Charlie Ever After

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Charlie's birthday was in exactly eighteen days and I had my heart set on throwing her the best damn birthday party she's ever had.

I honestly couldn't have pulled it off without our friends. They've been a god-send throughout the whole planning process.

Lydia and Isaac were letting me use their house to throw the party, Scout offered to make a shit ton of cupcakes and even Collin chimed in offering to make jell-o shots.

Everything was going to plan.

I even managed to sneak out a few times and run to the store to grab supplies and a few presents for Charlie. Most of the stuff I was getting her was coming from various online shops, so thankfully that made my shopping load pretty small. Lydia had the decorations covered, and I knew the party was in good hands, because she knew Charlie almost better than anyone.

This morning Charlie was out with Trish and the girls getting pedicures and I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to run a few last minute errands.

I wanted to pick up the last of her gifts and place the order for her cake. I knew there would be plenty of cupcakes at the party, but I wanted to get something special, just for Charlie.

I stopped into town and ran into the local bakery that Trish swore by. I was clueless as to what I wanted the cake to look like, so I gave the little old woman behind the counter artistic freedom. She asked me a little bit about Charlie and smiled at me as I gushed about her.

"I know exactly what to make. What flavor of cake does she like?" The woman's smile was so sweet that it could put you into a sugar coma. She must've been raised in this bakery.

"Chocolate. She loves chocolate." I chuckled to myself, thinking back to a time when I watched her pour straight Hershey's syrup right into her mouth. She drank a good quarter of the bottle that night and I had to admit, I was impressed.

"Perfect. I'll have it ready for you the afternoon of the sixteenth."

I smiled at the kind old woman. "Thank you. I'll be having a friend come pick it up. Collin Kentwood."

She wrote down Collin's name on the order form and I prepaid, leaving her a generous tip before making my way out and back to my truck.

I drove to the outskirts of town for my next stop and parked at the local strip mall. It had every store you could possibly think of, from a grocery super store, various clothes and shoes stores, video games and hobby shops, you name it, they had it.

I stopped first at the makeup store. Charlie didn't wear an overabundance of makeup, but she did like her skincare. She loved a good face mask, always persuading me to do one with her. And, if I was being completely honest— I secretly enjoyed it. I loved the bonding time it gave us.

Even with our weekly pamper seshes though, I still had no idea what I was looking for.

The other night while Charlie was occupied with the girls, me and Trish went through all of Charlie's toiletries and Trish tried pointing me in the right direction of things to buy. She even sent me screen shots of the products I should pick up for her.

I must have looked lost as soon as I walked in because the girl standing behind the counter rushed over to me with a wide smile. "Need some help?"

I was a little hesitant to accept her help at first, but after sucking up my pride, I nodded my head and pulled up my list.

"It's my girlfriend's birthday and I'm a bit clueless as to what to get her. I have a list of a few things, but don't even know where to begin."

She looked at me like what I said was the sweetest thing in the world and looked like she was physically trying to hold herself back from muttering an awww.