Chapter 23
"Okay!" Birdie clapped her hands as the waiter bought out the cake with the sparklers.
Thea blushed and hid her face in Angel's shoulder as he sang happy birthday to her loudly. Annabelle, Elian, and Cara joined in as the cake was sat down on the table in front of them. Hayden stood back with his phone in his hand and a polite smile on his lips.
"Make a wish," Elian moved the cake closer to Thea before grabbing the bottle of champagne and getting ready to pop it.
Thea tucked her long gold stands behind her ears and closed her eyes. The lights from the sparklers and candles reflected off of the high points of her face as she concentrated hard on what to ask for on her birthday. After several seconds when she finally blew out the candles, Birdie jumped into the seat beside her and wrapped her arms around the pretty girl.
"What did you wish for?" she asked.
"I wished for Kiara," Thea said, placing her hand on Birdie's arm. "I miss her and it sucks that she's not here."
As Hayden watched, a deep frown formed on his little sister's lips. He knew she was very close to Kiara and the face that she couldn't see her was killing Birdie.
"Ready for cake?" Angel swooped in to cheer up the girls as he began to remove the extra decorations from the cake.
"I want the slice with the flowers!" Annabelle held up her fork.
"Simmer down, princess," Elian shoved her playfully. "This isn't your cake."
Hayden turned away as the twins began to bicker. He opened his phone screen and checked the notifications for the hundredth time that night. He stared at the unread texts from his parents, Ares and Clare, ignoring them for as long as he could. His finger hit the first name on the list and he quickly typed up another text in the blue bubble.
Nora? You're not responding to my texts or calls. What's going on?
Hayden hit sent and pushed the phone into his pocket. He walked back to the celebration and took a seat beside Birdie as they all began to dig into the cake. His mind was not present as conversations swirled around the table and drinks started to pour. The only time Hayden's mind really clicked in was when he saw Birdie reaching for the pixie brew from the corner of his eyes.
"Absolutely not!" he said, taking the glass from her. "Elian, don't even think about it and Annabell....I will call your dad."
"You're such a buzzkill," Birdie kicked him under the table. "Angel doesn't mind if we drink."
"Angel isn't your brother," Hayden narrowed his eyes.
"Hayden is right," Thea pulled Birdie back before the girl could strangle her brother. She looked at Hayden over the girl's shoulder with a knowing smile. "I'll tell them to take away the drinks."
"Thanks," Hayden muttered, checking his phone again.
"Everything okay?" Thea asked. "You keep checking your phone."
"Just work," Hayden sighed before clearing his throat and sitting up. "I'm actually going to head out."
"What?" Thea frowned. "Nooooo. We were going to go to a karaoke bar after this."
"Maybe next time," Hayden said, getting up from his seat.
"But it's my birthday," Thea laughed, taking his hand and tugging him to sit down. "Come on! Please!"
"I really have some work to do, Thea," Hayden frowned. "I'm sorry."
"You'll have to make it up to me."
