Chapter Thirty-One

Another dress hits the ground because I never know what to wear, ever. What I would give for a personal styler to organise all of my clothing and remove the horrible sense of worry and annoyance that often consumes my stomach. I can never be bothered trying to piece an outfit together because it just gets too hard. There's way too many options and other things to think about as well. Like jewellery and shoes. "We need to be at Blake's house within the hour, just pick something," my mother calls out from downstairs. I throw another dress on the ground and roll my eyes. Parents, they just don't understand what it's like. They're old, they don't need to dress up nice anymore to impress their other half. Me, well, I'm in the position where I need to impress Blake with my clothing options. I want Blake to think I'm sophisticated, laid back, sexy and someone he can have fun with. Trying to get that all into an outfit, well, I'm not having the best luck with it. How do you find something that's sexy and sophisticated at the same time? "You don't understand." I growl under my breath. "Nobody understands." Kyle refuses to help me, especially after I told him about the comment Blake made about wanting me to wear a sexy dress for his birthday. Apparently, Kyle can't condone that sort of behaviour and that it would have to be up to me to decide what to wear. Kyle's being over the top. He's acting like I want to dress up as the party's hooker rather than just something nice to impress Blake. Whatever his problem is, it's only made me that much more determined to get my clothing choice perfect. I can do this without him. "You don't understand," she yells back, "I have places to be as well." "Mother's aren't supposed to have a social life." I shake my head with annoyance. "You're supposed to cater for me," I remind her. "Pick a dress and be done with it," the annoyance ringing in her voice. I close my bedroom door and sit back on the floor with the dresses surrounding me. I sort through the clothing and places them into two separate piles. Ones for what I like, and the others for what I'm not happy with. Blake has set me a challenge, and I'm finding it hard to live up to it. In the end I settle with a classic little black dress with a beautiful lace trimming. I pack the dress in a bag along with some make-up and toiletries, and then settle on a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt to wear for today. "I'm leaving, are you ready?" Mum calls out. I slip on my shoes grab my bag and run down stairs. Mum has a few bags by the door that I scoop up before heading outside. I walk down the driveway and stand by the car waiting for her. "Ready?" I call out in a teasing tone. She pokes her tongue out and unlocks the car. I put all of our stuff in the back of the car and sit in the front seat. Shortly, I'm joined by mum and the sound of the car engine chugging away. She pulls out of the driveway and heads off towards the Rivers residence. The nerves begin to bubble inside my stomach. This is the first party and birthday I'm spending with Blake, first birthday for a boyfriend. It's exciting, yet very nerve-racking. I don't want to do something wrong to ruin his day. "Something's wrong, what is it?" Mum asks. "Nothing." I straighten my back and stop frowning. "Just from the way you've changed your posture, there is, tell me," she begs, her tone sending guilty shivers down my spine. "Just nervous about seeing Blake for his birthday. What if my present isn't enough?" I told her all he wanted was to see me, I left the dress part out of the conversation. We'd both concluded we should still get him a present, what to get was the question. I ended up settling on a nice bottle of scotch from the liquor store. I don't know if he'll like it, but the bottle looks pretty. "If you think Blake would leave you over a present, I don't think you know him that well at all," she brutally says, "he's a sweet kid who's going through a lot at the moment. The fact you've stuck by his side when few did, showing your presence is enough," she says. "But-" "Nothing." She shakes her head, "Take it from someone who knows, people treat you differently when they decide your life is over. Blake is grateful to have someone like you in his life." She flicks the car indicator on and turns the corner. "Do you think so?" I play with my fingers in my lap. "I do." She nods her head. "Thank you." "For?" "Believing in me." I smile. The remainder of the car ride is quiet, a nice quiet that's refreshing and relaxing. When we arrive at Blake's house, I can smell a barbecue cooking and the sound of music filtering through the air. "Have they started the party already?" I ask. "I don't know." She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm going to help Angela cook food for dinner tonight, maybe it's just lunch?" she offers. We walk up