The lucky one, Conrad Fisher

008. NOT THE NORMAL BIRTHDAY MORNING

Chapter eight

"Not the normal birthday morning."

The one thing that was special that happened in cousins in the month of June was that they celebrated Hannah and Belly's birthday, where each one was celebrated differently to express how different they were even if they celebrated it on the same day, where they would decorate the kitchen for both of them, Laurel would always make Belly mickey mouse pancakes while Hannah's mom would always have the chocolate croissants from her favorite place, where for her sixteenth birthday, Susannah had given Hannah the same pearls her mother had given her on her sixteenth which made her feel honored.

But what was always the most fun was what happened at night, where Susannah always with the the help of her mom and Laurel would always dress up in sparkly jumpsuits and go go's and sing to her like they were Dina and the dynamos from mamma mia, and sang super trooper which always put a huge smile on Hannah's face, no matter how old she got.

Where today's birthday may be the same as all the others, but she knew certain things about it were gonna be different, like how this might be her last one with Susannah and how she would spend it ignoring Conrad, as she put the pearl necklace on, she was wearing a short white dress, as she turned heading out of her room and down the hall and as she did, Belly was there, as Hannah motioned her hand toward's the stairs, Belly chuckled "thanks." she told her, heading down first, Hannah followed after her, as the two made it to the bottom of the stairs.

They walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, where her mom was putting the box of croissants on the table, Susannah was setting up the decorations while Jeremiah and Conrad were at the kitchen island, Steven was next to Laurel as she was making Belly's pancakes "morning, everyone." Belly told them, as they all looked to the two of them "happy birthday." they all said, as Susannah walked toward's them "there's the birthday girls." she shared, hugging Belly first "looking like a vision in floral." she told her, as she pulled away.

Looking at Hannah, and how she was wearing her peal necklace, it almost made her cry as she was taking in the image of her looking like this, she stepped toward's her and hugged her, letting out a breath, she leaned down to her ear "your just slipping through my fingers aren't you." she whispered to her, as she hugged her for a little longer "mom." Jeremiah told her, as Susannah pulled away "eighteen year old!" Jeremiah voiced, picking Hannah up and spinning her around "oh my gosh, Jere, put me down!" Hannah voiced, laughing.

Jeremiah put her down, as Steven walked over to them "wow, Belly buttons getting old but not as old as Hannah, I mean I think i even see a grey hair." he shared, going to touch her hair, Hannah smacked his hand away "Steven, your such a liar! She looks beautiful." Laurel shared, hugging her "happy birthday." she told her "thank you." Hannah told her, as she pulled away, her mom then held a chocolate croissant out to her, as Hannah chuckled, she grabbed the plate and took a bite out of it.

"Your mickey mouse pancakes are ready." Laurel told Belly "actually, I'm not really, uh, hungry." Belly shared "oh." Laurel told her "shall we open gifts?" Susannah asked "oh, your both gonna love mine." Jeremiah shared, as Belly smiled, Brooke and Susannah looked at each other, noticing Conrad and Hannah weren't even looking in each other's directions.

They all were sitting in the living room, watching as Hannah and Belly opened their presents, in which Laurel went first, as the two opened their's, where Belly's happened to be a book about poems, while Hannah's was scrap book, where as she opened it, there were pictures from all their years in cousins and each one had a special letter dedicated to that moment, where some weren't just from Laurel but also Susannah, and her mom which brought tears to her eyes, as she flipped through it, where she hadn't even noticed she had zoned out, as she was staring at the picture of her and Susannah when she was a little girl.

"Hannah?" Susannah asked her, as Hannah looked up at them, she took a deep breath "sorry.." she told them, clearing her throat, she closed the scrap book "thank you, Laurel." she told her, and when she did, Laurel smiled at her "your welcome." she told her, as Susannah held the boxes out to her and Belly "okay, open mine now, girls." she told them, as Belly and Hannah went to grab the boxes "uh..Hannah's is the biggest, Belly's yours is the smaller one." Susannah shared.

