Chapter 13
Penny
It’s finally Autumn’s birthday and I’ve been stressing all week, trying to make sure I have everything so the party is perfect. It doesn’t help that Declan is coming either. I’ve gotten zero sleep and have major anxiety about today.
When Declan told me on Monday why he wasn’t a fan of kids, my heart broke for him.
It sounds like not only did he not receive the kind of love a parent should give a child, but he was the only source of love for Kate.
He’s so scarred by what he went through that he’s totally written off kids in general, and I don’t blame him for it.
I think anybody who grew up in his shoes would feel the same way.
I didn’t want to say it, but I forgave him right then and there.
My bleeding heart didn’t have the strength to be mad at him anymore, plus I was already halfway to forgiving him before we had our chat on the landing.
One thing’s for certain, I don’t think Declan can see that his sister worships the ground he walks on, which can only mean he did exactly everything right when he was a kid helping raise a kid.
It doesn’t mean I’m going to let him off the hook too easily, though.
I wouldn’t want him to think I’m a pushover.
I’ve been letting him sweat the rest of this week, and I can tell he’s annoyed.
If he texts me, I give him one-word answers.
And the one time I saw him on the sidewalk outside, I gave him a tight-lipped smile before turning in the other direction and ducking into a store.
I have to head to my parents’ house early today to help set up, and am in the middle of putting my shoes on when I hear a knock at the door. I swing it wide, knowing it can only be one person.
“What are you doing here?” I ask before our eyes even meet.
“I’m taking you to your parents' house,” Declan tells me. He’s standing on the doormat, looking fucking edible. He’s wearing a black Henley, dark wash jeans, and biker boots. His eyes are shining bright, and he looks well rested; unlike me.
I blink up at him. “Um… don’t worry about it,” I try to shake him off. “I’m headed out now.”
“I’m ready when you are, then.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Aren’t you going to ask where Autumn is?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head and gives me a wide smile that shows off his dimples. “I heard Jordan and Lucas pick her up a few minutes ago.”
“Well, aren’t you perceptive? It’s okay, though, really. I already have all my stuff packed in the car, plus Autumn’s car seat, so I’ll see you there,” I tell him and try to shut the door.
His hand catches it before it can click shut and I sigh. “I’ll switch over what needs to be switched over,” he tells me. “But we don’t need the car seat. I got one for the truck.”
My eyebrows shoot to my forehead because I don’t think I heard him correctly. “Excuse me? You what?” I ask.
“I got a car seat for the truck. So, you don’t have to switch it over.” He looks pleased with himself.
I shake my head incredulously. “I’m sorry. I thought you just said you bought a car seat for your truck.”
He nods his head slowly. “I did.”
I’m confused. Even if he’s accepting of Autumn, he didn’t need to go buy a car seat.
“I’m fully aware that if you guys are going to be in my life, and I’m going to take you anywhere, it would be easier if we didn’t have to switch the car seat over all the time.” He shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal. “I told you I wasn’t going to give up on our friendship, Pen.”
Right. Because friends buy car seats to haul a kid around that’s not theirs.
“You’ve really thought this through, huh?”
“I have. But we should get going. We need to set up at your parents and I told your dad I would bring coffee.”
He talked to my dad?
“I’m not sure what to say right now, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut. But just to let you know, you look desperate.”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” he says matter of factly, and I roll my eyes at him.
After I get everything I need from the apartment, and we grab coffee, we head to the parking lot to get in his truck.
“If I remember correctly, you told me we would have to switch Autumn’s car seat over, and that’s why you didn’t want to ride with me. It’s not even in your car,” he accuses me as he loads the bags from my trunk to his truck.
I shrug my shoulders. “You didn’t think Jordan and Lucas had one of their own, did you? Most friends don’t buy car seats for their friend's kids.”
He smirks at me and shakes his head. He opens the passenger side door of his Ford F-150 and takes the drink tray from my hand. “Get in,” he demands, and I narrow my eyes at him while I obey. I climb into the passenger seat and when I turn around, I swear his eyes were on my ass.
“Not a good way to restart a friendship, Dec,” I tell him and smirk.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, brat.” He hands me the drinks and then rounds the truck.
I can see his cheeks are tinged with pink, and I can’t tell if it’s from the cold or embarrassment.
Men.
Before he gets in the truck, I look in the backseat. Sure enough, there’s a brand-new car seat in the back. Not just any car seat, but a top-of-the-line car seat that’s hardly affordable. I swallow through the lump in my throat and turn forward before he can see the look on my face.
Oh, Declan.
~ ~ ~
My parents’ house is filled with rose-gold, light pink, and dark purple balloons. It looks like a unicorn vomited everywhere, and I absolutely love it.
