“Happy birthday, Zinnie,” I said.
“Thank you. This is, without a doubt, the very best birthday present ever.”
“I’m glad you like the hives.”
“Now I have thousands of new babies.” Slipping her arms around my neck, she rested her head against my chest and sighed. “Where have the months gone, Dash? Melitta’s pretty much weaned herself and now she’s trying to walk before she’s one.”
Hugging her, I reminded her of the unused present she had waiting for her.
“Since she stopped nursing completely, you can finally get your tattoo. Any ideas for it?”
“Tons,” she laughed. “I already sent my two favorites to Bas, and he’s going to draw them for me so I can make the final choice when I have my appointment.”
“Well, I can’t wait to see it.”
Nuzzling my wife’s neck, I lifted my head, hoping my face wouldn’t give anything away.
“Since Mist has Melitta and isn’t expecting us back for a while, want to go make out by Peace Lake? I have a picnic basket in the cart for us.”
Not a lie. I had a picnic basket in the bee mobile, but it was empty except for one thing.
“That sounds like another best birthday present ever,” she agreed.
We walked hand in hand to the bee mobile and headed for Peace Lake, where the commune was
waiting for us.
“What’s going on?” she asked, taking in the crowd.
“Your first real birthday party,” I said, just as her breath hitched.
“Dash,” she said, her eyes watering. “Dash.”
Zinnie had always wanted to go out for dinner together on her birthday and nothing more, saying she preferred low key, but I understood now why she’d said that. This was the first opportunity I’d had to right that wrong her family had done to her.
I opened the picnic basket and pulled out a bee antennae headband and placed it on her head.
“Very fitting for the birthday queen bee,” I teased her. “Ready to celebrate you with a birthday
barbecue?”
She laughed and jumped out of the cart, heading for her family but not before kissing my lips and promising me an official, with far fewer clothes, thank you later tonight.
“All I’ll wear is this,” she whispered, tapping one of her antennae, “And you can show me your stinger.”
“Male bees don’t have stingers,” I teased her.
“Well, I’ll make sure to study that anomaly tonight.”
Laughing at her teasing, I watched my wife greeting the people she’d come to know and love, and my heart felt like it would burst as I saw the love everyone had for Zinnie. I saw how natural and relaxed she was, her happiness obvious. My wife clearly had found her home.
When we were seated on a quilt later, having just finished dinner, Sunny came and sat next to Zin, and Mist squeezed in on the other side of my wife. I knew what was coming, and I’d talked with Sunny about it when she’d asked what Zinnie wanted for her birthday. I’d heard my wife wish for this many, many times.
“We have something for you, but it’s not something we could wrap,” Sunny began, taking Zinnie’s hand. “We’ve had it for a while, but we thought giving it to you on your birthday would make the most sense.”
“OK, hit me,” Zinnie said, feeling pretty mellow from the three beegaritas she’d had to drink.
River had been put in charge of the bar and had developed a special cocktail for my birthday girl. His daughter had become part of our family and loved hanging out with Zinnie and Mist, keeping them up–to–date on the commune’s teenage angst and gossip and her special animosity toward Onyx Courage.
When Mist and Zinnie wanted a girls night, Izan and I been hanging out together, usually ending up at Flint’s or Branch’s homes, and for the past few months River had been joining us.
“We’re adopting you,” Sunny told her in her no–fanfare way. “I’m going to officially be mother, and Mist will be your sister.”
your
When you pour water into a cup, it eventually overflows when it can’t hold anymore. Watching Zinnie, I realized it was the same with happiness. My wife couldn’t hold anymore and it began streaming from her eyes. Sunny put her arms around Zinnie and rocked her gently, letting her and heal as she was held by the mother she should have had all of her life, at the first birthday party she should have had years ago.
We hadn’t heard from anyone in her family since that day they’d shown up here uninvited and unwelcome, and we both had great hopes we never would. I had infrequent contact with my brothers, but that was it. My objective was to protect Zinnie’s happiness and peace, and I’d let nothing interfere with it.
cry
They could no longer reach me at work if they’d wanted to because when my contract with the hospital ended, I’d been hired by a hospital fifteen minutes from Serenity, a place where I’d work until I retired.
Later that night, when I’d taken Zinnie and Melitta home and put our baby in her crib, Zinnie crawled on top of me in bed. As promised, she was wearing nothing but her bee antennae headband.
“I’m a little bit buzzed,” she giggled. “But this was the best birthday ever, Dash. Thank you for arranging everything. The food was so good and everyone had fun. Juniper had more teenage tea to spill. This day meant absolutely everything to me. It was perfect, plus Sunny’s my mom now, and Mist is my sister.”
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.