It was her birthday, seventeen years ago she was born. It was a day that much like any other day that many people deemed special, really just felt like another day. Carlos and TK though, they'd told her about the plan to have the 126 over for dinner. A day for her, they'd said, and for once she was actually looking forward to it. She rolled out of bed and slowly made her way downstairs. The whole house smelled amazing. She found Carlos first, standing in the kitchen.
"Good morning." She said quietly.
Carlos turned and smiled at her.
"Good morning birthday girl," He said. "Come sit down I made French toast."
Bailey smiled and slid into the seat at the table. Carlos sat a plate in front of her with a smile. As he placed two more plates on the table, one for himself and one for TK, TK slipped in through the back door. Bailey looked up and smiled.
"Hi." She said.
TK looked at her and smiled.
"Happy Birthday kiddo." He said walking over to the table and kissing Bailey's forehead.
"Thank you," She said. "What were you doing out back?"
"I was watering the plants before it gets too hot." He said.
"Okay." Bailey said, digging into her breakfast.
TK smiled.
"I'm gonna go shower and then I'll be down for breakfast." TK said.
He took the stairs two at a time. Quickly moving through his morning routine so that he can get back downstairs to his family. When he began walking down the stairs he heard squealing and laughed. By the time he made it down far enough to see into the living room he could see Bailey and Carlos on the couch, having pulled out a board game but Bailey was laughing hysterically and throwing pillows at Carlos who had no doubt been attempting to tickle her. TK smiled as he snuck up behind Carlos, he made eye contact with Bailey who quickly looked away to keep TK's approach a secret. When he was close enough he leapt over the back of the couch onto Carlos who grunted at the impact but then resumed laughing. Bailey threw herself on top of the two of them, all three of them in fits of laughter as they goofed off. They barely registered the front door opening, or Owen and Buttercup coming in until Buttercup decidedly leapt into the action.
"Oh geez." Carlos grunted as they were all pinned by the St. Bernard.
"Buttercup, off." Bailey laughed.
Owen laughed before grabbing Buttercup's collar and pulling him off.
"Come on boy, let 'em get up." He said.
TK, Carlos, and Bailey all dislodged themselves from their little dog pile and Bailey stood up from the couch, hugging Owen.
"Happy Birthday Bails." Owen smiled.
"Thank you." Bailey said.
Owen then turned his attention over to the wrestling match he'd walked in on.
"So who started the living room MMA match?" He asked.
All at once everybody was pointing at everybody else. Bailey at Carlos, Carlos at Bailey, and TK at Carlos. Owen laughed.
"Carlos it's two against three." He said.
Carlos threw up his hands.
"So this one's on me?" He asked.
"Yup." Bailey smiled.
Carlos laughed.
"Okay then." He said.
Around three o'clock the members of the 126 had begun showing up. Judd, Grace, Paul, Marjan, Mateo, Nanci, and Tommy all were more than happy to come and be a part of Bailey's birthday celebration. Bailey had situated herself into their family quite happily and they loved their youngest member whole-heartedly.
"So you haven't told her?" Judd asked.
TK shook his head.
"No, all she knows is that her present is out back and she can't go out there until after dinner." He said.
"How'd she take that?" He asked.
TK laughed.
"The suspense is killing her." He admitted.
"Tamales are done." Carlos called.
They heard the fast shuffling of feet as Mateo and Bailey shoved each other as they made their way to the kitchen.
"Kids." Judd laughed.
"If Bailey's my kid does that mean Mateo's yours?" TK asked.
Judd arched a brow.
"No." He said simply.
"Can we go out to the backyard now?" Bailey asked.
Judd laughed. They'd finished dinner about twenty minutes ago so he could understand Bailey's excitement. He'd actually been rather impressed that she'd waited long enough for the dishes and leftovers to be taken care of.
"Did y'all really think that you'd be able to keep her inside forever?" He asked.
TK and Carlos laughed but shook their heads.
"Alright Bails, we can go out." TK said.
"Yes." Bailey cheered running upstairs for her shoes.
Owen laughed.
"She really is a lot like you TK." He said watching as Bailey went up.
TK smiled.
"Yeah, I've noticed that too." He said.
Bailey came thundering down the steps just about as fast as she had gone up them.
"Woah, slow down Speed Racer." Tommy laughed.
Bailey couldn't help but hop from foot to foot with excitement.
"You guys wanna head out first?" TK asked.
"Yeah man, we can do that." Paul said.
Everybody slowly made their way out into the backyard leaving TK, Carlos, and Bailey alone in the living room.
"Okay Bails, you ready?" TK asked.
"Yeah." Bailey said.
TK smiled.
"Okay so we're gonna guide you out but you have to keep your eyes closed until we say, can you do that?" He asked.
Bailey nodded
"Yeah." She said.
"Alright, mija, let's go." Carlos said.
Together TK and Carlos guided Bailey out the back door and down the steps onto the patio. They made sure they were on the edge of the patio, just before the path leading to the shed.
"Okay Bails, open your eyes." Carlos said.
Bailey's eyes opened and her breath caught when she saw the shed. It was painted colorfully, and there were flowers planted around the whole shed, and a flower box hanging under the window. She turned to TK and Carlos, her face alight with joy.
"Is this for real?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
They nodded.
"It's all for you. Completely temperature controlled, structurally reinforced, and filled to the brim with art supplies." TK said.
She looked then at the other members of the 126. They all looked at Bailey with pride.
"You all…" Bailey trailed off as they nodded.
She looked at the shed in awe. This was real, this was all happening.
"Thank you." She said, turning back to the 126.
"You're welcome Bails." Owen said.
"Well come on," Judd said. "We want to show you the inside."
Bailey laughed as they all guided her to the shed and slowly showed her around the space. They hadn't been lying when they said that they'd filled it to the brim with art supplies.
"This is heaven." Bailey said, running her fingers over the canvases on the back shelves.
"This is your painter's paradise." Nanci said.
"Happy Birthday Bailey." Carlos said.
Bailey fell asleep with a smile on her face that night. So it wasn't just a fairytale, wishes really do come true.