Page 84 of Evil Villain (The Royal Court)

“What are you doing?” I asked. “The candles aren’t even lit ye—”

He held his hands up above his head. “Happy birthday to you!”

All the rest of the guests threw their voices in awkwardly, joining Sicily mid-song and finishing it out with him conducting everyone like they were a choir. When the song was done, Sicily clapped his hands, and Cherri walked over and squeezed him.

“I wouldn’t have had that any other way. I love you, you fucking weirdo,” she said.

“Love you too,” then he skipped over to the present table and pulled a small box off the top. “Open my present first.”

I eyed Sicily. “Why are you like this? We just finished singing ‘happy birthday’ and she didn’t even get to blow out the candles.”

“Shhh,” Sicily hissed at me as he handed the box over to Cherri. “Go ahead.”

Cherri took the box from Sicily, and lifted off the top. She reached her hand inside and pulled out a necklace. It had a pendant hanging at the bottom that was a circle with three teardrop shapes that looked as if someone had dragged a toothpick through them and bled them together.

“Woah,” Cherri said. “This is beautiful.”

“It’s the Greek symbol for strength,” Sicily said. “I saw it a couple weeks ago and I thought of you instantly. You’re the strongest person I know.”

Cherri’s eyes started to sparkle with tears and she reached out and pulled Sicily back into a hug. “Thank you so much. This is beautiful, I love it.”

“Okay. If we wanna light candles and do things the normal way, we can,” Sicily said. “I just had to give it to her. I bought it two weeks ago and I almost blew that I bought it like twelve times.” He tapped Cherri on the shoulder. “Happy birthday, kid.”

“He went from so sweet, back to good old Sicily in no time flat,” Nikita said. “What a national treasure.”

“Well,” Alistair said. “I guess we’re moving onto presents. Come on over here and get ‘em goin’ girl!”

Cherri walked over to the table and Kyle brought a stool for her to sit down at and then she smiled and started to go through her presents. She had several parents from her family, and a whole host from The Royal Court, so she had quite a few to get through. I had a present of my own for Cherri, but I wanted to give it to her in private, so it wasn’t stacked in the pile.

Avery had helmed control of taking all the pictures and videos for social media, so I slid over to where Felicity and my mom were standing and gave them each a big hug.

“So. Mom, what do you think of my other mom?” I asked my mom.

My mom smiled at me. “I think very highly of her. She took such wonderful care of my baby when I couldn’t. I’m forever in her debt.”

“It’s me inyours,” Felicity said. “I got to share your amazing son. He’s truly something special.”

My mom put a hand on my face. “He is, isn’t he? I can’t wait to meet this man who he sees as a dad.”

“Well, turns out that may be happening sooner rather than later.” Felicity pulled out a letter and handed it to me. “I know it’s Cherri’s birthday, but here you go.”

I opened it and smiled at all of the information regarding Venom’s granted appeal of his revoked parole. Based on the letter that Connor wrote, the judge agreed to reopen the case, and a date had been set for a couple of months down the road. “This is amazing.”

“Yep, and while he’s still behind bars, he’s making sure that Connor receives a nice, warm welcome for all the harm that he’s caused his kid,” Felicity said with a sly grin.

“Thank god,” my mom said. “I hope whatever happens to him behind bars is painful and permanent for all the pain he’s caused our families.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, Ciara. Garrett’s men are bound to create issues for Connor long after Garrett is gone,” Felicity said.

Over near the table, Cherri shrieked as she opened one of her presents. It was a Yale letterman jacket. Cherri wasn’t going to Yale, but Avery would be leaving in a couple of weeks to start her stint there. “I love it!”

“I knew you would!” Avery said. “This way, you have something to keep me in your mind and in your heart until you come visit.”

“Plus it'ssocute,” Colette said. “With a pair of leather pants you are going to make that jacket look like it belongs on the runway.”

Cherri finished opening her gifts, enjoying her cake, and eating the delicious food that had been laid out. She took some specific time to talk with her parents, Felicity, my mom, and Anisa and Cobalt, and had made sure to spend a good amount of time playing in the pool with Gus. Though I still wasn’t much of a people person, it made me perfectly happy to sit back and watch her enjoy the party that her friends had put together just for her. She had a smile on her face the entire day, which was all I could ever want for her.

Eventually, the sun started to set over the horizon. Gus was so tired he could barely stand up, so Cherri’s parents left first, taking him home, and Anisa and Cobalt left shortly thereafter. My mom and Felicity hung out a little bit longer, admittedly so that they could spend more time with me, but then they eventually gave Cherri a huge hug each, and left, promising to visit again soon.

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