Rêveries

Chapter 67.

The day after Charles' race in Japan, it was October the 14th, Arthur's birthday.

We weren't going to celebrate his birthday in Japan, but it's quite a long flight home, and most of his birthday was celebrated on the flight back. We did give him cake and some presents though. Charles gave him a Richard Mille watch, since he's with Ferrari now and they're discounted for him so that they don't cost like a whole house. I gave Arthur some new clothes along with a new perfume. It does get really hard to buy things for people who have the money to buy everything themselves. It's also very difficult to find special and really thought through gifts for every single occasion where you're expected to buy gifts.

For us, I think quality time is the most meaningful way to spend our birthdays. Charles is alway traveling, Arthur is always traveling, I'm not always traveling but I do travel a lot. We see each other as much as we can, but we're still away so much. So I don't think he minded being stuck in an airplane with us, because we got to spend so much time together, with no other distraction.

We watched movies, played cards, and went through photos of us as children. Looking at photos of us is one of my favorite things to do. Old ones of Charles and Arthur, of Jules and Lorenzo, some of Evie and I. I love being reminded of how easy everything was when we were younger, and how we were smiling in almost every photo, but not because we were told to smile — It was always genuine.

We slept some as well, as the flight was horribly long, and when we landed, my dad was the one who picked us up from the airport. He hadn't told me he'd fly down, but I assumed they would. Either way it was a really nice surprise to have him greet us and drive us back to the house, where our mothers were cooking dinner for us. My mom was making her popular Tatin cake that Arthur has always loved so much, ever since he was a kid.

There were gifts ready for him and we all sat down to eat together and we told them about the trip, even though we didn't really do much. He opened his gifts and they were all really nice. We were all jet lagged and tired from the flight, but we couldn't bear to watch another movie, like our parents suggested. So we played Monopoly, which Charles and Arthur spent most of the time arguing, while my dad kept sneaking me extra money to make sure I'd win, and both of them had to pick their chins from the ground as I told them that I won.

As our parents went to bed, Charles, Arthur and I went for a walk. We went to one of the little playgrounds not far from the house, which Jules and Lorenzo would take us to every once in a while, but we usually had to beg them to take us. Our parents took us when they weren't busy, but the day always feels longer as a kid, so to us they were busy all the time and we had to terrorize someone.

When we got there, the first thing I did was climb up to take the slide down. I might be turning nineteen, but I refuse to believe I'm not a child anymore. Arthur follows my lead and goes right after me. Charles walks over to the little carousel and starts spinning it, following it around. Arthur and I join him and we try to go faster and faster, just hoping none of us throw up.

Eventually, I started feeling sick from all the spinning, so I went and I sat down on the swing, just sitting on it without actually swinging. Arthur sat down next to me and Charles came to stand next to me, holding onto the chain of my swing as he looked down at his watch and then at me.

"C'est minuit," It's midnight, he tells me as his face goes up into a smile, "Joyeux anniversaire," Happy birthday.

He leans down to kiss me, and then he gets pushed aside by Arthur, who hugs me tightly, almost causing me to fall off the swing. He holds me so tight and he rocks me from side to side as I laugh. When he lets go, he smiles.

"Joyeux anniversaire," Happy birthday, he says, throwing his arms in the air to dramatize it even more. I just laugh at him, and then I stand up from the swing.