6

I stood in Tosh's kitchen the next night with a glass of bubbly in one hand and a tube of mint-green cake decorating gel in the other.

"This is stupid," I said. "He's going to think this is stupid."

"He won't care," Owen said. I hadn't met him before, but we hit it off just fine as soon as I came over. "He's not here for the cake. He's here for you."

"It should say 'Happy Easter' too," Tosh said. She leaned over from her seat on top of the kitchen counter and dragged her finger through the edge of the cake, scooping off some icing.

I smacked her hand away. "Wait until Jack gets here, Tosh!"

I looked down at the cake, where I'd already written "Happy Birthday." We'd bought the cake twenty minutes before, and decided that it would be cheaper and more "fun" to decorate it ourselves. So far, it was covered in a mess of candy confetti and bright pink sugar. I'd scrawled on the "Happy Birthday" as best as I could, but I'd run out of space, leaving the "d," the "a," and the "y" lopsided and curving around the edge of the cake.

"This looks so pathetic."

"Let me fix it," Tosh said, hopping down off the counter as she sucked the icing off her finger. She took the tube of gel and scrawled "Happy Easter" on the cake in her smooth, cursive handwriting.

"Great, that looks even worse," I said.

"I like it!" Tosh said, admiring her handiwork.

"I think it looks fine," Owen said.

"Sure, her part does," I said. "But now it makes mine look even more pathetic."

The doorbell rang.

"Oh great." I smoothed my trousers, and then gasped when I realized I'd just gotten green gel on it. I was grateful I'd packed a few nice clothes for the family gathering and a suit for church on Easter morning.

"Here, we got this," Owen said. He led me to the sink and gave me a damp paper towel to get the gel out, while Tosh went to answer the door.

I was still patting my pants dry when Tosh led Jack into the kitchen. He was carrying a bottle of wine.

"Happy birthday," he said, handing it to me.

"Aww, thank you," I said. I gave him a kiss, and then turned my attention back to the cake. "As you can see, you arrived right in the middle of our grand decorating fiasco."

"Well, it looks delicious," he said. He took the wine bottle back from me and started opening it. "I hope you don't mind if this is something of a double-celebration tonight. I just got some good news."

"Oh?"

"Yup. My divorce is finally finalized. I just got the papers today."

"Woo-hoo!" I said, throwing my hands up in the air. "That is good news."

We all laughed. Tosh took the decorating gel again and said, "We can squeeze in one more bit of celebration."

She scrawled "Merry Divorce" across the bottom, underneath "Happy Birthday" and "Happy Easter." Jack looked at it and laughed.

"I'm definitely eating that piece," he said.

Owen put on some music while Tosh and I got out the taco fixings that we had ready. After we ate tacos I sliced the cake and poured some wine.

We danced with plates of cake in one hand and plastic forks in the other. As birthday parties went, it was all I ever wanted, especially considering the man I was dancing with. Neither one of us could actually dance, and we kept blushing and giving each other awkward smiles while we bobbed and swayed in Tosh's living room.

As the night wore on, Owen had to leave so he'd be able to get up for work. Then Tosh paused to give me a conspiratorial wink on her way to clean up the kitchen. I blushed and glanced at Jack, who was sitting on the couch now, nursing a glass of wine.

Once we were alone together, I turned the music down, then sat next to him.

"So," I said.

"So," he said. "Happy birthday. You're, what, twenty three? Twenty-four?"

I laughed and patted him on the knee. "You're charming. No, I'm thirty-mmphrmphhmm."

"Ahh," he said, nodding sagely. "A wise old age indeed. I hope you don't care that I'm only thirtymmphrmphhmm."

I snickered and shook my head. "No. I'm fine with dating a guy who's mmphrmphhmm years younger than me." I turned towards him with a flirtatious smile.

"And a guy who has a son?" he asked, his expression turning serious. He played with the stem of his wine glass, looking down at his lap.

I took his face in my hands and turned it towards me. "Just means I already know you're a great father."

I kissed him, and he set down the wine glass to take me in his arms. We made out there on the sofa like a couple of love birds, while Tosh was singing and doing dishes.

Best Birthday EVER