All Along

chapter 25

I looked at Aaron who was smiling knowingly at Jamie and she was smiling back.
"My birthday present?"
"Yeah. Don't you want it?" He asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah I want it but why can't you give it here in front of Jamie?"
"Because, it's not here ."
"Then?" I was confused.
"For that you'll have to come with me." He said holding out his hand. I took it and we said goodbye to Jamie. We walked towards my parents, hand in hand.
"Hey Aaron dear," my mom said as soon as we neared them. She looked at her watch. "Is it time already?" Aaron nodded. I looked from one to another.
"Okay. Have fun," she said patting Aaron's cheek.
"Am I leaving the party?" I asked with excitement evident in my voice. My parents chuckled.
"Yeah. Be thankful to Aaron."
"Oh, I'm." I said looking at him.
"Shall we?" He asked motioning towards the door with his head. I nodded and bade goodbye to my parents and his parents.
"Wait." I said and Aaron looked at me.
"What happened?" he sounded concerned.
"I should say goodbye to Aiden and Sam and others."
"Sam and Chaz aren't here but go say goodbye to the other three but be quick."
I smiled and walked to Aaiden.
"Hey." He said as soon as he saw me.
"I came to say goodbye."
"Leaving your own party?"
"Yeah." I admitted sheepishly. "I've to go with Aaron. Give my love to Addy."
"I'll keep some for myself." He said with a wink.
After Aiden, I said goodbye to Jen and Irelene. It seemed they already knew about this. I asked them about the gift but they remained silent. I finally gave up and went back to Aaron. He held my hand and we walked to his car. Only half an hour was left for the party to finish. He held the door open for me.
"What about my car?" I asked looking at my brand new Audi.
"Sam is going to take it back to your place. It has already been decided." I raised an eyebrow demanding further
information. "Well your mom is aware of all this and she is the one who suggested it. So without any further ado, please get in the car."
I rolled my eyes and got inside. He closed the door after me and walked through the front towards the other side and got in the driver's seat.
"Why are you so gloomy?" He asked while starting the car.
"Everyone knows what's going on except me," I huffed.
He chuckled. "Babe, it's all for you. Have patience and you'll know too."
"Fine." I said with a faint smile.
We drove away from the lake house and in the direction of our home.
"Is the gift at home? Did you leave it there? You can give me later."
"Patience," Was all he said.
He took a right turn when we were halfway to home and drove for about twenty minutes until he stopped in a field covered with trees. He stepped out of the car and walked towards my side of the car. He opened the door for me and I got out and he locked the car. I looked at our surroundings and all I could see were trees and a little clearing in between.
"Come." Aaron said and I looked at him. He looked nervous. He loosened his tie and took off his coat. He opened the first two buttons of his shirt. Now he was in black pants, white shirt and black loosened tie. His hair was tousled and messy due to the wind. He looked even sexier and charismatic than before, if that was even possible. I was staring at him as if some spell was cast on me. He sure was bewitching to my eyes and my heart; that belonged to him only.
"Your hair." He said and I blinked quickly and looked away from his face.
"Huh?"
"Your hair is all sticking out due to wind. I shouldn't have rolled down the windows." He said and I went to see my messy hair in car mirror and indeed, it was sticking out. I groaned.
"Let me make it right." Aaron said behind me. I looked confusedly at him. He raised his right hand and placed it on my bun. He took out the pin and my hair came down lose. He ruffled it a bit.
"Now you look stunning and sexy." He said looking at me.
I blushed hearing that and stuck one side of hair behind my ear.
Aaron held my hand and we walked through the field until we reached the trees. Aaron lifted some branches with his hand and we crossed the trees and what I saw made my jaw drop in awe.
"Wow!" was all I could say. I was stunned by the beauty in front of me.
"You like it?" Aaron asked nervously.
"Like it? I love it." I said and took a step forward. In front of us stood a small, yet beautiful and peaceful, gift of nature.
It seemed out of the world. The grass was as soft as velvet with flowers and trees and the stream of fresh water that was flowing though this garden. The air smelt of trees, flowers, water and night. I was mesmerized by it and what made it even more breathtaking was the shining full moon with stars up in the sky. The moonlight turned water silver with sparkling stars that reflected in it. Every blade of grass, every petal of flower and every outline of leaf shone under the moonlight. In between this beautiful garden and near the sparkling water stood a table and two chairs.
I looked at Aaron who was already staring at me. The moonlight fell on his face and made his features even
more handsome. He looked like an Adonis in this perfect place under the beautiful black starry night sky.
"This is beautiful, Aaron." I said as we walked to the chairs. He held the chair for me and I sat on it and he sat
on his own.
"I'm glad you liked it. This is your birthday present."
On the table was irregular butterscotch and vanilla mix cake, two glasses of apple juice, large bowl of French fries and four candles. He saw me looking at them.
"Thanks for bringing me here."
