It had been four months since the Bi-Con concert series took place. The leaves on the trees were now falling in different hues of orange, red and brown. A birthday cake sat on the kitchen counter with an unlit candle in the shape of the number five, and presents were wrapped in a corner of the living room.
The gathering wasn't large, but there were enough people to make the kitchen feel cramped. Dani flew in from New York, Mike came over from his own place, and Jason and Jules had shown up oddly together - not that Hannah or Carmen felt the need to poke him about that just yet.
Hannah brought the cake to the kitchen table, the candle now lit and the small flame flickered as she took each step toward Lyvie, while everyone sang happy birthday to the birthday girl.
"Okay, now sweetie, blow out the candle and make a wish!" Hannah told her excitedly.
When the candle was blown out, everyone cheered and applauded, and Hannah took the cake back into the kitchen to cut slices.
"Here, I can cut it for you, if you get the plates and silverware." Carmen offered.
Hannah kissed her cheek as she passed her for the plastic forks. "Thanks." She said.
"Oh, don't thank me just yet." Carmen whispered.
Hannah eyed her curiously. "Why? What did you do?"
"How can you just assume that I did something?" Carmen asked while she cut another slice of cake.
"I don't like that tone Carmen Mills!" Hannah pointed at her as if the plastic fork in her hand were a wand.
Carmen's face blushed. "Okay fine. I may have done something. Something kind of big."
"Big? How big?" Hannah stopped separating plates and forks to turn to her.
Carmen steeled herself with an inhale. "Lyvie's gift. I might have gone a bit overboard." Carmen plated the last slice, and they handed out the now full plates to everyone.
"Are you going to tell me what it is before I start opening them for her to make sure I approve of this gift? I thought you got her a doll and an electric plastic car to ride around the yard in."
"Well, your brother begged to be the one to get her the car. So, I went a different route."
"Carm, dear, I don't like where this is going." Hannah murmured.
Instead of answering Hannah, Carmen turned to Lyvie. "Hey Lyv, did you make a wish before you blew out the candle?"
"Mhm!" She nodded with icing all over her face.
"You can't tell us what the wish was, or it won't come true, you know." Mike interjected. He got a glare from Carmen, and he laughed. "Geez, calm down killer."
"You can tell me though. And maybe I'll work my own magic to make sure it comes true."
Lyvie thought about that for a moment, contemplating whether to tell Carmen. Hannah leaned on the back of Lyvie's chair, staying uncharacteristically quiet for the most part.
"I didn't make a wish." She said as she stabbed her fork into her cake. Everyone turned to her confused.
"You didn't make a wish? Why not honey?" Hannah asked. "It's your birthday, you can make a wish!"
"I made two wishes!" Lyvie exclaimed, holding up two tiny fingers.
Hannah fell into laughter. "Of course, you did, my little cute greedy goblin."
"Well, what were your two wishes then, dear?" Carmen asked. "What was number one?" She stood up and walked to the living room, grabbing a wrapped gift Hannah hadn't noticed earlier.
"For you to live with us." Lyvie said as easily as she would have said her favorite color was blue.
Carmen stopped halfway from the living room and the chair she had stood up from. "I'm sorry. You... want me to live here? With you?"
"Mhm," She hummed as if she hadn't said anything important.
Carmen looked at Hannah with wide eyes who simply shrugged. "I didn't tell her to say that, if that's what you're thinking." Hannah whispered. "At least the girl's honest."
Carmen tried not to be too shaken by the announcement a freshly minted five year old had just made to everyone, and sat back down in the chair next to Lyvie. "Okay," she cleared her throat a bit unnerved, "what was your second wish?"
Lyvie turned to her and dramatically dropped her shoulders. Clearly, she thought that Carmen would have already known what her wish was. "A kitty, duh!" She said with full dramatics.
Carmen smiled and blinked a few times, trying to let the sting of the kid drama wash off her. "Well, then let's open this gift very carefully, okay?" She set down her wrapped gift gently on the table in front of Lyvie. "The top of the box just slides right off, so you don't have to shake it or rip off the paper." She advised her.
Lyvie followed her guidance and lifted the top of the box off expertly. Everyone at the table gasped, but most of all, Lyvie. She cooed and gasped and flailed her arms around like she was about to take flight with the birds.
"A KITTY!" She squealed.
"A kitty?!" Hannah said, smiling through gritted teeth. There may have been a smile plastered on her face, but her teeth were still clamped, nonetheless.
Carmen shrugged bashfully. "What? I had a kitten when I was her age." She picked the small orange and white fluffball out of the box and placed it in Lyvie's lap.
When the table had been cleared and everyone was in the living room watching Lyvie and her new best friend, Hannah pulled Carmen into the kitchen.
"I know, I know. You didn't want a kitten in the house. I'm sorry. I just couldn't tell her no."
"Saying no is easy. You just couldn't stand hearing her ask and complain about one every day for months." Hannah joked, unable to hide her smile.
"That too. But I mean, look at her. She's so happy." Carmen waved a hand to the scene unfolding on the living room floor.
While Carmen was looking out at the other room, she hadn't realized that Hannah wasn't looking at her daughter. Instead, she was looking at Carmen, in complete utter awe of the woman before her.
Hannah spun Carmen around and kissed her. When they parted, they were breathing heavier.
"What was that for?" Carmen asked.
"Because I like doing that." Hannah smiled and placed a quick kiss on her lips again. "Maybe one of these days, we'll talk about Lyv's first wish, huh? Then I can surprise you with kisses whenever I want."
Carmen stilled and her eyes went wide.
"Not today..." Hannah clarified holding up her index finger, "but someday. Some day when I'm tired of being the only one scooping out that kitten's litter box." Hannah laughed as she walked back to the table to resume cleaning.
****
Because, of course, the second verse is even better than the first. You've met Carmen and Hannah. Now meet the wildcard rockstar and the woman who's never truly been heard.
Book 2 in the Of Course series:
Because, Of Course
Written by: CLHighland
YOU ARE READING
Of Course, It's You
Romance[Book 1 in the Of Course series] The only reason Hannah made it to this wedding, was because her friends asked for her daughter to be the flower girl. After the death of her wife, Hannah resigned herself to a life devoid of love and she's determined...
