''Kane! Can you come and write the card please?'' I called out into the echo of my house, hoping my son would abandon his xbox for more than a second to write his friend's birthday card.
I finished washing the final plate as a tiny sound of footsteps become apparent. Kane entered the kitchen and climbed up onto the bar stood, picked up the pen and stared at the card. I finished drying all the pots before quickly drying my hands on a towel draped over the radiator.
''What's your friends name?'' I asked whilst sliding the boy's neatly wrapped present into a gift bag.
''Declan,'' Kane said, giving me a toothy grin.
''Do you know how to spell his name? Have a guess,'' I would always encourage Kane to try things himself first. I was a very strong believer that you learn from your mistakes so by him doing the same with counting and reading, he would have the best start I could give him. I was taught the same way by my mother.
''D-e-k-l-e-n?'' Kane guessed, sounding out each individual letter.
''Almost,'' I said, grabbing a spare sheet of paper and jotting down the correct spelling of his friend's name. Kane examined the paper before copying down the spelling into the card. He then drew excessive amounts of footballs and other sport relating things, even though you couldn't really tell what they were.
I sealed the card and slid it into the gift bag, putting it by the foot of the door so we wouldn't forget it. Trooping up the stairs, I sent Kane into the bathroom to brush his teeth whilst i finished off doing my makeup. I dressed myself in some white skinny jeans, black boots and a black Metallica tank top that came down to just above my knee. Following the sound of running water, I wandered into the other bathroom to find Kane. We lived in a small, three bedroomed house in a quaint neighbourhood, surrounded by very lovely people. After I had Kane, my parents helped me out with money so I could buy a place for the two of us to live. Nobody knew who Kane's father was apart from my close family and best friend, who also happened to be the mother of Kane's best friend at school.
Picking out some skinny jeans and a vest top much like my own, Kane got dressed. After convincing me to let him wear his new football boots, I styled his hair and we grabbed the gift bag and jumped into the car.
Driving with the window slightly a jar, I followed the directions on the invitation. It turned out that we didn't live too far away from Declan and his family, it only taking us ten minutes to arrive. Despite this, the neighbourhoods were very different. Each house was fronted with large brass gates with endless paved driveways behind them looking like they ended up nowhere because they went on for so long.
I focused on searching for the right number but Kane's excited rambling was quite distracting. Nevertheless, I eventually spotted a bright number ten with a large bunch of balloons tied to each pillar at the side of the recognisable shiny steel gates. I slowly crawled up the gravelled driveway, feeling quite out of place on my old, white Mini Cooper. I eventually parked the car close by to a pool of others much like my own, making me feel a little bit better.
Kane was buzzing for the party and I quickly jumped out of the car, laughing when I saw him eagerly tugging on the inside handle anxiously. Little did he know that there were child locks on both back doors. I opened them and he bounced out, running in front of me. One hand of mine was occupied with the gift bag and the other: Kane's tiny one, pulling me faster and faster towards the door.
Walking up a set of curved marble steps, I rung the doorbell once and stepped back, handing the gift bag to Kane. After a few moments, the door swung open, revealing a little boy with short, dirty blond hair and big blue eyes. He and Kane were similar in height, more or less, and both wore big smiles. I assumed he was Declan.
''Say happy birthday.'' I whispered, gently pushing Kane towards the other boy. They hugged each other which was followed by Kane ambitiously thrusting the gift bag into Declan's chest.
''Declan, close the- oh, hello! Come inside, I must've missed the doorbell.'' A man appeared who looked a lot like Declan so I guessed that he was his father.
The two boys darted off down a corridor which looked like it led to the garden. I called out to Kane to be careful not letting mud into the house, but he just ignored me and continued to run. Declan's dad chuckled from behind me.
''Don't worry about that. Boys will be boys! I'm Patrick, by the way, Declan's dad.'' He held his hand out for me to shake and I politely accepted.
''Meila, Kane's mom.''
''It's nice to meet you,'' He smiled as we walked side by side down a long corridor, following a sea of sound.
''It's nice to meet you. Everybody is through in the garden so go on through. There are the guys on the barbecue so feel free to eat, and the kitchen is stocked up with drinks in the cooler so take whatever you like.'' He smiled.
''Thank you, that's very kind.'' I smiled in thanks at Patrick who nodded and walked out towards the small group of boys that were playing football together. I looked for Kane, but couldn't spot him in amongst his school friends. Looking around me, I heard piano chords being played and I rolled my eyes, knowing that it could only be Kane that would want to play piano by himself at a birthday party. I quickly went and carried him away from Patrick's piano, Kane laughing loudly before I placed him down with the other boys.
I waded my way through the large group of people in search of Lena, Rhys' mum who was also Kane's best friend. We met at the same time the boys met: back in pre-school. It wasn't the nicest way to meet somebody because both the boys were fighting over the same toy, but ever since we've become so close we're like sisters.
"Lena, hey!" I smiled at her and she picks up a glass of lemonade off a tray and hands it to me.
"Hey Meila, how are you?" She starts, "Never mind that, there's something way more important."
I was in her company for less than a minute and I was forced to put down the lemonade as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me into a empty kitchen. I looked around and noticed that the marble topped island in the middle was piled high with presents, balloons and streamers were draped all across the furniture, alone with scraps of wrapping paper.
"So you know Declan's dad is in a band, right?" I knew that there was a boy in Kane's class whose father was in a band, which one I didn't know, and my interpretation skills put two and two together on the drive here. That puzzle was easy to solve, but Lena's excitement was a different story.
I had a glimpse of hope inside me as she grabbed both my hands into her own. The majority of the time, Lena was excited for a good reason, so I was hoping that today was no different. Secretly, I was praying she would spill about some juicy gossip or even better, she was all giddy because she's met a new guy.
"Well you know that," She started but hushed her tone. Her eyes scanned around the area, making sure that nobody was within earshot of our conversation. "That, uh, Kane's dad is also in a band? Well that band and Declan's dad's band must be like best friends or something because they're here too."
I froze. Nothing like that had ever been dropped on me like that, nothing. I didn't even have a clue that Kane's dad was in the same state as us, let alone the same city. And Kane had seen him. He's seen his own dad without even knowing it. I found it hard to speak but I managed to conjure up something.
"You-you mean..." my voice slowly fizzled out to silence as Lena squeezed my hands.
My mind became over run and I could hear the kids outside. Kane's laugh sent shivers of pride and happiness down my spine, but what came out of Lena's lips next was anything but.
"He's here, Kane's dad is here!"
######################
new book new book new book!!!
let me know what you think about it, I'm hella excited!
glad to be back after that MAJOR long break (what was it? like a week? less?)
comment and vote
fxckflint
