The Workaholic's Wife

21. Birthday Celebrations

Scarlet

After giving one last look to all the arrangements, I went back to our room to change into something appropriate for the party. A royal blue, off-the-shoulder, knee-length dress of mine felt like the perfect outfit for a children's party so I changed into it and let my hair loose. Applying some light makeup on my face, I slipped into my sandals and made my way downstairs.

The main hall of the house was all decorated in pink and black, two favorite colors of Cara. The cake had arrived from my bakery, which was in the shape of Mickey mouse, a cartoon which she watches whole day long. All her playschool friends were invited, along with their mothers. To entertain the kids, I had booked a magician.

"Everything is perfect." Liam said to me but it didn't help that I was stressing out. It was Cara's first birthday party and I wanted everything to be perfect.

"Catheryn called. They are around the block." Helena announced and everyone gained their positions. Liam turned off the lights and darkness pravailed in the hall.

Few minutes have passed when the screeching sound of a car came from outside. Two soft footsteps entered through the door and that's when the lights turned on.

"Happy Birthday." We all screamed in unison and Cara's face paled at first. It took her a minute to realise what was happening and when she finally did, a huge smile broke on her lips.

She looked slightly intimidated by the crowd so when her eyes finally met mine, she came running towards me and wrapped her small arms around my legs.

"Happy birthday sweetheart," I said and kneeled in front of her to hug her properly. "Did you like the surprise?"

"Yes, I love it." she giggled, still hugging me.

She slowly parted for a moment and then looked around. "Where is Daddy?" she asked in her innocent voice.

I didn't have courage to tell her that her father refused to attend her birthday so despite every sane part of my mind telling me not to, I lied, "He will come soon. He had some work."

"Okay," she said.

"Come on, let's get you dressed." I said and took her to her room where I had already put aside a new dress for her. It was a fluffy pink frock with matching sandals. Excitedly, she changed into the frock and then I styled her hair in braids. She looked certainly the cutest child ever, which was not fair since all the children are equally cute. But she was special to me.

When we went outside, the magic show had started. Cara rushed to all the kids lined up around the magician and started clapping whenever he did any trick. Sadness filled me on realising that she would soon notice that Evan wasn't joining her party and it would ruin her happy mood.

"I am worried for him." I heard Catheryn's voice beside me. "This day is always very hard on him."

"I'm more worried for Cara. She doesn't understand Evan's justification for his actions." I said, looking at her happy state.

"You are becoming a full time mother, Scarlet." she chuckled on hearing my answer. "You care for her just like Eliza would have done."

I blushed at her praise and returned it with a smile. "I just hope Evan understand some day that it's time move on."

"One can hope," she muttered.

After the magician's performance was over, it was time to cut the cake. Liam was the one who made this cake because I was busy and he had done a great job. Cara's grin widened on seeing the cake.

"Come on, cut the cake," I stood behind her with the knife in my hand.

"We should wait for Daddy," she said with a pout and my own smile evaporated.