to Blake's parent's house and knock on the door. Shortly after, Angela opens the door and pleasantly greets us with big smiles on her face. "You made it, I'm delighted." She gives us a hug each before waving for us to come inside. Mum and I shuffle inside and stand awkwardly in the hallway looking at her. "Everyone's outside, Ava," she explains. "Okay." I nod my head. "Ready for the kitchen?" Angela asks. We walk further through the house and I see an exit to the backyard through the lounge room. I see Jude, Blake, and London by the barbeque and their father sitting on one of the deck chairs with food. "Hey," I call out as I open the door. "Ava, you're here." Blake abandons his place at the barbeque and walks over to me. I walk across the yard and meet him halfway. He's got London strapped to his chest which makes me smile, that's so cute. Blake is such a great dad, he pulls the role off effortlessly. We meet halfway in the backyard. Blake gives me an awkward half hug and kisses my cheek in the process. London lets out a little noise and blinks her eyes expectantly at me, which makes me smile in return. "I'm glad you're here," he says, a beaming smile filtering across his face. "I got you a present." I move my backpack from my shoulder, but the shaking of Blake's head stops me from continuing on through the motion. "You didn't need to get me anything." "So you don't want your other present?" I wink, sliding my bag over my shoulder once more. "You look cheeky, so I'm going to stop right there. Do you want any food?" asks Blake. "I'm good thank you. When are we setting up for the party?" I ask. "Soon, I guess, Jude's the one who's organised it, so I'm letting him deal with the set up." I nod my head and smile up at him. "How is that working for you?" "Blakie, I want my grandbaby," his mother suddenly calls out. She comes running over to Blake with a bright smile on her face. "Why do you want her?" Blake presses his hand on London's back and softly kisses her head. "Because I want you to put the lights up and you can't go that with a baby strapped to your chest," she explains, "the lights are in the shed, and I'd like them in the trees and along the garden edge." She waves her hands while talking. "What's about-" "Your brother can help you out as well, so can your father," she adds in. "Promise to take good care of her?" "She'll be in the kitchen helping grandma make food, not shipped off to another country. Stop being dramatic." She rolls her eyes with fake annoyance. You can easily see the shimmer of humour in her eyes. He shakes his head and begins unstrapping London from his chest. Very carefully, he hands her over to his mother, who envelops her in her arms and starts cooing about how cute and tiny she is. "Bottle in fifteen, okay?" "I know, and let poor Ava put her stuff away first." Angela nods her head and disappears inside the house with London. Blake laces his fingers through mine as we walk towards his house. He opens the door and ushers me inside. I head through the hallway and upstairs towards Blake's bedroom, he follows closely behind. "I'm curious about these presents now." I leap forwards and jump onto the bed, the cushioning padding breaking my fall. I unzip the bag and pull out the first gift I have for him. "Here." "Thank you." Blake accepts the box and takes a seat next to me. He slowly unwraps the gift wrapping and pulls the bottle out of the box. "Scotch, my favourite." "Really?" "No." He shakes, "But I like the bottle." "Sorry." I frown. "It's perfect, don't worry." He leans across and plants a small kiss on my lips. "I didn't get you anything nice for your birthday," I remind him. "Presents don't matter to me, you do though. And I love the idea of this second present." He winks, "and I love these." His hand slides over my legs. "You're the cheeky one," I say. "Just for you." Blake tackles me onto the bed. My head hits the mattress and I grin with excitement. He hovers above me and starts kissing along my neck, his hands exploring my body. "What about the lights?" I ask. "Fuck the lights." My mind is consumed by Blake Rivers. I run my hand through his soft hair, the other grabbing at his muscular back. How he's managed to stay in shape and care for London is a magical mystery – not that I'm complaining. There's a knock at the door, which makes Blake growl with annoyance. "What do you want?" he yells. "Mum wants us to set the lights up, are you ready?" asks Jude. "We'll finish this later." He presses a kiss against my lips before hoping off the bed and heading over to great Jude. I lay on the bed flustered and slightly dazed. Blake is too good of a kisser to have to wait that long to get my hands on him. However, the kiss has given me some confidence. If he reacts like that to my jeans and t-shirt, I wonder what he'll do when he sees me in my little black dress. Tonight is going to be fun.