Page 85 of Big Island Horizons
“I’m on it.”
The kitchen filled with the warm, spicy smell of chai while dawn came slowly to the island, filtering through a thick layer of clouds.
Kai came stumbling into the kitchen, half asleep and scowling. He glared at Lani, turned around, and went back into the living room. A moment later, Lani heard the crackle of his walkie talkie.
“Mom?”
“Good morning, birthday boy!” Emma’s voice came in through the speaker, bright and only slightly garbled.
“I woke up and you weren’t here.”
“I’ll be there in two shakes.”
He came back in and sat at the kitchen table, looking glum.
“Morning, bud,” Lani said. “Do you want some tea?”
“Sure,” he said with a sigh.
She poured him a cup of chai from the decaf pot and added a heavy splash of goat’s milk. He accepted it with a nod and sat there with two hands on the mug, looking like a tiny businessman steeling himself for another day at the office.
“I want tea too,” Rory whined. Lani had left her sleeping on the couch after carrying her in that morning, and now she walked into the kitchen cradling their orange kitten like a baby.
“Coming right up.” Lani kissed the top of her daughter’s head and went to pour another cup of chai.
When Dio came bounding in through the kitchen door, Kai finally smiled. He took the dog’s head in both hands and pressed their foreheads together.
Dio’s whole body wriggled with the joy of another day, but he kept his front feet firmly planted and his head still, accepting his boy’s greeting.
Emma came in a moment later, and Lani took the milk pail so that she could focus on Kai. She went to hug him and he curled up on her lap, looking so big and so small at the same time.
“Will you sing me the birthday song?” he asked.
Smiling softly, Emma sang:
Today is a birthday, I wonder for whom
I know it’s for someone right here in this room
So look all around you for somebody who
is happy and smiling - my goodness, it’s you!
So happy birthday Kai, from all of us to you.
Happy birthday Kai, from Auntie and Rory too.
We appreciate you, oh we truly do.
So happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!
By the end of the song, Kai was beaming.
“That’s not the birthday song,” Rory said, looking confused. “It’s not the English birthday songorthe Hawaiian birthday song.”
“It’sourbirthday song!” Kai said proudly.
“Did you make it up?”
