Page 43 of Forever Mine

“It’smybirthday!”

“Oh! That’s right!” Then I kissed her cheek loudly. “Happy birthday Gemmy!”

She giggled and wiggled out of my arms and turned to Jay, who was still standing there with the present in his hands. Seriously? My sister could’ve taken it from him.

“Hi! I’m Gemmy!”

“Hi, Gemmy. I’m Jay. Happy birthday.”

“Thank you! I’m six!”

Jay grinned. Gemmy was infectious. “I heard. That’s awesome.”

She nodded in agreement. “Are you Uncle Dakota’s boyfriend?”

His eyes flashed to mine quickly but he answered without hesitation. “I am.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to jump now. Bye!”

Gemmy grabbed her big sister’s hand and ran off, leaving us with the adults.

“Do you want to see my pictures from the beach?” Henry asked Jay.

We were sitting at the birthday table while most of the kids ran crazy around the trampolines. It wasn’t really Henry’s scene and he had been mostly playing on his tablet with his headphones on. But he seemed to take a liking to Jay. Henry didn’t talk much to people he didn’t know, but that didn’t seemto apply to Jay. They had spent the last half hour talking about video games I’d never heard of.

“Sure.”

Henry beamed as he pulled up his photo album on the phone. “Mom and Dad took me there on vacation at the beginning of the summer, since we probably won’t be going on vacation there next year, with the baby coming. Usually, we go in August, but Mom was too big by then. So we went in June.”

I hid my laugh. Nora wouldlovethat explanation. The pictures were surprisingly good.

“Wow, Henry, you took those?”

“Yup. Dad said he’ll get me a camera for my birthday. I’ve been researching the best options.”

“These look great, kid. I’ve never been to the beach, but these make me feel like I’m right there.”

I didn’t know who looked more shocked, Henry or me. Though I guess I really shouldn’t have been that surprised.

Jay realized we were both staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing. I guess I didn’t realize you’ve never been to the beach before.”

He shrugged. “Never really thought much ’bout it, honestly.”

Jay turned his full attention back to Henry, not phased in the slightest, while I was hit with just how much privilege I had. My family wasn’t rich by any means, but the idea that something I took for granted, since we live only an hour from the ocean, was something my boyfriend never got to experience really shook me. In all the things Jay had shared since we’ve been together, I don’t know why this one was hitting me so hard. It just was. I was determined to make sure Jay experienced all the things he missed as a child that I took for granted.

Time passed, and I settled back and watched my nieces play with their friends, wondering when the fuck the pizza was getting here, when one of the workers walked up to the table, herarms filled with boxes. “Finally.” We helped her get them settled on the table while Bridget rounded up all the kids.

“Can you start getting the half slices on plates, please?” My mom asked as she grabbed a case of juice boxes and began putting them at each plate setting.

“Sure.” Jay helped me quickly pass out the slices as a horde of hungry kids filled the table. Once the first box was done, I threw it to the side as Jay opened the second box. He froze, the box half open.

Dread settled in my gut before I even looked at him. “Jay, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he slammed the box down and stormed away from the table, headed for the exit. Fuck!

Did I look at the box or go after him? Luckily, Declan made that decision easy for me. “Holy fuck, there’s a note in here, Dakota.”

---