Page 44 of My Guardian Demon

"Surprise!" I shouted the next day and blew a noisemaker in Onyx's face when he opened the door.

"Whoa!" Onyx laughed and grinned. He stepped inside and shut the door. "What's this?"

"Happy birthday!"

The banner was stuck to the wall across the room. Black and gold balloons were taped in decoration beside the banner and scattered over the floor.

Onyx couldn't wipe the smile off his face. "Wow. I didn't expect anything."

I snapped the hat I'd bought onto Onyx's head, the typical childish cone labeled happy birthday with sparkling streamers on the top and an elastic string under the chin.

"Wear that all night," I said.

I ran over and stood beside Osian, who stood silently watching my insanity. When I got his nod, I blew my noisemaker then counted down from three. I sang happy birthday while Osian and I both signed the words. It took forever to get Osian to agree to do this, but I was so pleased with the resullt.

When we finished, Onyx said, "You guys. I don't even know what to say."

I smiled at him. "You don't have to say anything. Enjoy it. The night's coming in waves. First, we made your favorite dinner. Come enjoy it while it's hot."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.

In front of the counter, Onyx wrapped an arm around me and made me stop. "I know this was you. No one's ever done anything for my birthday so it had to beyou. This means more to me than you'll ever know." He pressed his lips to mine.

He slipped me tongue, which was when Osian cleared his throat. I broke the kiss and laughed. I patted Onyx on the cheek.

Onyx groaned and leaned his forehead on my shoulder.

Osian slid a plate of ribs, cheesy broccoli, and a loaded baked potato onto the countertop of the island. He pulled the stool back for Onyx and formally presented the seat like it was a throne for Onyx to sit.

Onyx crossed to the kitchen stool and sat down with a nod to Osian. "This looks delicious. You guys should join me." He picked up his fork.

"Way ahead of you."

Osian already plated our food, so I picked the plates up off the stove and brought them to the island. Osian grabbed us each a bottle of water from the fridge.

The three of us enjoyed every bite of our dinners. The food was cooked perfectly, if I say so myself. When we were done, Osian silently offered to get the plates and scraped them clean into the trash before rinsing them and loading them in the dishwasher.

I waited until he was done, then I said, "Wave two!" I got the cookie cake out of the fridge and handed it to Onyx.

His eyes widened with surprise as he took it. "You got me a cake?"

"Kinda. We got you a giant cookie with icing on it. We hope you like it."

"I... I love it." He looked stunned.

"You deserve it. Every birthday with me gets celebrated, okay? Osian's up next. I'm already making plans for April."

Osianhrmmphedat me. I smiled and pecked a kiss on Onyx's lips.

"He'll grow to like it. Let's take a picture. We can set my phone up with a timer on the counter and get us all." I lined the demons up in front of the coffeemaker. Osian stood on one side of Onyx and I darted to Onyx's other side. The camera snapped a picture of us all, with Onyx holding his cake and wearing his birthday hat, Osian smirking and leaning his arm over Onyx's shoulder, and my arm wrapping around Onyx's waist.

Onyx put the cookie cake down on the counter. "Can you send that picture to me and Osian? I don't think we have any pictures together. Definitely not at a birthday party."

Huh. They're brothers. What about growing up? Did they not have parties and take pictures together as kids? What kind of childhood did they have?

"Absolutely." I texted it to both of them. "How old are you today, anyway?"

Onyx laughed. "Too old. I'm not telling you." He pointed to Osian. "You're not telling her, either."

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