While I was pregnant with Autumn, I swore up and down that I wouldn’t let her be obsessed with unicorns.
But the majestic animal slowly grew on me, and I decided, what’s not to love about a horse with a colorful mane who poops rainbows and has a shiny gold horn on its head?
They’re totally awesome. And that’s why everything from the plates to her cake has a unicorn on it today.
“There you two are!” my mom exclaims as we toe our shoes off at the door. “Declan, can you go help Alex in the living room? He’s trying to fill more balloons, not that we don’t have enough already, but I have to man the oven, and he needs an extra set of hands.”
She comes right up to him and plants a kiss on his cheek before trying to take the bag he’s holding. It’s not one of mine, and I’m curious what’s in it.
He pulls the bag back from her. “I’ll take this with me. I have stuff to set up, too.”
My mom holds her hands up in surrender. “You got it.” She gives him a big smile.
When he leaves the entryway, she whispers to me, “Are we still planning on pretending like we forgot it’s Declan’s birthday today? I think it might actually kill me to wait until Autumn’s friends are gone to say something.”
My mom is the most caring person I know, and I can tell it pains her to no end to keep up the ruse I set in place.
It pains me too. When Declan said Autumn invited him to her party, and I had forgiven him in my mind moments before, I knew I needed to make sure he was celebrated today, too.
I made sure to order a separate cake for him from Coastal Cravings with exactly thirty-three candles.
Because who’s counting?
Me apparently.
My mom and I work in the kitchen while the guys work in the living room, and we have a full view of them blowing up an unreasonable number of balloons while simultaneously making a balloon arch.
We have just enough time to get the food out and set everything up before a few of Autumn’s friends show.
There’s enough food here to feed an army, and while kids' birthday parties only last a few hours, we needed more for what I have planned for after the party.
My parents love making Autumn’s birthday a huge affair.
I think because I’m their only child, and at this rate, won’t have any more kids, they like to make Autumn feel extra special on her day.
I also know that they try to fill the fatherly void with grandparent love, so she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out.
“I hate this,” my mom tells me as we finish setting up. “No matter what he said, that man is clearly apologetic. We shouldn’t be doing this,” she tries to convince me again.
I might have told her everything that transpired on Christmas and afterward.
I don’t keep too many secrets from her, and she needed to know why I wanted today to play out like it is.
Do you want to know what my mom’s response was?
“Sometimes men are stupid, and they say things they don’t really mean.
Maybe he said he doesn’t want or like kids, but he drew Autumn a unicorn.
A man who doesn’t like kids would never do that. ”
I am starting to feel kind of bad that no one in my family has told him happy birthday now. We all heard Kate say it. And I’m starting to wonder if I didn’t make a mistake. But I’m going to see this through because it’s already in motion. Even Jordan and Lucas are in on it.
I text Jordan to let her know they can bring Autumn over, and that’s when I see Declan start to pull stuff out of his bag. He’s pulling out what looks to be sheets of paper plus drawing supplies.
He and my dad set up a station for the stuff, and I decide I’m too curious to wait and see what he’s up to.
“What is this?” I ask, grabbing the stack of papers sitting next to him.
I notice every sheet has a clear plastic film over it, and what looks to be custom drawings by Declan.
There are unicorns, princesses, cats, dogs, flowers, superheroes, firefighter animals, and more.
Some of them are in black and white and some are in detailed color.
“They’re temporary tattoos.”
I thumb through each one slowly. There have to be at least twenty sheets of tattoos here that he drew himself. He’s even prepared with safety scissors, a sponge, a bowl, and water.
“You drew all these?” I ask, even though I already know he did.
“Yeah. And I brought skin-safe markers just in case someone didn’t like any of the temporary tattoos.”
I nod my head and place the stack back down gently, like they’re a highly valuable piece of art.
“How long did it take you to draw all of them?” I ask with genuine curiosity.
“Just a few days,” he says nonchalantly.
A few days? Wow.
“Well, Autumn and her friends are going to love them,” I tell him honestly.
“That was my plan. The kids liked the temporaries Preston gave them at the opening of the shop, so I figured I would do something with variety.”
I give him a tight-lipped smile and turn to head down the hallway to the bathroom. After I lock the door behind me, I lean against it and lightly bang my head against the wood. I’m having major déjà vu right now. How does he make me get emotional like this over something so simple?
I need to keep myself in check. Just because Declan is thoughtful doesn’t mean anything more. I can forgive him for his shortcomings of course, but he’s nothing more than a friend.
It’s going to take us some time to get back to where we were, especially now that I know why he’s been so weird around me and Autumn, but I’m not going to lie, it’s just hard to be around him, period.
Because something happens to me each time I see his face, and I can’t for the life of me shake it.
I should probably see a doctor because it’s starting to make me a little bit crazy.