Birthday

RPOV

Over the next week a number of things are sorted out. Emmett and I can see that Edward is clearly no danger to Lily and she's more than happy with him, so although I'm still unsure about it Emmett and I start looking for our own apartment. Bella decided that Edward should be Lily's guardian and we're going to respect her wishes. Secondly, Emmett has managed to get himself a temporary job in the local area so that the two of us aren't totally sponging off Edward. There's been no change in Bella's condition. Thirdly, we enroll Lily at the local kindergarten, and she will start there next week.

The most pressing matter at the moment is Lily's approaching birthday. She will be turning five on 26th March, which is just a few days away. Edward and I have spoken to Lily and she insists that she doesn't want a party. I imagine that it wouldn't be the same for her anyway when all her friends are in another state and her mom can't be there.

Edward and I have a trick up our sleeves though. Emmett has guessed that we're planning something but I've warned Edward not to give in and tell him. Emmett can't keep a secret. He's a worse gossip than the soccer moms at Lily's school.

26th March

EPOV

Lily and I are visiting Bella in hospital. All the others have gone ahead of us, and as we open the door into the room, there's a great roar of "SURPRISE!" Emmett chimes in a couple of seconds late with a squeaky voice that's explained when I see the deflating helium balloon next to him. A nurse walking past in the corridor gives me a dirty look at the noise we're making. Oops.

I have to admit we've done a good job. There are pink and blue balloons everywhere and a big banner on the wall reads "Happy Birthday Lily!" There's a big square cake in the corner from the bakery at the end of my street and everyone present is wearing a brightly coloured party hat.

Lily runs in, a huge smile plastered on her face. She's hugging and kissing everyone in turn, and despite being the only unconscious person in the room, she goes to Bella first. The small room is rather crowded with Rosalie, Emmett, Charlie, Alice, Jasper, Lily, myself and of course Bella. Bella's bruises have basically disappeared, and the bone in her arm has healed. Her leg however remains in its cast. Since the bone had been crushed in a number of places it would take a little longer to heal.

"Happy birthday, Lily," I smile as she finally gets around to hugging me.

Charlie and Jasper are discussing last night's football game, Rose is handing out paper plates, Lily and Emmett are trying to put a party hat on Bella's head while Alice tells them off for making Bella's hair stick up. I laugh, knowing the nurses won't be too happy about this is they happen to stick their heads in to see what's going on.

I go to join Charlie and Jasper who seem like the sanest people in the room at the minute.

Jasper's a nice guy and a good match for Alice. Charlie reminds me a lot of Bella, but for being the Chief of Police he's a lot less tough than I would have thought. I've ran into him a few times here over the last few days when I've called in to check on Bella while he's been visiting. We do a manly handshake when I approach and he asks me if I caught that last touchdown. I think he's warming up to me.

Rose lights five candles on Lily's multi-coloured unicorn cake. She counts us in and we give a shaky rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song, everyone predictably getting a little pitchy at the high note. Emmett finishes a little late again, his voice falling from high and squeaky to deep and rough as he runs out of helium at the end.

Lily blows out her candles with a huge puff of air and a big grin on her face. We all eat cake and sweets and chocolate until we feel sick. Emmett tries to feed Bella a piece of cake much to Rosalie's horror.

Lily opens her many presents. She's got a new party dress from Alice and Jasper, which she changes into right away, a new doll from Rosalie and Emmett, a collection of story books from her grandpa Charlie, and a brand new purple bike from me. She's thrilled and can't wait to get outside to give it a go.

We play some party games: musical statues, Simon says and pin the tail on the donkey. Lily, of course, wins all of them.

We get kicked out at six o'clock for making too much noise, but I think Bella would've been happy with the party that we gave Lily.

The next day, Rosalie takes Lily out to the park so she can show off her new bike and then to the hospital, giving me and Alice the opportunity to get her other birthday gift ready, even if it's a little late.

Alice arrives a little after ten with Jasper, laden down with tin paint cans. The delivery truck should be here this afternoon with the new furniture. We go upstairs to Lily's room and Jasper and I start moving out any furniture that isn't staying while Alice covers the rest with some old sheets.

Jasper makes himself scarce before the painting starts, whispering to me conspiratorially that he's 'getting out while he still can', and disappears downstairs to watch TV.

Alice gets to it and makes quick work of the outline of what she wants to do. Not having an artistic bone in my body I only do exactly what she tells me to do, painting the larger areas of the design, leaving the smaller and more detailed parts to Alice and trying desperately not to go over the lines.

We stop for a break at lunch time, eating some sandwiches and apples before resuming our project. We're finished by mid-afternoon when the new furniture is delivered, and although the paint isn't dry yet we move everything into the room, being very careful to not let anything touch the walls. We want Lily to get the full effect of her new room.

When Lily and Rose arrive home Alice produces a scarf that she ties around Lily's head like a blindfold. We each take her by the hand and lead her up the stairs.

When we get to Lily's room, Alice places her right in the centre of the room so she can see everything, then whips off the blindfold and throws her arms wide, singing "TA-DA!"

Lily's eyes open wide taking in everything around her. The floors and ceilings are the only things in the room that haven't changed. The walls have been painted to look like the page of a story book, with Winnie-the-Pooh and a dozen other characters eating from jars of honey and getting up to all kinds of trouble, against a backdrop of green grass and clear blue sky. Those, of course, were the only parts that I did.

The neutral furniture has been replaced with a mahogany dresser, wardrobe, bookshelf and bedside table that blend in with the scenes of nature on the walls. The bed has been replaced by a twin bed, with pale blue sheets that match the blue of the sky, and the curtains are the same green as the grass. There's a new toy box in the corner too where all Lily's favourites are currently stored.

"Oh my gosh!" She squeals. She runs to Alice and throws her arms around her, and then does the same to me. She hugs me so tightly that of she were any bigger I might have been afraid. There's a look of pure excitement on her face and I decide to wait a while before breaking it to her that she can't actually sleep in here tonight because of the paint fumes.

I bask in the love and excitement of my little girl. Things are starting to settle down, and I've decided that tomorrow I'm going to take Lily to meet my parents.