𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 & 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦, 𝐦. 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨

¹³

colours, colours and more colours. that's all anyone could see when they walked around the house, from the hallways to the rooms and even the kitchen. decorations upon decorations were plastered all over the place, via none other than hope.

hope attached the last few balloons to the wall next to the banner and sighed in relief as she took a step back. she glanced around at the decorations and gave herself a mental pat on the back. she snuck a brownie from the snack table and popped it into her mouth, chomping down contently.

it was her mother's birthday and they were going to be having a party later on in the day. she decided to set everything up before her parents came home. they had gone to eat some brunch and attended a session at the spa, courtesy of her dad.

she took a few videos of the set up on her phone and smiled to herself. she always took videos in advance because she feared things would end up messy and not 'instagram worthy' as she liked to call it.

she stayed on the couch that had a few pieces of confetti for a while before the front door opened and there was the yell of greetings from the adults who had just arrived. she yelled back a small hello and waited for them to enter the room. she couldn't contain her grin as her parents let out gasps as they entered the room and looked around.

"hope! this looks amazing, you never fail with decorating," her mum gushed and she had to fight down the blush threatening to take over her face.

her dad looked just as amazed at the work and gave similar compliments before he launched into a story about something they had seen before they came home. selena chimed in often but instead of getting frustrated, dylan watched her adoringly as she spoke and let her finish before he resumed.

hope was a romantic. she absolutely adored the idea of love and all that came with it. from an extremely young age, it was something she was positive she wanted to experience at least once in her life. the root of her adoration? her parents. growing up with parents who never hid their affection and showed her the beauty of love was certainly something that made her want to experience it. simply seeing the look of love in her parents' eyes made her crave it. she desperately wanted someone to look at her in that way. she resorted to romance books and movies, watching and reading moments she desired to live in when she was younger but then she met matt and the wishes felt like nothing but manifestation.

"why are you smiling so much?" dylan asked suspiciously when his daughter could not stop the toothy grin on her face.

"because of you guys," she responded and let out a laugh when they glanced at one another in confusion.

"what?" her mum laughed.

"you guys are cute together," she mumbled.

her parents both started simultaneously gagging and and pretending to be disgusted at their child's words. hope rolled her eyes but the smile still lingered on her face.

her eyes trailed to the bracelet she had gifted her mother in the morning and she watched as the charms shook around gently. her mum followed her gaze and broke out into a soft smile at the sight. as if on instinct, she swiped her fingers over the mini leaf charm.

when hope was younger, she'd curl up into a little ball and try to make her body as small as possible. her parents liked to refer to her as a scrunched-up leaf and thus, the nickname leaf was invented. it wasn't one they used much anymore but the memories behind it lived on forever and it was clear none of them would ever forget it.

"what time is everyone coming?" hope asked as she stood up from the couch and made her way towards the kitchen.

her parents followed as she filled up a glass of water and threw a few cubes of ice in the glass before taking a large, much-needed gulp.