Birthdays and surprises

It was moments like this that Feyre treasured the most. For it was no greater joy than waking up next to her sleeping mate, a smile painted across his face, his breath the only sound of the early morning. Not after everything they've been through. Defeating Hybern had been no easy task, and the nightmares still haunted them sometimes, a reminder of all the horrors they had faced. But she did not regret any of it, and she knew that she would bear it all, over and over again, only to come to this quiet, joyful moment. Mor and she had spent the whole month plotting and planning, and today everything had to be perfect, for it was not every day that her mate turned 600 years.

She leaned in slowly, silent as a cat, and kissed him sweetly, her mouth sketching a grin when he brought his hand up to her cheek and kissed her back. He had never been a heavy sleeper and in that moment, Feyrewas more than glad of it. She looked at his sleepy face, utter happiness filling her heart, and murmured slowly "Happy birthday". Rhysand's chuckle vibrated in the silent room and he looked up at her, still smiling, before he kissed her again. She kissed him back, her hands running through his dark hair.

"Okay, as much as I enjoy this, it's time to get up", she said and turned to get out of the bed. Two hands suddenly appeared on her abdomen, and a voice started purring suspiciously in her ear. "What is it that you're planing, Feyre darling?"

"Nothing. Why would I be planning anything?" She was glad he couldn't see her face, and the grin that hanged on her lips.

"You're such an awful liar sometimes", Rhys said, kissing her neck. She arched back into him, well aware that she would soon have to leave if she didn't want Mor to kill her.

"Am I now?", she asked him, before getting up and heading towards the bathroom. His laugh was the last thing she heard before she closed the door.

"By the Cauldron, Feyre! I was that close to killing you!", Mor exclamed. "There's still so much to be done and I can't deal with all of it by myself", she continued, gesturing around her. She was clearly tired, Feyre could tell that much looking at her eyes. Her hair though looked perfect as always.

"I'm sorry, Mor. Our birthday boy was in a very good mood this morning"

Mor rolled her eyes, turning around to inspect the—quite messy—scene. They had decided on this specific location about two weeks before, after a lot of thinking and calculating. Cassian and Azriel were supposed to keep Rhys occupied, while the girls stayed at the House of the Wind, arranging the terrace. The party was supposed to start right after sunset, and go on through the whole night, and all citizens of Velaris were invited. Feyre wasn't sure if this was a good idea, not at first anyway, but soon she realized that being surrounded by the people he worked so hard to protect, the people he loved and hid for so long would fill Rhys with joy.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest for a while? I can handle it, after all, we've been planning this for weeks, and there isn't much left to do", said Feyre, looking worryingly at Mor.

"Are you kidding me?! Of course I'm staying! If we want to finish this, we need all the help we can get. About that, where is Amren? I thought I told her to get the balloons. She should be back by now"

"That doesn't really sound like a thing Amren would actually do. Maybe she just—"

A scream startled Feyre, causing her to turn around, only to find an angry Amren, throwing a death glare to a girl with a table cloth on fire in her hands. She approached the scene fast, and grabbed the fiery table cloth from the poor girl's hand, gesturing at her toleave.

"Hi, Amren!", she said sweetly, putting off the fire in her hand."Mor told me you went to get the balloons"

Amren rolled her eyes, and put her hands on her hips dangerously."Do I look like a person who gets balloons?"