| Chapter 41: The Birthday of a Lifetime Lauralee just stepped into her black pants and went into her closet to get her cropped jacket to put over her maroon shirt. There was a soft knock on the door. Her mother looked inside. “Lau? You ready?” “Yeah come in Mom.” Sandy stepped inside. “Wow you look so beautiful.” “Thanks,” Lauralee put on her last earring. Sandy sat on Lauralee’s bed. “Come have a seat.” Lauralee took a seat. Sandy smoothed a strand away from Lauralee’s face. “Look at you: 21 years old. I can’t believe my baby’s a woman now.” “Oh Mom, don’t,” Lauralee gave an embarrassed laugh. “No, let me finish,” Sandy swallowed hard. “I always tried to envision you when you were a baby what you would look like on your 21st birthday. And now, the moment is here. I’m so proud of you sweetie. You’ve got your grandmother’s fire, your father’s talent, and hopefully your mother’s seriousness about life.” “To some degree,” Lauralee laughed. “But, I look at you and think about what you have been through in your life, and I think about how I couldn’t have handled what you have. You have such a tough skin, which’s a noble quality to have. And,” Sandy took out a box. “I want you to have this.” Lauralee accepted the box. “Thank you Mom.” She opened the small box and gasped. “It’s…” “Your father’s cross,” Sandy’s voice was shaky. “He would want you to have it.” The tears stung Lauralee’s eyes as she looked at the cross. Her father never took it off; his mother gave it to him on his first communion. Lauralee thought he was buried with it. “He was going to give it to you tonight, but I thought I should carry that out,” Sandy put it around Lauralee’s neck. “So,” Lauralee turned to face her mother and wiped her tears away. “What do you think?” “Beautiful,” Sandy gave her a hug as they heard a knock on the door. “Oh, I guess that’s Alex.” Lauralee and Sandy went downstairs. Lauralee opened the door. “Hey… oh my God!” Alex stood there holding a huge teddy bear that had a big red bow around its neck. Alex leaned over the bear and smiled. “Think you have room for this guy?” “I don’t know,” Lauralee laughed as Alex put the bear down and scooped her up in a hug. “Happy birthday baby!” He put her down and said hello to her mother. “You guys ready to go?” “Yup, all set,” Sandy grabbed her coat and the three of them headed out the door. ~*~ After picking up Catherine, the three of them arrived at Basle’s, Lauralee’s favorite restaurant. Alex opened the door and let them inside. After checking the reservations, the waitress led them to a doorway. “I never saw this room before,” Lauralee questioned. “It’s pretty packed tonight, so we only use this room for extra space,” the waitress explained. “Oh OK,” Lauralee smiled. Alex opened the door as Sandy and Catherine stepped inside, followed by Lauralee and Alex. “SURPRISE!” “What!” Lauralee looked at the several people in front of her. “Ha! And you thought we couldn’t pull this off two years in a row,” Alex laughed as he pulled Lauralee into a hug. Howie, Veronica, Laura, Kevin, Bianca, Nick, Elizabeth, Brian, Lauralee’s Aunt Charlene, Dominic, and the rest of Lauralee’s family were in attendance, as well as the rest of Lauralee friends. There were white and silver balloons everywhere, as well as a DJ in front of the dance floor. “You sure as hell fooled me,” Lauralee laughed. Sandy gave her a big hug. “How’d you pull this off?” “A lot of long distance phone calls,” Sandy explained with a sigh. The girls toppled Lauralee in a group hug. “Were you surprised?” Bianca smiled. “Hell yeah! I can’t believe you guys kept this a secret, especially you,” Lauralee put a finger on Bianca’s chest. “You know how tough it was to keep this girl quiet?” Laura patted Bianca’s head. “I had to kick her in the shin a couple of times to keep her big mouth shut.” “Oh it wasn’t that bad,” Veronica kissed Lauralee on the cheek. “Happy birthday.” The guys all gave Lauralee a hug as she went around the room greeting her family and friends. She then took a seat at a large with Alex, the guys and girls as the DJ picked up the microphone. “Hello everyone and welcome to Lauralee’s 21st birthday party! First, if you would pick up you’re glasses