He pulls out a cardboard box, sturdy, meant to be shipped. He'd have to drop this off on the way to McKinley. He looks around the room slowly, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering where the time went. A year had passed and everyone had forgotten, except him. He would never forget, he was sure, seeing as he had been anxiously waiting for this day to arrive. The constant nagging at the back of his brain had ceased trying to remind him about this because he would remember all by himself. He would never let himself forget. This date was too big a part of his life to be forgotten.
He enters his small room, the one he had since he was a baby and his dad was gone. He carefully grabs the plastic bags cluttering the room. He takes every item out of each one of them. He gently places them on the bed. The first thing that goes in was the mobile, butterflies and birds hanging from it, disassembled and zipped in a plastic bag, then the teddy bear, which he kisses softly, then the Tigger toy he bought from the Disney store. He kisses that, too. He places every item in carefully, even the packaged teething rings and plastic keys.
He walks over to his dresser and takes the card off of the top it. The front of the card had three animated butterflies flying around a four-tier, pink-iced cake. He was proud to say he picked it out himself. Inside there is a picture of the two of them. At the bottom of the card, he writes, in his best penmanship: 'Happy birthday. Love, Daddy.' He seals the card inside of the envelope and writes her name on it, pressing it gently on top of the teething rings. A tear slides down his face and drops on the card, right on her name.
"Happy birthday Bethie." He whispered.