The dining room of Grandma Mary and Grandpa George's home in Hummelstown was neatly decorated with streamers, balloons, and a giant banner that said "Happy Birthday Evan". Margaret and Phillip didn't really want to invest in a huge party for Evan, but Margaret's parents insisted that their grandson get a special celebration just like Maddie, Daniel, and their other grandchildren did. Cheese and pepperoni pizza was ordered and chocolate and vanilla cupcakes were baked for the event with scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream being served.
"He's just like any other grandkid of ours," Grandpa George would say.
Right now, Maddie, her parents, Grandma Mary, Grandpa George, Aunt Catherine, Uncle Mike, Cousin Nate, Cousin Emily, and Evan were in the dining room singing the birthday song; all of them wearing party hats strapped on their heads. Evan's would not stop slipping off because they didn't get party hats that would fit the head of a one-year-old.
As they sang, Evan happily giggled and jumped up and down on his bottom in his high chair like a jack-in-the-box struggling to pop out of the box. He even tried to reach for the chocolate cupcake with the candle on it, but Margaret pulled it away from him for a bit so he wouldn't blow out the candle or dig in before they finished singing.
"Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Evan!
Happy birthday to you!"
"Okay, Evan, blow out the candle!" Phillip encouraged, actually smiling for once as Margaret placed the cupcake onto the tray of Evan's highchair. "Come on, buddy!"
Evan just continued to play with his teddy bear bib and chew on it, looking at Maddie (shocked that her father actually called Evan "buddy" for the first time since he was born) and all the others around him.
"Evan, watch me!" Ten-year-old Maddie said excitedly, demonstrating to her brother by gently blowing into nowhere. Nate and Emily did the same thing.
As usual, Evan copied his sister and his cousins and then blew out the candle, and then immediately smashed the cupcake and then smeared it all over the highchair tray, looking completely satisfied as he did it.
"Yay, Evan!" Everyone clapped, smiling at the adorable baby as he made a chocolate mess.
Maddie smiled with pride as she watched her brother smear the frosting and crumbs of the cupcake into his face. She couldn't believe that Evan was finally a year old. It only felt like yesterday that she hated him and wished he never existed, and now she loved him so much and was happy that he had reached an important milestone. However, she did still miss Daniel, wishing for once that the transplant worked and that he was still here to celebrate his brother's first birthday...or at least not be a family secret that everyone knows about except Evan.
Compared to everyone else, Margaret looked more sad than happy, as she didn't even crack one smile during the entire day...not even when they all sang "Happy Birthday".
As everyone ate their slices of pizza, scoops of ice cream, and their cupcakes with happiness and laughter, Margaret just refused to take a bite of her vanilla pastry or even her ice cream. All of a sudden, she just broke down sobbing.
"I'm sorry, I just can't," she cried, setting down her plate and ripping off her party hat and then disappearing into the guest room, causing the house's atmosphere to transform from jovial to somber.
"I-I..." Phillip stammered, not knowing how to get the celebration back on again. "Um, get Evan cleaned up and then go ahead and take him to the living room to open his presents. You can start without us," he suggested, taking off his party hat and then heading to the guest bedroom to talk to Margaret.
"But he's your son, Phil," Aunt Catherine pleaded, trying to stop her brother-in-law from going after her sister, but Phillip refused.
"Just get the presents over with!" He shouted, trying to hide his tears as he disappeared up the stairs.
Despite their protests, the entire family just decided to go ahead and let Evan open his birthday presents, in which Maddie would unwrap one flap and then let Evan do the rest.
So far, he had gotten a wooden puzzle, a few board books, Oscar the Grouch footed pajamas, and some other toys designed for his age. However, he seemed to be more interested in the wrapping paper while Nate and Emily tried out some of his toys.
Still, throughout the entire montage of opening presents, Margaret and Phillip still haven't emerged from the guest room.
"Come on, Evan! You still have one more present to open!" Uncle Mike beamed, pointing at the still-wrapped gift from Grandma Mary and Grandpa George as Aunt Catherine collected all the wrapping paper to throw away.
"Yeah, buddy, look!" Grandpa George cooed. "It's from me and Grandma!"
However, Evan was still playing with a piece of wrapping paper.
Maddie picked up the present and then presented it to her brother enthusiastically and acting like she was curious about what was in the box. "Look, Evan! I wonder what it could be?"
That straightaway got Evan's attention as he immediately ripped off the wrapping paper without Maddie giving it a head start. He giggled with enthusiasm as his present became more and more visible the more he ripped off the wrapping paper.
"Look, Evan! It's a fire truck!" Maddie gasped with excitement as she confirmed what the gift was - it was a Fisher-Price toy firetruck that came with two Little People firefighters.
Evan immediately took interest in the box, babbling a bunch of nonsense and then staring at it and lightly patting the box as everyone in the room enjoyed watching him be cute and adorable...until they were interrupted by something unexpected.
"Fy-tuck! Fy-tuck!" Evan said, pointing at his unopened new toy.
"Yeah, it's a firetruck, Evan!" Maddie repeated after him. "It's your toy firetruck and it even comes with firefighters!"
"Hold on, did I just hear him say a word?" Grandpa George asked with a tone of delight.
Grandma Mary gasped and her face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Mommy! Daddy! Evan said 'firetruck'!" Emily, who was only four-years-old, shouted as she excitedly jumped up and down.
"Evan talked! Evan talked!" Nate, who was seven, chirped.
"I know, sweetie! We heard," Aunt Catherine expressed happily.
"Yep, your cousin just said his first word," Uncle Mike added, wrapping his arm around Aunt Catherine.
"It's too bad Mom and Dad just missed it," sighed Maddie, her smile fading. She couldn't believe that her parents missed their own son's first word because they were still extremely sad about Daniel. "I don't understand, why can't they just be happy on this day?"
"I understand, Maddie. We miss Daniel, too. But you need to understand that it's hard to get over the loss of a child," elucidated Grandma Mary.
"So, they're going to be sad forever?" Emily questioned as she put together Evan's wooden puzzle.
"Well, they'll never forget about it and they will be sad sometimes throughout their lives. But right now, it's probably just a painful day for Uncle Phil and Aunt Margaret because just one year ago to this day, they were so hopeful when Evan was born and so excited because they had so much hope that he would save Daniel, and it didn't work out," explained Uncle Mike sadly. "But I'm sure they'll come around. Don't worry, Maddie."
Right on cue, Margaret and Phillip came down the stairs, looking like they were feeling better.
"Look, we're sorry about this," Phillip apologized, feeling embarrassed by his and Margaret's behavior. "This day just kind of reminded us of the hope we lost when the transplant failed."
"But we don't want our grief to ruin this day," added Margaret.
"And we're finally ready to join in and we're calmed down now," concluded Phillip, putting on a smile.
"And did I just hear something about Evan saying his first word?" Margaret queried, this time crying tears of joy as she walked over toward Evan and then picked him up off the floor.
"Yes, Mom," Maddie nodded. "He said 'firetruck'."
AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review :)