Forever and Always

A Birthday to Remember

July 24th: Cecelia's 27th birthday.

She had told Oscar that she didn't want anything big because they needed to save up. She only saw him briefly that morning because work had become manic, with a new group of mental health problem sufferers being introduced a little while ago. She was chosen to run it because the company thought the people would be more willing to talk to someone who had experience with mental health problems. The day dragged and Oscar and Hillary spent the whole day setting up the house for her. There were banners hung on the walls, a table full of food and a box that contained her birthday present. Oscar made sure he got home before she returned from work so everything seems normal, and she returned home completely shattered. 'I am exhausted' she breathed flopping down on the bed in her underwear as she ran her bath, 'been a busy day?' He asked pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it in the washing basket. She nodded 'yep. Very busy, almost painful' she pulled herself up 'I won't be long' she promised as she went into the bathroom. He put on a nice shirt and trousers and he was tying his shoes when she got out of the bath half an hour later. She picked up her dress that she left on the bed, dropped her towel and got dressed, winking at him as she pulled a pair of underwear out of the drawer and put them on. They pulled up at Hillary's and he awaited the reply as he rapped at the door. She opened the door and let them in; as they stood in the hallway, the family jumped out from various places 'SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CECELIA!' She gasped and turned to Oscar and Hillary with utter bewilderment, 'you didn't have to do this for me' she mumbled into his jacket as she hugged him, 'I know, that's what makes me so nice' he said, once again quoting from her favourite musical. She opened all of her cards and everyone tucked into the nibbles on the food table, 'you've got one more thing' Hillary said motioning to the box on the table, 'Hillary! You are so bad! I can't believe you got me a present, you didn't have to do that'. She handed Cecelia the box and watched her face as she realised what it was. Everyone watched as she took out a handful of notes, and another, and another, she looked up at Hillary in confusion 'for your IVF' she said 'there's a bit from everyone'. She looked at the list and at the top was Oscar, who paid most of the amount, and burst into a wave of happy tears. She took a little while to calm herself down before she got up and went to Hillary, 'I love you' she said and felt Hillary's grip on her tighten 'you're the daughter I always wanted' she whispered. Cecelia went round and thanked everyone in the room. 'We all want to hear if anything happens' croaked Nanna Lily, 'of course Nanna' he said 'because of all of your generosity, you'll be the first ones to know' he announced to the family.

They spent the rest of the evening at Hillary's when all she wanted was to go home. She wanted the next round as soon as possible; she wanted a baby more than anything and every minute she didn't have one felt like a waste of time. Oscar had never felt as low as her. She envied him; he was such an optimist. She often wondered if she was over-reacting or if he was just not as emotionally affected. She looked down the list and saw names of people that she had never met or heard of, she tugged at his sleeve and pointed to a few names that she wasn't familiar with. 'She works with mum' he said pointing to the first name and working his way down the list 'Family friends, distant relatives, more colleagues' she noticed a name that she recognized near the bottom. 'What did you say?' he asked, she pointed to the name 'Hayley Furnivall' she said again '£150'. He blew out a stream of air and shrugged 'I didn't ask Hayley' he said, his voice full of confusion. 'Hayley?' Hillary said poking her head round the doorframe from in the kitchen, 'she is such a lovely girl Cecelia, have you known her long?' Cecelia nodded, 'we've been friends since school' Hillary came out of the kitchen at that point, with a bowl in one hand and a tea towel in the other. 'She helped to organise some of the people' Hillary said 'She went to both of your works and asked around there'. Cecelia laughed at the thought of Hayley asking people at her work for money. It was like getting blood from a stone. She could see her friend, with her blonde hair tucked up in a bun as always, walking around her office in her favourite boots and carrying a sack with a dollar sign painted on it. Hillary pointed to a name on the list: 'Mind Over Matter Psychology Centre' had donated almost a thousand pounds! 'We want you both to be happy' Hillary added before returning to the kitchen to dispose of her now dry bowl in the kitchen cupboard. She looked at Oscar and then to the clock and back to Oscar again, hoping he would get the hint that she wanted to spend some of her birthday alone with her husband. She eventually caught his eye and looked at the clock hopefully, and he nodded. 'Okay' he said getting up and going to say goodbye to his relatives 'thank you all for your generous donations. If we get a stroke of luck, we'll let you know'.

They got home and she counted out the money in the box, 'Oscar' she called into the living room 'yeah?' He got up from the sofa and went to her 'there's over £6000 here' he nodded. 'I guess some people wanted to donate money for things we need if we have a baby'. She went to bed that night feeling over the moon, she had a good feeling about it this time. 'Third time lucky' she whispered over and over as she prayed for the first time in her life.