Gem giggled while clutching her crystal pendant. “Claude likes to be funny. It’s going to be a project for them to assemble together. You know how boys like to bond over tools. I think he bought it to hold all the new toys.”
Shepherd scratched his whiskery jaw, his dark eyes pensive. “I didn’t think about a shelf. Good idea.”
Gem slapped the table with her palms. “I’m so excited I can hardly stand it!”
Wyatt leaned back, hand over his stomach. “I’m so hungry I can hardly stand it.”
“I need a smoke,” Shepherd complained.
Gem poked his shoulder. “Don’t you dare stink up this room with your cigarettes. It smells heavenly right now. Like cake, frosting, cookies, and—”
“Rubber,” Wyatt added, sniffing his tattooed fingers.
Niko entered the room with a basket of freshly cut peonies. “I hope these will suffice. I’m not able to see their blooms, but they smelled good enough to pick.”
Blue collected the basket. “Thanks, amigo. They’re perfect. I’ll go put them in a vase.”
Everyone quietly grinned at Niko’s unicorn shirt, all except Gem. Her knowing smile made me wonder if Niko had told her that he knew about the team’s little prank on his wardrobe.
“So what are we supposed to do when he walks in?” Wyatt tucked his chin in his palm. “Jump out and scare him?”
Gem worried her bottom lip. “Maybe we should play some music. I’ve got Spice Girls on my phone.”
Shepherd shook his head. “He wouldn’t like all that noise.”
“So we just sit here?” Christian shifted in his seat. “Sounds like a grand idea. Someone pour me a glass of wine.”
“No alcohol,” Gem said, touching up her pink lipstick. “You can’t drink at a child’s birthday party.”
“Speak for yourself,” Christian murmured.
I had to smile. A kid’s birthday party was the last place a fanghole like Christian would be. Then again, Keystone wasn’t exactly the Brady Bunch. Shepherd had no choice but to assume a fatherly role, and in many ways, he reminded me of Crush with his unorthodox method of child-rearing. A man with no experience, trying to do the best he could without screwing it all up. If anything, Hunter’s presence was a diversion from all the hardcore stuff we dealt with on a daily basis. He served as a constant reminder of what we were fighting for—so little guys like him would have a better world to live in.
Claude whooshed into the room so fast that he dislodged a balloon from the wall and sent it flying. “Get ready. They’re coming,” he said quietly.
Blue returned from the kitchen and set the vase of flowers near me.
We all rose from the table when Switch entered the room and winked just seconds before Hunter dawdled in behind him.
The second Hunter noticed the decorations, his jaw dropped, and his eyes rounded. Damn. Why didn’t we yell out surprise? Instead, I began singing the “Happy Birthday” song. The others joined in.
Except Christian. He just added silly sound effects between the lyrics, which made Shepherd give him a thorny look.
Hunter clutched Switch’s hand and marveled at the streamers, balloons, and the pile of wrapped presents.
After the song ended, we clapped and whistled.
Shepherd approached Hunter and held out his hand. “Come on, little man. You’re six years old today. This is the day you were born, and we’re having a big party.”
Wyatt pointed at the table behind Viktor’s chair. “You want a cookie?”
“Not yet,” Shepherd barked, leading Hunter to his chair.
Hunter excitedly sat down on his folded legs so he could see everything. Sometimes I caught a strong resemblance to Shepherd in his features. Though Shepherd kept his hair short, I imagined it would be wild like Hunter’s if he grew it out. But Hunter must have inherited his big blue eyes from his mother.
Shepherd moved the candy and plate aside and slid a box in front of him, which earned a great big hug from Hunter. He didn’t seem to know what it was, only that it was pretty.
Shepherd started to tear the paper, and Hunter jerked the box away from him. “You gotta see what’s inside. This is all for you. Go on. Tear it open.”
After admiring the printed balloons on the wrapping paper, Hunter slowly peeled it away, taking an excruciating amount of time to open his gift.
Wyatt stole a seat. “Hurry up, kid. I’m growing roots over here.”
When Hunter finally got the last bit of paper off and opened the box, his eyes lit up.
“That’s the one you liked.” Shepherd puffed out his chest. His grin was almost sinister and unnatural, but he was clearly proud of himself.
Hunter clutched the stuffed black cat and gave it a tight squeeze. Shepherd slid another box in front of him, and everyone took their seats and watched him slowly tear open the paper as if it might trigger a bomb to go off. Inside that one, a dinosaur that roared. The next gift was a Barbie. Seeing what Hunter picked out was about as pure as it got. Prior to staying with us, this kid had lived a sheltered life with no television or playmates.
When he opened a bag filled with rubber balls, we didn’t think Shepherd would be able to get him to stop throwing them around the room. But the gift-opening ceremony wasn’t over yet.
Switch collected all the torn paper and ribbons and cleared the table without a complaint, his long hair seeming to draw attention to his handsome yet animalistic features. He wasn’t good at hiding his thoughts. This wasn’t a conventional home for children, and I often saw the concern on his face. But not today. Before taking out the trash bag filled with wrappings, he stuck a blue bow on Hunter’s head.
Hunter smiled from ear to ear as he dug through a bag of socks. All of them were predominantly pink but with different designs and patterns.
Niko reached out to touch the gift. “These are from me. Blue helped me pick the right color. Do you like them?” While Hunter didn’t answer, Niko nodded as he looked in his direction. Niko could understand Hunter in a way the rest of us couldn’t by simply reading his light.
“I’m pleased,” he said. “Shall we tell Kira we’re ready to eat?”
Viktor finally strode into the room. “We cannot eat until we have cake! Always dessert first on birthday.” He took the bow off Hunter’s head and rumpled his hair. “You are big boy today. Happy birthday,” he said, repeating it in Russian. “I see you have many gifts. Open your hands.”
Hunter splayed his fingers and looked up at him.
“Nyet. Cup them together like you are holding water.” When Viktor reached in his pocket, it jingled, and he dropped several coins into Hunter’s hands.
I leaned over the table to see.
“These are special coins. Very old. You should keep them in a special box. Do you have a box to put important things in?”
Hunter shook his head.
“You do now,” Switch said, returning from the kitchen and holding out a wooden box. He opened the lid, and Hunter dropped the change inside.
When the box closed, Hunter placed it on the table and ran his fingers over the wolf carved on the lid.
“That was nice of you,” Gem said.
Switch put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Can’t have coins without a place to put them. When Viktor told me what he was giving him, I thought about a box I had as a kid. I used to put all my treasures in there, which amounted to nothing more than rocks, a watch face, a map of all the places I wanted to visit, an arrowhead I found once while digging in the yard, and a pack of gum.”