“Hey John! Hey Nancy! Come on in!” I give them both a quick hug. I can’t help but smile when a couple of Rylie’s friends from down the street also make their way to my door. I usher everyone into the living room after closing the door behind them. I hold my finger in front of my lips, silencing the hyperactive children. “Listen – Rylie’s in her room. She has no idea about the party so we need to be super quiet. Okay?” They all put their fingers to their lips, following my lead. “Good. Now, go ahead and head out back. I’ll get everyone else out there and then I’ll bring her out.” Nodding their heads, Nancy and John lead the pack, tiptoeing with huge grins on their faces. I don’t know who finds these parties more exciting…the girls or John and Nancy.
Once they’re safely outside, I dart into the kitchen to get Blake. He’s standing by the refrigerator, glass in hand, staring at the floor. I think Harlow’s reaction really upset him.
“Blake – its fine. I’ll take care of Harlow.” I try to sound as sympathetic as I can while grabbing his arm. “Listen, don’t let her ruin all of our hard work.” I open the door and force him outside. “Oh yeah, you know Mrs. Meyer, right? Go say hi!”
I shut the door and pick up the pace to the girls’ rooms, where I hear clinking tea cups in Rylie’s room. I slow down as I approach the room, taking in a deep breath before I open the door. I immediately have to suppress a giggle. If I wasn’t so upset with Harlow and her dumb undecipherable code, I would’ve laughed at seeing her with the pink boa wrapped around her neck and huge tea hat on her head. She twists her body around in the kiddie sized chair and I jerk my head toward the party. She nods in response.
“Whew! Alright girls, it’s too hot for tea in here.” Standing up and taking off her boa, she fans herself dramatically. “Let’s go out back for some fresh air.” Nycole and Kyndall jump up and shriek loudly, running out of the room. Rylie attempts to go as well, but Harlow reaches out and catches her before she can escape. Maintaining her hold, she takes off her hat and puts it on the table. Before passing me, she pauses. “I’m sorry Alex. I need to talk to you. Come see me when things settle down.” I nod my head and let her move by me. Rylie lets go of Harlow’s hand and gives me a quick hug before skipping down the hall after her.
When they reach the door, Harlow stalls Rylie until I meet up with them. I look at Harlow and we both nod to each other, signaling “party time”. I open the door and guide Rylie outside.
“Surprise!” Everyone yells together. Rylie looks at the set up and turns to hug my leg. “Oh – thank you Mommy!” Holding her fist in the air she adds, “Turtle Power!”
There’s a collective laugh among everyone and we watch as she runs to her cake. She grabs the stuffed turtles and holds them in her arms. “Thank you all for coming to my party!” She giggles, eyeing her presents. “Are all of these for me?” My little actress. I shake my head at her theatrics and look to Blake as he does the same. When our eyes meet, I melt.
An hour into the party and it’s an absolute success. The best part? Presents, of course.
Harlow gives Rylie a make-up kit. I attempt my first use of “mommy death glare 2.0” on Harlow when I watch her open it. She just laughs. Seriously…this glare needs a lot of work.
John and Nancy give her this annoying mini-ATV that has an obnoxious police siren.
I give her useful and educational things like clothes and books. She always hates my presents. It’s nothing new.
But Blake’s present? His present takes the cake, of course. When she opens it, her eyes double in size and she claps her hands together excitedly. It’s the perfect present for her…a trunk full of Disney dress-up clothes. Every Princess outfit is accounted for. From Cinderella to Ariel to Rapunzel…they’re all there with all the accessories. She runs to him and jumps in his arms. He holds her tightly and then places her on the ground.
He crouches down to speak to her. “Okay Rylie, there are enough Sunday Breakfast Date clothes in there to last a while. I want to see you in all of them, okay?” She nods her head and gives him another huge hug. He watches her as she runs to John and Nancy to show them the Snow White tiara. When he glances my way, I mouth a small, thank you. He gives me a slight smile and a nod, and then goes back to watching her as she starts to pull everything out of the trunk.
After presents, we sing the usual birthday song and Rylie blows out her candles, in her new and improved Sleeping Beauty dress I might add. I make her take it off before she eats cake. It’s funny how you can get kids to do anything for cake with no temper tantrums.
Afterwards, we all mingle outside for a while, well…everyone except Blake and Harlow who seem to be going out of their way to avoid each other. After a couple of hours, Rylie’s friends leave and John and Nancy decide to head out. I walk them to the door and give them both an embrace before they leave, thanking them for coming. Closing the door, I turn to head back to the living room, when I hear voices coming from my bedroom. Switching to stealth mode, I quietly tip toe with the voices getting louder as I approach the room. I press my ear to the door.
“Blake, this is ridiculous. When I called you here, it was to help her, as her friend. Not to sleep with her!”
“She’s a grown woman capable of making her own decisions. This isn’t your call to make, Harlow. It’s hers.”
“She can’t make any decisions in the state she’s in, not clear-headed ones. The woman you see is not the woman I helped through the tragedy of losing Derek. She isn’t ready yet. Not for this. You’re completely taking advantage of her vulnerability.”
“Bullshit! She’s perfectly fine. She’s grieved enough. For God’s sakes…let her move on. You know, if I didn’t know better, I would almost say that you want her to need you. I would almost even say that you want her to remain miserable so that you have a reason for existence.”
“Fuck you, Blake! You don’t know shit. You’ve been here for like, what, two seconds? You don’t know her. You know what she wants you to know. I called you because she wasn’t getting any better and I thought maybe you could get through to her. But if I knew this was going to happen, I would have dropped all communication with you a long time ago. Bastard!”
Stepping back from the door, I feel the blood drain from my face. My hands are shaking. A lump starts forming in my throat and the tears start to flow from my eyes. But these tears are different from my usual ones. These tears are tears of anger. I can feel the walls building up around my heart, suffocating any emotion I previously felt for Blake. I’m completely void of anything but rage now. I keep running parts of what I just heard through my mind.
“When I called you here, it was to help her.”
“She can’t make any decisions in the state she is in.”
“You’re completely taking advantage of her vulnerability.”
“When I called you here.”
“When I called you here.”
“When I called you here.”
I can’t believe it. He lied.
Everything that Blake has said to me was a lie. Everything I thought I felt was a lie. Everything is a lie.
Hand shaking, I reach out and throw the door open. I look right at Blake. He stares back at me, guilt radiating from his eyes. It makes me want to vomit.
“Harlow, take the girls please.” My eyes don’t leave his.
“Alex–”
“Now Harlow!” I break my glare from Blake to look at her. “Take them. They don’t need to hear this. Take them anywhere but here. We’ll talk later.”