Page 101 of Until the Ink Dries

“If y’all don’t gone, just made for each other.” She said, mumbling that last part.

I laughed and walked out of the birthday room to watch Charlie play with her friends in the bounce houses. She looked so carefree; it was a look I hoped I could keep on her face. I was so engrossed with watching Charlie that I hadn’t realized Willow had come out of the room until I felt her arms wrapping around my waist. I glanced over my shoulder to see her smaller frame masked by mine, so I unwrapped her arms and pulled her in front of me.

“You looked so spaced out. You okay?” she asked, as I held on to her.

“Yeah, I’m just happy we were able to give her this day. Look how happy and at peace she looks. Her last few birthdays, she always held this sad look, wondering where her mommy was. Today, she didn’t ask for her at all. Granted, I know it has something to do with that situation?—”

I released a sigh. “But, she looks like she isn’t missing something. She looks whole out there and I’m grateful as fuck for that. I’m not crazy enough to believe I can protect her from everything, but I’m damn sure gone try.”

Willow turned in my arms and reached up to cup my chin, tilting her head back and poking out her lips. I laughed as I leaned down to kiss her a few times before standing up to my full height.

“Exactly, don’t be stingy with the goods.” She said then smiled.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, then smacked her ass before gripping it. I leaned in and kissed her again when someone cleared their throat. We both peeked behind me to see my mother standing with a knowing smile.

“Son, it’s kids out here. Don’t be out here being fresh. Also, call them in, the pizza is ready. Anna and I, with the help of y’all dads, put a slice on every plate.” she said.

I nodded and released the hold I had on Willow to call all the kids in. Once we got all the kids seated, we said a prayer, keeping it short because I wasn’t sure of every child’s religion. There was enough pizza for the adults to eat as well. So, we all sat and ate with them. Since there were so many kids, we decided to go ahead and do the cake now, too. I was not trying to gather these kids again.

The venue lent us a rolling table to place the cake on. We moved it to make sure the cake was in the center of the room, with a number six candle lit in the middle. Willow was standing off to the side with a big smile as I stood beside Charlie.

“Ms. Willow! I need you next to me. I need help with my wishes. If you and daddy help me blow the candle out, my wish will come true! I know it!” she exclaimed.

I don’t know how this child came up with shit like this, but I wasn’t here to tell her it wasn’t true. Willow walked over and stood on the opposite side of Charlie with a big smile. I looked out at the kids.

“Ready… one...two... three. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Charlie. Happy Birthday to you!” we all sang in unison.

“What’s your boyfriend’s first name—” Shirah sang, causing everyone to laugh at my frown.

“Nah, none of that. This is why you banned from my child now!” I joked, causing everyone to laugh again.

I returned my attention back to Charlie with a smile.

“Alright, baby. Did you make the wish? You ready to blow out the candle?” I asked.

Charlie’s eyes were still closed, so whatever she was wishing for must have been big. Finally, her eyes opened, and she nodded eagerly. The three of us leaned forward and blew the candle out together. Everyone around us cheered and clapped. I couldn’t drop my smile even if I tried.This was the life I didn’t know how to pray for.

“Right there!” Charlie said, pointing.

Currently, I was at Benjamin’s. His furniture was starting to come in and Charlie’s room was the first thing he wanted to put together. We’d… well, he’d spent most of the morning assembling it while Charlie and I put away items in the kitchen. I wasn’t sure how he liked things organized, so I put them where they made sense.

Now that the bedroom furniture was put together, Charlie was instructing us where to put it all.

“No, wait! Over here!”

Benjamin huffed. “Charlotte Grace. Pick a spot.”

“It’s hard, Daddy. It’s so much space!”

I stifled a laugh. She’d said that same thing when she first saw the house and picked out her room. Baby girl was overly excited when Benny allowed her to pick out her bedroom furniture. All day long, she’d been running up and down the stairs to see if he was finished putting it together.

“I know, princess,” Benny said. “If you want to change the room later, we can do that. Right now, we just need to put things in a space.”

Charlie tapped her chin like she was thinking hard, something she often did. Benny and I waited patiently for her decision.

“Okay!” she said excitedly, clapping her hands. “Right here.”

We maneuvered her bed back to the exact same spot she originally said. After another twenty minutes of putting furniture in designated spots, we were done. I had to admit that she made good decisions as far as her layout. It gave her so much space to play in.

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