No Filter

Chapter XLII (42)

I shush everyone to lower their voices. They ducked below in the dark. Liam was coming back from the farm. I hear his footsteps approaching the door. After a couple of seconds, the door knob jiggled, and the door swings open.

"Uh? Hello?" Liam questions.

Nate flips on the light switch, and we all jump up, screaming "Happy Birthday!"

His eyes widen unexpectedly. He showed slight amusement and astonishment. "What is this?" He asks curiously.

"A party for your birthday," Bear answers. Bear wiggles his fingers into the palm of my hand. "You're twenty-eight, right?"

Liam nods his head. "Right, my son," he replies. He takes a step closer and observes the decorations that are set up.

I lead Bear to him, and we stood before him. His eyes glow with joy. It seemed like forever that he had displayed it. Jade stands on my other side and throws her hands in the air. "Happy Birthday, Liam!"

"Thank you," he replies with a smile. They join into a hug, and I take a step back to give them some space.

I face Bear and bent over to his height. "Okay," I begin, "I am going to go into the kitchen. Do you want to join me?"

Bear nods his head. We walk, hand in hand, into the kitchen. Mabel sets the cake on the table and begins to place the '2' and '8' candles together.

"Hi," I greet her.

Mabel lifts her eyes and smiles. "Hi, ma'am. Are you looking for something?"

I shake my head. "No, Bear and I decide to hang out in the kitchen. Do you need any help?"

"No," she says. "But you guys can watch. Unless, you actually want to do something. You are the host after all."

I wave my hand no. "It's fine, really. We all came up with this party."

"You came up with it, so you have all the credit," she argues.

I shrug. "Just don't tell Mr. Payne," I said. "I want to keep it low key."

She tilts her head, flustered. "I don't get you two. Are you guys friends? Or frenemies? I always hear the two of you bickering. But at times, there is peace. Is there a connection?"

"Once," I reply, thinking about the past moments. "Once upon a time, there was a connection, but somewhere along the road, things changed."

Mabel leans in and whispers, "What happened?"

I glance at Bear and reply in the same soft tone as her, "I can't say in front of the kid. It's something that really put me in my spot today. Let me just say that."

She groans and rolls her slightly. "I really want to know now."

"I'll tell you later," I said.

She nods her head, and her eyes shift a couple inches to my right. She was stunned, seeing someone present in the room. Bear releases my arm, and I turn around and see Liam a couple feet behind me. Bear walks to him with ease.

"Dad, are you really twenty-eight?" Bear asks.

I smile. Liam chuckles lightly and squats down to his height. "Yes, I am. How old do you think I look?"

Bear shrugs and takes a gamble. "Hmm...you look like forty."

I catch my breath, almost choking on the air. I tried to hold my laughter but I lost miserably. Liam darts his at me, and instead of scowling like I thought, he gave me a crooked smile. He turns to Bear, "Really? How old do you think Ms. Hernandez is?"