Word count : 1627
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear, Emily, happy birthday to you!" Everyone sings We all clap and cheer as Emily closes her eyes and blows out her six candles. I begin slicing cake as Niall scoops ice cream. We hand out colorful plates of dessert to everyone before serving ourselves.
"How's my birthday girl?" I ask siting down next to Emily on the blue plastic bench.
"I'm good. This cake is really yummy," she says taking a big bite. I take my first bite and have to agree with her.
"Are you having a fun birthday?"
"Mhm," she says as she turns to watch her uncle Louis throw a bowling ball down the wrong lane.
"Oi! I got a strike!" He yells clapping his hands together curtly.
"Uncle Lou? That's our lane, but thanks for the points though," Emily says sassily, who then proceeds to take a bite of cake.
"Dammit!" He shouts stomping his feet like a child. He mutters something under his breath that I don't quite make out causing me to chuckle. I sit quietly enjoying my dessert. After I finish, I throw away my empty yellow plate away along with Emily's red one.
"Ready for presents?" I ask her as she nods excitedly fixing the tiara she work on her head.
"Gather around, everyone. Emily's going to open her presents," I say to the couple of family and friends that were here for her celebration.
Emily sits in the blow up thrown the bowling alley has for birthdays as Niall hands her cards first. She makes me extremely proud when she reads the messages from the cards, only needing help a handful of times, and thanks everyone for her gifts. Niall then hands her her bags and wrapped boxes to open. In total, she received 2 newer Disney movies, 3 coloring books, a plentiful amount of clothes, and gift cards to her favorite clothing and game stores.
Everyone returns back to their paused games as Liam helps me throw away all the torn pieces of paper and bags. I gather all of cards and tuck them all into a bag containing all of her new clothing and other items. I return to my game and finish it out, coming in second behind Zach. He was always a good bowler.
After everyone bids their goodbyes and the place is all cleaned up as if we were never here, we all head to our own homes. After getting in the car, Niall places his right hand on my thigh and rubs it soothingly. He drives down the main strip of town as Emily sings along to the radio.
We pull into the driveway and I smile at our home, the evening sunset illuminating the front of the house. Niall turns the car off and grabs all of Emily's gifts as I help her out of the car.
Emily hops out of her seat and reaches up and grabs my head. Niall locks the car making it beep and we make our way into our home. He unlocks the front door, twists the handle, and kicks the door open with his foot.
He makes his way up the stairs and turns to the left, heading towards Emily's room to put her things in her room for her to organize.
"Okay, Emmy. Daddy's going to stay here with you and help you put away all your presents and I'm going to go get yours from us, okay?"
"Okay, Mama," she says hugging my legs. She waddles her way up the stairs and I leave the house quickly driving to Ava's. Throughout the drive I smile to myself knowing Emily will melt when she finds out what Niall and I got her. I arrive to Ava's and shut and lock the car before walking up to the front door knocking three times.
"Just a minute!" I hear her shout from behind the door. I hear her fumble with the locks before the door swings open, her standing there in her pajamas with a black silk robe draped over her shoulders.
