The Way We Feel

Chapter 42

"Look over here, Lila," Emily called from behind a camera, steadily snapping away.

Mads and I were crouched on either side of Lila's highchair, smiling up at Emily as the rest of our families looked on, holding their phones aloft for pictures of their own, all cooing and laughing as Lila dug her fingers into a pretty cupcake with pink icing.

"Okay, now you guys kiss her cheeks!" Emily ordered.

Mads and I looked at each other, shared a grin, then leaned forward and each kissed one of Lila's soft cheeks as she lifted her frosting-covered fingers to her mouth.

"Oh my God, that's perfect," Emily said, as flash after flash went off, and when I met Madelyn's eye from the other side of our daughter's face, both of us began to laugh, breathing little giggles against Lila's skin.

We'd already sung happy birthday, and there was a table full of gifts waiting for our little girl in the living room, and a counter covered in trays of half-eaten food in the kitchen. Lilly and Grace had been running around with cousins and the children of family friends, spending most of their time in the den with the tv, while the adults had been spending their time moving mostly between the kitchen, dining room, and living room. But for now, here we all were crowded around Lila's highchair, smiling and laughing at the way our one-year-old covered herself in cake and pink icing.

Mads and her mum had put the party together, and Michelle had been kind enough to host.

"Your apartment's beautiful, but it'll be cramped," she'd said.

Mads and I had tried to argue that it would be too much trouble for her, that we weren't planning on inviting that many people anyway, but she'd insisted. And when she insisted, there really was no other choice but to relent.

Mum, Robin, and Gem had made it out, even though we'd be heading over to England in a couple weeks to have a separate celebration with my family and friends there, and they'd brought along Aunt Dee and her family, who was meeting Lila for the first time.

"Oh, the pictures don't do her justice!" she'd exclaimed as she'd held Lila earlier, bouncing her softly in her arms as she looked into Lila's eyes. "Was I right, or was I right? You two have made one gorgeous baby girl," she'd said with a wink.

Mads and I had only smiled at each other, and it was rather fun to watch Madelyn's cheeks go pink while we both remembered that first time she'd met Dee, when Dee had humiliated me completely by going on about how beautiful we were together, and how beautiful our children would be someday.

Now, I couldn't do anything but admit she'd been absolutely right.

This was the height of the party—Lila's cake. Well, her little smash cake. A cupcake, really. Mads felt it would've been too much of a waste to get one of those small, beautiful little cakes for Lila to shove her hands into just for the sake of a picture. A cupcake would do just fine. And she wasn't wrong.

Though Lila was going to town on that little cupcake, getting way more into her mouth than either of us had bargained for.

"I guess she likes sweets," Mads announced with a laugh, watching Lila shovel the crumbled cake into her mouth, pink frosting sticking to her fingers, her cheeks—Mads got a little bit out of her hair.

This was the first time we'd given her anything like cake. The only sweets she'd had up till now had been fruit. And a dab of whipped cream or jello when we had it.

"She is your daughter," I said, watching as those blue eyes flicked up to mine, laughing as she stuck her tongue out at me.

"You guys are really selling it," Emily said, still snapping away with her camera. "Keep it up."