Open My Eyes

{Ch. 16} Candles and Fireworks ✓

          Waking up on the couch was disorienting. I squinted through sleep-addled eyes at the TV frozen on the start-up screen for an old video game. Groaning, I rubbed my face and sat up. I paused when a pair of feet pressed into my back.

Kae's eyes shut, his mouth slightly parted, he pulled in patterned breaths. I smiled at the sight, relieved I hadn't dreamed of my brother coming home.

Sam curled up in the recliner next to the couch, soft snores emitting from her bundle of blankets and pillows.

The wreckage from last night lay about us: crackers spilling off the plate, marshmallows taking residence on the floor, popcorn bits folded in the blankets and in our hair. Cold pizza waited on oily pieces of cardboard, and our sodas fell flat after a night's rest. Our remote controllers were lost to the couch cushions.

My brother looked so peaceful. He had been exhausted from traveling all day and spending all night with me and Sam. We had teased each other relentlessly as we pummeled each other playing video games.

And because he looked so at rest, I shifted on the couch, careful. Then I shoved him off, giggling.

"Ow," he moaned, instantly awake. He glared at me. "Great wake up call, Ang."

I shrugged. "You looked so peaceful. I couldn't let that continue."

"Naturally." He reached beneath him and grabbed a handful of marshmallows. He tossed them at me, making me squeal. I threw back popcorn kernels and marshmallows.

The ruckus roused Sam from her sleep. She hurled two pillows at our heads, bullseye. "Would you two knock it off? I'm trying to get my beauty rest."

Kae laughed. "Sorry, princess. Were we too loud?"

"Screw you." Sam flipped her middle finger at him before ducking beneath her blankets again.

Kae hoisted himself onto the couch. Whispering, he said, "By the way, happy birthday, Angela."

I beamed at him. "Thanks, Kae."

We cleaned up, quietly this time, to let Samantha sleep a bit longer.

As Kae whipped up some omelets, Mom came downstairs and engulfed me in a hug. Into my hair she said, "Happy birthday, sweetie. You're eighteen!"

I jumped once. "I'm a legal adult now."

"God, you're old." Kae grinned at me.

"You're older." I stuck my tongue out.

"That must mean I'm ancient." Mom laughed.

Sam awoke in time to eat a warm breakfast. The three of us sat at the kitchen counter, forks scrapping against our plates. We each had a mug with steaming tea in front of us, the mugs painted by Kae or me in our youth.

Hope and Miracles had limited operating hours for the holiday. And the coordinating director agreed to let me have the entire day off, since the holiday coincided with my birthday. Originally, we had planned for the party to start in the evening, around five p.m. But because people probably had other plans for the Fourth, we shifted the party to begin at one p.m.

Sam rushed us to my bedroom and declared it paramount that we find the perfect outfit for my perfect day. After rifling in my closet, my best friend decided I didn't have anything fashionable enough for my eighteenth. Then she surprised me by lifting a present from my closet and handing it to me.