I’m lucky that I have Kayla by my side, because without her, I know I’d be drinking my face off, lying on a street somewhere. She watches out for me, keeps me in line, and does it all with so much love that I think that hole in my chest might be repaired.
So, while I walk up the stairs to the flat, I’m not in the best of moods. I don’t mean to be a grump but it is what it is.
I get out my keys but the door opens and Kayla is standing there.
I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she radiates beauty more than normal.
“Hi,” she says brightly, her dark eyes gleaming, a manic smile on her face. “How was practice?”
“Fucking bollocks,” I tell her, stepping inside. I slip off my shoes, giving her the once over. Usually she’s in her leggings and cozy slippers until I get back from practice, one of her perks of working from home, but today she’s wearing jeans and a sweater, her hair down around her shoulders, and she has makeup on.
“Did you go somewhere?” I ask, hanging up my coat.
“No,” she says. Then her eyes go wide. “Yes. I mean yes. I did. I went to get coffee. See the snow, you know.”
Ah, coffee. That explains the crazy smile.
I grin at her, amused, and bend down to kiss her when I hear a giggle.
Like a full-on giggle of a child.
I pause, my eyes going round.
“Did you just hear that?” I whisper.
Kayla gives me a quick smile, shakes her head. “No. Hear what?”
“Hee hee hee.”
Fucking hell, there it is again!
“That,” I tell her. “A little girl laughing.”
Am I finally losing it or do we have a ghost in here? Or is the latter evidence of the former?
And then I see it.
See her.
A little girl runs out of the living room and into the bedroom, disappearing in a flash.
“What the fuck!” I exclaim, jumping. “There’s a fucking ghost child in the house!”
Kayla doesn’t even turn her head to look. “I don’t know what you’re talking ab—”
“Surprise!” The little girl leaps out from behind the wall and starts booking it for me, her mouth open like she’s about to take a chunk out of me.
“Ahhh!” I yell, jumping back until I’m against the wall.
Demon child!
Kayla swoops in and grabs the girl at the last minute and before I get a chance to even focus on what’s happening, suddenly the room explodes with people.
“Surprise!!” What sounds like a hundred voices all yell at the same time, with people popping up from behind the wall and the couch and the kitchen, throwing their hands up in the air.
“Ahhh!” I yell again, my heart getting a better workout than it did at practice.
What the fuck is happening?
And then I see them.
Brigs and Natasha.
Bram! Motherfucking Bram and Nicola and her daughter Ava.
Linden too, bloody hell. Stephanie and of course now I realize the ghost child was True.
Then there’s Mal and Maisie, who I don’t see as often as I should.
And Keir and Jessica.
They’re all cheering and clapping and laughing, probably because I nearly just pissed my pants like a wee girl.
“What the…” I’m about to swear but remember I’m in the presence of children. “What the bloody hell are you all doing here?”
“Are you surprised?” Kayla asks, grinning at me.
“Fucking hell I am. I mean, whoops.” I give the kids an apologetic look, but Ava only rolls her eyes and True is terrorizing Lionel.
Then everyone comes over in an attempt at a giant group hug, which feels a lot like a scrum.
“It’s good to see you old boy,” Bram says.
“Happy almost birthday,” says Nicola.
“Geez, Lachlan, did your muscles get bigger,” Steph says, squeezing my bicep (I know she’s just being kind).
“Bet we’re the last people you expected to see,” Linden says.
“You’re right about that but I am glad you’re here,” I tell him, slapping him on the back.
“This was all Kayla’s idea,” Natasha tells me.
I glance down at my woman who looks beside herself with pride, though she’s trying to brush it off.
I put my arm around her and squeeze her to me. “You did this?”
“Of course,” she says, placing her hand on my chest and staring up at me. “Happy birthday Lachlan.”
Fucking hell, my wife is making my heart melt like it’s never melted before, until it’s just a puddle at my feet.
I feel everyone’s eyes on me but I don’t care.
“Thank you,” I say to her, my voice low, knowing that later tonight I’m going to show her my real thanks in a million different positions.
She knows it too, that’s why she gives me a saucy grin. “Now that the surprise is over, how about we have some fun?”
She heads off into the kitchen, Natasha and Jessica going with her, opening the fridge and bringing out the sparkling water.
It’s times like this that I usually feel pretty bad for being sober, since people are too afraid to drink around me. However, the group as a collective smells like beer, and the closer I look at them, the more I realize that they’re all at least a little buzzed. They must have been at a pub before this.
For a moment I feel like I’m missing out on that side of life, and I wish more than anything that I could just enjoy a drink or two without it escalating to more and ruining my life, but of course that’s not the case. It’s the hand I was dealt in life but I know I’ll continue to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t own me.
Even when days like today are hard.
But, having my friends and family here like this makes everything
