Epilogue Leti
EPILOGUE
Leti
Three Months Later
How does one night make up for twelve years of missed birthday celebrations?
Well, if you’re me, it might involve a ten-pound coffee cake, being surrounded by the people you love and the romantic partner you never thought you’d have renting out an abandoned arcade to hold the event.
The building is like stepping back in time with its neon star-print carpet and blue lighting.
“Were you surprised?”
Julian knows good and well I wasn’t. I’ve been on to him ever since I overheard him yell at my parents back in November.
Still, when I pictured my first birthday party in over a decade, I never could’ve imagined all the stops Julian has pulled to make the day special.
We spent the day out on the lake and he gave me my birthday present early.
I scared off every bird within a mile radius when I squealed in delight at the first sight of that Wonderstruck logo.
He still won’t tell me how much he spent on it.
“Yes and no.”
His arms come around my back, pulling me into the warmth of his body.
“I can’t believe you did all this for me. I’m gonna play Pac-Man until my eyes bleed.”
“Well, I didn’t do this all on my own,” he says. “You still have no idea how loved you are, do you, Leti?”
I already know I have Julian’s stubborn optimism to thank for my parents’ cooperation in helping plan this party.
They didn’t say much when they wished me a happy birthday earlier tonight, but I’d recognize their cooking anywhere.
The real coup de grace was biting into a taco and realizing the tortillas were homemade.
I don’t know how Julian did it—I only wish I was there to see the looks on my parents’ faces when he enlisted their (begrudging, no doubt) help.
“You sure you can’t tell me how you convinced my parents to help?” I bat my eyes at him, hoping to charm him into giving me a straight answer.
“It wasn’t that hard.” He shrugs, looking smug. “All it took was a near stranger making them feel guilty for excluding and mistreating their daughter. Boy, they did not like hearing that.”
“So you’re saying you guilted them into catering.” He hums against my hair. “And paying?”
“We all pitched in,” he says. “Me, your parents, Elena, Diego, and Andrew. The whole family.”
It warms my heart more than he could ever know to hear Julian call himself family. We haven’t been together for very long, but he’s already solidified his presence in my life. Not just as my boyfriend, but as so much more. He’s family.
“Your mom said something interesting to me tonight,” I tell him, my smile spreading wider as he turns pink all the way to his ears.
“Oh no. What did she tell you?”
“That she knew I loved you from the moment she first saw me,” I say. “How she could tell before I knew it myself, I will never know.”
“She’s not a psychic, just a wishful thinker,” he says. “She probably took one look at my face when I was looking at you and clocked it immediately.”
“According to her, it was the opposite.” I shake my head. “Maybe it makes sense. I’d been calling you sunshine boy for weeks by that point. It’s entirely possible that everyone except for me knew exactly how I felt about you all along.”
“Well, you are awfully stubborn.” He chuckles at my scoff. “But I knew I’d wear you down eventually.”
“Yeah?” I smile up at him. “You wanna know something?”
He glances down at me, his eyes soft with such love and affection, it fills my soul to bursting. “What’s that, Leticia?”
“So did I.”