When Emily arrived into the kitchen, everyone smiled at her. It was just her mom and her adopted father. There was a birthday cake, which of course had blood in and on it, sitting on the table. Emily smiled at it. She almost wanted to cry. Eric flashed a devilish grin.
"You dog! You took me into the basement as a distraction!" She playfully slapped Eric with the back of her hand. He laughed.
"Happy birthday Em!" He kissed Emily. Emily sat down and smiled.
"I can't believe that you're so old! It seems as if it was only yesterday that you were a baby just hobbling around." Emily looked at her mother and smiled.
"You certainly have room to talk, don't you?" Her mother rolled her eyes.
"Well, let's open your presents that everyone got you." Emily pulled her eyebrows together.
"People got me presents? I can't accept these! Really, there isn't anything that I can take!" Emily's mother smiled.
"Just open them sweetheart. I think that you'll like them, besides, it would be rude if you didn't open them." She was about to get a present but her mother held it. "No, this is the one that should be opened last." Emily eyed the one that was forbidden until later. It was just a small box but it was beautifully embossed. It looked simple yet elegant and expensive.
"Could you at least tell me who it is from?" Her uncle/adopted father rolled his eyes. She didn't know why but she felt oddly connected to that box and whatever gift it held.
"You'll see who it's from when you open it. Here, open my present first." He handed her a reasonably sized box. She opened it and smiled. He had given her a beautiful set of knives with a strange script on them. Emily hugged her uncle.
"Oh thank you!" He smiled and hugged her back.
"Those are very important family heirlooms passed on from generation to generation. There are five, each representing the five families and the five elements." Emily smiled. Her mother handed her a beautiful looking charm bracelet.
"Happy birthday sweetheart. This is a bracelet that will keep you safe from anything that might try to harm you." She put it on her daughter. There were still lots of presents, but she couldn't help but feel eager about opening the last one. She was about to reach for another one when Eric stopped her with a smile.
"Wait just a second Emily. You didn't think that I wouldn't get my girlfriend anything for her birthday, now did you?" He took Emily's hand and put a ring on her finger. She looked at it. It was extremely beautiful. It had a ruby gemstone in it that burned like fire when she moved it. "This was my mother's...I know that she would have wanted you to have it. She would have loved you."
So his mother was dead and his dad was only obsessed with power. Emily felt sad for her boyfriend. She smiled and gave him a kiss. He kissed her back. She opened a present from the Ludwig's which was a beautiful wooden box with a lock on it that had a very rare geode inside of it. She also opened a present from the Monterrey's. Their present was a beautiful little trinket that danced and left the floor, almost like a pet. There was also a present from Eric's father and brother. It also claimed to be from Eric too. At least they thought to include him. Maybe they really didn't hate him at all. She opened their gift. It was a strange lighter-looking thing. Eric rolled his eyes.
"It's like a lighter alright. If you throw the lighter down while it's on fire, it will transport you anywhere you want to go, just so long as you think of that place." Emily smiled. That was all of the gifts, all except the mysterious one. The one that she had been most excited to open.
"Who is the last present from?" Emily's mother handed her a note. She opened it and read the beautiful, elegant, and scrawling script.
Dearest Emaline,
I am so very sorry that I must miss out on your seventeenth birthday but I most certainly did not want your uncle and I to be fighting during your big day. I hope that you enjoy the present. I know that you will.
Love, Alistair.
Emily was shocked. Why would Alistair take the time to get her such a lovely gift? She got that he loved her mother and that he had vowed to protect her with his life but still, he didn't have to get her anything at all. In fact, she hardly even knew the man.
Emily opened up her present and smiled. It was a necklace. It was on a silver chain. On the inside was a silver cat's eye looking gemstone. Upon further looking, she saw that she could see anything that she wanted to. It was like a crystal ball! Emily instantly put it on and started crying. She was overjoyed with happiness.
To finish the day, Eric gave Emily a giant kiss and they ate the cake. It was delicious. Everything was perfect. She hoped that it wouldn't come to an end any time soon. Hopefully they would stay like that forever. This was as normal as her family would ever get after all. She had to enjoy the brief glimpses of what it was like to be completely normal.
