After the Earthquake

Part 4

In just two weeks' time, Hazel's family was back together. It may have only been her brother and Jordan, but they meant the world to her. She was so glad that the clean-ups had finished. The immense amount of volunteers who stepped forward during the earthquake had led to an extremely fast recovery time for the country. The worst of the damage had been cleared, and funding from other parts of the world had supported the repair of buildings and had resulted in new areas for housing being given the go-ahead to create sanctuary for those who had lost homes during the earthquake.

Currently, Jordan and Dean were at a loss of things to do. Without their jobs, they had nothing to keep them busy. Especially now that their volunteer work had finished, they found themselves itching to get to work on something again. Hazel was perfectly content with drawing her comic, which she had newly found interest in, although even she was missing the outside world and found herself wanting something to be involved in. Her body had mostly healed, so she was itching to go outside and continue her recovery in the fresh air.

That's why when Hazel's birthday came around, they planned one of the biggest birthdays she had ever experienced. Despite Dean and Jordan wanting to plan it as a surprise, Hazel had ruined their plans by telling them she wanted to plan her own party. They all came to an agreement that they would plan it together.

However, Hazel still found herself in shock when she returned home on her birthday from a short walk. As she entered the house, banners were up everywhere, balloons had been blown up, and streamers were all over the house. She did not even know that such small items were being sold amidst all the chaos of the earthquake. "Happy birthday!" Dean, Jordan, Lyra and Sierra all burst out of a door to the side, practically stumbling over each other in an effort to gain Hazel's attention.

"You guys! I can't believe you managed to get all of this. How did you even manage it?"

"I just wanted the cake," Dean shrugged.

"Yeah, I honestly only came for the cake," Lyra teased.

"Well, I came because I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and to thank you for how kind you have been." Sierra approached Hazel, and gave her a big hug. She had really come out of her shell in the past few weeks due to her interactions with the household. Although she was still shy, she was no longer nervous in front of them all. She shot Dean a glare with her ice-blue eyes. "Be nice." His light brown eyes bulged back at her, and he looked at her innocently as though he had done nothing worthy of blame.

Hazel fought back the tears from her own eyes as the absence of her mother became painfully prominent. She drifted through the doorways as though in a trance, and although she seemed to admire the decorations and the effort that her friends and family had put in, she hardly took anything in. This was her first birthday without her mother. She had no father either. She was an orphan.

Dean must have noticed her shadowed gaze, because he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and murmured, "I'm sure she's watching now. Put on a show, Hazel – for Mam, if nobody else." Hazel brushed away the tears from her eyes, and despite Dean's usual annoyance, she found herself feeling extremely grateful for her brother and the role he played in her life. She didn't know where she would be without him to support her.

They all took a seat at the dining table and Lyra pushed in front of the others to claim a seat next to Hazel. She buzzed with excitement at the idea of what she was about to show her best friend. "I just want to warn you that my present is the best one. Don't be too upset when the others give you worse things, okay? I'm sure they tried their hardest."

Hazel laughed in a mixture of curiosity and confusion. "What is it, then? I didn't think you brought anything."

"I didn't. It's all in here." Lyra pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. Hazel watched as she continued to go onto an app and showed her the screen. "This is the comic you have done. I thought it was really good, and so I signed you up on this webcomic app. I know you didn't believe me when I told you your art was amazing, but this way you can upload your drawings and get advice from people you don't know. Look – I have uploaded the first few pictures you sent me, and you already have a few likes. See?"

Hazel frowned and glanced down at her hands to fumble with them. "I don't know if this is such a good idea..."

"Sure it is. Look at this one; it's your most popular post. This is when you sent me the cover drawing for your comic. There are only four comments, but all of them are positive." Hazel's heart warmed when she saw that the comments on the post all consisted of telling her that her art was incredible. "I've written down the log-in details here." She slipped Hazel a piece of card. "Keep uploading, okay? You already have your first subscriber – me!"

"Lyra, this is so sweet. Thank you. I'll try to work my way around this, if only to please you." Lyra flipped back her hair proudly, and she began boasting to the others about how wonderful her present was compared to whatever theirs would be.

Jordan shuffled his chair closer to Hazel's to give his present. "So, I know we didn't get our wedding. Our circumstances are far from perfect. I thought this might make up for it a bit and encourage you that things will get better from here on in." He pulled out a small bag from underneath the table. "I know it's not much, and I'm sorry. It was all I could get in the aftermath of the earthquake." He presented her with a snow globe, and she was extremely confused until she looked inside.

Inside the snow globe was a beautiful sculpture of a man and a woman in a wedding dress, and when she shook it confetti rained down on their heads. She didn't know whether it was the kind gesture, the happiness of the couple in the snow globe or the fact that her mother was not there to witness this, but Hazel could no longer hold back the tears and burst out crying. Jordan looked alarmed and horrified, and she quickly explained herself. "I love the present, it's not that. It's just... I really hope that one day we can be as happy as the people in this sculpture. That's my birthday wish."

"We will be." Jordan leant over and kissed Hazel briefly on the lips. She felt joy rush through her that she had such a loving man who would be forever by her side. Her heart leapt in her chest, and she grabbed the hands of the two people closest to her; Jordan and Lyra.

"I love you guys. All of you. Thank you for making what should have been my worst birthday ever into one of the best."

Dean rolled his eyes at this. "Hey, your birthday isn't half as good as it will be after you see my present." He dove underneath the table and began waving around some packaging. He threw it at Hazel, who caught it and began to open it. "Socks. No need to thank me, dearest sis."

"Oh, Dean, you shouldn't have," Hazel laughed as she tossed the socks at his head. He narrowly avoided them by catching them.

Sierra suddenly slid some very neatly wrapped presents over the table. "Here is my present. I'm sorry it's not very exciting, I didn't know what you liked." She glared at Dean, who was sitting next to her. "Dean doesn't, either. He was no help."

Hazel smiled warmly at Sierra and reassured her, "I'm sure I'll love it anyway." She unwrapped some luxurious bath supplies and some divine smelling perfumes. "They're wonderful, Sierra, thank you. This means a lot to me that you'd go to the effort to get me something. Also, just take my advice: never rely on Dean for anything."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Sierra cut off Dean as she began to speak again. "I also have another thing to ask of you all. I know I shouldn't, because you've all been so kind, but there is an open green space in the village which the council has granted us permission to work on. They are building the houses one at a time, and they need more volunteers." She avoided meeting the gaze of the people around the table as though she was ashamed to ask them for help. "Would you be so kind as to help me build the house? It's completely fine if you can't." She turned to Hazel. "If you're not feeling well enough, please don't push yourself. It's just that I would love to be able to rehome another family and get them out of the terrible conditions of the shelters."

Hazel, Jordan and Dean all had great big smiles on their faces as they nodded eagerly, but Lyra shrunk back in her seat. "I'm sorry, Sierra. It sounds like a great cause, but my mother doesn't want me helping out at all. She needs me at home, to help look after Dad."

Sierra quickly put up her hands and shook her head. "Please, don't be sorry! You've done more than enough. Besides, we only need a few more volunteers."

"How many?" Hazel asked.

"They're asking for three more people to join us, because that will give everyone a job to do without us getting under each other's feet." Sierra gazed expectantly at the other three people sat around the table.

"I think you found your three," Dean answered for all of them.