Lauralee’s grandmother would like to give a toast.” Catherine stood at the front of the crowd and took the microphone. “When Sandy and Alex asked me to give the toast, I was more than thrilled. Besides, when do I ever turn down a chance to make a spectacle in front of people?” The crowd erupted in laughter. “Anyway, it was 21 years ago this evening that I was in the hospital when my son handed me this… peanut of a thing. Her face was wrinkled like a little raisin, her eyes were still closed, and she had a voice that could break glass, which, of course, some things never change. But the most amazing thing happened. As soon as her father put her in my arms, she stopped crying and let out this little yawn. I knew from that moment on, that I would have a bond with my brand new granddaughter for the rest of my life. Now, as I’m standing here, looking at her now, with her friends and family surrounding her, she’ll always be that little baby with the raisin face, with such energy to tell the world what she wanted, and then knows she could always come to me and have the comfort of my arms. Lauralee, thank you for not only being my granddaughter, but my best friend. My son, may he rest in peace, wouldn’t be prouder at the woman you have grown up to be. So if you will all raise your glasses: to Lauralee, happy 21st birthday. I love you.” “Happy birthday, Lauralee,” the crowd lifted their glasses towards her. Lauralee got up from her seat, ran to Catherine and enveloped her in a hug. “I love you too Grandma,” Lauralee whispered into her ear, her tears flowing. They sat down to dinner when the DJ played some tunes and the tables were cleared. Lauralee danced with Alex and her friend Mike cut in. Each of the guys had a dance with her, and she almost cleared the floor while her friends and her danced. The DJ cut off the songs and spoke into the microphone. “OK ladies and gentlemen are you having a good time?” The crowd applauded. “We need to clear the floor because Lauralee has a special surprise in store, so if you will all have a seat, and Lauralee, why don’t you have a seat here,” the DJ placed a chair on the dance floor. Lauralee took a seat as Alex got up and took the microphone. “First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming. We had to keep a lot of secrets to get this party underway, so I want to thank everyone for keeping their mouth shut, especially one person who shall remain nameless, you know who you are,” he gave Bianca a wink. “I have blessed many times over the past 6 years, but one of the biggest blessings I have gotten was that one day that I walked into my grandmother’s house and I saw one of the most gorgeous women I have ever met. She has been there for me through the past year and a half, and I have thanked God everyday that she’s in my life. Lau, I love you more than words can say and there is no amount of parties, gifts, or trips that can show how I really feel. But I can at least try. Fellas?” The other guys joined him, microphones in hand. “This song is a special one for both Lauralee and myself, and we have never sung it before, but I think now is a perfect time to do it.” The song began to play and the boys sang a perfect rendition of “When I See You Smile,” the song that Alex and Lauralee first danced to. Lauralee sat in awe, her hands over her mouth, and forgot that everyone was in the room. When they finished, Lauralee got up and embraced Alex and the crowd gave them a standing ovation. They served the cake, with Lauralee blowing out the candles. While they were waiting for the cake to be served, they all sat and chatted when Alex looked up and noticed a figure walk into the room. “Riley!” He stood up and shook his hand. “Hey everyone.” “What are you doing here? There’s no problem is there?” Nick asked. “No, no problem. I just wanted to wish Lauralee a happy birthday.” “Thank you Riley,” Lauralee gave him a hug. “Um, guys, mind if I take them aside for a moment? I want to ask them about some press that has been brought to my attention.” “No problems though?” Kevin looked at Laura. “No, not at all.” “OK, sure,” Alex looked on as the girls got up and followed them outside. Chapter 41 - Part 2 Contents Chapter 40 |