I pecked Cherri on the cheek and then turned my back to her before I really did lose my resolve and drag her back to bed.
We took separate showers for obvious reasons, and then each got dressed and went downstairs. At the bottom, I clasped my hands over Cherri’s eyes and guided her outside and down the path to the pool. The entire area was decorated with lime, pink, and sky-blue balloons and streamers, and the pool had been adorned with brand new floaties to match the color scheme. I smiled at some of the faces standing around, and the table piled high with presents. It made me feel guilty for monopolizing so much of Cherri’s time that morning.
Finally, I pulled my hands from around her eyes and everyone screamed, “Surprise!”
Cherri’s hands came up to her mouth. “Oh wow!”
Cherri’s mom, dad, and brother were standing near the shallow end of the pool, each with hats on and horns in their mouths which they were blowing excitedly. Back by the bar, Felicity, Anisa, Cobalt, and my mom were standing, with drinks in their hands that they held up to cheers to Cherri. Standing closest to us were all the members of The Royal Court, all dressed in nice clothes, wearing party hats and holding a mix of horns and blowers in their mouths.
“Happy birthday!” Nathan said.
“Honestly,” Avery said. “I didn’t think you were going to make it out until Ali and I were leaving for New Haven.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. You still have a week,” Cherri replied.
“No. Kyle and I have been in school for a whole semester now,” Colette said.
Cherri put her hands on her hips. “Alright. Enough with the drama. I’m ready for my party!” She looked over towards her parents and Gus. “Hi, Mama! Hi, Daddy! Gus!”
“Happy Birthday, baby!” Rebeccah, Cherri’s mom, said. “In all seriousness though, if you and Deon have so much trouble waking up in the morning, you should set an alarm.”
All the murmurs of voices went silent as all gazes shifted to Rebeccah. “Y-yeah, mom,” Cherri said. “That’s a really good idea. Let’s have cake!”
Nathan led us over to a table that had been set up between the bar and the pool, where there was a tiered cake and platters of food. There was a tiny model of Cherri, with her short brown, fading-to-blond hair, wearing a leather jacket and jean shorts sitting on top of the cake.
“It’s so cute,” Cherri said. “I love this so much.”
“It’s white cake, with raspberry filling and lemon buttercream,” Avery said. “Made from scratch, by your personal baking crew, me, Ali, and Brayden.”
“That’s awesome. Thank you guys so much!”
“Happy birthday to you!” Sicily randomly started singing.
“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 in yours,” 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's so cute,” Colette said. “With a pair of leather pants you are going to make that jacket look like it belongs on the runway.”