so she hadn’t lost anything with the change.
“How are you going to sign up for that class?” Rafe asked as the game loaded.
“Your mother already has a continuing education account that she’s going to let me use. I’m more interested in what I’ll learn than getting the certificate of completion.”
The game began, and their chatter shifted to it. Once again, she found that she and Rafe worked well together. She knew how to help poke at the opposing champions to bring down their health but then to also support his champs by keeping them alive when they were in a battle.
The evening turned out to be the most fun that Ahri’d had in years. She loved how the guys bantered back and forth, keeping it light enough to make it fun. When they finished their last game, it was nearly midnight.
“Best. Birthday. EVER.” Ahri lifted her arms over her head and stretched.
“They didn’t believe me,” Kayn said, rising. “I taught you well.”
She stood and gave him a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered and let him go.
He just grinned as he shoved his laptop into its case.
“Let me know if you have any questions on that class,” Darius said. “I used to be an art teacher.”
“Thanks. I will.” She gave him a quick hug.
Ahri stepped back. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Ez edging around the table like he was afraid she might hug him too. She sat down again so he’d know she wouldn’t.
“Thanks for the game, Ez. Rafe. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to do this for me.”
Ez mumbled something to Rafe and hurried after Darius who’d gone into the living room to get his jacket.
“What was that about?” she asked Rafe who was taking his time to pack up his equipment.
“He said you were a good player and suggested that we make you a permanent team member.”
Ahri blinked. “Wow. Really?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.” Rafe grinned. “He commented on that game we played at work and how you meshed well, but that it was only one game. You proved yourself in his eyes tonight. Well done.” He pulled a small gift bag from his laptop case and handed it to her.
“Just a little something for your birthday.”
“You already helped buy my laptop.”
“It’s just a little something I thought you’d like.” He zipped his bag closed and picked it up. “You should have told Ma about your birthday.”
“I knew she really wanted to go on this trip with Alex, and she wouldn’t have gone if she’d known.”
“Well, I’ll let you deal with the consequences.” Rafe shot her an evil grin and strode from the room.
Ahri gave a soft laugh. She waited until the cars had driven away before she removed the colorful tissue paper from the bag and took out the content. It was a little keychain with her name—spelled correctly—engraved on it. Her heart gave a little hitch that he’d remembered.