Taking Rein

Chapter 11: Happy Birthday

Chapter 11: Happy Birthday

Sophie's POV

*****

There's always going to be a day which you once longed for, but then, as if by magic, you suddenly don't want it to arrive anymore. 

That was exactly how I felt that day.

I had spent so much time working with Liam, and had so much fun with him at the beach, that I had nearly forgotten the day I was once looking forward to. 

The day of my 17th birthday. 

It was going to be huge. My dad had promised me a huge party where I was to invite nearly everyone from school. He threw me one every year, always as a way to apologise for not being able to spend any time with me on my birthday because of his work, which had always been impossible of him to get out of. 

Instead, I was spending my 17th birthday on my grandfather's ranch, with people from my mother's side of the family, my father's best friend, and his son. 

My birthdays were never the same after my mother died, and as the years passed by, I had stopped looking forward to it. Birthdays were supposed to be days which you spend with friends and family, while I spent mine surrounded by people whom I barely knew, and who certainly didn't know me. 

That was why I was shocked when I entered the kitchen and found Charlotte, my grandpa, and Uncle Jo all singing happy birthday, while aunt Helen carried a cupcake with a small lit up candle, handing it to me. 

"What is all this?" I asked, a grin finding its way on my face. 

No one had ever done something like that for me out of their own free will for about eleven years, and I could not help but feel overwhelmed by emotion. 

It made me remember the times when my mother would wake me up with a small kiss on the forehead, a small cake in her hands as she gently sang me 'happy birthday', my father trailing in behind her. 

Everything was so different after she was gone. 

"You didn't think we were just not going to wish our little Sophie happy birthday did you?" My grandpa said, walking up to me and pulling me into a hug, giving me a kiss on the cheek, his stubble prickling it slightly. 

I smiled, not knowing what else to say. I was completely overwhelmed by the gist, not having expected it at all. 

"You didn't tell me it was your birthday," Liam said as he walked up to me after leaning away from the door frame which he had been leaning on, a dimpled smile on his face. 

"I didn't think it was important," I replied with a small smile before putting the still warm cupcake on the table and hugging my aunt, thanking her for the pastry which she probably had to wake up early to bake. 

My dad always ordered my birthday cakes and cupcakes. I hadn't gotten a homemade one in ages. That was why as soon as I bit into the chocolate caramel goodness, my taste buds did numerous summersaults. It was just like the ones my mom used to make, and I couldn't help but smile at the memories. 

"Your mom and I created that recipe just for you and Charlotte, do you remember Fifi? You two were crazy about caramel," aunt Helen said, making me look at Charlotte with a smile. 

"We still are," we both said in sync, looking at my aunt, making everybody around us laugh. 

I had forgotten what it felt like to be surrounded by people you cared about on days as special as that, and despite having wanted to forget about that day before, I was glad that the rest of them didn't think that way.