Days With Zion Dawsey

42. Happy Birthday

Zion took one last breath before he stepped onto his mother's porch. The present he was currently holding in his hands covered his face, but Margarine knew it was Zion behind it.

"Here, let me help you." The maid said, smiling at him as the two managed to carefully set it on the floor.
"That's heavy." She laughed, making Zion nod.

"Yeah, it's a vehicle." He told her with a proud smile. He had been looking for the perfect present for a while now and couldn't wait to see his son's face once he sat in it.
"Nice." Margarine still couldn't believe she was talking to Zion Dawsey as if they didn't ignore each other for the past decades.

"The others are in the parlour. River is still asleep." Margaret told him.
"Alright, see you then." He said, walking towards the parlour, where his mother and River's guests were expecting him.

"You're lucky he's still asleep." Sheryl said when he bent down to kiss her cheek.
"I know, Mom." Zion said and went on to greet Maddox, the rest of his family as well as Michael. Michael, who he hasn't seen in months as well. The man looked really excited to see Zion and didn't waste a second before embracing him.

"How are you, Michael?" Zion asked, interested to hear about everything. The two engaged into a conversation and almost missed it when Bonnie walked inside the parlour with a still sleepy one-year-old attached to her hip.

"There he is! Good morning, birthday boy!" Lord Asher said as soon as Bonnie stepped into the room. Everybody clapped and celebrated him, making River clap his hands as well. He had learned that a few weeks ago. Zion missed it, but was always updated. His heart melted when he saw his son looking around. And when he finally spotted his dad, River reached out his hands.

"Dada!" He squealed, still the only word he's ever said. Bonnie only seemed to notice Zion now that he was approaching them. She glanced at his face, surprised by the stubble he had grown over the months. River was immediately passed on to Zion, who hugged his son tight. The one-year-old kicked his feet and squealed loudly.

"Good morning to you too." Zion whispered and kissed his son's cheeks, before ruffling his hair.
"At least someone seemed to have missed you." Maddox joked again, making Zion roll his eyes. He glanced at Bonnie who was busy looking at him. Her eyes widened once she caught his eyes and she immediately looked away.

"Uh- Should we start with his birthday pancakes?" Bonnie quickly turned around to get the already plated pancakes. She stuck a candle inside of them and lit it on fire. Everybody started singing happy birthday to River, who once again started clapping when everybody clapped as well.

Zion couldn't help but give his son another kiss as he watched him experience his first birthday. River was being sung to as Zion carried him. It was an amazing feeling and he couldn't believe that there was a time where he didn't want that. Especially once they finished singing and River looked around. Zion told him to blow, but the boy was only interested in grabbing his dad's nose. Everybody laughed at Zion's failed attempt to make him blow out the candle.

"Just blow it out already, Zion." Maddox said and Zion shrugged before blowing out the candle. River once again clapped his little hands as everybody clapped. He then went back to grab Zion's face. Everybody gathered around the breakfast table and started to dig into the pancakes.

"He's giving you kisses." Bonnie said when River's mouth came to suck on the side of Zion's face, right next to his eye. He was apparently done eating his food.

"Yeah, I can feel that." He responded, tickling River's belly. Bonnie watched the scene for another minute before continuing to eat her breakfast. They suddenly heard the doorbell ring and frowned. He didn't think anyone else was coming but he immediately smiled once he heard familiar voices.

"Wait! You don't run off yet. Go say hi to everybody." Ariana's voice was clear and authoritive.
"Oday!" Little Oliver's feet were heard quickly coming their way. He soon appeared at the parlour. He said hi and let everybody smooch him. Aidan walked in as well and started talking to his cousin Stella, who was already there.

"Hi uncle Sign!" Oliver said and ran up to him. Zion was still holding River, but had enough space for Oliver to hug him and crawl up to his lap.
"You wanna say hi to River?" Oliver nodded at the question and shook the baby's hand. To which River squealed.

"That's little Sign." He said, making Zion frown.
"Little Sign?" He asked and Oliver nodded.
"Mommy calls him little Sign." He giggled and then jumped off his lap to go run and play with his brother and cousin.

"Pretty face, let me look at you." Ariana said, hugging her childhood friend. He rolled his eyes at the nickname.
"I hear you've been calling my son little Zion." He said, giving her a look.
"Well, for the longest time, I couldn't remember his name. Which reminds me." Ariana said, looking past Zion to look at Bonnie.

"Where did you get that name River from?" Zion also wondered about that, but always forgot to ask. Bonnie realized everybody was looking at her, expecting an answer.
"Well, I used to have a best friend whose name was River." She shrugged and everybody nodded with a 'makes sense' look. Zion figured there was more to it and made a mental note to remember that.

"Well, he is just the cutest. Let me hold him." Ariana opened her arms.
"I don't know." Zion joked, making her gasp and others laugh.
"You don't wanna share your luck, huh?" She glared at him. Zion shook his head, but handed River over to her. She immediately started making baby noises and River seemed to find that amusing.

Zion turned to his left and watched Bonnie watch her son with a smile on her face. She caught him looking, but he didn't look away.
"What?" She gulped.
"Can we talk?" Zion asked, surprising both of them.

"You want to talk? Now?" She asked, reminding him of their whereabouts.
"You're right, it can wait." He nodded and looked away. Bonnie decided she shouldn't risk having him close up again, so she stood up.

"Let's talk then."