Where Belly grabbed the smaller box off the bigger one, as Hannah grabbed the bigger box, the two unwrapped them, and as they did, Belly opened her's first and when she did, it was a pearl necklace, the same kind that Hannah had on, where as Hannah opened her's it was a crocheted blanket "you bought her a blanket?" Jeremiah asked, chuckling, and when he did, Hannah pulled it out of the box, her name was stitched on it in purple yarn while the rest of it was white "I made it actually." Susannah informed him.

And when she did, Conrad looked to Hannah, noticing that she was trying not to cry, as Susannah looked to Belly, as she cleared her throat, knowing how sentimental her, Laurel and Brooke's gifts were to her she was also trying not to cry "and I remember the look on your face when I gave Hannah the pearls that my mother gave me when I turned sixteen so I thought you'd like a pair as well." she shared "Hannah, if you need a minute you can take a minute.." her mom told her, knowing how sad this day really was.

Hannah put the blanket down, and put the lid back onto it "no, no, I'm..I'm good." she told them, as she put the box to the side with the scrap book "oh, I'm next." Jeremiah shared, as he stood up, bringing the two their gifts "here." he told them, as Belly laughed "thank you." she told him, as Belly opened her's it was just a charm for her charm bracelet "it's a good luck charm to help you past your drivers test." Jeremiah shared, and when he mentioned good luck, Conrad looked to Hannah, knowing he couldn't give her, her gift.

Hannah opened her's and when she did, she pulled out a white knitted sweater "it's from that boutique you like here in cousins. The lady told me it was one of a kind." Jeremiah shared, as Hannah smiled "thank you." she told him, putting it back in the box, as she put it to the side with the others "think fast, Belly!" Steven voiced, throwing the gift toward's Belly, Hannah brought her hands out, catching it like a football, she handed it to Belly "Steven." Laurel told him, as Steven stood up, walking Hannah's present over to her, as he handed her the box "here you go." he told her, Hannah chuckled "thank you." she told him.

As Steven walked back to his seat, Hannah opened her's, as Belly already opened her's "wow, Steven, I can't believe you actually spent money on me." she shared, holding up a Princeton sweater "relax, I just didn't want you stealing mine next year when I get in." Steven shared, as Hannah opened her's, which was a smaller box, where as she opened it, pearl earring's were in it "I didn't know you were still considering Princeton." Laurel shared "you know, I..I think I'm gonna apply for some scholarships, and dad things I can get some financial aid. I..I don't know I'll see if I get in." Steven shared.

"Okay, um.." Laurel said "um, here's mine for Belly, Hannah's yours isn't here yet." her mom shared, as she stood up, bringing the box toward's Belly, Belly took it and opened it and when she did, it was a new pair of sneakers that were pink like her volleyball teams colors "I'll wear these all the time thank you, Brooke." she told her "your welcome." Brooke told her, as Susannah looked to Conrad "Conrad, uh, do you wanna give them your present?" she asked him "um..this is for Belly.." Conrad told them, holding out the box, Belly grabbed it, Conrad looked at Hannah "I forgot yours.." he told her.

And as he did, Hannah nodded, she didn't say anything as she stood up, stepping over Belly and walking off "Hannah.." Susannah told her, reaching for her, but Hannah stepped away from her, heading down the hallway, and up the stairs, she started to cry.

Where in the living room, Laurel raised her brows, while Susannah and Brooke looked to Conrad, not understanding what was wrong "oh, so I gotta go. I promised Cleveland that I'd show him some knots today, so.." Conrad shared, as he stood up, looking to Belly "happy birthday, Belly." he told her, as he walked out of the living room and toward's the front door, he looked up the steps and heard the sound of a door slamming shut, and he knew that was Hannah, as he sighed, and turned walking out himself.