Butterfly Effect

39: Young and free, only 17

Hailee's Pov

That morning I woke up when I felt someone moving next to me. I panicked for a moment, but when I felt my girlfriend's usual mumbling I calmed down quickly.
She stayed over last night because we wanted to wake up together on my birthday.
"Good Morning..." I whispered, giving her a quick peck on the lips, stealing a smile from her face.
"Morning..." she mumbled back in her sleep "Happy birthday, babe".
After that, we remained in bed, cuddling together until some voices arrived from the kitchen and I smiled, knowing exactly that my moms were up to trouble for my birthday.
We got dressed and ready for the day between laughs, kisses and tender moments, and then we walked hand in hand toward the kitchen.
When we entered the room, I stopped for a moment with wonder in my eyes. The room was full of balloons, and while Carina was cooking my favorite breakfast, french toasts, Maya was giving Rowan his bottle with a sweet smile on her lips.
"Hi moms, good morning" I said with a voice full of different emotions. I've never had a real birthday... I've never had someone who remembered when I was born and that was willing to do anything to make it special...
"Hi Sunshine. Happy birthday!" Maya exclaimed excitedly and with that simple sentence, something so normal to hear during your birthday, I bursted into tears, being unable to stop.
I could not stop. I just cried...
"Lia?" my girlfriend asked and touched my back for comfort, trying to calm me down, but I was unconsolable. I just kept crying...
"Bambina, cosa c'è che non va? (Bambina, what's wrong?)" Carina asked, coming closer to me and I threw myself in her arms, crying my heart out on her shirt, holding on to it for dear life.
"This... This... It's... It's... My f-f-f-first birthday..." I sobbed, hugging her tightly. I needed the comfort that only Carina was able to give me.
"I know Bambina. I'm so sorry... I'm sorry. We will make up for the lost time, okay?" she said in my ears, kissing the crown of my head, and I nodded against her chest.
After a very long hug and a lot of tender forehead kisses from my mamma, my favorite kind, I let go of her and I sat next to Manon at the table, waiting patiently for my birthday breakfast made out of my mamma's special recipe of french toasts.
While we were waiting, her hand found my thigh in a comforting gesture meant to bring me peace after all of those tears, starting to draw circles on my leg, but that small contact made me freeze.
I still wasn't used to sweet gestures like that one, so when I tensed up next to her, she removed her hand from my body and she looked at me with an apologetic smile.
She knew me so well that it was almost crazy...
"Lia, Manon, your french toasts are ready" Carina said, placing the plates in front of us.
"We love you, Sunshine..." Maya said after a while "And we'll always make sure that you'll have the best birthdays from now on".
"Thank you moms. I love you too...".
The day proceeded very calmly. Maya went to work at the station for the day, and while Carina was looking after Rowan, me and Manon started watching Mamma mia together, singing along to the different songs of the movie.
"When I was little, I watched this movie so many times, hoping to experience this kind of mother-daughter relationship... But now that I have that, this movie is just different. I love it.
A part of me will always love him. But now I would never change my moms for anything in the world" I explained and my girlfriend cuddled into my side.
"This is the best thing about stories... They can be exactly what you need sometimes. They can be your home, your escape from reality, and the character in it can become your family... Donna was like your mother because that was what you needed back then, but now that you grew up and that you have your own family, that story will always have a special place in your heart, but now it's a memory more than a need..." she said and I nodded, understanding her point very clearly.
She was right. Stories are what keeps us hoping. Stories are the oxygen that we breathe and the energy that keeps us going.
We kept watching the movie until the end, singing every song and enjoying every scene, and then, after the end of the movie, Carina came back into the living room with a smiley Rowan in her arms.
"Maya called from the station and said that it's a very calm day. Do you girls want to go there for a while?" she asked and Manon and I agreed immediately, ecstatic to the idea of going to my second home.
We got ready very quickly, and in less than twenty minutes we were all walking through the door of the apartament in the direction of Carina's Porsche. The ride was short but full of chatter, laughs and the song 'King of my heart' in the background.
When we parked in front of the station, I could clearly see that no one was at the front desk. That was weird...
I checked my mom's office but she wasn't there. It almost looked like no one was at the station.
"Have you tried to look upstairs?" Carina asked and we started to go up the stairs in silence, listening carefully for every possible hint that someone was there. We found none of them...
I entered the beanery first, pressing the light switch and turning on the lights, finding all the members of the team near the table that had a big chocolate cake on it.
"Happy birthday Mini-Bishop!" they all yelled at the same time, and my mom took a step in my direction with a big smile on her face.
"Welcome to your first surprise birthday party, Sunshine" she said and I mumbled a small thank you as Vic and Andy embraced me in a tight hug and the guys smiled at me with kindness.
I was still unsure about the idea of being touched by them, but it was getting easier to feel at ease around them. They were my mom's friends after all...
We sat at the table together and they insisted on singing that hideous birthday song while I just sat there, blushing at every word.
I wasn't used to being the center of attention, so it was weird for me being the person that they were celebrating with so much joy...
I blew out the candles, wishing to have more birthdays with my family, and then we all shared that delicious cake that Maya bought from Carina and I's favorite bakery.
For me, that was already more than enough, but then Vic came next to me with her usual cheeky smile.
"Are you ready for your gifts?" she asked and I froze on the spot.
"G-g-gifts? What do you mean with gifts?" I stuttered out.
"Did you really think that we would throw you a birthday party without spoiling you with gifts and presents?" she questioned and I shrugged my shoulders without knowing what to say.
"I-I thought that this was my gift... I didn't expect anything else..." I admitted, looking down at the floor.
"It is, but you also have other gifts. Just to make this day extra special" Vic responded with a kind smile, guiding me to the head of the table and handing me a present. My first present...
I opened it, finding a picture of me hugging Carina after the school musical. The first time that I hugged my biological mother, knowing that it was her.
I loved it...
"Thank you Vic... This is so beautiful" I thanked her with gratitude, happy to have that memory printed out on paper.
The rest of the gifts were a bunch of books and art stuff, but then my moms gave me an envelope, smiling widely at my confused expression.
I opened it with shaky hands, finding plane tickets inside of it. Plane tickets to Italy...
"Are we... Are we going to Sicily?" I asked, pinching my forearm to make sure that all of this was real.
"One time, you told me that you want to see where I grew up, so mom and I took two weeks off in august and we are going to Italy" Carina explained "I can't wait to share with you all the places that I loved as a child".
"This is... This is incredible!This is a dream come true... It's the best birthday ever" I exclaimed.
"It's just the first one of many more, Sunshine" Maya answered, and I was sure that this was just the beginning of a new story.