"I had been here once with dad when I was little so I came back here few days ago to see if it was still there, you
know like whether I still remember its location correctly. I know you're a nature lover so I thought you may like it. Also I know you don't like parties so I wanted to give you something of your taste, the way you like it. So this is your party, my gift to you. The guys wanted to decorate a bit but I wanted it to be natural."
"It's perfect, Aaron. Exactly the way I love it," I said with a smile. "How do you know me so well? I wonder at times. You always know what'll make me happy."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. May be, because you're important enough for me to know every small and single detail about you." He said with such emotion that I blushed.
"No one ever did something like this for me."
"You're worth it. Heck! You deserve much more than this."
I smiled and he passed me the apple juice.
"I know you don't drink and that you love apple juice and French fries so I bought them. I know it's not fancy or
what you expected but-"
"It's exactly what I want. You made my day and the cake; they are my favorite two flavors. Thanks."
"Oh and yes you have to cut the birthday cake. It's your birthday cake after all."
We got up from our chairs and Aaron set the camera on one of the chairs for video recording that he had to show
to others later on their demand. Aaron lighted the single candle that was placed in the cake and I made the wish and blew it. Aaron held my hand and I cut the cake with Aaron singing happy birthday. I gave him the piece of cake and he did the same. It was very tasty.
"Mm... It's so yummy." I said licking my fingers.
"Really?" Aaron asked nervously.
"Yes." Aaron smiled at that. "Wait. Who? Did you?" he nodded. "Did you bake it?"
"Yeah." He admitted running his hand through his messy hair. He looked so adorable while doing it and blushing at the same time. We sat back on our chairs.
"But you hate cooking."
"Yeah I do. But I wanted to bake you a cake myself so I asked Jamie for help. She gave me the instructions and I
made it."
I got up and he did the same, clearly confused about my action. I came over and hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You did that for me. You have no idea what that means to me."
"I'm glad I could make you smile."
After eating and drinking, Aaron held my hand and we walked a few steps away from the chairs. He played some
music on his phone and we danced together under the night sky, the moon and the stars bearing witness to my perfect happy moment.
"Earlier today, was this the work that you had to do?" I asked still dancing. He nodded.
"Sam and Chaz helped as well. At first, when party started, I brought them here to show the place and when we left, and they were not there, they were actually here bringing the stuff and setting them up."
"Thanks." I whispered and stood on my toes and kissed his cheek. He looked taken aback by my move and so did I. We both blushed but he smiled quickly.
After gathering the things we moved back to the car. The ride to the home was silent and peaceful and I had butterflies dancing in my stomach.
"Umm...There is something else." He said all of a sudden.
I looked at him and he was looking straight ahead.
"What?"
"Here." He grabbed a pink box with pink ribbon tied on it from the back seat.
"Another gift?" I was shocked. After giving me such a beautiful birthday gift he is giving me another present. He nodded.
"Open it." He demanded. I opened the box and took out a beautiful multicolored shell with my name written on it in dark golden. I was speechless. It was so elegant, not to
mention how expensive it must be.
"Aaron you don't have to-"
"I don't want to hear anything. Please accept it."
"Are you trying to spoil me?" He chuckled.
"Something like that." I smiled at him.
"There is something else."
"Not another gift please." He laughed lightly.
"No, it's not a gift but a confession."
"Okay. Go on."
"Umm...IAmThePersonWhoSentYouThoseGifts." He said in a single breath.
"What? Slow down."
He took a deep breath. "Well, I said I'm the one who used to send you those gifts." I looked at him with wide eyes.
"You sent those gifts? All these years it was you? You are the mystery man?" I was totally surprised. He nodded.
"I... I don't know what to say. Thanks for those beautiful gifts, Aaron. Why you never said anything before or came in front of me? Why kept the mystery?"
"I told you already about how I thought you didn't like my gift. So I just wanted to give you something without being discovered."
"They were beautiful and I loved them. What about last two years?"
"Well the first year I came back on your birthday just to see you and give the gift to you." At this point I was head over heels for him. My heart was dancing with joy. He came to see me was all I could think of. "And last year,
well, I couldn't come so I sent the gift over to Sam's and told him to deliver it to you."
"What? Sam knew?" I was shocked.
"Yeah."
"And he didn't tell me. I'm going to kill him."
"Don't kill him. I made him promise not tell you."
"You did so much for me and I didn't even know it was you."
"You don't know what you are, Kayla." By this time we had reached home. He stopped the car in front of my house.
I looked up at him and he was looking at me with such warmth that it made my heart melt. His eyes looked into
mine and before I knew it he leaned forward and our lips met. His lips were soft and warm and the kiss was full of feelings, filled with countless emotions. His hands cupped my face and I moved my hand in his hair and the kiss deepened. After few seconds, what seemed like forever, we broke the kiss and his eyes met mine. His eyes held so many unspoken feelings and I bet my eyes reflected the
same.
"I... I should-" he nodded and I got out of the car. I walked to the door, smiling to myself. I looked back and he was looking at me. I waved at him and he did the same and turned the car towards his home. I locked the door behind me and leaned on it thinking what just happened. I touched my lips and smiled. I was so happy. It was a perfect end to the perfect night.